And a great trip it was! I had to be in Seattle, as you may recall, and decided to stop in St Paul/Minneapolis and Oregon en route. Went down to NYC & stayed with a friend, having decided to go to Chicago via Washington, DC, as I like to do; caught a train there no problem, and met the friend with whom I was traveling, had lunch, saw some Smithsonian museum exhibits by the Mall--a great stopover on a warm sunny day--before catching the Capitol Ltd. This train was excellent this time, very good staff and one of the best meals I've had in years, in part because they have brought NY strip steak back, but everything else was delicious too. We were only about 1/2 hour late into Chicago and arrived on another sunny day, able to walk around the Loop and down to the Lake/Millennium Park, see some cool buildings, have a fine light lunch.
Traveling coach on the Empire Builder to St Paul/Minneapolis was no problem, although the train was about 45 minutes late, which at that time of night is a little tiring (esp with the time change). But we again had great weather the next two days (we missed all that snow that came a week or two later), saw the Capitol, Cathedral, and Mr Hill's house, quite interesting and unusual and very apt since he was the Empire Builder on whose tracks we rode. Saw more of Summit Av, beautiful homes, and also walked along the Mississippi downtown, the part you see from the train, and went to the Landmark Center etc. Next day took a bus to Minneapolis, getting off by the Mill Museum, also saw Guthrie Theater (ugh) and walked across Mr Hill's stone bridge and made a loop over another bridge (Hennepin?)--first time I've walked across the Mississippi! Saw the light rail but did not have time to ride it; instead caught a bus back from near the Central Library . . . I would have to say that overall we preferred St Paul to what we saw of Minneapolis, which had too many modern buildings and skyways, too many of its older buildings torn down. But both were quite nice, my first time in either; and my only real complaint is the location of the train station--would be so much better to have stations in each downtown.
Reboarding the Empire Builder with sleeper now, we had a nice trip to Portland, fun wine and cheese, dinner choices not so great but very good breakfasts, lunches, and key lime pie dessert. Too dark to see Glacier Park westbound, but we had a glorious trip down the Columbia River Gorge, able to see Mount Hood etc, and arrived in Portland only about an hour late. After enjoying ourselves in Oregon we took a Cascades up to Seattle, our final destination--wonderful ride on a wonderful train, with the new comfortable seats I think I like it as much as ACELA! We were only about 1/2 hour late to Seattle, where the station seems to be handling all the train traffic pretty well in spite of the (much-needed) reconstruction. In Seattle it did rain, but we were lucky up until then, so no complaints.
Trip home on the Empire Builder was straight through and uneventful except for the lovely scenery of Glacier Park and the Mississippi. We were perhaps 45 minutes late into Chicago, where the weather was again quite warm. The Lakeshore was nice with its wine and cheese, and food pretty good, though there were some maintenance woes, as usual, with these older trains. Train was about an hour late into Albany, losing most of its time in western NY. I found the Lakeshore more scenic this time of year, when trees had lost leaves, and I could actually glimpse some of that Lakeshore! But the best views are on the other side from about Utica.
All in all, a fantastic trip, with weather much nicer than I ever expected.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
Sounds like you had a great trip, Sojourner. You certainly know how to get your money's worth when visiting a city. Makes me tired to read about all you do.
Maybe I'm reading something into your writeup, but it seems that the Empire Builder is no longer a step above other LD train, scenery aside, but on your trip, for example, the Cap was just about as good. Too bad if that's the case. On the other hand, maybe it's just that the bar has been raised a bit and other trains have improved so the EB no longer stands out as superior to others.
Posted by chrisg (Member # 2488) on :
Nice report. It was nice you had such a great trip!
Chris
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Thanks for your comments. Palmland, the good news is that the Cap Ltd does seem to be improved--just as it was supposed to be (it was one of the trains in that PRIP report, or whatever it's called). Mr Kisor's report recently posted also suggests the same, I think. The food was already much better last May, and this time the staff was really friendly as well as efficient--last May, efficient, but just not as personable.
OTOH, the Cap Ltd still doesn't have a lot of the EB sleeper amenities--wine and cheese, chocolates at turndown, real china in the diner (though china may be coming back to other trains too, I've heard).
I also think I made some poor dinner choices on the EB. The NY strip steak, delicious on the Cap Ltd, was available on the EB too, but I wanted to try other things. I did quite like the salmon. But some other dinner entrees, not so much. (Lunch specials and breakfast omelets were delicious on all trains, btw--good on the Lakeshore too.)
The main problem with the EB that I've noticed lately is that it is more often late, esp eastbound. Not super terrible late, but still, later than I remember. I think this has something to do with the trackwork in Wisconsin and also with congestion from all the Hiawatha and Metra trains north of Chicago. It's also possible the host railroad there is being less obliging (it's CN there, isn't it, no longer BNSF track?)
Does anyone--TwinStar, anyone else--know anything about plans for a new Amtrak station in the Twin Cities? I thought I heard something about it, but maybe it was just lightrail.
Posted by Stephen W (Member # 6059) on :
A wonderful report: as someone who is unable to travel at present due to less than good health I find these summaries of trips a real tonic. I read about new places and interesting people on such a regular basis which evoke some wonderful mind pictures. I wonder if you, sojourner, ever spend any time at home as you lead such a peripatetic life (lucky you!)
Thank you and all others on this forum who bring such journeys to life for one who can only dream at present of experiencing them.
Posted by mgt (Member # 5479) on :
Glad you enjoyed Summit Avenue, Sojourner. I am surprised it is not better known or advertised. While I was standing in front of one of the houses in a side street one of the inhabitants was only too pleased to talk about the area and give me some information. The sheer scale and ornamentaion of the houses is outstanding, and so unspoiled. Seemingly many of them were built by timber tycoons. In comparison the Hill house is quite sombre and serious; well worth a visit. It would have been interesting to have had a potted history of each house, but I suppose the residents do not want to feel as if they are living in a museum. There was some background on two more modest houses inhabited by Scott Fitzgerald and the governor's house. There are pleny of pictures on the web. My wife and I found Minneapolis easier to get around on foot, some areas of St Paul, e.g. Summit Avenue and the cathedral being cut off from the centre by the road system. On the other hand the skyway system, at least in summer, did seem to lead to parts of Minneapolis being quite dead. No doubt they are a great boon in winter. I must have done pretty much the same riverside walk as you, over both bridges. It was good that the information boards by the old flour mills were all legible. I am afraid those by the Tyne in Newcastle have all been vandalised. We found the on-line public transport site very useful and efficient. I too have heard rumours of a new Amtrak station. There was/is also talk of the light-railway being extended to St Paul.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Great report Sojourner.... My wife, daughter, and I spent five days in the Twin Cities this summer and almost managed to do as much as you!
We did the Summit Avenue stroll, ate at Mickey's Diner (Yeah it's historic.....whaddaya want?), and worked in a visit to the Mall of America. I wasn't so wild about the mall BUT I did like that we had the opportunity to use the lightrail to get there.
Speaking of..... yes. An extension of the lightrail from downtown Minneapolis westward through the University of Minnesota campus to the old Union Depot in downtown St. Paul. Plans call for Amtrak to relocate into the old Union Depot at that time as well.
I hope it happens..... gotta have someplace fun to go in the upper midwest while I boycott Wisconsin! Who knows..... maybe we'll have the chance to visit Dubuque, IA again by train before passenger trains return to Madison.
Posted by yukon11 (Member # 2997) on :
Thanks for a very nice trip report, Sojourner. Sounds like you had a great time.
I'm glad you had a chance to see the James J. Hill house in St. Paul. I have never seen it, but would like to some day.
The Empire Builder, out of Seattle, was a nice experience. I took it this past summer over to Whitefish. I thought the NY strip steak was very good, but it would have been better if it was served a bit warmer. I did not get to indulge in the wine and cheese as I found that you have to been west-bound for that. Glacier Park is spactacular, especially interesting if you are headed west to Seattle. The change in terrain is very dramatic, coming from the east.
Besides the James J. Hill house, another atraction in the St Paul/Minneapolis area would be the "Mall of America":
I saw a presentation, regarding the Mall, on the History Channel. The largest indoor mall in America. I thought it interesting that it uses very little indoor heating. Sky lights yield a greenhouse-like effect, along with peoples body heat. They say it is 72 degrees, inside, at 30 below outside.
Did you get a chance to go to the Pike Market in Seattle?