Amtrak Empire Builder - 30+ Hours in a Superliner Bedroom

hello jet centers or should i say rail runners i'm jeb brooks from greenergrass.com and i've come to chicago's historic union station to try out one of america's most epic rail journeys it's the empire builder from here in chicago all the way to seattle the train crosses some of the most dramatic land in the united states passing through illinois wisconsin minnesota north dakota montana idaho and washington state the entire route takes 46 hours at an average speed of 50 miles per hour but our plan was to leave chicago at 2 15 on thursday afternoon spend 30 hours in a luxurious bedroom and arrive just as the sun sets over glacier national park at 8 30 on friday evening this would be my first experience on board an overnight train keep watching to see what it's like to travel on this train during these unprecedented times learn a little bit of the history behind this remarkable route and perhaps best of all witness some of the spectacular sights along the way this is the empire builder the trip begins at chicago's union station nestled right in the heart of the city the historic building opened in 1925 and if you listen very carefully you can still hear the roaring 20s in the background [Music] union station is one of the most common names for train stations here in the u.s there are examples in washington seattle los angeles and of course here in chicago but why is that it turns out that stations that were used by multiple railroad companies were often called union in its heyday this architectural gem served six or seven different rail companies today the station serves metra local rail services a number of bus lines and of course amtrak passengers staying in a sleeper car that's a roommate or a bedroom have access to the metropolitan lounge i'm sorry to say it was a bit disappointing in normal times snacks and drinks would be available these of course are anything but normal times all of those amenities have been understandably removed [Music] the seating however was plentiful at least in the morning the space filled up later in the day since most of the trains leave at mid-afternoon even though ours wasn't scheduled to head out until 2 15 we arrived at about 11 o'clock there was even space reserved for kids the tvs interestingly were showing law and order reruns [Music] face coverings were required in the lounge and amtrak employees seemed serious about enforcing the rule passengers were encouraged to be in a lounge 45 minutes before departure an announcement came for us to line up and head to our train about 30 minutes before we were scheduled to leave chicago the boarding procedure from the lounge was interesting granted this was my first overnight train but i've never seen anything quite like it we were told to line up along a hallway naturally i ran to the hallway in order to be at the front of the line we were then met by an amtrak employee who would escort us to the train i thought i'd been very clever by rushing to get to the front of the line in this hallway but in a twist of fate i couldn't have predicted and with a maneuver i still don't quite understand i ended up here at the very back of the line oh well boarding anything is exciting for me especially my first overnight train i really wasn't sure what to expect keep watching for all the details this is pretty exciting this is getting pretty exciting if you like travel videos like this one i sure hope you'll click the subscribe button and ring the notification bell so you can be among the first to know when i publish a new video what a sense of occasion this was a really exciting travel moment in addition to a backpack i brought a normal carry-on sized bag with me it was too large to keep in our room but there was plenty of storage right here i felt very safe leaving for the 30-hour journey that was ahead of us our bedroom was located upstairs and we'd been directed to it by our cabin attendant who waited for us just outside the car we barely had time to sit down before that incredible cabin attendant came by to offer a tour of the room this guy was awesome i don't film crew in my videos because it seems kind of rude so i'll give you my own tour in just a few minutes but he was awesome friendly accommodating and proactive what a guy only a matter of seconds after he'd finished we were on our way right on time as we pulled away from chicago i began to relax we followed the chicago river for a little bit and soon we saw the skyline fading away for the first time in a long time i did not envy the passengers on that plane up there instead i was ready for a different pace there was something incredibly soothing about the motion of the train the gentle sway of the car plus having everything easily accessible in our own cabin was a real luxury this was a small indication of just how relaxing this trip would be we only spent one night on the train another two in glacier national park but spoiler alert thanks to the pace of the train the trip felt like it lasted two weeks and i mean that in the best possible way i was so refreshed after this short trip what a great way to travel the bedroom we booked was comfortable there's a door and a curtain to block the hallway there's a small closet big enough for a jacket the lighting controls and call button were right here this sofa was comfortable and would eventually fold into a bed the room came with tissues and four pillows although i'd recommend bringing your own pillow i'm not too proud to admit it my neck kind of still hurts from these oh well there's more lighting and a plug that would not accommodate my macbook plug there's a table that folds out here it was great for playing cards getting some work done or enjoying room service more on that later all of these activities are made possible for two thanks to this chair which faces the sofa the room is also equipped with a sink soap plenty of towels and rolled gold these days extra toilet paper there's also a toilet and a shower that are in the same room the the same room the shower and the toilet are the same just kidding downstairs you'll find plenty of storage along with shared bathrooms and showers that are much larger than the ones upstairs it was time to head to the observation car to take in views of milwaukee [Music] as you can see social distancing was enforced throughout the train [Music] we passed the milwaukee airport railroad station it's an amtrak railway station and opened in 2005. it provides access to the mitchell international airport which is named for general billy mitchell who's widely regarded as the father of the united states air force but the empire builder doesn't stop there instead we pulled into downtown milwaukee now if you decide to stay here don't miss the cheese curds there are two kinds of stops on the empire builder most are like this one just real quick so passengers can get on and off the second type are longer so-called smoke breaks they last about 20 minutes in those cases passengers can get out and stretch their legs but it's a good idea to stay around the station wander too far lots of stories of passengers getting left behind there was something incredibly comforting about being on the train during a rainstorm which was good because it rained a lot on this trip [Music] soon though it was time to head back to our room get ready for dinner we've got a dinner reservation in just a few minutes i honestly have no idea what to expect so we'll make our way up to the dining car i know this is a different sort of experience different service than you'd normally receive because of the coronavirus and so forth so a little bit different but i hope you'll check it out with us [Music] as we make our way up there let's take a look around the train it was made up of two engines and 10 cars four sleeper cars four coach cars an observation car which had a lounge in it and finally there's a dining car there are three options when it comes to the empire builder you can book a bedroom a room at or a coach seat quick aside there's a pandemic going on avoid touching surfaces where possible amtrak makes that easy okay so you can book a bedroom like we did or a room at or a coach seat rooms and bedrooms are in sleeping cars like this one these are bedrooms along the side here there are roulettes on either side of this car let's take a look inside one now back to it here's a coach car [Music] we'll take a closer look at coach in just a little bit later on in the journey for now let's keep on going all the way up to the dining car when it came to dining things have changed at amtrak rather than the typical luxurious dining experience where you never know who you'll meet you only sit with the people you're traveling with and you can only order from the flexible dining menu unfortunately these really appear to be microwavable tv dinners to compensate for the change passengers get one free drink a gin and donek for me and a glass of wine for the creative director cheers here's to a great ride as you can see the food wasn't exactly the famous steak amtrak passengers have grown accustomed to but these are unique times and changes are to be expected i've um i've moved on to the spoon for my meatballs because my fork is a casualty of the heat of the sturdiness i guess you'd say of the of the meatballs sure the meatballs may have been sturdier than expected but the views more than made up for it also we had to stop for a little bit apparently our train had been struck by lightning during a storm is that common if you know leave me a comment below after dinner we headed back to the end of the train before returning to our room which had been turned down for bed [Music] as you can see there was plenty of room for the two of us the space felt very cozy and perhaps most importantly incredibly private [Music] and we cross the mighty mississippi before crawling under the covers it's it's pretty much time for bed i mean it's only 8 30 but we've been going for a long time so time for bed the sheets if you uh if you think they're egyptian cotton you're living in denial and after recovering from laughing at my own stupid joke we had time to take in even more views before drifting off to sleep the sun rises early over north dakota in july and i'm so glad i didn't miss it it was truly stunning but waking up wasn't really too difficult no doubt that's a beautiful sunrise out there and definitely a treat i would not call that the most restful sleep i've ever had in my life i mean it was the moments that were nice where it was like gently rocking um but there were other times where it felt like we were gonna fly off the rails i know that's crazy i know um there's no way that would have happened but we're at the very tail end i feel like we're whipping around these days i mean whatever it was very nice will i do it again i mean yeah of course that wasn't exactly what happened looking back on it the feeling wasn't as dramatic as perhaps i was indicating in normal times there would be coffee waiting outside our room 24 hours a day seven days a week but again these are not normal times so we headed back to the dining car for breakfast and some caffeine shortly after i had finished my jimmy dean sausage biscuit a reminder of saturday mornings growing up it was time for a smoke break which the conductor made a bit more pg by calling it a fresh air break we got out of the train for our first visit to minot north dakota minot traces its founding to 1886 when the first railroad track was laid here it's perhaps best known as the home of rapper wiz khalifa and this train station sadly the in popular culture section of the city's wikipedia page is blank so maybe it's feature in this youtube video will garner a reference some say why go to minot north dakota i say my not in all seriousness this stop did give us a chance to get a sense of just how big the train is this was also a fuel and water stop passing between cars while the train is running requires some getting used to here outside the train you can see how they connect to each other soon the trains whistle blue and the conductor called all aboard so we return to our room the empire builder traces its heritage back to 1929 when it was the flagship route of the vaunted great northern railway in the early part of the 20th century railroad companies were the airlines of their time perhaps none were restored as the great northern railway which operated between saint paul minnesota and seattle washington the great northern railway operated the northernmost transcontinental railway in the country and was also the only privately funded transcontinental railroad in the nation's history unlike every other one it was built with no federal funding today amtrak is the only passenger operator on the route and as with nearly all of amtrak's operations we constantly competed with freight traffic and freight trains they always win why that's because freight lines own the track amtrak is just borrowing it most cases so that means delays are very possible fortunately for us though we didn't really experience any during our 30 hours on board there's a unique quirk to the empire builder train it splits in two when the train reaches spokane washington the front half of the train which includes the dining car heads on to seattle the back half continues on to portland oregon that's the half with the observation car which also houses the lounge now this is where we were this is a bit tough to articulate but stick with me it could save you a dollar too we were getting off at glacier national park before the train splits however by booking our ticket on the portland part of the train we saved money granted we were at the very back but walking through the cars is kind of a highlight so it was money well saved put another way check your fare on the very well-made amtrak website before booking pardon the interruption rail runners but this is big news we've just crossed the border with montana making this my 48th state still need to visit vermont and idaho but pretty pretty exciting for me now back to your regular programming [Music] we soon arrived at wolf point and it was time for lunch so we headed back to the dining car for another microwaved meal after lunch we decided to hang out in the observation car i went downstairs to the lounge to get a drink [Music] again social distancing measures were in place so the experience isn't quite what amtrak regulars are used to but at the risk of beating a dead horse the views are the same at one point we had to pull off on a siding because a dispatcher had allowed too many trains at once it took about 10 minutes and gave us time to appreciate the simple beauty around us the train had to reverse in order to return to the main track but again it wasn't much of a delay [Music] amtrak offers a great tool on our website called track a train using it we realized we'd be meeting the other empire builders soon that's the one headed back to chicago and we thought there was a chance we could capture video of it this is one of the greatest things about the train i think anyway it's the pace it allowed us to get excited about something simple and rewarding and seeing the train heading back was great [Music] as we made our way across montana the fifth state we'd seen so far we passed through yet another storm [Music] [Applause] but it cleared quickly and we learned why this state is known as big sky country we then discovered an empty coach cabin so i used the opportunity to explore this mode of travel in a little bit more depth it was similar to what i experienced the very first time i ever took amtrak that was between washington dc and my home in greensboro north carolina i'll provide a link to that video in the description the seats offer plenty of recline there's more than enough storage there's also shared bathrooms that include thoughtful signage as the afternoon progressed the terrain grew more varied soon the rocky mountains would appear and our train would climb all the way up to glacier national park where there were three stops we got off of the third one and i'm so glad we did this was by far the most beautiful part of the journey i've been on this train for like 28 or 29 hours now um so i probably need a shower i'm gonna take one here and the answer is no i'm gonna wait until uh until i get to the hotel we arrived at east glacier park which was closed when we passed through soon our final amtrak meal arrived we'd chosen to have it delivered as room service which was a nice change of pace it was packaged very well but underneath that packaging it was still microwaved thankfully these meatballs weren't as sturdy as the last set i've heard this part of the united states referred to as flyover country and nothing could be further from the truth i'm one of the luckiest people on the planet i pinch myself every time i think about this i've had the good fortune to visit 60 countries set foot on all seven continents i've circumnavigated the planet half a dozen times now before this trip if you'd given me the choice of remaining in the united states or traveling abroad i'd have been more likely to pull out my passport than my car keys however this amtrak experience changed my perspective there were times we felt like we were outside the united states particularly here in montana when we pass through towns like malta glasgow and kremlin and i'm sorry to admit it that if it hadn't been for the closing of international borders i probably would not have taken this trip if i'd had the chance to visit north korea northern ireland or norway i never would have woken up in north dakota and of course i'm eager to continue exploring other countries and cultures and look forward to the reopening of our borders but i'm also looking forward to finding more views like these in my own country from minnesota's lake country to the missouri plateau of north dakota and the glacier carved mountains of montana this is some of the most beautiful land anywhere and it's just impossible to appreciate it from 34 000 feet hurtling through the air at 500 miles an hour only on a train can you sit back and have a drink and really take in the specialness of these places we saw all kinds of wildlife and bald eagles and ducks foxes deer and even antelope this was truly a magical experience if you haven't already don't forget to subscribe in the next video i'll share the remarkable experience we had in one of america's greatest treasures i'm jeb brooks from greenergrass.com between now and the next time see on the rails you

Channel: Jeb Brooks

Views: 1,845,653

Keywords: Empire Builder, Amtrak, Amtrak Sleeper Car Tour, Amtrak Bedroom Suite, Amtrak Empire Builder, Superliner Bedroom, Amtrak Superliner Bedroom, Amtrak Superliner Bedroom Tour, amtrak superliner coach, amtrak superliner train, amtrak empire builder documentary, amtrak empire builder glacier national park, Glacier National Park by Train, Glacier National Park Train, Amtrak North Dakota, Amtrak Illinois, Amtrak Wisconsin, Amtrak Montana, Amtrak Minnesota

Id: iYhuB2uzN9k

Length: 23min 4sec (1384 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 08 2020