Empire Builder consist?

[rms492]

Anyone have the most up to date consist of the Empire Builder?
Trying to decide if I should do the Seattle section or the Portland section, from Chicago.
Having an idea of the consist will help me in the decision.
Thanks!

 

[Acela150]

Seattle side:
Dorm
730/830 Sleeper
Diner
Coach

Portland Side:
Lounge
Coach
2730/2830 Sleeper
Dorm

 

[rms492]

Thanks for the quick response. How sad, one coach for each section!

 

[WWW]

The observations of recent have a mixed bag of consist -

Normal
L
L
B
T
S/C
D
S/C
L
S/C
S/C
S/C

The last 4 cars are the Portland consist breaking away at Spokane

But as of recent
A third Locomotive - facing forward but not always
There have been S C cars in front of the Baggage Car
Baggage car at end of train
T dorm cars at the Portland end of train

And train operating 5 days a week Thursday Friday no-op

At night is is hard to define the difference between Sleeper and Coach
except for lighting - the Lounge is a dead give-away with its huge windows
The T Dorm car has that square window in front of the car and lower level
entry/exit to a Baggage car
The diner has no windows center of car

AND a REAL Radical On Time operation -
Some EB # 7 & especially # 8 being over 5-6-7 8 more hours late
With trains that late it is a wonder that the Chicago yard can put together
a consist on time for the next day.
It didn't help to have that Montana accident taking a train set permanently (?)
out of service.

Que Sera Sera

 

[WWW]

Well this was unusual -
EB # 7 3/6/2022

Consist
4 locomotives and a strange combo baggage coach car -
all locomotives facing forward

E ??? NEW with side lighted engine interior
E 301 NEW ditto
E 150
E 25
B/C that combo baggage coach
B
T DORM
S
D
C
Lounge
C?
S
T DORM

 

[Acela150]

A third Locomotive - facing forward but not always

It's a BN requirement when temps get below a certain point.

Well this was unusual -
EB # 7 3/6/2022

Consist
4 locomotives and a strange combo baggage coach car -
all locomotives facing forward

E ??? NEW with side lighted engine interior
E 301 NEW ditto
E 150
E 25
B/C that combo baggage coach
B
T DORM
S
D
C
Lounge
C?
S
T DORM

300 is leading 7 (6)

They put a VL Bag/Dorm on the front for the Siemens staff when an issue occurs.

 

[Palmland]

Why is the transdorm on the rear as it used to be the Portland sleeper was the last car? So I guess this leaves the CHI-LAX sleeper on the Sunset as the only train with the sleeper on the rear.

 

[WWW]

EB #7
3/9/2022

Weirdess consist yet - - -

E 131
E 189
E 134
B
B*
S
C
D
L
S
C
B*

3 Baggage cars - no T dorms

 

[swesa]

How can we find out when a new Amtrak engine will be working on the Empire Builder so we can take our grandson who is special needs, to see that train!? Thank you

 

[TraneMan]

Where are you going to from Chicago? Coach or sleeper?

Anyone have the most up to date consist of the Empire Builder?
Trying to decide if I should do the Seattle section or the Portland section, from Chicago.
Having an idea of the consist will help me in the decision.
Thanks!

 

[JP1822]

Recent Consist has restored the Builder to where it was last Fall when operating daily - thank God!

Locomotive
Locomotive
Locomotive (as required by BNSF or new LD locomotive added)
SEA - Viewliner Baggage
SEA - Superliner Trans-Dorm Sleeper (with revenue space being sold)
SEA - Superliner Sleeper
SEA - Superliner Diner
SEA - Superliner Coach
SEA - Superliner Coach
PDX - Superliner Sightseer Lounge
PDX - Superliner Coach
PDX - Superliner Coach
PDX - Superliner Sleeper

Peak period consist and consist before COVID had this train with a second Seattle Sleeper nearly 10 months out of the year.

Pre-COVID this has long been Amtrak’s busiest LD train (most passengers and revenue). It’s long been suggested to put a second Portland (PDX) sleeper in the consist, in addition to the second Seattle Sleeper. Anderson actually tried it one summer peak season - of all people. Bookings were good and sleepers still were at a good sell out rate. But the original plan also called for a Superliner Cross Country Cafe or additional food car to help offset the burden the Superliner Diner would go through on the second day. That burden was quickly realized. Lasted only one season.

Hopefully the current consist being operated will get its second Seattle sleeper by July. Was supposed to be May last year and this year. Bookings are heavy and booked pretty solid in sleeper class. Empire Builder serves a pretty diverse demographic, but with people doing more recreational traveling this year - Whitefish and the Glacier National Park stops are likely getting some heavy traffic.

 

[zephyr17]

I rode that second Portland sleeper in August 2019. It a joyride EVR-PDX-WFH-EVR. Was able to get it at low bucket, too, though I only booked it about a month out.

 

[CCC1007]

How can we find out when a new Amtrak engine will be working on the Empire Builder so we can take our grandson who is special needs, to see that train!? Thank you

Best chance is to follow the Empire Builder group on Facebook, as there are some posters in the Chicago and Seattle areas that check the trains regularly before departure or shortly after they leave... Usually they report if there are any strange consists or "special" locomotives like new chargers.

 

[Siegmund]

How can we find out when a new Amtrak engine will be working on the Empire Builder so we can take our grandson who is special needs, to see that train!? Thank you

At least for the Seattle section, the folks who run the Skykomish webcam generally maintain a Google Doc listing all the trains that go past. Usually at least the engine numbers and the length of the consist are recorded for the Builder.

90% of the time, the westbound that arrives in Seattle on a given morning returns eastbound led by the same locos the same afternoon. [Edit: only true when the Builder is running daily -- during the 5x/week time, two sets lay over in Seattle for two days and aren't guaranteed to come back out in the same order they went in.]

 

[swesa]

At least for the Seattle section, the folks who run the Skykomish webcam generally maintain a Google Doc listing all the trains that go past. Usually at least the engine numbers and the length of the consist are recorded for the Builder.

90% of the time, the westbound that arrives in Seattle on a given morning returns eastbound led by the same locos the same afternoon.

Thank you

Best chance is to follow the Empire Builder group on Facebook, as there are some posters in the Chicago and Seattle areas that check the trains regularly before departure or shortly after they leave... Usually they report if there are any strange consists or "special" locomotives like new chargers.

thank you

 

[Chellerz]

Hi!
Looking forward to my first Empire Builder experience in a couple of weeks! I was originally booked in a Family Room in car 731 from CHI to WGL but got a call from Amtrak today rebooking me in roomette 9 in car 730. If I understood correctly, they had to change the type of car to one without a Family Room. Does that mean it’s not a Superliner?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Cal]

It is still a superliner.

 

[caravanman]

It sounds as if your original car, 731, has been removed from that train, and the family room was already booked in car 730, so you ended up in a roomette?

 

[yarrow]

how many are traveling in your party?

 

[zephyr17]

The 31 car has been removed for thr summer. You are lucky you are still in a sleeper, many people have gotten downgraded to coach or been cancelled entirely. It is a monumental f up by Amtrak management.

There is only one family bedroom per car. The one in the 30 car was doubtless already sold.

 

[Chellerz]

Thanks for all the replies! It's just me traveling. The price difference for the family room vs the roomette when I booked it back in September seemed worth it to have the view on both sides for part of my trip. Plus I was curious about the family room for the future and I was already booked in roomettes for NYP>CHI and WGL>PDX.

@zephyr17, I agree that I'm lucky to still be in a roomette. I was actually feeling a bit guilty about having booked the family room when I noticed recently that the train is 95% full (that's averaging 100% on 27 and 90% on 7). It was only 10% full when I booked it. Now I can travel 100% guilt free!

If you have any tips for dealing with such a packed train, I'm all ears!

Thanks again!

 

[Shanson]

Currently (Sept 2023), is the baggage car on the Seattle section (8) or on the Portland section (28)? Thanks.

 

[user 14106]

Currently (Sept 2023), is the baggage car on the Seattle section (8) or on the Portland section (28)? Thanks.

Baggage car goes to Seattle. One of the two coaches in the Portland section is a Superliner coach-baggage (coach seats on upper level checked baggage compartment on lower level) checked baggage for Portland section passengers goes in the coach-baggage.

 

[WWW]

Common configuration: 7/8 27/28
Seattle Section 7/8
L - locomotive
L - locomotive
B - baggage
S - sleeper
D - diner
C - coach
X - may have 1 or more cars in this mix
--- train splits at Spokane
Portland Section 27/28
SSL - sight seeing lounge
C - coach
BCS - combo baggage coach sleeper
S - sleeper

 

[joelkfla]

BCS - combo baggage coach sleeper

Never heard of that before.