Well, here it is on Thursday, beautiful sunny day in Seattle, where I'm killing time before I board the Empire Builder for home. It's 1 pm, I'm sitting in a terrace at the Pike Place market overlooking the Sound, and I get both a text and a phone call from Amtrak. Apparently, the Builder is late leaving its originating station before I even get to the station. The phone call said something about "late equipment." Sounds like 7 came in a bit late. Our 1755 train is now scheduled for 1830. Oh well, every trip on amtrak is an adventure, but they're still projecting an early arrival into Chicago on Saturday.
Empire Builder Nov 16 Homeward bound
- Thread starter MARC Rider
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They will indeed project an early arrival, right up till it's not even possible. There's plenty of padding in the schedule.
Leaving Seattle late may mean seeing more of the morning scenery in Montana. I'm looking forward to your next report!
Leaving Seattle late may mean seeing more of the morning scenery in Montana. I'm looking forward to your next report!
OmahaRoad
Train Attendant
Best of luck on your return trip! Having checked Intercity Rail Map throughout the day just randomly, I noticed that the 7 and 27 were late, and the 7 in particular looks like it hit some pretty major issues of some type around Everett--it went from just under 3 hours late to more than 5 hrs late, and is still not in Seattle last I checked. No idea what happened, but I hope that your trip doesn't have further delays! But like oregon pioneer said above, they will be able to make up a lot of time due to the schedule padding.
seeing more scenery in Montana might compensate for missing the scenery in the Cascades that I'm missing due to it being November with early darkness.
I'm at the station. According to Transitdocs, 7 hasn't even reached Everett yet. The board at the station is calling for an arrival of 4:25 to 4:30 pm. Amtrak's communications with me is estimating a departure of about 6:30 pm. Can they really turn the train around in 2 hours?
Well, 7 just pulled into the station, 5 hours late. There was a Charger in the lead with a Genesis in the #2 position. Now all they have to do is turn the train and we'll be ready to go.
Turn the train in 2 hours? Not a chance. Plan on 4-5 hours...
The app says a departure at 7:45 pm, a delay of 2:50. They just passed out sandwiches and snack packs to all of us on 8. They were from Subway, but they were really skimpy. Well, at least I won't be totally hungry tonight.
chadamfleetrailfan
Service Attendant
I'm assuming there was a Subway nearby the station that they could hastily provide to you? That was very thoughtful of Amtrak to provide those to you (even though they were skimpy) due to the inconvenience.
The train rolled into the station at 7:30 pm and we were off by 7:50. I guess that's pretty good, turning the train in 3 hours.
When I got to my room, the bed was fully made up. This is a first in many years, as they've been just making up the sheets and handing us a plastic wrapped blanket.
I was on the late incoming 7. We were on-time into Leavenworth, but had to hold there for 3 hours, because a BNSF train had lost power in the Cascade Tunnel. We finally proceeded up the hill, but then had to wait again outside the eastern tunnel portal for another 2 hours, because another BNSF high-priority z-train was having communications problems, so they needed to clear that up and get them on their way before we could move. We eventually got into King St just about 5 hours late.
Ours was quite an empty train: in the 731 car, only 2 bedrooms and 2 or 3 roomettes were occupied, and the coach car was maybe 1/3 occupied, so that probably helped speed up the turn-around.
Ours was quite an empty train: in the 731 car, only 2 bedrooms and 2 or 3 roomettes were occupied, and the coach car was maybe 1/3 occupied, so that probably helped speed up the turn-around.
Indeed -- The inbound car attendants start the turn-around process, especially in empty rooms. They already need to turn over rooms that change hands mid-journey, so prepping for the terminal is more of the same (a lot more).
Of course, there are other turn-around steps like repairs, inspection, consist-shuffling etc that can't be helped.
One thing I noticed on my recent EB round trip was that my sleeper was in the same position each way, but its rooms were on the north side of the train each way. Maybe that was a coincidence of random orientation on two different sets of equipment, but if the EB consistently keeps certain windows (and doors) facing a certain way, it means that the train didn't just pull around in a circle at its terminus -- The cars had to be decoupled, shuffled front to back, and then rejoined while continuing to face the same direction.
We just left Havre, about 3 and a half hours behind schedule. While there was some overcast when we went through Libby, after we emerged from the Flathead Tunnel, it was mostly blue skies and some really good Rocky Mountain Scenic views that make up a bit for the snow in the Canadian Rockies.
I think I would have been pretty happy to have had to wait outside of that tunnel!! I kind of had to talk my way through it, can't imagine getting stuck inside! I love the EB though!
Crossing the not so mighty Mississippi at Little Falls. MN
St Paul
Along the now mighty Mississippi (Lake Pepin) South of Red Wing.
We had some excitement after leaving St. Paul when we hit a deer that apparently also knocked off some brake hoses, causing us to stop very quickly. No damage to the train, however, and we were back on the move after a short delay. No word on whether they're going to serve us venison Amstew if our arrival into Chicago gets further delayed.
5 PM and we left Wisconsin Dells a few minutes ago. Looks like we're getting Amstew. At least I won't need to worry about finding a late night dinner in Chicago.
Yep. Amstew, my first since 2007.
Bet it tastes better than Flex Meals!
It doesn't look like the used the venison in the stew, but it that wild rice in the bowl under it?
It looks like the stew could use a lot of 'doctoring' to me. Did you have any sauces with you?
Actually, I think the flex meals taste better. You could tell it was from a can. But I'm not complaining, we got into Chicago at 8:15, and I appreciated not having to look around for a place to eat.Bet it tastes better than Flex Meals!
jis
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I agree with you. Most of the properly prepared Flex Meals taste better than the Amstew, at least to me, arguably with not that sophisticated a palate.
After a restful night in Chicago, I'm on the Capitol Limited for my next to last leg. we have 2 sleepers at the rear of the train, not sur how many coaches in front of the CCC. The LSA running the flex dining is a real hotshot, she took dinner orders before we left, and had my order laid out on a table in the CCC when she said it would be served. She and the SCAs were hustling to get the sleeper pax fed. Apparently they do that before they open the cafe car for coach. There were a lot of people eating in the CCC, though it looked like the SCAs were also delivering a lot of meals to rooms.
I had the "beef burgundy," which was definitely better than Amstew, but not quite as good as some of the flex meal beef products I've had in the past. But it filled me up, and the butter cake made up for any deficiencies. The red wine also helped put me in a mellow mood, not to mention the shot of Alberta Premium I had before I went to the CCC.
Anyway, we left on time, which is an improvement over my experience with the Empire Builder. Here's hoping we get in on time, and I don't need a late evening connection, like the Pametto, to get me onto Baltiomore.
I had the "beef burgundy," which was definitely better than Amstew, but not quite as good as some of the flex meal beef products I've had in the past. But it filled me up, and the butter cake made up for any deficiencies. The red wine also helped put me in a mellow mood, not to mention the shot of Alberta Premium I had before I went to the CCC.
Anyway, we left on time, which is an improvement over my experience with the Empire Builder. Here's hoping we get in on time, and I don't need a late evening connection, like the Pametto, to get me onto Baltiomore.
Back in Maryland. The Cap is rolling onto Cumberland more or less on schedule. I did not get a good sleep last night. It was like riding a bucking bronco, the tracks were so rough. Quite unlike the Canadian or the Empire Builder. I guess I was spoiled by CN and BNSF.
OmahaRoad
Train Attendant
Glad you have made it all the way back to Maryland safely! I am sorry to hear about your lack of sleep
That is really too bad! I'll be taking the Cap for the first time exactly a month from now (WAS-CHI) in a roomette and I am disappointed to hear about how bad the tracks are on that route. Though good to know in advance so I can at least be mentally prepared!
We got into Washington on time, and I'm now sitting in NER 94. This is the first time in a long time that I'm actually on the booked connecting train. I think the holiday traffic is starting. This train is 10 cars long, and appears packed. I was lucky and was able to pre-board; the lounge attendant walked us around the cattle line to the gate.
The northbound Crescent just pulled in across the platform, and the lights came back on, so our motor must be attached. The last leg of the journey begins soon.
The northbound Crescent just pulled in across the platform, and the lights came back on, so our motor must be attached. The last leg of the journey begins soon.
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