eb glacier park adventure

[yarrow]

last week at work i was trying to think of a way to get to the mountains on my days off. why not the empire builder to glacier park? my wife agreed to stay home and take care of the garden and our animals so yarrow, jj and i made coach reservations from spokane to west glacier. i must say the coaches, both going and coming home, were the cleanest and best functioning i have seen. also the crew was attired in the offical amtrak uniforms and looked and acted very sharp and proud of their train.

we were a little over an hour late leaving spk as the portland section of the eb was late for reasons not known to me. this was ok as i got to see the route in daylight along the kootneai river in idaho. very nice. gn used to schedule the builder to go through this section in daylight because of its beauty.

we were leaving whitefish and the conductor announced we were going to do some switching to take along 2 private cars. it was fun watching the switching and even more fun to see the cars were from the olympian hiawatha and included a skytop lounge/parlour car.

got off at belton station(west glacier), shouldered our packs and spent two glorious days hiking in the logan pass area. aided by glacier park's new, free shuttle system on the going to the sun road.

got back on the eb last evening for a pretty ride back home. it stayed light until we entered the flathead tunnel and was dark after that even after we left the tunnel. we are very, very tired and very, very happy with our glacier park adventure. thanks glacier park and thanks amtrak.

 

[MrFSS]

last week at work i was trying to think of a way to get to the mountains on my days off. why not the empire builder to glacier park? my wife agreed to stay home and take care of the garden and our animals so yarrow, jj and i made coach reservations from spokane to west glacier. i must say the coaches, both going and coming home, were the cleanest and best functioning i have seen. also the crew was attired in the offical amtrak uniforms and looked and acted very sharp and proud of their train. we were a little over an hour late leaving spk as the portland section of the eb was late for reasons not known to me. this was ok as i got to see the route in daylight along the kootneai river in idaho. very nice. gn used to schedule the builder to go through this section in daylight because of its beauty.

we were leaving whitefish and the conductor announced we were going to do some switching to take along 2 private cars. it was fun watching the switching and even more fun to see the cars were from the olympian hiawatha and included a skytop lounge/parlour car.

got off at belton station(west glacier), shouldered our packs and spent two glorious days hiking in the logan pass area. aided by glacier park's new, free shuttle system on the going to the sun road.

got back on the eb last evening for a pretty ride back home. it stayed light until we entered the flathead tunnel and was dark after that even after we left the tunnel. we are very, very tired and very, very happy with our glacier park adventure. thanks glacier park and thanks amtrak.

Thanks for the report. Wish I lived near an Amtrak route where I could easily get on and off the train as you did.

 

[JayPea]

I live near Spokane and have taken the Amtrak-to-Glacier Park trip once before, four years ago, when my uncle, who lives in Illinois, came this way for a visit. Strangely, the Empire Builder was a bit late leaving Spokane, too, so we also got to enjoy the Kootenai River in Idaho. I wish there was a route that went through Sandpoint during the daytime, as that area, especially Lake Pend Oreille, is just gorgeous. We got off at East Glacier and rented a car, where we drove over the Going-to-the Sun Road. This was during the fire season at Glacier, and the air was hazy with smoke, to the point the sun appeared blood-red. If we'd have planned better, we'd have stayed there overnight, but, as it was, we had just enough time to drive over the Going-to-the-Sun Road, take a side trip or two along the way, and get back to the East Glacier train station in time to catch the Builder back to Spokane.

This fall, my uncle will be flying from Chicago to Seattle, and I will catch the Builder in Spokane, go to Seattle and meet him there, and then the both of us will take the Builder from Seattle back to Chicago and then the City of New Orleans down to Champaign. I've taken the Empire Builder to Chicago before from Spokane---in 1965, when the GN ran it. I'm much looking forward to this trip!

 

[gswager]

I live near Spokane and have taken the Amtrak-to-Glacier Park trip once before, four years ago, when my uncle, who lives in Illinois, came this way for a visit. Strangely, the Empire Builder was a bit late leaving Spokane, too, so we also got to enjoy the Kootenai River in Idaho. I wish there was a route that went through Sandpoint during the daytime, as that area, especially Lake Pend Oreille, is just gorgeous. We got off at East Glacier and rented a car, where we drove over the Going-to-the Sun Road. This was during the fire season at Glacier, and the air was hazy with smoke, to the point the sun appeared blood-red. If we'd have planned better, we'd have stayed there overnight, but, as it was, we had just enough time to drive over the Going-to-the-Sun Road, take a side trip or two along the way, and get back to the East Glacier train station in time to catch the Builder back to Spokane.
This fall, my uncle will be flying from Chicago to Seattle, and I will catch the Builder in Spokane, go to Seattle and meet him there, and then the both of us will take the Builder from Seattle back to Chicago and then the City of New Orleans down to Champaign. I've taken the Empire Builder to Chicago before from Spokane---in 1965, when the GN ran it. I'm much looking forward to this trip!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[JayPea]

I live near Spokane and have taken the Amtrak-to-Glacier Park trip once before, four years ago, when my uncle, who lives in Illinois, came this way for a visit. Strangely, the Empire Builder was a bit late leaving Spokane, too, so we also got to enjoy the Kootenai River in Idaho. I wish there was a route that went through Sandpoint during the daytime, as that area, especially Lake Pend Oreille, is just gorgeous. We got off at East Glacier and rented a car, where we drove over the Going-to-the Sun Road. This was during the fire season at Glacier, and the air was hazy with smoke, to the point the sun appeared blood-red. If we'd have planned better, we'd have stayed there overnight, but, as it was, we had just enough time to drive over the Going-to-the-Sun Road, take a side trip or two along the way, and get back to the East Glacier train station in time to catch the Builder back to Spokane.

This fall, my uncle will be flying from Chicago to Seattle, and I will catch the Builder in Spokane, go to Seattle and meet him there, and then the both of us will take the Builder from Seattle back to Chicago and then the City of New Orleans down to Champaign. I've taken the Empire Builder to Chicago before from Spokane---in 1965, when the GN ran it. I'm much looking forward to this trip!

Enjoy your trip!

I certainly plan on it! Boarding the train in Spokane will be the least enjoyable part of it. The westbound Builder to Seattle leaves at 2:45 AM, and no one in Spokane is up at that miserable time except cabbies, cops, and hookers. :lol: Unless, of course, you're an Amtrak passenger. Since I'm too cheap to pay for parking and the station isn't in the greatest part of town, and my car already looks like it's been vandalized :lol: I'm going to have my sister drop me off in the early evening, so I'll have a nice long wait at the Spokane station. Ah well, it'll be worth it!