45 hours on Amtrak?! EMPIRE BUILDER from Seattle to Chicago in a Roomette Sleeper

[Music] well good morning from chicago o'hare airport i am making the 2200 mile journey today from chicago to seattle now by airplane that's going to take about four or four and a half hours on the way back however i am taking amtrak's empire builder train and that's going to take about 46 hours so i'm really looking forward to it should be a really fun and exciting adventure and hopefully plenty of relaxation along the way my name is jeff and i believe the journey is half the fun [Music] [Music] all right well i made it to seattle so in just a few minutes i'll be heading over to the station to check out the empire builder train where it's going to take me 45 hours to get all the way back to chicago now the cool thing about this is this legendary train line has been around for nearly 100 years it was introduced in 1929 by the great northern railway and was taken over by amtrak way back in the early 70s and they've been running ever since the empire builder currently has about 500 000 passengers a year and runs every day back and forth both eastbound and westbound from here and portland the trains will meet up in spokane washington and connect and then they'll head over to chicago together so we're looking forward to it and i'll meet you back at the station [Music] king street station seattle opened way back in 1906 as the union station for the great northern railway and northern pacific railway in 2013 the station went through a 55 million renovation restoring it to its original glory [Music] there are no shops or food here other than a couple of vending machines so if you'd like to bring any snacks be sure to pick them up in advance and here's our train coming into the station now let's hop on board this is my first time on an overnight train and this is something that's been on my bucket list for a really long time i chose the empire builder because its scenic route travels amongst the part of the country that i've seen the least of and since we're traveling in october the autumn foliage should be absolutely fantastic and for today's journey i'll be traveling in an amtrak roomette which is a small sleeper cabin that sleeps one or two people and i'll be here in romette number 10 which is located upstairs and is also right next to the dining car which turned out to be very convenient this is my home for the next 46 hours [Music] and soon we were off leaving just a few minutes late but i was certainly in no rush to get anywhere as we left seattle i took a few minutes to get familiar with the room and checked out things such as the temperature controls and the closet and storage we do apologize we did leave just about five minutes late there but we can't make up that time folks we're still under a federal mandate to wear those masks so please wear those masks at all times while riding the train the only time that you can either remove your mask or take that mask down to your chin is if you're actively eating or drinking or if you're in that private room accommodation once you close that door behind you you can remove that mask a few things about the train as we get going here folks if you're looking for those restrooms they're located downstairs in the vessel area the same way that you enter the train downstairs the vessel area and we do have designated smoking stops and rounds all the way to chicago our first one will be in wenatchee in about four hours if we incur any lengthy delays the conductors will make an announcement let you know what's going on out there our next station stop of edmonds edmonds washington coming up here in about 25 minutes sit back relax enjoy the trip and welcome aboard thank you all right so we're like an hour into the journey now i believe we just left everett washington and uh it's been a pretty cool experience so far the room that's like really comfortable really enjoying it service seems great so far i made a dinner reservation for 7 45 i had a late lunch today so i figured i'd check out dinner a little bit later this evening so just kind of take it easy for the night have a nice relaxing evening [Music] [Music] so anyway we're rapidly losing our sunlight here as the sun has just gone down for the night so i hope hopefully you've enjoyed some of the views along the way so far and i'm sure we'll have plenty of spectacular views to come in the next couple of days all right and now let's not waste any time getting to the part of the video that i know you're all here for it's time for the lure review the amtrak train bathroom is perhaps a slight step above one you'll find on a 737 aircraft but it was well stocked with all the essentials and kept very clean throughout the journey i did appreciate this sign in the door encouraging fellow passengers to clean up after themselves and for the most part they did there are also separate showers we'll check those out tomorrow and before i knew it it was time for dinner my dinner reservation was for 7 45 and you can check out the three course dinner menu here one nice feature is that the first alcoholic beverage is included with your dinner so for tonight i started off with a salad i enjoyed the steak which was actually cooked really well and for dessert i enjoyed the chocolate tort which i would have a couple more times before the end of the trip throughout the journey there be several extended stops that amtrak refers to as fresh air breaks and our first one is here in wenatchee washington which is pretty much smack dab right in the middle of washington state now while i was at dinner my cabinet attendant jimmy had converted the romette into the bed configuration which was all set up for a comfortable night's sleep [Music] i wasn't sure how well i'd sleep on a train because i often struggle to get a good night's sleep on a flight but i really slept great maybe it was the motion of the train or the soothing sound but i found it to be very relaxing welcome to whitefish montana this is my first time in montana in over 20 years i'm really excited to be back here and i also made sure to set an alarm and get up in the middle of the night to check out idaho my 47th state so we're just here for a quick fresh air stop then we're back into the train off to glacier national park which should be a very scenic day it's a little bit cloudy not not too bright yet it's only about um i don't know maybe 7 30 or so it hasn't got very light yet but still should be a great day for sightseeing really looking forward to it check out this baggage car a little different than the airport [Music] today will be the highlight of our journey a full day relaxing on the train spent mostly in montana and crossing the rocky mountains through glacier national park for breakfast you don't need a reservation and this morning i went with the omelet which came with bacon and a croissant have you visited montana before i'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below for me montana is one of the most beautiful states i've ever been to and i think the rocky mountains is probably one of the most beautiful parts of the united states our eyes [Music] soon enough i'd catch my first glimpse of snow for the year which is really exciting because winter is my favorite season and i am really looking forward to ski season this year [Music] [Music] i certainly can't beat the scenery here at uh glacier national park so i just had a great breakfast had a shower feeling refreshed now i'm gonna go check out the observation car in a little bit and see what that's like we're gonna head past the dining car through the coach cabin and here we are in the observation car [Music] amtrak's observation cars are called sightseer lounges and are available on seven of amtrak's long distance routes these cars also have a cafe located downstairs where you can purchase food and drinks including alcoholic beverages the sightseer lounges are open to all passengers with open seating and i had no problem finding a seat at any time on this journey oh [Music] [Music] after hanging out in the sightseer lounge for a little bit i decided to head back to my room where i would relax for a bit more before lunch [Music] we're in shelby montana for our second fresh air stop of the day it's about 11 30. it's been a really great morning so far really enjoyed the observation car it's a lot of fun very scenic drive well very scenic ride through glacier national park and i'm looking forward to seeing more of the sights later on this afternoon and come with [Music] me thing to note on these roots is that amtrak does not have priority when using the rails so sometimes you'll have to stop for an extended period of time for a freight train to cross and that could delay your journey a little bit so always a good idea to build in a little bit of a time buffer just in case and today for lunch i chose the grilled chicken caesar salad which was great if you pause this you can read the history of haver we're in haver montana for a very very quick stop back on the train now if you didn't pause and read that sign we'll get into the history of haverman tanner a little bit more later on [Music] look outside all right now let's take a little bit of a walk all the way to the back of the train one thing to note is the sightseer lounge is actually really empty this afternoon there's plenty of open seats and a lot of great views to be had if you go to the very back of the train you get a cool view of the tracks looking out the back window this narrow hallway contains the bedrooms in the sleeper car which have their own private bathrooms and definitely a lot more space and even the coach cabin has some pretty comfortable chairs with plenty of legroom and lots of recline but i think i'll hang out here in the sightseer lounge while it's nice and quiet i headed downstairs to grab a snack from the cafe this is where i met todd who saw my camera and graciously open the window so i get an unobstructed view very cool later on todd gave a presentation in the sightseer lounge describing the areas we were crossing through and some of the history behind it which i really enjoyed he also said he didn't mind if i filmed him so i'll share some of that with you now we gotta go all the way back to the 1890s young couple was riding in one day on horseback the town didn't have a name yet and uh it just so happened that this couple wasn't getting along that day they were fighting so they decided to stop at the local watering hole and see if they could resolve their differences over a drink they walked into the barn and the bartender said something to the guy about his wife being and he said that's fine i don't want her you can have her cover montana that's how they uh supposedly uh the town got its name because they were building the railroad coming through this area they needed to name their towns they spun the globe and stopped it with their finger and they landed on glasgow and malta honest to god truth now that brings to mind the question if they had landed on beijing and tokyo would you have tokyo monte maybe i don't know possibly now our next stop after that is going to be williston north dakota williston is the smallest city in the country with an international airport i can promise you folks you cannot go to williston and book a flight to london today that isn't going to happen okay i chose an earlier dinner reservation tonight at 5 p.m and really enjoyed the chicken enchilada as my appetizer for the main entree i went with the salmon which was excellent and finished off with a familiar chocolate tort with all the food that amtrak includes i didn't ever find myself feeling hungry there was plenty of food on board even for a hungry guy like myself [Music] head downstairs [Music] all right finally made it to north dakota my 48th state really excited to be here only got two more left if you have any guesses on what those two states are leave a comment below we're here in minot north dakota it's the last fresh air stop of the evening it's about 10 o'clock at night so this is pretty much it i'm gonna go get some sleep and have a nice comfortable night's rest and i'll see you in the morning i had another great night's sleep on board now i thought maybe i'd get bored being on a train for so long but i found the opposite to be true you got your mama's sunshine you got your daddy's reign you're like a piece of heaven in a hurricane very lovely morning in st paul minnesota uh here back at the twin cities if you haven't been here before i would definitely come for the minnesota state fair it's probably the greatest fair in all of the united states definitely recommend checking that out so i think this is our final fresh air stop of the trip it's about eight o'clock in the morning and looking forward to another day of relaxing on the train we should be in the chicago around 4 30 ish 5 o'clock it looks like we're running maybe i don't know 10 15 minutes behind pretty close to schedule so hopefully we keep that up the rest of the day and uh have a wonderful day back on the train you got your mama's sunshine you got your daddy's ring [Music] apparently i failed to fill my breakfast but the bacon eggs were great i know amtrak doesn't have the best reputation for onboard dining and this is certainly no five-star dining experience but i was pleasantly surprised what also really impressed me was the friendly service from eric in the dining car he was fantastic and another person that really made this a very enjoyable experience [Music] now one thing that didn't impress me as much as this wonky shower head but if that's all i have to complain about at this point then i'd say we're doing pretty good winona minnesota winona minnesota got an extra smoke stop i think this is the last one of the trip so our next time off the train will be in chicago all right folks uh i'm gonna go ahead and get this little presentation going here um i want to welcome you all aboard once again if you haven't been uh with us through the overnight hours and so on it should be a beautiful day going down the river this morning this is known as the upper mississippi valley region that first bridge is the most important one folks it crosses the mississippi it's been there since 1890. i hope all of you know how to swim right in the middle of that bridge we will cross from minnesota into wisconsin now there's no white dotted line there's no lights there's no sign there's nothing to tell you that you're crossing from one state into the other but you will know that you're in wisconsin especially if you're a sports fan because you will feel just a little bit more like a champion than you do right now in minnesota water skiing started at lake city minnesota that's correct it did not start in tahiti or hawaii or some other exotic locale it started right here in minnesota now my theory behind that folks is when you only have the vikings to cheer for you've got to have something else to do it really is it's a remarkable place so uh sit back enjoy the ride folks thank you very much each of todd's presentations lasted around 15 to 20 minutes and as someone who grew up in the area he offered a wealth of knowledge and fun facts to share with us stand all or just slow down maybe we could [Music] for the final leg of the journey today we'll continue heading selfies through minnesota crossing over into wisconsin where we'll head over to milwaukee and then south from there alongside lake michigan straight to chicago where our train journey concludes for the final meal of the adventure i went with the artisan grilled cheese which had bacon and turkey and was served with chips [Music] we soon entered milwaukee which was a reminder that there wasn't too much time left despite being held up numerous times along the route we were still running on time and to be honest i wasn't ready for it to be over this may have been my first overnight train adventure but hopefully it's the first of many now i booked this trip directly through amtrak and paid 650 for the one-way fare i could have saved about a hundred dollars more i had been able to travel earlier in the week and during the peak summer months you could easily pay over a thousand dollars for the room at on this route now considering what you would pay for two nights in a hotel and six meals especially considering that amtrak isn't a profitable operation i think it's a really good deal to travel this way be sure to sign up for the amtrak guest rewards program to earn points that you can use for future travel and they also offer a 20 000 point sign up bonus with the amtrak guest rewards world mastercard which you can apply for on a link to amtrak's website [Music] okay well that's an on time arrival to chicago i hope you enjoyed the empire builder train it was a lot of fun really enjoyed the amtrak room experience uh just being able to see the northern part of the country especially going through glacier was just really beautiful had a really great time so can't wait to do this again thank you so much for joining me my name is jeff i believe that travel helps us build a more peaceful planet and maybe i'll see you on my next train trip peace [Music] you out [Music]

Channel: HDjeff

Views: 60,488

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Id: edqfrNtc-c4

Length: 22min 20sec (1340 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 20 2021