March 21, 2012
San Francisco – Seattle
Alaska Airlines First Class
Boeing 737-800 N593AS
1010am - 1218pm

Thanks to Travelocity’s Secret Hotel feature, I was able to score a room at the Ramada Inn and Suites located just south of the airport. The guy working the front desk was originally from Durban and we had a good time talking about my travels and his before I was given a room that was large, nicely furnished and most importantly, quiet. In the morning I caught a taxi (provided by the hotel) back to the airport.

There really is no way to properly prepare oneself for the extreme difference between flying in Cathay Pacific’s First Class versus flying on the domestic version offered by most any U.S. airline. While the shock is not quite as extreme as plunging naked into the icy waters of the Arctic ocean, it’s pretty darned close.

Pre-departure beverage service consisted of a glass of water. Service on the one and a half hour flight up to Seattle consisted of drinks and a cheese plate. We landed ten minutes early and parked over on the North Satellite. Twenty minutes later I was stepping onto the light rail train and speeding from the airport into downtown Seattle.

With four hours to go until my train was due to depart for Chicago, I had plenty of time to catch a bus up to the University District where a hearty lunch awaited at my favorite Indian buffet. Before heading back downtown, I stopped in a nearby grocery store to purchase some beer for the trip. There’s no sense in paying $5.00 per domestic beer when with a little advance planning I can buy much better imported and micro brewed beer for much less.

Now properly fortified for the forty-seven hour ride to Chicago, I stepped onboard the #73 Express and returned to downtown Seattle. Alighting at the International District stop, I then walked two blocks down Jackson St. to the King Street Station.


Seattle – Chicago
Amtrak First Class
Empire Builder
Car 830 Room 11
4:40pm – 340pm +2

Once upon a time, Seattle’s King Street Station was as busy as it was grand. The same architects who created New York’s magnificent Grand Central Station also designed the King Street Station. On the walls are some archived photos showing what the station used to look like in its heyday. It was constructed of brick and granite from quarries up north at Index, WA. The interior of the building was white marble, and ornate plaster decorated the ceiling. Most of the floors were terrazzo and mosaic tiling, forming borders and dramatic designs. The building's most notable feature, the clock tower, was designed to mimic the bell tower at St. Mark's Church in Venice, Italy. The King Street Station truly looked like and indeed was a place where great rail journeys began. The Empire Builder, The North Coast Limited, The Western Star – they all departed from the King Street Station.



Beautiful Poster of Seattle’s King Street Station

For most of the past forty years, the high ornate ceiling was hidden behind dingy looking particleboard ceiling tiles, while the beautiful walls were covered with basic dry wall. This once grand station held all the ambience of a storage room. Thankfully an effort to restore the station to its past glory is finally starting to be realized. Quite a bit of the original ceiling has now been restored and future plans include:

• Replacing the existing roof with original terra cotta tile roof
• Repairing lighting and removing the microwave dish on the clock tower
• Fixing the four tower clocks to make them operational
• Restoring interior finishes and exterior building facade
• Completing seismic and structural upgrades

My trip to Chicago today is aboard the Empire Builder, one of the most famous passenger trains in America. Originally operated by the Great Northern Railway, the Empire Builder commenced service in 1929 and soon became the railroad’s flag bearer. The train is named in honor of James J. Hill, the president of the Great Northern Railway. Hill reorganized several failing railroads into the Great Northern and sparked a lot of early economic growth in the northern plains states, thus earning him the moniker “ The Empire Builder”.

The route of the Empire Builder runs 2,207 miles from Seattle to Chicago, though a separate section also starts out of Portland and joins the mainline at Spokane. Total travel time from either city is about forty-six hours. My journey, rolling east from Seattle to Chicago, will take me through Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. For this trip I’ve booked a First Class roomette and am really looking forward to what ought to be a great trip!




Route of The Empire Builder

The Empire Builder pulled up to the platform at 4:00pm. Train arrivals are not at all like airplane arrivals. They’re much more impressive, like a parade. First come the big 4200 horsepower diesel locomotives; bells clanging, engines churning, their power almost tangible. They’re followed by the baggage car, then the bi-level transition sleeper (for crew rest), a couple of sleepers, the dining car, the Sightseer Lounge Car and two or three coach cars.

Boarding commenced about twenty minutes before our scheduled 4:40pm departure. As always, I was a good ten to twenty years younger than most of my fellow First Class passengers, many of whom grew up in an age when trains were still the best and most affordable means of getting around America. As they ambled their way down memory lane to their sleeper cars, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’ll still be doing Mileage Runs and trips like this when I’m sixty five years old. I sure hope so.



View of King Street Station & Tower from Trackside

When I booked this train, I specifically asked for a room downstairs. The reason for this is that the main traffic flow between cars is upstairs. The train’s occasional rocking motion can make normal walking a bit of a challenge and most people tend to ricochet their way down the narrow hallways, bouncing off walls and doors with equal abandon. As a result, the downstairs rooms are much quieter because there is so much less foot traffic passing by your door. Secondly, being lower in the train car means less tilt motion than is experienced on the upper levels.

Car attendants stood by the door of each sleeping car, ready to greet their passengers and offer assistance in storing baggage and directing people to their rooms. The man working my car was named Jeff and he’d worked for Amtrak since 1977. This is my 238th long distance train ride, of which 165 have come aboard Amtrak which I first rode back in 1978. I didn’t know it then, but over the next couple of days Jeff and I would trade a lot of fun stories about riding on Amtrak.



Boarding The Empire Builder at Seattle

Each Amtrak bi-level Superliner Sleeper car offers 14 Standard bedrooms, 5 Deluxe bedrooms, 1 Family bedroom and one Handicapped bedroom. Four Standard bedrooms along with the Family and Handicapped bedrooms are located downstairs. Opposite the stairway to the upstairs level is a shelf for baggage. I stowed my suitcase there and headed down the hall to my Roomette.

Amtrak’s roomettes measure 3’6” by 6’6” and are accessed via a sliding glass door. During the day they offer two wide opposite facing seats that fold together to become a bed at night. Above them is a fold-down upper berth. Other amenities include four separate lights, an electrical outlet, a tall mirror, a fold out table, a small open closet with hangers and even a thermostat which I immediately turned to its lowest level. Best of all, each compartment has its own huge window, approximately 2’ X 5’, through which to view the passing scenery. Toilet and shower facilities are down the hall. For a single traveler, I think these Roomettes are just perfect.



Amtrak’s Superliner Roomette

On each seat were big fluffy pillows and behind the center console where the table is stored were two bottles of water and a variety of pamphlets about the train. There was a route guide, a timetable, a safety card much like you’d see aboard an airliner and a brochure describing the train and its various services and attractions.
At the top of the stairway is the service area for each car. In the morning, juice and coffee are available from this area. Ice is available throughout the day. I immediately unloaded a few beers into my room’s personal trashcan and threw in a few cups of ice. It’s a long trip across the Cascades and Northern Plains to Chicago ~ cold beer is a must!



Sitting in Amtrak’s Superliner Roomette

At 4:45pm the all aboard call was made, the doors were closed, the twin 4,250 HP Genesis Model P42DC locomotives powered up and we commenced the journey, gliding slowly out of King Street Station past the northern Seattle suburbs. This was the first time I’d ridden eastbound out of Seattle aboard the Empire Builder and I was anxious to check out the scenery along the way, especially in the late afternoon sun.

Shortly after departure, Jeff arrived with individual bottles of chilled Champagne and plastic cups. I believe only the Empire Builder and the Coast Starlight offer this amenity. It’s a great way to start the trip but I do miss the nice glasses they used to provide with the service. I recall a trip between Denver and Seattle aboard the old Pioneer several years ago when we were given beautiful souvenir glasses specially made for that train. Alas, both the Pioneer and the glasses are now historic.



Champagne Starter Aboard The Empire Builder

The next knock on my door came from Annie, the Dining Car Manager. She was cheerful and enthusiastic, seemingly as excited about this trip as most of the passengers. She was taking dinner reservations and had a choice of four seatings to offer: 5:30, 6:15, 7:00 or 7:45pm. I don’t believe I’ve eaten dinner at 5:30pm since I was in elementary school and, still reasonably sated from my big lunch in the U-District, I opted for the 7:00pm sitting.

As we picked up speed north of the city, I guzzled Champagne straight from the bottle and watched as we hugged the coastline along the dark blue expanse of the Puget Sound. Visible to the west across the sound were the snow-capped mountains of Olympic National Park. The Empire Builder gets a lot of mention for its passage through the Rocky Mountains and Glacier National Park, but I think the initial journey north out of Seattle and thence across the Cascades is worthy of mention as well.



Rolling North Along The Puget Sound



Have we put out to sea?

At Everett we stopped to pick up a large number of passengers waiting expectantly outside the attractive brick and glass station. Included amongst them was a very large (obese) man travelling in my sleeper. He was assigned to a roomette at the top of the stairs, probably a good thing because he had quite a tough time getting up the narrow stairway from the lower entry level. Since roomettes don’t have bathrooms, I didn’t envy him having to use the small airline sized toilet across from his room. He looked a lot wider than the doorway and I briefly entertained a disturbing vision of the poor man having to be extracted from the bathroom with the Jaws of Life. I quickly refocused on the journey ahead with a small prayer that he gets to his destination with a minimum of discomfort.

Soon after leaving Everett, we adopted a more easterly tack as we headed east up into the Cascades. The forecast called for snow in the mountains this evening, with snow continuing through the day tomorrow in the Rocky Mountain region. As we continued higher into the mountains I began to see fresh snow dusting the tops of the surrounding peaks. Eventually that snow moved right down to track level as it became apparent that the northern Cascades had enjoyed a fairly snowy winter.



Climbing Through The Snowy Cascades

Perhaps it was the pretty scenery or more likely the Champagne and beer, but time passed quickly and I was a bit surprised when I heard the call over the PA system for those holding 7:00pm dinner reservations to come to the diner. I quickly drug a brush through my remaining hair and headed up the stairs and down the hallway toward the dining car. It was conveniently located just one car up from mine and I also noted that the big fellow I’d mentioned earlier was eating in his room. It should be noted here that room service has always been an option on Amtrak trains. As a single passenger I’ve never taken advantage of it but were I traveling with someone else I imagine it might be a nice change for one meal.



Dining Car on The Empire Builder



Dining Car Menu on The Empire Builder

Dining on Amtrak is a communal affair. Because people are seated with whoever shows up just before or after them, it’s quite possible that you’ll end up with a diverse and occasionally colorful collection of tablemates. Social elites who’ve strolled up from the sleepers can very easily be sat across from the outcasts of society who’ve lurched up from Coach. It can be fun to watch. Tonight I was seated across from a couple from Mankato, Minnesota who were returning home after visiting their daughter in Tacoma. We were joined by an oil worker heading back to his job at Williston, North Dakota. He looked like he’d just gotten off a four day shift but he was a lot of fun to talk with. As a smoker he was unhappy that smoking was no longer allowed on Amtrak trains and felt that there should be more stops long enough to accommodate a smoke break. As it was, the next smoke break wouldn’t be until Spokane, about five hours down the tracks. He wondered aloud whether he and his forty or so other smokers could take over the train and force some changes!

The dining car staff was friendly and energetic, taking orders and delivering food with smiles and aplomb. Our server Marty mentioned that she’d been with Amtrak for 23 years, having worked on the Sunset Limited, the Texas Eagle, the California Zephyr and now the Empire Builder. The menu was impressive, considering the limitations of working from a kitchen located in the bottom of a railroad car. Meals are included for Amtrak’s First Class passengers, so I ordered the steak, accompanied by a baked potato and a glass of iced tea. Salad, veggies and dinner rolls are all included and overall I was quite pleased with the meal as were my tablemates with theirs.

A view of the menu may be had by first pressing HERE and then selecting from the pdf. menu choices on the right side of the page.

The night was still young when dinner had concluded, and normally this would be an excellent time to visit the lounge car which is available for all passengers. Unfortunately the lounge car was part of the consist coming up from Portland and so we wouldn’t have access to it until after the two trains had been merged in Spokane. The rear half of the dining car was available until then but in my estimation it was sorely lacking in the convivial ambience of Amtrak’s dedicated Sightseer lounge cars. With all of my tablemates heading back to their respective cars, I decided to return to my roomette where cold beer and a 120V outlet would allow me to put in a little more work on this trip report.

It was close to 10:00pm when Jeff stopped by to convert my roomette into a sleeper for the night. He’d been lowering beds up and down the car since about 9:00pm and I was the last of his charges. His job has got to be the hardest on the train what with setting up and breaking down the various accommodations from day use to sleepers and back again, keeping the coffee, orange juice, water and ice stocked in his car’s service area, greeting and seeing passengers off at the various stops along the way and even delivering meals from the dining car as required. It’s a wonder he got any sleep at all and he admitted as much when he said that anything more than four or five hours a night was a real bonus.



Bedtime on The Empire Builder

I’ve said it before, but let me say it again ~ There is nothing like sleeping in a comfortable bed while speeding across the vast expanses of the planet on a train. I’ve been fortunate to have experienced this on every continent except Antarctica and if they should ever someday build a railroad across Antarctica in my lifetime, I reckon I’ll just have to get down there and take that ride in style.