Empire Builder

The train

The Empire Builder leaves Chicago for Seattle. At Spokane, the Portland cars are switched onto a separate section. The trip is about two nights. A roomette has a bed and a door.

You see Glacier National Park from the sightseer lounge. Between East Glacier and Essex the train crosses Marias Pass, and that is the view from the lounge.

Where the train actually stops

East Glacier Park and West Glacier have summer service, and each station pause is brief. The Essex stop is a flag stop beside the Izaak Walton Inn. The stop at Whitefish is about fifteen minutes on the current timetable. Those minutes are enough to step onto the platform.

Going-to-the-Sun Road crosses Glacier National Park, and Lake McDonald sits near the west entrance. A boat on the lake, or a walk beside it, takes hours inside the park. The drive from Whitefish to that entrance is about half an hour, and the train only stops in Whitefish for about fifteen minutes. Get off in Whitefish and stay the night if you want to be in the park the next day. The stop in Havre, out on the plains, is longer, about twenty minutes, and it is there so the crew can change. You will not see the park from Havre.

On the Portland section the train follows the Columbia River through the gorge, and you see Multnomah Falls from the train. The falls are on the Oregon side, a two-tier waterfall about 620 feet high, with a trail to the bridge in front of them. The station on the Washington side is Bingen–White Salmon, and the pause there is brief. A walk to the bridge is a night in Portland.

Meals

On the Seattle section, meals in the dining car come with a roomette: breakfast, lunch, and a three-course dinner. At breakfast you can order railroad French toast or a three-egg omelet. At dinner you can order steak, chicken, or salmon. Amtrak changes the menu.

Between Spokane and Portland the dining car is not on that section. Amtrak serves a cold meal in the room. We check which section you booked before you choose the roomette.