Hi, just did the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle and thought I'd share my experience for anyone doing this in the future. Overall I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it! I did this trip with my 13 yr old, and it was his dream trip! He is the train nerd in my house! Chicago was easy, we had a few hours to wait and we got food and then waited in the Metropolitan lounge. I was disappointed in the lounge compared to the one in Moynihan Station New York. The snacks were chips and soda! In NY you get a large choice of foods and drinks for free and the seating area is much nicer. When your train is ready they walk you down so you don't have to worry about listening for when to go. It is announced in the lounge. Once on the train we were in the transition car right at the front. We tried to change rooms but they said it was full. We did have some staff sleeping in some of the roomettes around us, but we barely saw them so it didn't both us at all and it was nice and quiet as far as foot traffic. Do not have a shower! I tried on day 2, the water was luke warm at best and it was kind of dirty and gross.
We spent a lot of our time chatting with various people at dinner or lunch or breakfast and in the observation car. It is communal dining so they always put you with other people for every meal which at first felt awkward but later we enjoyed because we got to meet so many different people. I was pleasantly surprised by most of the meals. Between the two of us we had steak and salmon, French toast, scrambled eggs and omelettes, burgers and salads. Everything tasted pretty good.
I have to say although the beds are narrow and thin they are not too uncomfortable although I did not sleep at all on the first night. Mainly because the train driver is blowing the horn every 10 to 20 seconds all night long and stopping at stations every hour. Because we were in the front car it was very loud. Next time I would make sure I got a car right at the back. The second night I did sleep better and because we were going through areas with very little roads, towns etc. he did not blow the horn very much so I did get a few hours sleep.
The views for day one and most of day two are not that fantastic. A lot of flatlands, farms, fields, small towns nothing much. Unfortunately it was just getting dark when we got to Glacier National Park. We got about 40 minutes of light seeing some amazing views and then it was dark. But in the morning we woke up in Washington and until we got to Seattle reviews were incredible.
I thought I might be bored and time would go slowly but honestly it went really quickly. I would love to upgrade to a bedroom one of these times. The roommates are so tiny. It's fine but a bedroom would be so much nicer. After the first evening for the following day we did not put our beds back into seats. Mainly because we spent so much time out of the roomette but also in the afternoon we went back to our room for a little while and just lay on the beds and relaxed. My son had a nap!
We spent two nights in Seattle and then flew back to NY. Did not love Seattle, the homelessness was really bad. Two days was enough. Happy to answer any questions for anyone doing this trip in the future!
We spent a lot of our time chatting with various people at dinner or lunch or breakfast and in the observation car. It is communal dining so they always put you with other people for every meal which at first felt awkward but later we enjoyed because we got to meet so many different people. I was pleasantly surprised by most of the meals. Between the two of us we had steak and salmon, French toast, scrambled eggs and omelettes, burgers and salads. Everything tasted pretty good.
I have to say although the beds are narrow and thin they are not too uncomfortable although I did not sleep at all on the first night. Mainly because the train driver is blowing the horn every 10 to 20 seconds all night long and stopping at stations every hour. Because we were in the front car it was very loud. Next time I would make sure I got a car right at the back. The second night I did sleep better and because we were going through areas with very little roads, towns etc. he did not blow the horn very much so I did get a few hours sleep.
The views for day one and most of day two are not that fantastic. A lot of flatlands, farms, fields, small towns nothing much. Unfortunately it was just getting dark when we got to Glacier National Park. We got about 40 minutes of light seeing some amazing views and then it was dark. But in the morning we woke up in Washington and until we got to Seattle reviews were incredible.
I thought I might be bored and time would go slowly but honestly it went really quickly. I would love to upgrade to a bedroom one of these times. The roommates are so tiny. It's fine but a bedroom would be so much nicer. After the first evening for the following day we did not put our beds back into seats. Mainly because we spent so much time out of the roomette but also in the afternoon we went back to our room for a little while and just lay on the beds and relaxed. My son had a nap!
We spent two nights in Seattle and then flew back to NY. Did not love Seattle, the homelessness was really bad. Two days was enough. Happy to answer any questions for anyone doing this trip in the future!
