Empire Builder - Amtrak

[The Prisoner]

Apologies if I have missed a thread on this already, but couldn't see one

Considering booking this is either January of February for myself and my wife. Initial thought was to jump on at one end and do the whole 48 hours in one go, but wondered if anyone had suggestions as to which accommodation to book on board (bedroom? suite?), maybe a stop off half way to break the journey up or anything else I need to know.

I can see the bunks are going to be a struggle for me as I am tall, but any other recommendations and advice welcome, including whether to start in Chicago or on the West Coast.

TIA.

 

[Gaelan]

I’m sure the beds are lovely, but I found the seats perfectly adequate - the seats have excellent recline, fold-up legrests, and plenty of legroom (I’m 6’2” and my feet just barely reached under the seat in front).

Be mindful of sunrise and sunset - I did the trip in winter and still saw plenty of incredible scenery, but you’ll miss Glacier National Park.

 

[Iskra]

I agree that there's nothing wrong with the seats, providing you're adequately prepared and your wife is going to be okay with it. If you do go in the seats, make sure you use the observation car during the day. (I did 54hrs on the California Zephyr in seats after being downgraded, I was worried about it but it was in fact fine).

I did a roomette the night before on the Lake Shore Limited and that was also decent, I'm not sure there's any point paying more for any better form of accommodation than that.

 

[williamn]

I've done it Westbound in a Roomette. This was before the Amtrak cuts on catering so we got a welcome bottle of fizz, a wine tasting event etc. I don't think that happens now. Roomette was brill for one but I think from experience on another, shorter, trip would be very squeezed for two for two days, and the top bunk is very small.

 

[Iskra]

I forgot to mention, don’t expect the train to be on time and plan accordingly.

 

[P Binnersley]

I did it in August 2013 in a Bedroom. Well worth the extra if you are going the whole way.

The train typically runs a few hours late so build that in when working out what you will see in daylight.

 

[azt]

Apologies if I have missed a thread on this already, but couldn't see one

Considering booking this is either January of February for myself and my wife. Initial thought was to jump on at one end and do the whole 48 hours in one go, but wondered if anyone had suggestions as to which accommodation to book on board (bedroom? suite?), maybe a stop off half way to break the journey up or anything else I need to know.

I can see the bunks are going to be a struggle for me as I am tall, but any other recommendations and advice welcome, including whether to start in Chicago or on the West Coast.

TIA.

Just did this two weeks ago. We did Seattle to Chicago, it was 1 1/2 hours late leaving Seattle and lost another 3 hrs overnight due to a broken rail. Get a room, totally private, own wc and shower. One can do what one wants, look out the window, read a book. Meals are very good. One gets a complementary drink with dinner. If one wants to have an alcoholic drink with lunch then one pays for it. A bottle of wine is 30 dollars. We arrived in Chicago around 3 1/2 hour late, no compensation like the uk!

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Be mindful of sunrise and sunset - I did the trip in winter and still saw plenty of incredible scenery, but you’ll miss Glacier National Park.

The stretch alongside the southern boundary of Glacier National Park (East Glacier-Essex-West Glacier) is great, but nothing like what you are missing not driving along the Going to the Sun road through the park over Logan Pass.
Among the best scenery on the planet (but only open June-October).
Wonderful bluebird feeders at the Essex stop too, in season.

 

[Chris Butler]

I've never done it, but general advice is to go eastward to maximise the opportunity for the sights of Glacier.

I've just returned from one night on the Lakeshore Limited on the top bunk of a roomette. Very underwhelmed by the value for money and now reconsidering plans for the west-of-Chicago services next year. The rate per night for the roomettes are lower for the two nights on the west-of-Chicago service though. I understand the food is better west-of-Chicago but the offering seems to change quite a bit between the Flexible and Custom dining. The 'Flexible' dining seems pretty average but I believe the Custom is quite a bit better.

West of Chicago is Superliner stock whereas it's Viewliners east-of-Chicago. The upper bunk on the Superliner is even more cramped than the Viewliners and has no windows on the upper bunk.

Bedrooms are fine, of course, but over $2,500 is one hell of a price.

Just to add, in winter your days will be 8-9hrs long, so something like half the time you'll be looking at darkness outside the windows.

 

[Backroom_boy]

I forgot to mention, don’t expect the train to be on time and plan accordingly.

Yeah treat it like a boat Subject to tides

 

[AdamWW]

West of Chicago is Superliner stock whereas it's Viewliners east-of-Chicago.

I think the Capitol (Chicago to Washington) is currently run with Superliners (it doesn't have to get through the tunnels to New York Penn station).

 

[FormerBritInMe]

The Capitol Limited is being combined with the Washington to Florida Silver Star and is being renamed the Floridian. It will use the single level Viewliner equipment and will have the "traditional dining" which is the better class of catering as found in the Western trains.

Unfortunately the prices for Amtrak sleeper accomodations have gone through the roof due to the shortage of equipment and the result of yield management of the limited inventory such that you can go in a 7 day Caribbean cruise for less than a bedroom on a long distance Amtrak train.

 

[wellhouse]

Done a few long Amtrak journeys over the years, but never The Empire Builder.

If you can afford it (and there's availability) a Bedroom is definitely the way to go. The lower bunk works as a cosy double. You can always stroll to the observation car to stretch your legs and get a beer from the cafe bar below.

The upper bunk in a roomette is very snug and a challenge to access, as there's very little headroom. We booked one on The Coast Starlight once, as The Bedrooms were fully booked.

Seats are very comfortable and spacious by European standards, but I've never tried them for an overnight journey.

 

[Taunton]

For overnight in the Superliners, always choose accommodation in the upper level. The difference in noise from the wheels is very notable between the two levels, to the extent of keeping you awake if down below.

There appears no resolution of the shortage of sleepers. The initial Superliner orders from 1975-95 have never been topped up, and the various derailments etc that Amtrak have had over this long period appear never to be particularly repaired, but there is now an extensive sidelined/cannibalised fleet of them at the maintenance centre in Indianapolis. Damaged Superliner Coaches have been replaced on day services by various new builds, and concentrated back on long distance services. Here they all are filling the Indianapolis sidings:

Beech Grove · Perry Township, IN, USA

Perry Township, IN, USA

www.google.com

Despite the considerable subsidy that Amtrak still gets, those funds all seem scooped by daily operations, and there is nothing left for replacement or heavy repair of any damage.

 

[miami]

Unfortunately the prices for Amtrak sleeper accomodations have gone through the roof due to the shortage of equipment and the result of yield management of the limited inventory such that you can go in a 7 day Caribbean cruise for less than a bedroom on a long distance Amtrak train.

I took a roomette on a viewliner from New York to Miami last weekend. The website was advertising $561, although I booked via amex and work for policy reasons which cost more. Sigh.

I really liked the roomette - it was a mk1 so had the in-room toilet/sink which I found a really neat use of space. The actual sleep quality (on the top bunk) was far better than I've had on British sleepers in the past.

I was on my own and felt $561 for 4 meals (it ran late so had a second dinner), a bed overnight, and transport, was a very reasonable price for 1, let alone for two. Had I not got the train it would have cost at least that in hotel, food and plane ticket, and this way I get to tick the "reduced carbon" box.

The dining car was great fun. Due to a late turnaround or similar we had to sit in the dining car for about 10 minutes leaving Penn, felt very "Murder on the Orient Express" with various people sat around the tables. Certainly a far better experience than schlepping out to an airport and getting a flight. I found the food great - indeed better than the majority of food I ended up eating during my 2 week stint. Couldn't even find any dinner at midnight in downtown New York (late finish in the office), which I was very surprised with.

The roomette would have been a little cramped for two, and I should have checked my large suitcase (didn't realise it was an option).

Didn't try the shower as the guard ("captain") seemed to be storing his bags in there. I think a NY to New Orleans with my spouse is on the cards though, although probably in a bedroom.

My train had both mk1 and mk2 viewliners, the mk2 ones don't have the in-room facilities, and instead have public ones at the end of the corridor. I poked my head in about 20 hours into the trip, I was not impressed.

I've always wanted to do a viewliner even since watching Under Siege 2 as a teenager, but I think a 24-36 hour trip is the best type, and I don't think there's a decent city pair on the viewliner routes that would fit that. I certainly don't want to be doing 50+ hours.

 

[williamn]

Didn't try the shower as the guard ("captain") seemed to be storing his bags in there.

This is so typical of Amtrak staff’s attitude toward customers.

 

[181]

One advantage of the seats is that you can see out of both sides of the train.

 

[DelW]

Re which direction, one minor point is that you cross two time zone boundaries en route - westbound you'll gain an hour each time, eastbound you'll lose an hour each time.
I've never done east <> west on Amtrak, but I've done several trans Atlantic ship crossings (QE2/QM2) with four time changes and preferred westbound partly for that reason.

 

[The Prisoner]

Thanks for all your advice everyone!