Seattle to Glacier on Amtrak Empire Builder

seattle
The Empire Builder is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northwestern United States. Before Amtrak, the Empire Builder was operated by the Great Northern Railway. The train was Great Northern's flagship. The current route runs from Chicago, Illinois to the Pacific Northwest. The line splits in Spokane, Washington, terminating at Seattle, Washington's King Street Station (2,206 miles, or 3,550km from Chicago) in the north or Portland, Oregon's Union Station (2,257 miles, or 3,632 km from Chicago) in the south.
The train passes through the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Layovers (train service stops) are made in Saint Paul, Minot, Havre, and Spokane. Other major stops on the route are Milwaukee; Fargo; Whitefish, Montana; and Vancouver, Washington. Host railways include BNSF Railway's northern route from Seattle to Minneapolis, Minnesota Commercial from Minneapolis to St. Paul, Canadian Pacific from St. Paul to Rondout, and Metra from Rondout to Chicago.
One train passes in each direction daily. The schedule is timed so the train will pass through the scenic Rocky Mountains (especially Glacier National Park) during daylight, but this is more likely in summer and on eastbound trains. It normally takes 45 to 46 hours to travel the entire route, barring delays. This averages 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) including stops

The original Empire Builder was inaugurated by the Great Northern on June 11, 1929. The train was named in honor of railroad tycoon James J. Hill, who reorganized several failing railroads into the Great Northern Railway and extended the line to the Pacific Northwest in the late 19th century (Hill's nickname was "The Empire Builder"). The service was altered to carry additional passengers during World War II. After the war, new streamlined, diesel-powered trains were placed into service. This postwar service began on February 23, 1947. The train was fully re-equipped again in 1951.[1]
The schedule of the route was optimized to allow riders views of the passing Cascade Mountains and the Rocky Mountain landscapes of Glacier National Park, a park that was established through the decisive lobbying efforts of the Great Northern. After it was re-equipped in the 1950s passengers viewed the route through its three dome coaches and one full-length "Great Dome" car for first class passengers.
Since its inception service has run from Chicago to Spokane, and split into Seattle and Portland sections (except during the Amtrak era between 1971 and 1981, when there was no Portland section). Prior to 1971, the Chicago to St. Paul leg of the train's route was operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad via its mainline along the Mississippi River through Wisconsin.[1] The Spokane-Portland section of the train was historically operated by the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway.[1]
After 1971 Amtrak assumed operation of the train and shifted the Chicago to St. Paul leg to the Milwaukee Road mainline route through Milwaukee.
In fiscal year 2007, the Empire Builder carried over a half million passengers, maintaining its status as the most popular long-distance train in Amtrak's national system. Through the first six months of fiscal year 2008, the train is nearly 9 percent ahead of its ridership from the previous year.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• seattle
• glacier
• national
• park
• amtrak
• puget
• sound
• snow
• rockies
• empire
• builder

[Sparkygravity]

yay my home city

[ROCKsquareANORACK]

great place to live

i love seattle

would love to move there

[austin4ever969]

Nice,very nice video,What is that song?

My dear sister stayed at Seatle during three

years and I did not to visit her.... shame on me!

[ROCKsquareANORACK]

oh its Dubstar i think (the group)

[beaufy2008]

Brilliant!! I love all of your video. Keep working. Well done.

[ROCKsquareANORACK]

well thank you very much for watching and commenting

glacier and running eagle falls to come

[luigirules1000]

@ROCKsquareANORACK and so is everett,wa