Frontier, Empire Builder, and Alaska over New Years, and some exploring

[Cal]

Told myself I was gonna keep it short, but turns out I'm really bad at doing that. If you want to read, feel free.

This Monday I started off at LAX where I took Frontier first to Vegas, followed by a redeye to Midway. At 3:30 when I got to terminal one, it wasn't busy and I was through security within 15 minutes of arriving. I had checked in the day before online, and I only had a personal item (the only thing Frontier allows you to take for free). I've flown quite a bit out of LAX, and I've never had an awful experience. I took the bus from terminal one to the Satellite terminal of TBIT, where Frontier operates out of. Having a few hours, I decided to walk from there back to terminal one to see the rest of LAX, as I only really fly out of TBIT. The terminal-connections on the north side are much better than the south side, and the terminals were good (Deltas renovations look great). I had been stressing a lot over the size limit on the personal item, as my backpack was definitely pushing it, but I could squeeze it into their little box that checked it, and it was never checked anyway. My biggest gripe here was the expensive water, which I got for $6.

First flight I had a window seat, and it was a nice, quick hop. Seat was small, tray table was tiny, but I had enough leg room (i'm 5'10). Crew was friendly, especially one lady. In Vegas, I had a four hour layover and so I walked around a little. The airport was nicer than I expected, terminal 3 looks very nice, and they have a little airport train which I always love. I got Ruby's for dinner, and the waitress was very nice, and it was a lovely little place to relax. The classic burger was great, although because it was an airport it was an extra $7 for fries, so I just had the burger. I also took advantage of the free water and stayed nursing it while watching videos. Before boarding, I bought another water, this time for slightly under $5, and was the cheapest I could find. On this flight I had the middle seat, which wasn't great, but not atrocious. This flight had a departure time of 11:59 PM and an arrival time of 5:33 AM, almost identical to my United redeye on the 757 in August. On this A321, I got about an hour of pretty good sleep, which was better than the United flight. My back definitely was hurting for most of the flight though.

It was my first time at Midway, and it left me impressed. We landed early at 5:00, and barely 3 minutes later we were parked at the gate. Took 15 minutes to get off, and from there it was an easy walk to the orange line station (although I did get a little lost in the parking garage, so a little more signage would be nice). It was cold, rainy, and dark, but I was dressed for that, and it would remain raining in Chicago the entire time I was there. This was my first time using an airport rapid transit line, and it was excellent. I boarded the Orange line at around 5:30, and the journey was fast, comfortable, and the older coaches were a total vibe. Something about the fast ride while watching the suburbs slowly wake up in the dark was so enjoyable. Not even 30 minutes later we were in the loop, and I got off at Washington (I think) and walked over to Ogilvie. Again, walking through the rain at 6 AM in a mostly empty Chicago was such a cool entrance to the city. I love Chicago's downtown and it just felt special to be there again. There were a lot of holiday decorations up that added to the mood.

At Ogilvie, I got a coffee from Starbucks and then hopped on the 6:35 Metra out towards Kenosha. I think Metra is such a cool railroad, and I can't let a visit to Chicago go to waste. The ride was smooth, busier than I expected (which I liked -- support transit!), and relaxing. I was already really enjoying my day, and being on the train is always a mood-booster, so I was very happy. I was headed to Winnetka to see the home of Kevin in Home Alone, but also I always see these cute little downtowns whenever I go through Chicago on the train, and wanted to visit one, and Winnetka fit the bill. We got to Winnetka around 7:20, just as it was starting to get light out, and still raining. I walked up to street-level and loved the holiday decorations and actual downtown, it was perfect. I walked to the "Original Greenbay Cafe," a very cute and cozy diner. I was very pleased to see pretty cheap prices, and thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes, and toast, and more free water! I was relaxed on the train and CTA, but it was nice to be in one place and just totally decompress. I walked over to Kevin's house, which was pretty cool. The owner has a problem of people ringing the bell I guess, and there was a sign out front asking people not to. Took a few pictures, and then I just walked around the little downtown. It was very cool, the urbanist in me loved it. The urbanist in me actually loves the urban fabric of all of Chicagoland, and I was geeking out over it from the moment I arrived to the moment I left. The station at Winnetka was cute and clean, and I got on the train back to Chicago at around 8:50. The ride again was nice (although I will say Metra does go fairly slow, but I understand why), and I spent most of it admiring the urban landscape. Arrived back in Ogilvie at 9:30, and from there I walked to Union to meet the friend I was riding with.

The decorations, mainly the Christmas tree, in the Great Hall were amazing and really added to the atmosphere. I went to the Metropolitan Lounge, and my friend I talked while I relaxed. Again, it had been raining the whole time I was out, and so I was very wet. But again, I love Chicago and don't like wasting a good opportunity, so at 11:00 I went out again and walked over to the Bean. It was nice to see people ice skating, and the Chicago skyline is always impressive. On my way back I stopped by Chipotle and then headed back to Union again to rest, thoroughly wet again. By now the time was about 12:30, and as various trains left the lounge emptied out. They were calling trains about 30 minutes prior to their departure, which is closer than I remember them doing it in years past.

Just before 2:30 they called us up to board, and we walked out. I think in years past they just walked you directly to your platform, but recently they have you go through a boarding area. I think it's really stupid, and it's chaotic without much signage or direction unless you have a redcap. On the way to the waiting area, I saw the #4 that had arrived, and I had actually seen the same #4 in Fullerton two days before. Pretty cool to see it on either side of the country. Anyways, we got the pretty bare waiting room (with no seats), only to be told we had to wait. It was pretty annoying to be called for boarding, only to end up standing waiting. Not a great way to start a journey. One good thing they did have for coach passengers was a board that told you which door of the train to go to depending on your destination. They were telling people to look at it, but because of it's placing and randomness I doubt it was that effective. After not too long (but it felt like quite a bit due to the anticipation), the attendant said the conductor had given the all clear and we boarded. The train was on the through track, but pulled up all the way into the north side, so we had to walk on the dinky side platform past service vehicles to the north side. I think they should have just boarded us from the north side, but that would make too much sense for Amtrak. The conductor stood towards the end of the train, and he scanned tickets and directed people where to go. Some of the OBS were wearing New Years Hats, and seemed pretty festive. Our SCA, Mark, was solid. He was polite and proactive, but I think he could communicate a little better, as he mumbled quite a bit and had trouble explaining some things to people.

 

[Cal]

We left Chicago right on time, and I (somewhat sadly) watched us leave the city behind. It had stopped raining (of course AFTER I stopped walking around), but it was very gloomy. At first, the outlets in the entire car weren't working, but our SCA was able to fix it thankfully. The rattling in the room was fairly bad though, not enough to bother me but enough that I was surprised. Also, despite being refurbished the ceiling light was not an LED. After departure, the LSA from the diner made an announcement that we were pretty light today, and that dinner would be done by walk-ins. It indeed was a pretty empty train for most of the trip, but especially that first day. The first day was very uneventful, and there was a twinge of melancholy in the air thanks to the weather. I was impressed by the speed out of Chicago (and the entire day honestly), since we were at 79 for most of it. We were early into Milwaukee, which would be a trend for the entire trip, and it got dark while we were there. The LSA of the cafe after Milwaukee, almost two hours after departing Chicago, which I thought was a bit too long. I never went to the cafe, but she seemed very nice and charismatic, and I saw a Happy New Year banner hung in the SSL. She did take up an entire table for her stuff though. At 5:30, the first call for dinner, we headed in. They were doing communal seating, despite the low amount of passengers. I had the shrimp tempura, steak, and chocolate spoon cake. They gave me three shrimp this time which was an improvement, and the steak was great. The spoon cake had really good flavor, but because it was so dense I didn't finish it. The SA who was in charge of our table was SUPER friendly, but his service was SLOW. We got there at 5:30 and left at 7, and the LSA had to step in and help. He said he was having an off day, and I think he was, because the rest of the trip he was great. The rest of the evening was mostly just relaxing in the roomette, enjoying being on the train, and watching lights zoom out the window. I got off at all the smoke breaks, which were nice, but cold! I think it was under 30 at every smoke break on this trip, and I was cold, being from Cali. I did spend some time in the SSL which was nice, where I heard about some trouble with the bridge crossing the Mississippi before MSP, couldn't quite grasp what was going on though. We were still running on time though, and after MSP I showered and went to bed. At midnight, I did see one firework that was set off as we went by, but that's all. Afterwards, I went to sleep. I woke up briefly at 3, 4, and 5 AM (somehow all at/around different stops), which I rarely ever do, but besides that it was a good night.

I woke up just around 8 AM as we were going through the middle of North Dakota. I was surprised, since usually I wake up early on Amtrak but since it's winter the sun was still rising and it was beautiful. There had been tiny clumps of snow on the ground in Minnesota, but I woke up to a snow-covered land here, and took it in. Waking up in bed to see a beautiful sunrise is always one of my favorite moments on Amtrak. Because we were fast approaching Minot, nearly an hour early, I didn't spend too long in bed before I got ready for the day. We got into Minot around 8:45, where it was a super warm 3 degrees (but it felt like -7 according to the weather app). I walked the train, admired the snow, checked out the little waiting room, and tested my patience in the cold. A CP train passed while we were there which I found very cool. After about 15 minutes outside, I had breakfast. I decided to try the quesadilla for the first time, and it was pretty good I have always thought of quesadillas as finger food, but these were hefty and it was a bit messier than I would have liked. I was also disappointed to hear that I couldn't get it without onions (I hate onions, I'm sorry), but it wasn't a huge deal. Again, the SA's service was much better this morning, and he and the LSA were very joyful and friendly, which really made the diner a nice place to be.

There is not much to talk about this day. I alternated between the roomette, the SSL, and took some trips to the back of the train to watch the tracks. The SSL always had plenty of room, and is naturally one of my favorite places. We ran early or on time pretty much the entire day, and were only stopped for #8 and a freight once. I enjoyed the higher running speed and the snowy landscape, although I really do need to take the EB in summer to see the landscape without snow. I love seeing the small towns in the middle of nowhere, and the EB definitely delivered on that. I was shocked to see many of them get very good patronage, with the platforms pretty busy, especially at Williston and Malta. Lunch was first come first serve, starting at noon, and I had the burger at 1 -- it was excellent. They had the amazing butter cake, although sadly it wasn't warmed up. Throughout the day we kicked up snow, and it was lightly snowing for quite some times, which I of course loved. At some points you could barely see anything else other than whiteness out the window because of it. This did lead to there being plenty of fresh, powdery snow on the ground at Havre which I was really excited about. About 40 minutes after leaving Havre my friend saw the vestibule door cracked open, but was too scared to close it, and so I checked it out, only to find it now completely open while doing 79. I didn't want to go near an open door at track speed, and so I found the SCA and he came back immediately to close it. I did get a short video of it open. At Shelby, despite being early enough to have a roughly 20 minute stop, the crew didn't announce it was a smoke break so barely anyone stepped off. Tonight there were dinner reservations, and at 7:15 we were called to the diner just before Browning. Dinner was the shrimp, pasta, and cheesecake. Shrimp was great, pasta was good (not great), and the cheesecake was excellent. Dinner took a quick 30 minutes, and I was soon back in the roomette. On the way back I did notice a bedroom had an "out of service" note with the reason being "top bunk broken." First time I have seen one of those notes. At this point we were well within Marias Pass, but unfortunately it was very dark outside. I still looked out the window anyway, as I could see the headlights as we went around curves which was cool. I did head to the SSL to get a brief glimpse of the former Izaak Walton Inn after a stop at Essex where I don't think anyone got on or off. The evening was peaceful, and I spent much of reading "Amtrak, America's Railroad" which is a pretty good book, albeit a little repetitive at times. While in the SSL, I did briefly talk to a few other people when I overheard them talking about things I could weigh in on, such as where we were or Glacier National Park. There was another railfan with an Amtrak hoodie but we didn't talk. While in the SSL, our attendant Mark did see us and ask us when we wanted our bed turned down, and our answer was after Essex. He may not have been super personable, but things like this made me appreciate him a lot. We arrived into Whitefish a few minutes early, and I walked around as usual. Lot's of changeover, which I was happy to see, and the building had Christmas lights which I thought was great. This was one of the few places I could go up to the engines (in Minot, MSP, and Shelby they were blocked off), and so I took advantage. By the crew building I did see a big poster saying "Is my train attended/secured?" and I found it pretty funny. After we left Whitefish, our room was set up and I spent some time reading before going to bed. While I was reading we were stopped for a hot minute, leading to our longest delay (around 50 minutes) overnight, but we had made it up by the time I woke up.

 

[Cal]

Again on the second night I woke up around Spokane and at 4:30, both brief. I set an alarm for 6 and got up a few minutes later after enjoying the warmth of the covers. I got ready, and at Wenatchee I stepped off. We now had a P42 leader, and since it might be the last time my train is hauled solely by P42, I got a picture. I loved hearing the P42 horn all throughout the last morning, as I find it much better to the Chargers quieter and more electric sounding horn. I saw the engineer crew change, and the engineer that took over looked very young (in his twenties), which I thought was great. After we left, I went to breakfast and had the scrambled eggs, which were great. As we left I said goodbye to the SA who had been our server for 4/5 meals and he thanked me, said he hopes to see me again, and shook my hand. Very nice guy. The LSA had made an announcement the night prior that he suggests everyone get breakfast at 6:30 when the diner opens as there were a lot of people getting on in Leavenworth. I overheard him say that he expected to serve about 70 for breakfast. When we were there, it wasn't full. Back in the roomette, the sun was rising and the snow-covered landscape was gorgeous. At Leavenworth, I think about 30 coach passengers boarded, filling it to capacity, and 10-20 sleeping car passengers. They stored some of their luggage in compartments on the side of each car, which I had no idea existed until now. It was great to see the train being used though.

This was my first time on the Spokane-Seattle section, and I enjoyed the morning. Before Cascade Tunnel, it was all pretty snowy and very pretty, and I felt it made up for missing Marias Pass the night before. It was very nice to just relax in the roomette, watching a winter wonderland pass by. As we entered Cascade Tunnel, the LSA said that you had until it was daylight again to make it to the diner before it closed, which I thought was funny. After Cascade Tunnel, it got less and less snowy before there was no snow at all, but it was still equally as beautiful. I know some people see Cascade as a tree tunnel, and I can totally see that, but I still think it's beautiful and definitely rivals Marias Pass. There are tons of great bridges, rivers, dramatic mountains, and the trees and the moss on them are really cool, and it's a very cool piece of railroading infrastructure. I went to the back of the train for a bit and it was really cool to see how narrow the pass was and the rock formations. I was still there when we went through Skykomish, and you could see me on the railcam pretty clearly. Once we got off the grade, the scenery becomes less dramatic but nonetheless enjoyable. I love the PNW scenery, and racing through the little towns and greenery, all with some light sprinkling was very cozy and serene. Once we got past Everett, I went downstairs to see Puget sound, and it was pretty, but too gloomy. The final stretch into Seattle was pretty quick, and we arrived 30ish minutes early.

In Seattle I walked over to the boardwalk where I met up with a friend and we walked along it for a little bit before they had to go. The boardwalk and the new aquarium are great pedestrian infrastructure with great vibes. I wanted to explore Seattle, so I checked out Pike Place, which was very busy and pretty cool, and had some solid dumplings. Then I headed over to the Monorail and took it up to Seattle Center. You can tell that the Monorail was built in the 60s for the World's Fair, because it's easy to see they tried to make it feel futuristic. I'm sure it did at one point, but it definitely doesn't feel that way now. I looked up at the Space Needle and walked around Seattle Center, which was fairly empty and pretty. Inside the Armory food court there was a pretty big model train layout which was neat. The controls for the layout are in a pretty bad model of King Street Station, but it was a nice touch nonetheless. I took the Monorail back down, and walked back down towards King Street Station in a non-direct way, just strolling through and choosing streets that looked cool. I've heard Seattle is a mess, but I didn't see one. Like Chicago, I really like downtown Seattle, and I think the architecture and buildings are pretty nice, and they're trying pretty hard to build more housing. Once I reached King Street Station I heard a Sounder train, and I waited to watch it leave since I am a railfan. After that I checked out the interior of the old UP Union Station in Seattle, and it was gorgeous. I love the white interior of King Street, but Union Depot's grand hall was stunning.

At this point, it was a little before 3, and since I didn't want to be in the city after dark I headed to the airport. The Seattle LINK light rail, like the Orange Line, was fast, efficient, and enjoyable. It's such a funky line, with some being completely elevated, and some at-grade running. Either way, it was pretty fast and I enjoyed seeing the suburbs. I got to the airport at 3:30, and it was a pretty quick and very straightforward walk to the terminal. Made it through security by 3:50. My flight wasn't till 9PM, since I know the Builder has had varying reliability in the winter, so I had plenty of time. I checked if I could switch to an earlier flight, but since I was on a saver fare it wasn't possible. So I basically just hung around and didn't do much for a while. I did get dinner at a Chinese place, which was much better than expected, and then just scrolled on my phone or continued reading till boarding at 8:30. I'm also an avgeek, and this was my first time on a MAX, so I was excited. I was luckily enough to get a window seat, despite my seat being assigned right before boarding (another "perk" of being on a saver fare). The seats were fine, better than Frontier, but honestly not that much. The biggest bonus was a bigger tray table, a phone stand, and beverages that were free. We took off at around 9:30. I've heard a lot that the MAX climbs slow, and boy they were not kidding. I looked out the window for a while, enjoying trying to figure out which city I was looking at, before ultimately enjoying their Alaska's entertainment system on my phone and watching Abbott Elementary -- pretty funny show. The flight was pretty enjoyable, and there was a small service where I tried Ginger ale (not too bad!). I will say the MAX is very quiet, I think it's quieter than the a320neo. Anyways, before too long we were descending into LAX. We had a beautiful approach over downtown, and we flew almost right over the 8th Street Yards and directly over Hobart yard. We landed a few minutes before midnight, and I was back home at about 1:20.

Overall, I really enjoyed this trip. The Empire Builder was pretty lowkey, but enjoyable. Exploring was fun. If you read even half of that, thank you!

 

[Cal]

Forgot to add this

-In our room there was a little card with a message from the C-suite in charge of passenger experience or something. It was a nice gesture.

 

[Cal]

Not only do I write a lot of words, but I take a lot of pictures. Here are a select "few"

 

[Cal]

And more

 

[Cal]

And more

 

[Cal]

Last one!

 

[OBS]

Thanks for the report

 

[BlackDiamond]

Nice report, sounds like a fun trip.

 

[caravanman]

Very enjoyable reading and photography too. Glad you had a good time

 

[Palmland]

Good report, thanks. I was surprised that you mentioned the passenger load was light on the EB. Guess Amtrak's yield management isn't that effective?

 

[jiml]

Great report. Sounds like you had a good time. Curious, what was your second airline - the red-eye to Chicago?

 

[Asher]

Enjoyed your trip, narration and photos. Among many interesting photos you captured the drizzle over Puget Sound along the tracks and one of my long time favorite places, the Smith Tower in the background of the train in Seattle.
Thanks for taking the time to include us on your trip.

 

[moosejunky99]

awesome job on this report and great photos!

 

[Cal]

Great report. Sounds like you had a good time. Curious, what was your second airline - the red-eye to Chicago?

Also Frontier this time. In August it was United.

 

[flitcraft]

Loved the report! We were supposed to be on the EB just before Christmas, but my husband had some medical issues that meant we had to cancel. We're still going out to PA next week, but unfortunately not on Amtrak this time. I love the EB in winter, myself--the scenery is a study in white, black, and sepia! Our last trip on the EB, we left in early spring (so actually winter, scenery-wise) and returned three weeks later--what a difference in scenery, as the landscape was shaking off winter and welcoming spring.

And I'm glad for the shout-out to Union Station Seattle--during the pandemic and a good while afterwards, it was closed to the public. It's a stunning building for sure, and quite different than the equally beautiful King St Station that Amtrak uses. Since it's only steps away from King St Station, I recommend a look-see for anyone coming through Seattle. I also recommend the First Hill streetcar for railfans coming through Seattle. The terminus is a couple of quick blocks from King St Station, and the other terminus takes you to the heart of Capitol Hill. (The only sketchy area, where I would no longer get off and explore, is the stop at 12th and Jackson in the International District.)

Happy you had a good trip, and looking forward to future trip reports from you.

 

[Cal H]

Enjoyed your report & pics, thanks for sharing. When did you book this trip? Beautiful winter scenery through the mountains!

 

[Cal]

When did you book this trip?

I think November 18th. My friend was the one who officially booked the roomette, and it was the lowest bucket.

 

[railiner]

Superb trip report, enjoyable read, and great photography!
Thanks for taking the time to post!

 

[jpakala]

When I took the EB we did board from the north side of the waiting area and the train was right there. With a roomette you of course could have waited in the Metropolitan Lounge and in my experience at least when departing on a train at the south tracks at Union Station a staff person announces that you are to depart the Metropolitan Lounge and we've always gone to the train without any intermediate stop and prior to coach passengers boarding. Someone mentioned the relatively low passenger count (at least for the first day or two) and I'm wondering whether that may have been related to the peak & valley nature of the holiday season, with very heavy use of Amtrak on certain days but not on days when people are with relatives & friends and not traveling.

 

[Cal]

a staff person announces that you are to depart the Metropolitan Lounge and we've always gone to the train without any intermediate stop and prior to coach passengers boarding.

This is what my experience has been up until now as well, which is why I was surprised to see that we had to not only go through the weird coach boarding area and following waiting room, but also had to wait there to board because the conductors weren't ready. Since the Metropolitan Lounge had called us for boarding, I thought we were ready to actually board. Guess not..

 

[Bob Dylan]

Nice trip, I too love Chicago, but not in the Winter!

I still remember when I first met you and your traveling companion on the Very Late Texas Eagle in Dallas, as I was heading home to Austin and yall were heading to LAX!

I would NOT fly on Spirit or Frontier Airlines, but then we have SWA here!( and Alaska Air flights have always been 1st Rate!)

 

[Cal]

I still remember when I first met you and your traveling companion on the Very Late Texas Eagle in Dallas, as I was heading home to Austin and yall were heading to LAX!

As do I, that was a crazy coincidence! This was actually my first trip without that friend.

I would NOT fly on Spirit or Frontier Airlines, but then we have SWA here!( and Alaska Air flights have always been 1st Rate!)

I was on a budget, and Frontier was the cheapest (I think $73?). It wasn't awful, I think I'd do it again. Alaska was great.