Empire Builder, Hiawatha, Cardinal, and Crescent

Shortline · Mar 16, 2021

It’s all good. I’m afraid I will have to stop this trip report now, decided to fly home rather than spend an extra night in a hotel, and get home on Saturday by taking the Hiawatha, Cardinal, and Crescent. $320, to fly first class, vs $780 on the train in a roomette, and get home tomorrow night, vs Saturday. I’ll take the remaining E-Voucher amount, and take a trip when things get closer to some level of normal later in the year. Thanks for reading,

Bob Dylan · Mar 16, 2021

Shortline said:
It’s all good. I’m afraid I will have to stop this trip report now, decided to fly home rather than spend an extra night in a hotel, and get home on Saturday by taking the Hiawatha, Cardinal, and Crescent. $320, to fly first class, vs $780 on the train in a roomette, and get home tomorrow night, vs Saturday. I’ll take the remaining E-Voucher amount, and take a trip when things get closer to some level of normal later in the year. Thanks for reading,

Wise choice!

jimdex · Mar 17, 2021

I would be in favor of a Milwaukee Airport stop for the Empire Builder. I frequently visit the Madison area, and if I could fly into Milwaukee and hop on the train to Columbus (the Madison stop), I would do that.

caravanman · Mar 17, 2021

An entertaining read, it is great to read about folks travelling around, even if it was work related!

Shame the gloss had worn off for your return journey, that hapens to me on occasion too.

jebr · Mar 17, 2021

jimdex said:
I would be in favor of a Milwaukee Airport stop for the Empire Builder. I frequently visit the Madison area, and if I could fly into Milwaukee and hop on the train to Columbus (the Madison stop), I would do that.

If the bonding measure passes the Minnesota legislature, there should be work upcoming for a second daily train to St. Paul, MN. That would use the existing Builder route, plus make all of the Hiawatha stops along the way (either replacing one of the Hiawatha frequencies, or adding in an eighth one.) Current timeline if all goes well is 2024.

Bob Dylan · Mar 17, 2021

jebr said:
If the bonding measure passes the Minnesota legislature, there should be work upcoming for a second daily train to St. Paul, MN. That would use the existing Builder route, plus make all of the Hiawatha stops along the way (either replacing one of the Hiawatha frequencies, or adding in an eighth one.) Current timeline if all goes well is 2024.

Nice! I take it that it would stop @ the Milwaukee Airport stop unlike the Builder.