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Some photos from Amtrak’s Empire Builder

gbesq
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Hello OF. My daughter and I are continuing to see the U.S. from ground level rather than at 36,000 feet. We departed from Seattle yesterday on a two night three day trip to Chicago on Amtrak’s Empire Builder. Thought I would share a few photos …
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gbesq
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And keeping time on our journey is my always reliable and incredibly accurate Seamaster 300 …
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BlackTalon
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Odd, that watch photo does not appear to show a railmaster...
 
Zman4eva
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That's the dream. I saw a couple of Youtube videos about overnight trains (Chicago to San Fran Amtrak, Rocky Mountaineer Vancouver to Banff, etc.) and now it's on my bucket list. I just need to find the time to do it. Not easy with small kids and a full time job.
 
JwRosenthal
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Zman4eva Zman4eva
That's the dream. I saw a couple of Youtube videos about overnight trains (Chicago to San Fran Amtrak, Rocky Mountaineer Vancouver to Banff, etc.) and now it's on my bucket list. I just need to find the time to do it. Not easy with small kids and a full time job.
Send your kids to do your job- problem solved.
 
Canuck
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Last time I took a significant trip on a train in Canada, was 60 years ago. A friend and I drove to Vancouver for his wedding. I took a train back to Calgary from Vancouver on Canadian Pacific Railways. It was 24 hours of torture! Little wonder CPR doesn’t have passenger service Calgary to Vancouver any longer. Nobody’d take it! We’ve travelled by train from Adsterdam to Rome over a six day period. A totally different experience!
 
Skrv
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My dream vacation. Being a person with diet restrictions, keep putting this off 🙁 and need to figure out a way to this soon.
 
rendo
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Enjoy! My in-laws started the same journey from Chicago yesterday.
 
gbesq
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Canuck Canuck
Last time I took a significant trip on a train in Canada, was 60 years ago. A friend and I drove to Vancouver for his wedding. I took a train back to Calgary from Vancouver on Canadian Pacific Railways. It was 24 hours of torture! Little wonder CPR doesn’t have passenger service Calgary to Vancouver any longer. Nobody’d take it! We’ve travelled by train from Adsterdam to Rome over a six day period. A totally different experience!
Amtrak has generally surpassed our very realistic expectations, although you cannot count on the long distance trains being on time. That being said, after a 2,200 mile journey over three days our train arrived in Chicago yesterday 10 minutes early!
 
vbrad26
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Oh yeah this is good stuff. The California Zephyr is on my bucket list (in fact I think I made a thread about it here).
What accommodations did you choose?
 
gbesq
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We booked two roomettes directly across from each other so that we had the views covered on both sides of the train. Technically, each roomette will sleep two, but it would be pretty cramped. It’s absolutely fine for one person.
 
vbrad26
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gbesq gbesq
We booked two roomettes directly across from each other so that we had the views covered on both sides of the train. Technically, each roomette will sleep two, but it would be pretty cramped. It’s absolutely fine for one person.

And the shared bathroom was....ok? lol.
 
gbesq
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vbrad26 vbrad26
And the shared bathroom was....ok? lol.
Fine and constantly cleaned by our car attendant.
 
Speed2Sea
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How is the quality and variety of the meals? Included in the price?
 
fiberguy
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You could not have picked a better time to some to Chicago. Feels more like early fall these last couple days.
 
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