Best map to follow train's progress on?

[Phila 30th St]

I did my first long distance train this month (Coast Starlight) and the one thing I think that would have made it better is if I'd brought along a map to follow my progress on.

In a few months I'm going to ride the Empire Builder and want to fix this. Any idea what the best kind of map to bring is? I have a Rand McNally Road Atlas but I have a feeling there may be a better option.

 

[RRrich]

I like to use my netbook with GPS & mapping software - I use Delorme Street Atlas & the included GPS but others use the stuff from Microsoft - both are available on Amazon

 

[D T Nelson]

For the part of the trip west of St Paul, you could print out the very detailed system maps the BNSF has in PDF form on its web site. Here is the BNSF's route map page. If your home printer does not print large enough to suit you, FedEx Kinko's or some other copy shop could probably print you a nice large version. For east of St Paul, the CP web site seems to only have notional maps, alas.

 

[MrEd]

I follow the route guide that is provided for sleeping car passengers.

 

[D T Nelson]

I follow the route guide that is provided for sleeping car passengers.

The Empire Builder route guide contains a few spelling errors. In the map, Edmonds, Washington is spelled as Edmunds, and Wenatchee, Washington is spelled as Wenaychee. In the text, it says that Seattle was named after Chief Stealth; it was named after Chief Sealth. (There may be other errors, but those are three I have found.) The map errors are new, I believe, and weren't in the previous version of the guide, but the Stealth/Sealth error has been there for a while.

About a year ago, when the previous version of the guide was still in use, I emailed Amtrak about the Stealth/Sealth error, and they told me not to bother them replied thusly: "Thank you for contacting us. Please note that we have received a reply back from our corporate offices concerning the Empire Route Guide and about the city of Seattle, WA. The reply that came back was that the route guides will be replaced sometime soon, but this version will not be updated. We do thank you for advising us of this spelling error."

When they replaced the guide, they left in the original error and added two more. I have not bothered to tell them about the new ones.

 

[MrEd]

Spelling issues are still in the current guide, sorry they did not want feedback on it.

...

SEATTLE was named in honor of Chief Noah Stealth, head of one of

the two tribes living in the area in 1851 when Arthur Denny and his

settlers landed on Alki Point.

...

 

[Montanan]

Spend a few minutes online visiting the official tourism sites for the various states you'll be passing through ... and request the free copies of official state highway maps that most of them offer. They're generally larger and more detailed then state maps you'll find elsewhere, and most of them include rail lines, as well.