Empire Builder annuled for a couple of days

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2) Due to the frigid temperatures in the region, do they keep the heat on the train on high for the whole trip? I was on the Vermonter in January 2000 and it was pretty comfortable on board, not overly hot or cold. I'm hoping this one will be the same.
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Actually the heat breakers only have two settings, on and off, same for the A/C. So it's mostly a matter of whether the A/C is on or off, there is no thermostat like you have in your house or car.
 
Is #27/28 still referred to as the "Baby Builder"? I've seen photos of the train with as few as 3 Superliners in the consist. What's the norm for the Portland-Spokane leg.....4 perhaps? Once the sections join in Spokane, are the Portland cars usually attached to the rear of the SEA cars or vice versa?

Sorry about all the questions!

:)
 
I believe the Portland section goes on the bottom since the Seattle side has the Trans Dorm and baggage car up front.
 
the cover of the 1987 amtrak travel planner shows the baby builder with over 10 cars. might just be a promotional photo, though.

i cant wait for my ride on the 8th! going from portland to chicago on EB, then taking the Cardinal to DC.......
 
I would think that the normal minimum number of cars for the Portland section, would 4. One sleeper, one Sightseer Lounge, 2 coaches.

The Portland section always goes on the rear.
 
shanghaiamtrak said:
the cover of the 1987 amtrak travel planner shows the baby builder with over 10 cars. might just be a promotional photo, though.
i cant wait for my ride on the 8th! going from portland to chicago on EB, then taking the Cardinal to DC.......
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Well as we all know the travel planners have been known to be a little off. A few years ago they produced a planner that had a picture of the Empire Builder with 6 Engines, and more cars then ive ever seen. What is funny about the picture, is if you look closely, you can actually tell it is 2 combined train sets. So the picture must have been taken when something out of the ordinary happened and Amtrak needed to dead-head a double consist back to Chicago.
 
according to amtraks' train status page, the EB is started running again out of chicago today. HOORRAY!!!
 
shanghaiamtrak said:
according to amtraks' train status page, the EB is started running again out of chicago today. HOORRAY!!!
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You are correct, this story confirms it.

Amtrak's Empire Builder resumed service across the northern Montana Hi-Line Monday, five days after service was disrupted because of avalanches near here.
Amtrak said its westbound Empire Builder left Chicago Monday morning, bound for Seattle and then Portland. The first eastbound train was expected to leave the West Coast Tuesday, Amtrak said.
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The full story from KGW.com.
 
NativeSon5859 said:
Is #27/28 still referred to as the "Baby Builder"? I've seen photos of the train with as few as 3 Superliners in the consist. What's the norm for the Portland-Spokane leg.....4 perhaps? Once the sections join in Spokane, are the Portland cars usually attached to the rear of the SEA cars or vice versa?
Sorry about all the questions!

:)
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I have heard the name "Baby Builder" in reference to the PDX section, so I suppose so. It normally has the Sightseer Lounge, a baggage coach, a regular coach, and the sleeper. Sometimes there will be at one boxcar behind the sleeper, but not all the time.

When the two sections get to Spokane, the Portland section is scheduled to be (and usually is) the first section in the station. #28 pulls up and drops off passengers. At the same time, the station crew disconnect the engine so it can get out of the way of the Seattle section. #8 passes #28 on an outside track and backs into the station to connect #8 and #28. Once the two sections are connected, passengers are let out of #8 and general boarding begins. The whole process takes about 45 minutes.
 
I'm looking forward to getting some good night pictures of the two sections in Spokane. I'll probably detrain there to get dose of cold air and maybe a coke or something. :)
 
Oooops.....

as I was saying, so since she is going, at least I can be assured that the person sitting next to me will have good hygene. :D

Looks like we'll try to upgrade on board....keeping my fingers crossed about that.
 
NativeSon5859 said:
Looks like we'll try to upgrade on board....keeping my fingers crossed about that.
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Well keep in mind that you get two chances to upgrade on this train. B)

If you fail to get a sleeper out of Portland, then check again once you reach Spokane. The may well be space on the Seattle section, even if there isn't on the Portland section. However it's doubtful that the Portland conductor would know if Seattle is sold out. Even if he knows, he might not be able to sell you an upgrade. You'd most likely need the conductor out of Spokane for that.
 
Actually Alan the PDX-Spokanne Conductor should have a full manifest for the entire train, including SEA side sleepers. Now I don't know if this is true, but it could prove to be critical for the coach loading plan down the road if they don't plan right from the start.
 
battalion51 said:
Actually Alan the PDX-Spokanne Conductor should have a full manifest for the entire train, including SEA side sleepers. Now I don't know if this is true, but it could prove to be critical for the coach loading plan down the road if they don't plan right from the start.
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I thought about that too, and it probably is true that he has the full info. :)

However I discarded that idea, since the PDX conductor would be blissfully unaware if the SEA conductor had performed an on-board upgrade for the last room available on the SEA section.
 
Ah the beauty of space control. Before any sale is made now the Conductor must call Space Control in Wilmington, not a station, to secure the space. Space Control will request reservation numbers, price sold for, room #, stations sold betweem, passenger names, and all that good stuff before the sale can be made complete. The reason for this is so that the Conductor will know right away whether a station down the road sold the room since his manifest was printed. This also removes passengers from manifest counts in coach, and moves them to sleeper on future manifests printed.
 
There's only one problem with that theory.

Space Control is in Houston. :lol: :D :) And they call it NASA.

:lol:
 
Seriously, I wasn't aware that they had changed that procedure. In that case, it may well be possible for the PDX conductor to cut the upgrade for a SEA sleeper.

Good luck, Native! :)
 
NativeSon5859 said:
Couple of questions......

1) What is the best side of the train to sit on? Leaving Portland I assume it will be pretty full, especially since the train has been cancelled recently...

.
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I went from Chicago to Portland on the Pioneer and return on the EB about 1986 (some shots in Viewliners web page) and I remember that one route was south of the Coumbia River and the other route north. I think the Pioneer route was south. If that is true, the EB route would have the beautiful Columbia River on the right.
 
While taking your night photos in spokane, I would recommend hurrying up to the head end as soon as possible. I waited to long and by the time I got up their, the headlights had been shut off, or dimmed. Oh well, I find a lot of the time great pictures can be taken when working with the head end lights.
 
What I'd do is track down the location of the Conductor and get off at the same door as him, since they tend to stay close to the head end.
 
Bill Haithcoat said:
I went from Chicago to Portland on the Pioneer and return on the EB about 1986 (some shots in Viewliners web page) and I remember that one route was south of the Coumbia River and the other route north. I think the Pioneer route was south. If that is true, the EB route would have the beautiful Columbia River on the right.
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Yep, you remember correctly. The old Pioneer route was on the UP tracks that were on the south side of the river in Oregon. The Builder runs on the BNSF tracks on the north side in Washington. Heading eastbound, the Columbia runs on the right side of the train.
 
The Empire Builder is back in service, running again! That's nice to see. I watched it do part of its turnaround (on the eastside of the Steel Bridge, where it uses the bridge, and the tracks in East Portland to wye and turn itself around for the next eastbound trip). It was the usual length: GE Dash 8 - 32 BWH (P32) locomotive, Sightseer-Lounge, two Superliner Coaches, one Superliner Sleeper, and two "mail-handling" cars that are used for express and other packages services.
 
steve_relei said:
P32 locomotive, Sightseer-Lounge, two Superliner Coaches, one Superliner Sleeper, and two "mail-handling" cars that are used for express and other packages services.
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You mean P42 right? A P32 would just be a little out of place :unsure: :lol:
 
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