Big Trip Within the Western Zone

[sambdking]

A fun train trip using only 30,000 AGR points:

So I want to take a trip from Los Angeles to Portland on the CS, then onto the EB towards the edge of the Western Zone and then back. I can go as far as Havre, MT, hope of for an hour or 2, then catch the Westbound EB back to Los Angeles, via Portland again.

Does any one know any fun things to do in Havre, or in Shelby, Cut Bank, Browning, East Glacier Park, or Essex during my turn around? I might even consider spending a night if there is fun (and not-too-expensive) stuff to do and see.

I'm excited to take the Portland segment of the EB for the Columbia River!

thanks all!

 

[tomfuller]

What month? Your best bet would be to rent a car for 24 hours in the morning in Whitefish and drive the Going to the Sun Road over Logan Pass coming out in St. Mary. The road will not be cleared of snow until about June 14.

Once you get to St. Mary on the east side you can go to Many Glacier or back by way of Two Medicine Lake to get back on US 2. You will see a big monument at the top of Marias Pass. It is worth stopping with the rental car. You will see it from the train but only for a minute or less.

The town of Browning has the Museum of the Plains Indian.

My wife and I got off the westbound EB in Cut Bank a little after 6PM on May 31 last year and had a rental car waiting for us in the parking lot of the station. We were the only people to get off or on that night.

We drove up the GTTS road from St. Mary about 17 miles before we got to the locked gate. The Logan Pass didn't open until June 15.

On the return trip you could take the Seattle section of the EB and then take an Amtrak Cascades Talgo south to Portland or even Eugene.

 

[Eric308]

Those are great tips from tomfuller about Glacier, but I have a feeling time won't allow it. Also, I was going to suggest the Seattle section across the Cascades and then the Amtrak Cascades Talgo south. I'm doing the EB to PDX and then the Cascades north to SEA and home in about three weeks myself. That museum in Browning is definitely worth a look.

 

[the_traveler]

The choice of East Glacier or Browning will depend on the time of the year of your trip. The stop at East Glacier is right at the entrance of Glacier National Park, but the EB stops there in the summer only (I forget the exact dates without looking) and does not stop at Browning. During the winter, the EB stops at Browning but not East Glacier.

Essex is the location of the Issac Walton Inn, a nice place to stay overnight. Note it is a flag stop and there is nothing else easily nearby. But you can (if you want) stay in old railroad equipment (including cabooses and even a converted locomotive! ), and is also located on the (very busy) BNSF mainline!

 

[ehbowen]

While an overnight stay would be better, I would also seriously consider Essex and the Izaak Walton Inn for a same-day turnaround. The scenery is wonderful; the Inn is surrounded by mountains on all four sides. (Anywhere you go east of East Glacier all you will see is flat, flat, flat!) You could have lunch and dinner at the hotel restaurant and spend your day railfanning from their big front porch and/or their walkway over the tracks. Between BNSF action you could relax by the fireplace in their big lobby (which is stocked with hundreds of books, many rail-related) or, if you get bored, watch TV in their TV room downstairs. Wi-fi is available downstairs, along with adult beverages, in the Flagstop Bar. Check it out and you may want to come back for a longer stay!

If you do have time for an overnight turnaround, I would strongly suggest one of the Red Bus "Jammer" tours offered by Glacier Park, Inc. While some of these can be booked from the Izaak Walton, a greater variety of tours are available at East Glacier or West Glacier.