From St. Paul, MN to Savanna, IL, yesterday's #8 provided a great view of the original Empire Builder route, on the section where the Vista Dome was first introduced in the late 1940s. It certainly beats the current route via Milwaukee from the standpoint of scenery if not passenger traffic. We were even keeping to time, almost, until we struck out over the Illinois prairie and got stabbed for several hotshot freights, ultimately arriving Chicago at 5:58 pm, just over 2 hours late.
NARP had done a great service by posting the planned reroute (for CP railroad rebuilding) on their hotline September 30. That prompted me to use an air award from the Bay Area to Chicago, then travel to Williston, ND on #7 via the normal route, returning on #8 after a rental car visit to the excellent Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site near Williston. Thanks NARP!
Quite a few other folks in the know were on board #8 for the almost 400 miles of rare mileage without the expense of paying for a fantrip. The reroute is supposed to continue (for #8 only) into next week, for certain dates only. Check the NARP hotline for details.
NARP had done a great service by posting the planned reroute (for CP railroad rebuilding) on their hotline September 30. That prompted me to use an air award from the Bay Area to Chicago, then travel to Williston, ND on #7 via the normal route, returning on #8 after a rental car visit to the excellent Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site near Williston. Thanks NARP!
Quite a few other folks in the know were on board #8 for the almost 400 miles of rare mileage without the expense of paying for a fantrip. The reroute is supposed to continue (for #8 only) into next week, for certain dates only. Check the NARP hotline for details.
