# Trip: Seattle - Portland - Chicago



## Tracktwentynine (Nov 27, 2010)

In late October, I had the opportunity to travel to the Pacific Northwest for a conference in Portland. I decided to spend the weekend before the conference in Seattle. And since I'd earned enough AGR points for a 2-zone trip, I decided to follow up the conference with a trip to Chicago.


Photos from the Cascades part of my trip: here.
Photos from the Empire Builder part of my trip: here.

I flew from Baltimore to SeaTac (via Houston) on Continental so I could earn more AGR points. Over the weekend in Seattle, I rode their new light rail system, the Link (photos). I also took my first trip on the Seattle Center Monorail (photos) and on the South Lake Union Streetcar (photos). I traveled from Seattle to Tacoma on the Sounder Commuter Rail (photos). During my 2 hours in Tacoma, I rode the Tacoma Link streetcar (photos) over to downtown and then back.

I walked from the western end of the streetcar line at the Sounder station to the Amtrak station (about 4 blocks away). The Tacoma station truly deserves the moniker "Amshack". It's in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by gritty industry. The walk was on a narrow sidewalk on a busy arterial. Inside, the station was spartan, but they allowed people to wander out onto the platform, so after I checked my bag, I just stayed out there.

I was there in time to see the northbound Cascades on its way to Seattle and Vancouver. The trainset was the "Mount Baker". For some reason, the locomotive on the southern end of the train was not the usual F59PHI, but a P42.

A short time later, right on time, came the southbound Cascades, bound for Portland. The trainset was the "Mount Hood", I believe. Since I was on the 6:13p departure, the sun was already setting as I got onboard. I quickly discovered that the Cascades is the nicest Amtrak train I've ridden on - and I've taken the Acela. The spacious, leather seats were fantastic. The coaches even had television sets; and there was an "in-flight" movie. The tilting, articulated carriages made for an amazingly smooth ride.

I watched the sun set over the Puget Sound. It was phenomenal. The orange and yellow sky was reflected in the watery mirror below. After we passed under the Tacoma Narrows Bridges, I made my way down to the Diner, where I had a cup of New England clam chowder. I chatted with the Talgo representative there. Apparently, there's a Talgo rep on each trip of the Cascades. While in the diner, I did what I do at the start of all train trips: I listened to "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" on my ipod. We arrived in Portland on schedule.

I enjoyed the conference in Portland, and while I was there, I rode the MAX light rail (photos), the Portland Streetcar (photos), the WES commuter rail (photos), and the Portland Aerial Tram (photos). On the last day of the conference, I met up with a friend of mine from college who had flown up from Atlanta to ride the Builder with me. We had dinner, and then went back to our respective accommodations. We agreed to meet at Union Station the next morning.

So at 9:15 on Friday morning (October 22), my friend and I met in the waiting room at Portland's magnificent Union Station. We went to drop off our bags for the day, since the train didn't leave until 4:45. At the baggage room, they told us that since we were first class passengers, we could leave our bags for free at the Metropolitan Lounge, which we did.

We spent the morning and early afternoon wandering around the Pearl District and South Waterfront neighborhoods. We got back to Union Station around 2:30. The southbound Coast Starlight was boarding, so we walked over to the Steel Bridge, where we got to see the CS crossing the Willamette.

Afterwards, we returned to the Metropolitan Lounge. It was very nice. Private bathrooms, complimentary beverages, and reading material. Unfortunately, checking in at the Metropolitan Lounge brought bad news: the Builder wouldn't be going to Chicago. Due to BNSF trackwork in Wisconsin, our train would only make it as far as LaCrosse, Wisconsin. The staff didn't have any other details, except to say that we'd be bused into Chicago.

I chatted with the lounge attendant and discovered that she had just celebrated her 30th anniversary with Amtrak the past week. We talked for quite a while about her Amtrak career and experiences. She told me the late northbound Coast Starlight would be arriving in a few minutes, and let me out onto the platform to take a few pictures. The CS was so late that they actually called boarding for the NB CS and the EB Empire Builder at the same time.

My friend and I headed out onto the platform and boarded the last car of the train, 28's only sleeper. This was my first time in sleeper on Amtrak. It was also my first AGR redemption.

We were in a roomette on the lower level. I was surprised at how compact the space was. My previous experience in sleeping cars was in a room on Via's Ocean (Renaissance car) and in a room on the Canadian (Budd park car). Those were both quite a bit more spacious than our roomette.

As soon as the Builder was underway, our attendant (Chevy) stopped by to introduce herself and give us a choice of dinner options. Since the Portland section of the Builder doesn't have a diner, first class passengers are given a cold, boxed dinner. My friend and I took ours straight to the Sightseer Lounge, where we got envious looks from the coach passengers. I had chosen the beef option, and despite it's coldness, I was very impressed with the meal.

We retired to our room after dark to discover 2 small bottles of champagne had been left by the attendant. We split one before turning in. But the night was not a good one. There was some sort of problem with the ventilation on the car (#32051). Downstairs, the heat was on full blast, and I think temperatures in our roomette were over 90 all night. Upstairs, however, apparently, the AC was stuck on high. There was nothing the crew could do, though, so I spent the night sleeping very fitfully. I opened the door to our roomette (but kept the curtain closed) to allow for some airflow, but it didn't help much.

Around midnight, I was awoken by loud talking out in the hall and frigid air in the room. I put on some shoes and wandered outside. Spokane! The joining was about to happen. I walked down the platform to the front of the Portland section. The Seattle section was just backing onto the train, and I snapped a few pictures. Not wanting to risk being left behind, I wandered back to the rear of the train, where I tried some long exposure shots. While we were there, the westbound Empire Builder arrived across the platform.

The next morning, we made our way to the diner for the first seating for breakfast. The mountains were already spectacular, but they were only a prelude to the peaks of Glacier which we would soon be seeing. As soon as we finished breakfast, we camped out in the SSL. We were treated to fantastic views of the Rockies as we went through Glacier. It was also interesting to watch the mountains disappear beyond the horizon as we sped across the rolling hills of Montana.

I got off at each of the service stops to take pictures and stretch my legs. Havre, with it's steam locomotive was particularly memorable. Many of the passengers wanted to get photo ops with the loco, and the crew had a hard time getting everyone back on board when it was time to depart. The following morning, I got off at MSP and snapped several pictures of private railcars in the sidings there. One of the cars was Puget Sound, which was originally built for GN's Empire Builder. I wish Amtrak still used domes on many routes.

We arrived into LaCrosse on time, where there was a rush for a seat on one of 4 motor coaches for our bustitution. 2 buses went direct to Chicago, 1 went direct to Milwaukee, and 1 made all local stops between LaCrosse and Milwaukee. They made passengers bound for Glenview go to Milwaukee or Chicago to catch Hiawatha or Metra trains. Along the way, the buses stopped at the Burger King in Wisconsin Dells. All 4 buses stopped at BK at the same time #FAIL. Amtrak gave everyone $5 vouchers for meals.

Our bus arrived at Chicago Union Station an hour after the train's scheduled arrival. My friend and I decided not to try out the Metropolitan Lounge, and instead made a beeline for our hotel. While in Chicago, I took my first trip on Indiana's South Shore Line, and I made quite a few trips on the L. I spent 2 nights in Chi-town and then flew from O'Hare back to Baltimore, earning more AGR points along the way. Because of the severe windstorms in the midwest, I was afraid I'd get stranded in Chicago, but my flight got out on time. It was the roughest flight I've ever been on. The seatbelt sign was on for all but 10 minutes, and there was turbulence for over 90% of the flight.

Overall, I was very impressed by the Empire Builder. I'm probably hooked on roomettes, now, too. The food was phenomenal. If you take the EB, make sure to get steak in the diner. And the steak and ale soup I had for lunch was great too. And the scenery is something everyone needs to see at some point in their life.

I did complain to Amtrak about the truncation of the train and the overheated room. They gave me a travel voucher, despite the fact that I booked using AGR. I intend to use the voucher this spring on a Silver Service trip.


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## Shanghai (Nov 27, 2010)

*Thank you for the great report and photos.*


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## jimhudson (Nov 27, 2010)

:hi: Nice report and pics, thanks!


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## MrEd (Nov 27, 2010)

thanks for the report


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## jmbgeg (Nov 27, 2010)

Superb trip report and photos.

I agree that the Portland Metropolitan Lounge is a great amenity with wonderful staff. Every CS and EB trip I have taken, Frank has been been lounge attendent. Frank is very informative, helpful and really sets a first class tone for the lounge (more so that I have seen in other lounges).

The cold dinners served on train 28 from PDX are excellent and have received a lot of praise of this board. In terms of your endorsement of the steak, I have enjoyed steaks on many EB trips but have become fond of the bison meatloaf entree with chipolte sauce. A unique menu selection to say the least, but it is delicious, and a nice alternative to the more traditional entrees.

Sorry to hear of your problem with temperature controls. It happens from time to time. Glad to hear that Amtrak customer relations granted you a compensatory voucher for your inconvenience.


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## Rail Freak (Nov 27, 2010)

Great Report, Thanx!!!


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## Tracktwentynine (Nov 27, 2010)

Oh, I forgot to mention that I won a half-bottle of Pinot Grigiot at the Builder's wine and cheese tasting. The tasting proved popular with the passengers and it appeared that all the seats were taken. At the end, both reds and the Pinot were left. The reisling (my favorite) was all gone.

The first trivia question was so easy: "Amtrak does not serve 4 states. Alaska and Hawaii are 2. Name the other 2."

I'd had my hand up at "does not serve". And with the right answer, I got myself a half-bottle of wine, which I shared with those at my table.


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## abcnews (Dec 4, 2010)

Enjoyed reading your review. Good job. I hope to do the same once we return in a few weeks (CZ & EB round trip).

BTW - Wyoming and South Dakota - right? And I did not look at the map....


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## Tracktwentynine (Dec 4, 2010)

abcnews said:


> BTW - Wyoming and South Dakota - right? And I did not look at the map....


Correct!

Enjoy your trip. The Builder is a train I definitely would like to ride again, but I think I'll try for the Starlight in sleepr (have done Seattle - Sacramento in coach) and the Zephyr before I come back to the Builder. Although because of the bustitution, my Amtrak segments ridden map has a glaring gap, that I might try and solve in coach sometime.


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