September 18th, 2008

Summer in a college admissions office, this was really the only time of year that I had a chance to get away for a bit. This year I decided it was time to take an extended trip on the Amtrak, so I began my online search for a destination. It did not take very long for me to decide that west is where I wanted to go. With the geography narrowed down a bit, the Empire Builder seemed like a natural choice to take for this summer’s adventure. With a few quick clicks, I was all set up for Amtrak train number 7 out of St. Paul on Friday, August 1st. My trip would take me all the way to Seattle, Washington for a few days of exploring and of course some train photos in a new state. Once the reservation was made, I began counting down the days.

Finally, August 1st came up on the calendar. I threw some clothes in my suitcase, stopped at Target for some onboard snacks, charged my camera batteries, cleaned off my memory card, and set out at 10:00 pm from Elk River for Midway Depot in St. Paul. When I arrived in St. Paul, there was a pretty good line coming out of the depot for the ticket counter. Luckily for me it moved pretty fast, as I had cut the time a bit close thanks to some random road closures by the St. Paul Police. I was one of the last people to get on board my coach, which I was told would be full as the train was sold out tonight. I grabbed my seat assignment from the conductor and headed for the open door on the first Seattle coach on tonight’s train. Just as I got to the door, I passed a woman wearing a neck brace and chain smoking as fast as she could before the train left. I figured it would be just my luck if I sat next to this person for my first leg of the trip. “Sweet, I’m in the clear” I thought as the train kicked forward out of the depot and nobody had come to sit next to me. But just then, from the depths of the lower level of the superliner coach, the familiar hacking coughs of a chain smoking, neck brace wearing, woman beckoned my ears. “Son of a …” I muttered as she stumbled into her seat right next to me. It did not take but 30 seconds for her to start groaning and adjusting the next brace… it was looking like a long night was ahead of me. “The lounge car, that will save me” I thought as I spun out of my chair quickly and headed for the next car in our train.

I arrived in the sightseer lounge car to find it basically empty, but I did manage to make it for last call at the café downstairs. Jason, the lead service attendant, provided me with my nutrition for the evening, consisting of a Sam Adams and some cool ranch Doritos. I climbed back upstairs with my new found sustenance and grabbed a seat for as long as I could stay awake. By now our train was accelerating out of BNSF’s Northtown Yard for the trip out of town. It didn’t take long for us to reach track speed of 80mph as we wound through the curves of Coon Rapids, Anoka, and Elk River. It was just after midnight as our train hit the single track between Big Lake and Becker, right on schedule. By this time I was already lost in the music of Pat Metheny on my iPod as we overtook all the traffic heading our direction on Hwy 10. To make a long story short, freight traffic was light and we made great time into Staples, MN. Much to my delight, my seat companion, along with her cough and neck brace, grabbed her bags and got off the train in Staples. “Finally!” I thought as I returned to my seat to attempt a few hours of sleep against the window. Within just a couple minutes, I was out…

The trip overnight went pretty well. I woke up for a couple minutes in Fargo, ND when a guy my age sat beside me. It was about 3am and the coach had now reached its overnight temperature, easily in the low 60s. I decided to take my pillow case off and use is as a poor persons attempt at a blanket, this was due to the fact that my Old Navy cargo shorts were doing a poor job of keeping me warm… I managed to get back to sleep in pretty short order thanks to my new blanket, which did its job of keeping me warm overnight. I woke up around 6am when the sun came up and managed to figure out we were someplace between Devils Lake and Rugby, ND. In the interest of time and space, the remainder of the trip through North Dakota and eastern Montana was pretty much the same, empty and basically flat. This all started to change after our station stop in Shelby, Montana at around dinner time. The hills started to grow and the landscape really started to change. The terrain was still more rolling hills rather than mountains as the conductor called out the 15 minute warning to our stop at East Glacier Park, MT. The snow capped peaks of Glacier National Park were now clearly visible out the window as our train slowed for the large trestle just east of the stop in East Glacier. This was a pretty long stop as a lot of people traded spots in the coaches. Midwestern folks got off for a nice vacation in the park and west coast dwellers climbed onboard for their trip back home. This would mark the stop where our speed would be cut back for the trip through the mountains, which was just fine by me. It took a couple hours for the train to traverse Marias Pass between East Glacier and Whitefish, MT… let’s just say that my words cannot even begin to describe the views, thoughts, and relaxation that came from this part of the trip. As such, I have uploaded a video diary of my trip, you can download it here if you are interested. Just be sure to right click and “save link as” once you get to the above mentioned page.

The last leg of our trip started in Whitefish, MT at the fantastic old Great Northern depot in town. We arrived a few minutes early so I had a little time to wander around the area near the depot. Most of the town looked quite new, so there must have been a recent rebuilding or spruce up project. I made it back to the train a few minutes before our departure time only to hear a loud “All Aboard!” With this, people began scrambling from inside the depot, some still tucking in their shirts after using the facilities. I happened to be standing right next to the lead conductor who looked at his watch and said “we’re not leaving yet, who the hell yelled that!?” By now it was too late to say anything, so needless to say our entire train sat in their seats for ten minutes… the smokers were not happy! Eventually a double blast from the whistle came and we pulled out of Whitefish and were on the move west again. As the night was settling in, I decided to put my camera away in my backpack. “Great googly moogly, a Snickers bar!” I yelled to myself internally as I discovered a hidden treat in a little used pocket on my bag. I tore the wrapper open and promptly satisfied my hunger. Soon after, the pillow met the window and my head met the pillow. I managed to sleep through most of the night, as I had now changed into a sweatshirt and long pants for the freezer that is the coach overnight.

“I can climb!” the three year old boy in the seat ahead of me said as I opened my eyes to find him peering over his seat. We had chatted the day before about his climbing abilities; he also really liked trains so we had something in common. I must say his speaking ability and vocabulary were exemplary for a three year old… and I could not argue with his choice of trains as a like either. I was happy to talk to him again this morning and demonstrate my uncanny ability to hide behind my newspaper. Soon he would become more interested in the bridges, rivers, and outstanding scenery of the world outside. This really worked out well as the exact same thing happened to me; perhaps I’m really three years old at heart. The conductor mentioned that we lost a little time overnight in Spokane and were running about 45 minutes late into Everett, WA. I was in no hurry so this did not matter too much to me, nor anybody else on the train for that matter. 45 minutes behind all the way from Chicago seems like a pretty good trip to me. My new young friend and his family departed in Everett for time with family, he did leave me his last bag of Teddy Grahams which was totally cool. After a brief stop, we pulled away from the station and begin our short journey along Puget Sound into Seattle.

The train basically hugs the shoreline for the remainder of the trip, which is just a couple hours from Everett to Seattle. The train was really starting to empty out, especially after our brief stop in Edmonds. I couldn’t help thinking to myself how cool it would be to ride in the lounge car for this leg of the trip. Alas, the lounge car went with the Portland section of the train after we split into two sections in Spokane last night. Oh well, I will just have to make a trip out to Portland next summer I guess. I knew we were getting close to Seattle as the train crept through the freight yard in Interbay. Soon after, the waterfront district of Seattle came into view and the conductor announced we were just five minute from the station. After a quick jaunt through the downtown tunnel and a back up move into the King St. Station, I had arrived in Seattle, WA. I stretched my legs, grabbed my bags, and made my way downstairs to begin my three day exploration.

What about the trip home you ask? Let’s just say I could have just stayed in my seat and kept on riding. In these days of busy airports, increased security, and poor customer service, Amtrak put on a show that was just what I needed. Rest assured I’ll be back on board next summer heading for someplace new again. Until then…