Milwaukee WI
St. Paul MN
Mississippi River
Prairie Sunset
Ray ND
Rock Formations ND
Shelby MT
East Glacier Park
Lake Wallula WA
Columbia River Gorge
Mt. Hood OR.
The Empire Builder
The origins of Amtrak’s most northerly route go back to 1929 and at times follows the historic path forged by Lewis and Clark. It crosses majestic wilderness as it makes its way through towering mountain ranges,dense forests of fir, steep valleys, thundering rivers and vast prairies. I begin our journey in the crossroads of the country, Chicago. Travelling by bus from Toronto I try to give myself a few hours before boarding the train to do a little exploring. On my last trip I arrived at Union Stn. around 7 a.m. and my train didn’t leave until 3 p.m. so I checked my bags which you can do for a reasonable $10/day, sure beats lugging your luggage around the city. Once that was all settled I took a stroll to Grants Park, a 30 minute walk. It’s a beautiful park with an ornate entrance that hold majestic statues of Native-Americans. At the opposite end of the park is a huge fountain, from there you get a stunning view of Lake Michigan. Heading back to the station at Adams St. and South Michigan Ave. you can see the sign that marks the beginning of Rte. 66. On another of our train routes, the South West Chief, we will actually follow the historic Rte. 66 at times. Now I’m ready to board what will be a 46-hour journey. One last thing before we pull out, though, I advise you to take a good look at this station’s stunning architecture. With its marble floors and walls, Corinthian columns, grand staircase and opulent fixtures, it’s one of the several stations along the Amtrak routes that would be easily mistaken for a museum rather than a train station.
This train has 2 options for a final destination if you travel from East to West. You can either depart in Seattle Wa. or Portland Or. both trips taking the same amount of time. I have done both and have also travelled in different directions. I flew to Vancouver, took the Amtrak train to Seattle and then crossed from there. Last year, I began my journey in Chicago and went to Portland. I would definitely recommend the West to East trip, as you are travelling through the Rockies during daylight hours. You do, however, miss the beauty of southern Washington and northern Oregon. After departing Chicago, you will follow Lake Michigan into Wisconsin and the city of Milwaukee. This is normally our first ‘‘fresh-air break’’ where we will have 10-15 minutes to stretch our legs and take some photos of the city famous for its beers. You can get a shot of the Miller Brewery while imagining the antics on ‘‘Happy Days’’ and ‘‘Laverne and Shirley.” Here we head west toward La Crosse, where you’ll get your first glimpse of the mighty Mississippi River. It boggles the mind that, as big as the river is here, it still has over a thousand miles to go before reaching its full might in Louisiana. Now we cross over into Minnesota. It’s getting dark now, but the night isn’t over just yet. In another couple of hours, we’ll have our 2nd. and final ‘‘fresh-air break’’ of the day in St. Paul-Minneapolis. Our stop will be about 20 minutes this time, probably to allow for a crew change. About 4 a.m. we will pass into North Dakota at the city of Fargo (my favourite movie). As daylight comes we pass Devils Lake ND, and find ourselves on the Northern Plain. You get an idea of the immenseness of this flat farm land as it goes on and on ceaselessly for miles and miles and hour after hour and just when you’ve had quite enough of this sort of topographical wasteland the land begins to shift its tempo. Small hills begin to appear but not hills as we known them in the East. These hills seem to have carved out of multicoloured rock and I’ve got to admit I found this stretch of the journey to be one of the most amazing. I had wanted to see the Badlands but was told that I’d have to get to South Dakota to see that sort of scenery. If this isn’t the badlands I sure wouldn’t want to to travel on a wagontrain through the real deal. I just couldn’t imagine what the first settlers must have thought when they arrived here. Hopefully the acerage they were promised if they settled in the ‘‘New World’’ wasn’t along this hardscabble frontier. I’d be taking the next wagongreyhound back to Bavaria. This is the wonderful thing about train travel, you can just recline in your seat or sit at a table in the Lounge Car and let your imagination go to town. No need to be watching the road and no one in the passenger seat telling you to do so. ‘‘Bob, you’re not watching the road, you keep heading towards the ditch, watch where you’re going!’’ ‘‘Are you looking for buffalo again?’’ Nope, just me and my crazy, wandering mind working overtime. These rocky outcrops are becoming rolling hills as we cross into Montana. We are now following the Mighty Missouri as well as the Lewis and Clark Trail and will do so for the next 100 miles until we reach Wolf Point. Now here we are in Shelby MT. I mentioned in another blog that I spent a year here one night. Kidding aside it is because of towns like Shelby that I enjoy solo travelling so much. I met some very nice people here who went out of their way to help a stranger. If only there were something to do or see there, I’d go back in a second. Fun fact, we are only 53 Km. from Canada. Leaving Shelby, we are getting close to the mountains, and the ground has begun to swell. The rounded foot hills are now beginning to take shape and they grow almost instantly, it seems, into high rocky crags that seem to touch the sky. The sun is just setting as we arrive at East Glacier Park. In the summer it will still be light enough to see the beginning of the Rockies. Coming from the opposite direction we would be here around 9 A.M. and would have had some terrific views. As it is, we will regain daylight as we reach Pasco, WA. if we are travelling to Portland, OR, or we’ll reach Wenatchee, WA if we’re headed to Seattle, WA. Having travelled from both directions and gone on both routes (Seattle and Portland) I would have to say that the section of the trip from Pasco WA to Portland OR is the more scenic of the two routes. We hug the Washington/Portland border all the way into Portland; the border is the Columbia River. The scenery is awe-inspiring as the train descends from the mountains down through the Columbia Gorge. I found this section of the trip to be the most spectacular. Keep your eyes open, look out the left-hand side and pray for a clear day so you can catch a glimpse of Mt. Hood, a potentially active volcano and one of the highest mountains in the US. At Hood River, also looking out the left-hand side watch for Multnomah Falls, the second highest falls in the country. Another 2 hours of desert and rainforest and a 2,369 foot tunnel and we reach the end of our epic journey. What a trip this has been. We’ve just witnessed every sort of terrain imaginable and seen just how varied this country can be. I hope you have enjoyed this trip. Now it’s up to you to jump on a train and see it first-hand for yourself. If you have enjoyed this travelogue, please join me for more ‘‘travelin’ with bob’’ adventures. Next, we’ll be taking the California Zephyr, which is arguably the most scenic of all Amtrak’s routes.