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Bill, thanks for posting this travelogue. My only experience in a dome car was on the Broadway Limited 15 years ago over Horseshoe Curve. Definitely a memorable experience!

According to a railroading mailing list that I subscribe to, #8 suffered a locomotive failure just outside of Seattle. Since this was the only unit, BNSF had to send a freight locomotive to replace the dead unit. The train continued to lose time, as it was limited by the freight unit's top...

That sounded like a great trip. Thanks for posting it!

It's great to see VIA get some money for refurbishment. Now we need to get our elected officials on this side of the border to get the same idea. Let's see here: how about the same numbers, but with another zero immediately before the decimal point. ;)

A common (and somewhat valid) complaint made by passenger rail advocates is that Amtrak doesn't do enough to promote itself. Now on YouTube, you can see some of I like the route specific commercials, but my favorite is the "airline" that has completely rebuilt itself in the last 4 years. If...

According to Google maps, the BNSF mainline that the Empire Builder runs on is a large chunk of the southern border of Glacier Park, but it doesn't appear that the railroad actually enters the park. Also, none of the EB depots (East Glacier, West Glacier, and Essex) are actually within the park...

You'll probably see a lot of snow if you take the EB in February, but due to the westbound's schedule, you probably won't get to see much, if any, of the Rocky Mountains and Glacier Park, as it goes through western Montana in the late evening. You will, however, get to see the Cascade Mountains...

Nice to meet you, JayPea! Unfortunately, I'm too young to have known the pre-Amtrak Builder (Amtrak predates me by a couple of years), but I've heard so many great things about how the Great Northern ran the EB. Having ridden in a dome under Amtrak as a teen through Pennsylvania's Horseshoe...

Heya, Bill and gs, It's good to "talk" to you again! Thanks for the invite to the Chicago meet. I'm really going to have to look at my schedule and see if that weekend is open. I think it's available, but I'm not sure. October tends to be quite busy at the seminary. Yep, and I still really...

Well, I've been away from the forum for a while, but I'm finally able to return to the discussions. For the "old hands", it's good to see you all again, and for those who have joined since I've been away, it's nice to meet you all and I look forward to entering discussions with you all. I see...

Unfortunately, Yellowstone is closer to major Interstates (I-90 and I-15) than it is to any Amtrak service (the Empire Builder or the California Zephyr). The only way that Amtrak could provide any kind of service to Yellowstone at this time is through bus service from the Builder or Zephyr as...

Alan, I admit that I've been away from the board for many months (darn dial-up Internet access...). How long have rooms in the Trans Dorm been sold on the Empire Builder? I thought they still had the two sleepers to Seattle, so this would be the equivalent of two and a half sleepers to SEA...

I don't think it's an issue of Windows vs. Linux, but rather Flash 7 vs. Flash 8. The current version of Flash for Linux is 7.0.63.0, while the site states that it requires Flash 8. I'm guessing that Amtrak's web developers used Flash 8 to develop the route map, so they probably expect that it...

I think one of two things will happen. Either the LD lines will limp along like they are now or they'll be abolished completely. It'd be nice if the LD trains get lots of money and new development, but it's not likely at this point. What I do think will happen is that the high speed...

Chatter163, Sorry you had such a hassle getting to New York. It's bad enough waiting for a train that's running late, but waiting for one that won't come for a couple of days could be very frustrating! I have to agree with your sentiment about the turkey dinner. I was on the Empire Builder...

For most of the long distance routes, the lounge car only serves sandwiches, heat-and-eat things and snacks, but for some reason the Empire Builder has this special arrangement. Since they're only available after the stop at Havre, between Chicago/Portland and Havre, and once the dinners are...

MontanaJim, The meals are a special item just for the lounge car. The diner serves the regular Amtrak menu, although I guess they've added some things since the relaunch.

The "Empire Builder" dinners were prepared and loaded by a restaurant and casino in Havre called Boxcars. The restaurant is only about a block from the train station, and provide 200-260 meals a day to the passengers according to this article from 2003. The meals must be pretty popular if...

Thanks for posting your trip report. It sounded like you had a pretty good trip, even with a bad toilet system on one stretch and the notoriously late Coast Starlight.

According to this UP roster, Amtrak E9A #418 previously wore UP yellow as #913.