EB - 7 or 27

[russianrail]

As I unfortunately could not get out to the Pacific Northwest on one-day notice to ride the 8+ hour late WB EB, here is a daydream question: Which would be the better ride when 8 hours late out of Spokane westbound - #7 to Seattle or #27 to Portland? Factors like having a diner would encourage me to go with #7, but thinking more scenerywise, which would be the better route that you usually cannot see in daylight? It appears they hit sunrise this morning around/slightly after Whitefish, so I would have enjoyed that ride from Whitefish across northern Idaho. Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[Rail Freak]

To me, it would be a coin flip. The difference to me would be going thru Glacier Park in the dark (which would be for either) ! Bummer!

 

[fairviewroad]

Actually I'm surprised they're running the trains all the way through to SEA/PDX. I thought in the case of extreme delays like this, they usually

turn it in Spokane and bustitute people from there. Since there's no back-up equipment in SEA or PDX (AFAIK) this will make for an extremely

late eastbound departure today on 8/28.

 

[SubwayNut]

Last October I had an 8 hour late on #28 Empire Builder Ride from Portland to MSP. The train first left PDX about an hour late do to the equipment arriving at about 3pm from train #27. The train might have left Spokane relatively on time had #8 not gotten stuck behind a stalled freight train going through the Cascades so we spend the night engineless on the platform in Spokane.

I was chatting to the crew that we would have all been bussed to Spokane except that #8 had the Anniversary Train attached to it and they had to send it all the way through.

 

[Trogdor]

I'll echo the others and say that if it's a spur-of-the-moment trip because you see the train is extremely late (8+ hours), then be careful because there's a 50/50 chance they may terminate in Spokane and bus. There are a number of factors that can go into such a decision (availability of replacement buses, status of the equipment such that it needs to go to SEA and possibly get cars/engines swapped out.

 

[JayPea]

At this time of year, daylight begins roughly right around the first stops westbound of Spokane on both 7 and 27, which is Ephrata on 7 and Pasco on 27. In such a scenario, IMHO there is no advantage for one over the other because there is nothing to see. Whomever nicknamed Washington the "Evergreen State" obviously didn't venture into the central portions of Washington. :lol: On either route, west of Spokane, there is nothing to see but sagebrush, irrigated farmland, occasional farms, and occasional small towns. If I had to choose, I'd pick 7, because the scenery on it is, again, IMHO, ever so slightly better. Not to mention the diner factor. Just west of Ephrata there is a nice horseshoe curve the train travels through that most folks don't see. Not quite on the par of Pennsylvania's Horseshoe Curve, however. Once you get to the Columbia River this time of year, you are in full daylight both ways. I would agree that the scenery from Whitefish to Spokane would be neat to see on a late train like that; especially around Sandpoint, where the EB crosses a long (1 mile+) bridge over Lake Pend Oreille, the scenery is spectacular. And the above less-than-glowing report about scenery west of Spokane isn't coming from a disgruntled passenger; I have lived all my life in Eastern Washington and have criss-crossed the state countless times by car and many by train. So I know whereof I speak when I say there's nothing to see.

 

[JayPea]

An addendum to my above post: For those times of the year when more of the EB's routes are in darkness, on 7, you would see all of the Cascades in daylight, while on 27, all of the Columbia Gorge. Again, this is strictly my opinion, but I would in that case opt for 7 again. The part of the Columbia Gorge that is most scenic is the western portion which is in daylight no matter what time of year it is. To me, the eastern part which would be in darkness during the fall and winter months is much less scenic. I prefer the mountains on 7 to the Gorge on 27, but that's just me.

 

[russianrail]

Thanks so much. Look like I could have done the scenic part heading east this morning (19) as 8 is running 5+ hours late out of Spokane, so it looks like a great daytime run to Havre or so. Thanks.

 

[JayPea]

Thanks so much. Look like I could have done the scenic part heading east this morning (19) as 8 is running 5+ hours late out of Spokane, so it looks like a great daytime run to Havre or so. Thanks.

You're welcome! It's not surprising that 8 is running so late, given how late yesterday's 7/27 was. I do see they have made up almost 50 minutes as of Whitefish, which I'm sure is no small comfort to those making connections in Chicago. It would be a great day to see the sights east of Spokane. I've often said it's too bad the Spokane-Whitefish portion of the EB can't be seen in daylight; I've also always said that on those times that portion is viewed during the day, that means the EB is very late either direction and the folks on board may not have too much appreciation for the scenery at that point. :lol:

Last year I took the EB from Spokane to Seattle in late June, when the EB was plagued by flooding problems. In fact, I believe I was on the second-to-last train to arrive from Chicago until the EB was suspended for about six weeks or so. At any rate, it left Spokane 5 1/2 hours late, so I saw the whole route in daylight. I do have to admit that it was interesting to see Spokane from a train's eye view in daylight, especially crossing the high trestle just to the west of downtown Spokane, at the end of which the BNSF track forms a Y, with the Seattle-bound trains going right and the Portland-bound trains going left. West of Spokane, for the first hour or so, the EB on its Seattle run passes through areas that for the most part have no roads, so it was interesting to see areas that only passengers on very late EBs see.

 

[MeisterEric]

On the way back from Whitefish to Seattle, we were about 3 hours East of Seattle, the train was passing by some houses, with the backyards facing the tracks.

One of the backyards had clotheslines, with undies and bras hanging from them......is that scenery, or what? LOL