Recent content by wisEBfan

Another stop near Glacier Nat'l Park to consider is Essex, MT to stay at the Izaak Walton Inn. And one can rent a car from there to drive to Glacier Nat'l Park. The Inn is located near the tracks, with a foot bridge over the tracks to their own hiking trails. Good for watching trains while...

" . . . So if one were going to GPK it would make no difference and booking the cheaper room would make sense? " While it isn't worth paying a lot more to get into the Portland sleeper, it does have, in my mind, three advantages. One is less foot traffic through the car, since it is the last...

You'll probably enjoy the trip more if you build in a day or two of "slack" on the west coast, so that in the event of a very late train, you can relax, knowing that your outbound train is not until the next day. Plus you'll have a chance to sleep in a bed that is not moving! So you might...

As pointed out in previous posts, time of year, exact dates of travel, how far in advance you make the reservations can make quite a difference in cost. If you have good prices for most segments of your trip, I wouldn't worry about reserving a roomette rather than a bedroom for a segment or...

Just to make sure: you do know about the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago Union Station? As a sleeping car passenger, you are entitled to wait for the train there, and board the train from there. So go directly there once you arrive. It is very nice, with free snacks, soft drinks, coffee...

I have found flip flop type footware good for wearing to the shower. The showers on the EB have always been clean when I have taken it, but you never know. And in any event, you never want to walk around barefoot at any time.

One thing to watch for is how the Dining car is handling dinner reservations. Mostly likely the person in charge will be walking through the train soon after leaving CHI to make those reservations, beginning with the sleepers. So, you'll need to be in or near your roomette when he/she comes...

Good point. That must be it. It is a different station, and there is no agent nor machine at that station. The system must be set to automatically mail tickets which depart from such places. Thanks for the insight.

It appears that the lack of roomette/bedroom numbers/letters on online Amtrak ticket reservations may not be the only thing that has changed. On July 30th I made a reservation for a one-way ticket next June (2011), and under the heading of "Ticketing Information" was the usual "You can pick up...

There is a brief description of the Columbus station in Wikipedia. Just go in by searching for the "Empire Builder train," and then scroll down the right side to the list of station stops, and click on the line for Columbus. You can also see the station and the waiting area at various times of...

I just made sleeper reservations for March 2011 on the City of New Orleans, and I noticed the same thing--no room numbers. Has anyone making recent sleeper reservations gotten those room numbers yet, by any means? :unsure:

Today's Wisconsin State Journal from Madison carried a front page story on a first draft of what the new downtown station in Madison might look like. The location is just east of the FLW Convention Center, and about three blocks from the State Capitol building (and other state government...

Or, better would be to be seated at one of the tables in the Sightseer Lounge car. Larger windows, plus you can see out both sides quite easily. One the way back in the morning, east of Whitefish to East Glacier will be filled with mountain scenery. From Whitefish to West Glacier, the best...

While parts of CHI - DEN are worth seeing, such as crossing the Mississippi river, for most people the best scenery would be considered to be the mountains, starting just west of Denver. Although last time, I boarded the CZ in Chicago to experience Chicago Union Station, if I take the CZ again...