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Trip report for Aug 2, to Aug 13 on The Empire Builder, train 28, and 27 from Portland,OR to Wisconsin Dells,WI.
My wife and I had wanted to take another train vacation for some time, so we decided to go to my family reunion via train. My late wife, myself, and our 2 kids had taken the Empire Builder (coach) from Portland to Columbus, WI a few times, including the first train to Spokane after Mt St Helens blew up (boy was it filthy). Later I took it to Chicago on my way to my 50th graduation in Terre Haute, IN. My current wife was a railroad brat, as her father was the district claims agent for the UP, so she’s ridden many trains. This time we decided we were too old (both in our 80s) for coach so we splurged for a bedroom going out, and a roomette coming back.
We left Portland on time, on 8/2 on the #28 Empire Builder. Our first meal was a box dinner which was fine and we had no complaints. Our car attendant was Simon, who’s from Chicago. He was very helpful, cheerful, and courteous-nothing but compliments for him. The ride along the Columbia river was very scenic and pleasant as we crossed the Columbia the second time. The bridge in Pasco was impressive. It was time to hit the sack so Simon came to set up the beds and discovered there was no ladder for getting up to the upper bunk. I’m nearly 80 and admit that it was a challenge getting up there. Don’t know if my wife was more worried, or entertained. Funny thing is, when a ladder was found for the second night, I found it easier to not use it-the sink worked better. The bedroom had plenty of room and the bathroom was a definite plus-especially for old men, if you get my drift.
We got to Spokane in the very wee hours of the morning and for the most part, slept through it. Breakfast was quite good, as most of the meals were. Besides the good quality of the meals, there was the way more than adaquate amount of food. It reinforced our opinion that we Americans just eat too much. An important part of the meals is your meal mates. Because the train was sold out, there seldom were any empty seats. This meant you always had new friends to dine with. We found them all to be delightful-there’s apparently something about train travelers…. The Glacier Park area is rugged and beautiful, and the change of scenery from the mountains to the Great Plains is interesting. The Builder follows highway US 2 for hundreds of miles through MT, ND, and MN. One of the many things I like about the train, is the that you often see people’s back yards and field. They’re much more interesting than front yards because the back yards are where all the good stuff is. You know, like old cars, trucks, and farm tractors. Once you get to Minot, you drop down to Fargo, Saint Cloud, twin cities, and enter WI at La Crosse. Not much later, we reached our destination of WI Dells and a whole lot of relatives hugging and yacking. On our return trip we had a roomette which would have been way too cramped, but fortunately the roomette across the aisle had a broken upper bunk, and our wonderful car attendant “T” said we were welcome to use it for storage. Our trip back was very pleasant on train #27 and we were happy to get back home. Surprisingly, the train was pretty much on time all the way there and back. We had one, half hour or so, wait for a freight train.
Conclusions:
We really enjoyed the train, but the one large problem was the condition of our sleeper car. When entering our car, there was a strong odor of sewage. It was so bad that the unfortunate people at that end compartment had to move out, to where I don’t know. We were at the other end (the very rear of the train) so it was barely noticeable. The car attendant said they tried to fix it but were unsuccessful. Both our door and the door across the aisle from us rattled like crazy so I finally wadded up paper and jammed them into the slides so we could get a decent night’s sleep. I did overhear the staff saying that car was going to be put into the shop for repair when it got back to Chicago. Another important issue for us was the location of the cars. We were the last car of the train, so to get to the diner, we had to “walk” through our car, two coach cars, the observation car, and two more coach cars. Since the diner car isn’t used by coach passengers, why not place it right in front of the sleeper? In fact why is the diner car not available to coach passengers? Elitism? Does the diner not make money?
Lastly, I have to say that all of the crew who we talked to were helpful and just great, especially Simon and “T”, our car attendants.
Don
Trip report for Aug 2, to Aug 13 on The Empire Builder, train 28, and 27 from Portland,OR to Wisconsin Dells,WI.
My wife and I had wanted to take another train vacation for some time, so we decided to go to my family reunion via train. My late wife, myself, and our 2 kids had taken the Empire Builder (coach) from Portland to Columbus, WI a few times, including the first train to Spokane after Mt St Helens blew up (boy was it filthy). Later I took it to Chicago on my way to my 50th graduation in Terre Haute, IN. My current wife was a railroad brat, as her father was the district claims agent for the UP, so she’s ridden many trains. This time we decided we were too old (both in our 80s) for coach so we splurged for a bedroom going out, and a roomette coming back.
We left Portland on time, on 8/2 on the #28 Empire Builder. Our first meal was a box dinner which was fine and we had no complaints. Our car attendant was Simon, who’s from Chicago. He was very helpful, cheerful, and courteous-nothing but compliments for him. The ride along the Columbia river was very scenic and pleasant as we crossed the Columbia the second time. The bridge in Pasco was impressive. It was time to hit the sack so Simon came to set up the beds and discovered there was no ladder for getting up to the upper bunk. I’m nearly 80 and admit that it was a challenge getting up there. Don’t know if my wife was more worried, or entertained. Funny thing is, when a ladder was found for the second night, I found it easier to not use it-the sink worked better. The bedroom had plenty of room and the bathroom was a definite plus-especially for old men, if you get my drift.
We got to Spokane in the very wee hours of the morning and for the most part, slept through it. Breakfast was quite good, as most of the meals were. Besides the good quality of the meals, there was the way more than adaquate amount of food. It reinforced our opinion that we Americans just eat too much. An important part of the meals is your meal mates. Because the train was sold out, there seldom were any empty seats. This meant you always had new friends to dine with. We found them all to be delightful-there’s apparently something about train travelers…. The Glacier Park area is rugged and beautiful, and the change of scenery from the mountains to the Great Plains is interesting. The Builder follows highway US 2 for hundreds of miles through MT, ND, and MN. One of the many things I like about the train, is the that you often see people’s back yards and field. They’re much more interesting than front yards because the back yards are where all the good stuff is. You know, like old cars, trucks, and farm tractors. Once you get to Minot, you drop down to Fargo, Saint Cloud, twin cities, and enter WI at La Crosse. Not much later, we reached our destination of WI Dells and a whole lot of relatives hugging and yacking. On our return trip we had a roomette which would have been way too cramped, but fortunately the roomette across the aisle had a broken upper bunk, and our wonderful car attendant “T” said we were welcome to use it for storage. Our trip back was very pleasant on train #27 and we were happy to get back home. Surprisingly, the train was pretty much on time all the way there and back. We had one, half hour or so, wait for a freight train.
Conclusions:
We really enjoyed the train, but the one large problem was the condition of our sleeper car. When entering our car, there was a strong odor of sewage. It was so bad that the unfortunate people at that end compartment had to move out, to where I don’t know. We were at the other end (the very rear of the train) so it was barely noticeable. The car attendant said they tried to fix it but were unsuccessful. Both our door and the door across the aisle from us rattled like crazy so I finally wadded up paper and jammed them into the slides so we could get a decent night’s sleep. I did overhear the staff saying that car was going to be put into the shop for repair when it got back to Chicago. Another important issue for us was the location of the cars. We were the last car of the train, so to get to the diner, we had to “walk” through our car, two coach cars, the observation car, and two more coach cars. Since the diner car isn’t used by coach passengers, why not place it right in front of the sleeper? In fact why is the diner car not available to coach passengers? Elitism? Does the diner not make money?
Lastly, I have to say that all of the crew who we talked to were helpful and just great, especially Simon and “T”, our car attendants.
Don
Thanks for sharing!
