4 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Travel from the Twin Cities  to Chicago on Amtrak's Empire Builder on Sunday, 7/19 --- on Trains 8/28(17) -- can be talked about here.

[KevinKorell]

From Minneapolis/St. Paul we have been tracking the progress of this train, which we have to get ourselves to at the right time tomorrow (Sunday) morning. And we have Kevin N already aboard this train as well. Good news is that it has made it past the derailment site, however the bad news is that it still needs to weave its way past backed up freight trains.  Currently showing that it left Williston, ND about 3 hours late.

[amtrakwolverine]

We were lucky the tracks reopened and BNSF tried there best to get us through without too much a delay. There were still tanks car laying all around the site through.

[steve4031]

Lunch in the diner was a highlight. We got our group into the diner and seated together for the most part. I snagged a left side seat so Rosalyn could enjoy the Mississippi while eating lunch. The waitress was very pleasant, and supportive of our efforts as railfans.

[KevinKorell]

Between St. Paul and Chicago, our train kept up with its operation just shy of 4 hours late. We awaited the train's arrival in a small lounge area for first class passengers.  About 15 minutes before the train's arrival, a station attendant came and got us and led us to another waiting area within the entranceway closer to the elevator and escalator leading to the platform.

 

I ended up being the only one of our group in the 830 car, while two were in the 2830 Portland car, and the rest of our sleeper group was in the 831 car just ahead of mine. And of course we had Kevin N who had travelled across country from Seattle on the same train in the coach section.  Between St. Paul and Milwaukee we numbered 13 travelers.  One got off in Milwaukee to stay in a hotel near the Milwaukee Airport, while the rest headed into Chicago.

 

Overall, our reflections on this trip are that the dining staff was great. Our server Noelani understood railfans and loves to travel by trains herself.  The rest of the staff on this crew likewise appeared to be excellent as we had found on the westbound trip two days earlier.   However, the sleeping car attendants in our 830 and 831 cars we found to be subpar for various reasons.  They could not hold a candle to John, our workhorse on the westbound trip. My attendant let the children of passengers use the public address system, and used one boy's child labor to do her job for her and be her "assistant".

 

And so the Empire Builder did provide us with a full service round trip between Chicago and the Twin Cities successfully, despite our worries, and albeit late (which was expected).