Empire Builder

[DeniseHermanus]

Any help with making a decision to take the southbound or northbound route for the best views during May (Spring) on the Empire Builder would be appreciated.

 

[Ziv]

Both the Chi to Seattle route (westbound) and the Sea to Chi (eastbound) are excellent, and in May you will have incredibly long days so less of the trip will be lost to darkness, but if I had to choose one I would pick the westbound route. You get to see the Dells in the early evening light, sleep through the slightly monotonous parts of western MN and eastern ND, and then you get to see the northern plains roll by all day on your second day. May is a good month to see them because the range is usually pretty green and the wildlife is pretty aggressively feeding so you see a decent amount of deer and antelope, though most in the early morning or late afternoon. And then in the late afternoon you begin to see the hints of the Rockies to the West and as the sun sets behind them somewhere around West Glacier it is a beautiful sight indeed. Then you wake up in central Washington and it is verdant and a great countryside to watch out the window.

You get most of Glacier in the daylight regardless of which direction you go, so you can't go wrong.

In May sunrise up on the High-Line is around 5:30 and sunset around 9:00 pm, so the days are long and usually very sunny.

 

[pennyk]

I have taken the EB eastbound from Seattle to Chicago twice, once in late summer and once a few days ago. I have heard that the sceney is better eastbound because you can see Glacier National Park in daylight. I think an issue with traveling in the spring is flooding.

I think the Empire Builder is a great train!!

 

[the_traveler]

Not to be a party pooper, but the EB does not go northbound or southbound. It goes westbound and eastbound! It does in places go north and south, but like the NEC, PVD-NHV is on a southbound train even though it's westbound.

 

[BmoreFlyer]

I believe the op might be referring to the Seattle or Portland routes. I have done Seattle recently but have not done Portland since I was little, so I can not compare them, but I loved the Seattle scenery.

 

[ziv]

I believe the op might be referring to the Seattle or Portland routes. I have done Seattle recently but have not done Portland since I was little, so I can not compare them, but I loved the Seattle scenery.

I hadn't thought of that. If I had to choose Portland or Seattle, I would choose Portland for the Columbia River views, they are great!

 

[DeniseHermanus]

Thank you, that was helpful, will definitely consider the CHI - SEA route. I am from South Africa so apologies for calling the routes north and south bound. Having now looked at a USA map I realise its east or west.

 

[EB Experience]

Let me contradict a couple of the comments here--We rode the EB this summer from both Westbound to Portland and eastbound from Seattle. If I could choose only one direction I would choose to ride eastbound and probably from Portland. The Columbia River views are amazing and the train runs right down on the river. Also (let's be realistic) the EB often runs late and westbound you run a real risk that you will be in darkness by the time you reach Glacier Park. Even if you are on time, the train is right on the edge of darkness there in early May. Going Eastbound being late actually helps the scenery experience. It is always better to count on Amtrak to be late and then be surprised rather than the alternative and miss one of the trip highlights.

Amtrak is an experience. You sort of have to get on and go with the flow once you are on, which is not too hard because you have your bed, bar and restaurant with you at all times (usually adequately stocked). The cars rattle and shake some (equipment is getting old. While it is not intended to be a five star hotel in either accomodations or food is is comfortable. Most staff try to provide a good experience--particularly in the sleeping cars. I'd bring an inventory of favorite snacks. Compared to flying this is stress-free.

We had a wonderful experience on the EB. It was I think seven hours late eastbound due to flooding and we had to bustitution from Seattle to Spokane because a late train, but still it was a great ride. Staff was uniformily excellent and did a good job working with the late train situations. I would definiately go in the sleeping car, it is well worth the additional expense.

I would also consider taking the Coast Starlite between Portland and Seattle. We did that as a fortunate occurance due to the EB being so late and that is a beautiful ride as well.

Also--watch this website as your trip gets closer. There are lots of helpful discussions etc. on what to expect and how things work on Amtrak that help make the experience worthwhile. Don't forget to download a trip guide as well--

 

[RPE]

We just did the Eastbound Portland to Chicago. Even though it was Early October, we still saw a quite a bit on the Columbia. The other part we enjoyed was along the Mississippi between St. Paul and LaCrosse.

 

[Eric308]

I go to PDX frequently on the EB from CBS (Madison) and always take the Cascades north to SEA for the return. It's well worth the extra 20 bucks or so to see Puget Sound and the Cascades going home.