Riding the Empire Builder from Havre to Minneapolis and back

I had the rare and exciting opporitunity to ride Amtrak's Empire Builder from Havre, MT to Minneapolis and back. I last rode Amtrak in 1995, so it had been 15 years! Unfortunately, I was riding with a heavy heart as my grandfather and former Milwaukee Road railroader had passed away from cancer on Easter Sunday. But I managed to take a few videos and picutres from the trip and have decided to share the experience.

The eastbound trip of April 8th and 9th was uneventful as the train departed Havre on time and arrived into Minneapolis the next morning on time. This was a first for me as I had never rode the Empire Builder when it was actually on time! The westbound trip was not as fortunate. It arrived Minneapolis Saturday, April 10th on time but that was the last time that it was on time. The eastbound #8 that was supposed to have arrived that morning was 18 hours late and we had to stop for nearly an hour in a siding to wait for them. Then we met a second #8 that was Sunday's train which delayed us even further. Somehow, we managed to arrive only 13 minutes late into Minot (thank you recovery time built into the schedule). Williston was the location of the freight derailment that had delayed #8 for 18 hours. It had derailed at the west switch at Williston and was dragged ten miles to the next siding where it had piled up. We lost 30 more minutes going through the slow order at 25 MPH. We were again delayed at Glasgow waiting for freight traffic to clear. And after Glasgow, I knew our engineer had had enough and laid the hammer on our two P42DC's down and used all of the 8500 HP at his disposal to make up some time. That didn't stop them from ordering up Dairy Queen at Malta though! We arrived at Havre, about 54 minutes behind schedule. After disembarking there, my brother and I headed up to what is quickly becoming a favorite spot of mine, West Burnham, MT to catch the train. Then it was time to head for home, still 250 miles and 4 hours away.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Amtrak
• Empire
• Builder
• BNSF
• Railway
• Havre
• Montana
• Minot
• North
• Dakota
• Minneapolis/St.
• Paul
• Minnesota
• P42DC
• Superliner
• Passenger
• Train

[jay11j]

Great video!  I am wasting my rainy Saturday watching Amtrak since I am itching for our trip from Red Wing MN to Whitefish this summer!