Route Profile: Empire Builder

Amtrak's Empire Builder is a transcontinental train, linking Chicago with the Pacific Northwest.  The entire trip, from Chicago, to the end points in Seattle and Portland, takes just about 46 hours, or two nights.  Destinations en route include Milwaukee, the Twin Cities, Fargo, Glacier National Park, Spokane, the Cascade Mountains, and the Columbia River Gorge.

Williston, ND.
All photos by James Ogden.

The Empire Builder travels from Chicago to Seattle and Portland, through the northern United States.  The train serves cities in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.  From Chicago to St. Paul, the train travels on the Canadian Pacific Railway and stops in Glenview, a Chicago suburb, and then heads north, parallel to Lake Michigan, to Milwaukee.  Once in Milwaukee, the train turns inland a bit, connecting Wisconsin towns such as Portage and LaCrosse.  The train crosses the Mississippi River three times before finally arriving in St. Paul.  As the train leaves St. Paul, and the Twin Cities, it goes onto BNSF Railway trackage for the remained of the trip.  Heading west, the train travels overnight across Minnesota and part of North Dakota, making night tine stops in places such as St. Cloud, and Detroit Lakes.  The first stop in North Dakota is Fargo, and from there the train heads north to Grand Forks.  In Grand Forks, the train turns west again, and travels across North Dakota.

The Empire Builder in Shelby, MT.

In North Dakota, the train stops in some of the larger areas including Minot and Williston.  Also in North Dakota, the train stops in Rugby, which is the geographic center of North America.  The exact center point is designated by a monument only a short distance from the depot.  Around lunch time, the train crosses into Montana, and into the Mountain Time Zone.  Typically an announcement is made about this, because lunch is served in the Mountain Time Zone, and is therefore postponed one hour.  In Montana, the train continues across the prairie, stopping in small places like Wolf Point and Glasgow.  As it gets closer to dinner time, the train stops in Shelby, and from there heads up into the mountains.  The train crosses the continental divide in Marias Pass.  The train rises to almost a mile high just for a short time as it crosses the pass.  Only 55 miles of this line is above 4,000 feet.  As the train starts over Marias Pass, it also starts into Glacier National Park.  The park is served directly by three stations, including East Glacier Park, Essex, and West Glacier.  Essex is home to the famous Izaak Walton Inn.  Marias Pass is the day's most scenic area, and most people spend the afternoon and evening in the lounge car, watching the views go by.

Cascade Mountains, near Skykomish, WA.

Continuing west, the train descends out of Marias Pass an stops in Whitefish in the evening.  The train then travels overnight across the remainder of Montana, Idaho, and into Washington.  The train arrives in Spokane in the early hours of the morning, and splits into two trains.  Several cars are removed from the rear of the train, and a locomotive off of the front, making two trains.  When they depart from Spokane, one section goes to Seattle and the other goes to Portland.  Passengers do not need to worry about changing trains or cars during this process.  When sleeping car rooms and coach seats are assigned, the destination is taken into consideration, and passengers are on the right section of the train from the start of the trip.

Space Needle, Seattle, WA.

The Seattle section of the train continues west across Washington, crossing over the Cascade mountains.  Wenatchee is another morning stop, and from there the train heads into Stevens Pass.  Stevens Pass was named for John Stevens, who was well known for his work on the Great Northern Railway and the Panama Canal.  At the top of the pass, the train enters the Cascade Tunnel, which, at 7.8 miles long, is the longest railroad tunnel in North America.  The train will be in the complete darkness of the tunnel for about fifteen minutes.  Typically the train passes through the tunnel around breakfast time.  From there, the train descends through the Cascades to Puget Sound.  The entire morning is full of beautiful scenery, and is well worth getting up early to see it all.

Union Station, Portland, OR.

The train typically arrives in Everett towards the end of the morning commute.  From there it heads south, along Puget sound, allowing for some sweeping panoramas of the Olympic mountains across the sound.  The views of Puget Sound also offer a glimpse into the world of commercial shipping, as the Seattle areas have several places where large container and automobile ships arrive from Asia.  After one more stop along the sound, in Edmonds, the train arrives at King Street Station, in in downtown Seattle.  Connections are available to local transit and taxis.

The Portland Section of the train leaves Spokane and heads southwest, towards the Columbia River.  The train then follows the river west, staying on the Washington side of the river.  The best views of the river and the gorge are on the river side of the train.  After several morning hours of traveling along the Columbia River, the train arrives in Vancouver.  After a brief stop there, the train heads south, finally arriving at Union Station, right in downtown Portland.  Connection to the light rail, transit, and taxis is available at Union Station.

Superliner equipment in St. Paul, MN.

Amtrak uses Superliner equipment for the Empire Builder.  Superliners are bilevel rail cars.  Amenities include sleeping cars, a full service dining car, a cafe car, a lounge, with large windows to look at the views through, and roomy coach seats.  Sleeping car passengers have all meals in the dining car included in the price of their ticket.  Dining car meals are available to coach passengers at an additional charge.  The cafe car has a variety of snack and beverage items available from early in the morning to late at night.  This is a non smoking train.  Periodic stops are made to allow people to step off the train to smoke for a few minutes.