empire #7 vs #27 roomette rate
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the_traveler
Engineer
Yes it is the same train, but due to the limitations of Arrow (the reservation system), they must be sold separately. Also #27 has 1 sleeper going to Portland, while #7 has 2-3 sleepers going to Seattle. Thus #7 has more rooms to sell - the law of supply and demand!
yarrow
Engineer
in spokane the train splits with train 27 going to portland and train 7 to seattle
Amtrak Cajun
OBS Chief
Being that you are only going to MSP, pick the cheapest option, the only time it would matter is if you are going to points past Spokane. If going to Seattle or Washington points, 7 is your choice, if going to Portland or points in Oregon, 27 is the one you want. Hope this helps.
A small correction: both trains serve several towns in WA, just different ones. 7 serves Spokane, Ephrata, Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Everett, Edmonds, and Seattle, WA. 27 serves Spokane, Pasco, Wishram, Bingen-White Salmon, and Vancouver, WA before crossing the river to Portland, OR. The OP said they were going CHI-MSP, so it doesn't matter to them.
the_traveler
Engineer
Actually Anthony you are incorrect to a point about #27 and #28. Except for Portland, OR, all stops made between there and Spokane are in Washington state!
SubwayNut
Conductor
I could see other reasons to choose #7 vs. #27 in addition to price:
-#27/28 is always the last car of the train, my favorite car to be in especially on Superliners with the back window to look out of and very little traffic outside your room (no crew going to their transition sleeper). The downside is your 5 cars (4 coaches and the Sightseer Lounge) away from the dining car. I really enjoy walking trains and seeing the crowds.
-#7/8 if I want to be just one or two cars away from the diner and don't want to walk through the train every time to reach it. If was traveling with someone with mobility issues I would choose this section.
Personal Example: Last Year I was having lunch in the diner (traveling coach, never gone Sleeper on this train) just from MSP to CHI and was seated with an elderly couple who had boarded somewhere in Montana the day before in #28 the Portland Sleeper. There one problem with the trip was the long walk and and from the meals. The trip was one they had done numerous times and appreciated it when I told them they could avoid the Portland Sleeper next time by just booking #7 and #8.
On the Lake Shore Limited it is even worse, passengers on #449/#448, the Boston Sleeper must walk through seven cars (six coaches and the Cafe Car) to reach the diner
As a coach passenger as long as your not going where the train splits you can be assigned to either section although there can be a price difference between the two sections. On my last Lake Shore Limited trip on #49 I got the short end of this (going NYP to CHI). The 4 New York coaches were nearly full while the two Boston ones were quite empty. The reason was that the crew seemed to be boarding all new passengers into the 4 New York Coaches and only using the Boston ones for people who originated in Massachusetts and were getting off.
-#27/28 is always the last car of the train, my favorite car to be in especially on Superliners with the back window to look out of and very little traffic outside your room (no crew going to their transition sleeper). The downside is your 5 cars (4 coaches and the Sightseer Lounge) away from the dining car. I really enjoy walking trains and seeing the crowds.
-#7/8 if I want to be just one or two cars away from the diner and don't want to walk through the train every time to reach it. If was traveling with someone with mobility issues I would choose this section.
Personal Example: Last Year I was having lunch in the diner (traveling coach, never gone Sleeper on this train) just from MSP to CHI and was seated with an elderly couple who had boarded somewhere in Montana the day before in #28 the Portland Sleeper. There one problem with the trip was the long walk and and from the meals. The trip was one they had done numerous times and appreciated it when I told them they could avoid the Portland Sleeper next time by just booking #7 and #8.
On the Lake Shore Limited it is even worse, passengers on #449/#448, the Boston Sleeper must walk through seven cars (six coaches and the Cafe Car) to reach the diner
As a coach passenger as long as your not going where the train splits you can be assigned to either section although there can be a price difference between the two sections. On my last Lake Shore Limited trip on #49 I got the short end of this (going NYP to CHI). The 4 New York coaches were nearly full while the two Boston ones were quite empty. The reason was that the crew seemed to be boarding all new passengers into the 4 New York Coaches and only using the Boston ones for people who originated in Massachusetts and were getting off.
amamba
Engineer
I am not a fan of the long walk to the diner - it was REALLY long when I was on the LSL this summer, plus I think they had added an extra coach on that day because they had an amfleet NEC car on the consist. I would definitely pay a higher price to be in the #7 or #8 just to avoid that long walk to the diner.
Great discussion and info. Although I don't mind the walk at all, When it comes to taking reservations for meals, the end of the train probably gets last dibs.
fairviewroad
Engineer
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IME the crew varies the order in which they take reservations. For one meal, they'll start with the first SEA sleeper, then work backward...next time, they'll
start with the Portland sleeper and work forward (always taking the sleepers first then circling back to coach). But I don't know if they always start the
same way, i.e. when leaving Chicago do they always start with the SEA sleeper? Hard to say.
But yeah, if you're only traveling CHI-MSP there's only one meal to worry about, so the long walk isn't really a big deal.
Amtrak Cajun
OBS Chief
Yeah, I was in a bit of a rush when I posted this morning, sorry for the misinformation.
Going coach on the westbound EB, I love sitting near the back of the last SEA coach for that same reason. I have to put up with the high traffic going to the lounge up to Spokane, but on the final morning, the view is spectacular out the back window, both through the mountains and along the Puget Sound.
VentureForth
Engineer
The price for 27/28 will be higher where both the starting and ending points are on a section East of Spokane. That deters people from reserving a room on 7 that could be used by someone going to Portland.
Ryan
Court Jester
The higher price would deter someone from reserving a room on 27. 
yarrow
Engineer
yup. it's a great photography spot. especially love the trestles, waterfalls and winding track coming down stevens pass. same thing along the columbia on 27 if you are in the sleeper as it's the last car. great views and photo ops of the river and rocks.
I've taken advantage of the "railfan's window" on the EB's Spokane-Seattle run many times myself and love it. The height of my "photographic creativity" (or stupidity, whichever you prefer) :lol: :lol: :lol: was standing at the back window of the EB using my camcorder to film the EB's entire passage through the Cascade Tunnel. Now why would I do that?
1) No one else was at the window :giggle: and 2) I got a lovely shot of the mouth of the tunnel retreating after the EB emerged from the tunnel. Well worth it!!
Swadian Hardcore
Engineer
I don't mind the walk. I've never found it to be a problem. Maybe it's because I walk a lot.
amamba
Engineer
I don't mind the actual walking part. What I didn't like was having to deal with the traffic on the train. Lots of people moving through the coach cars, people standing in the aisles, and I got some glares of death from some of the passengers, too, when trying to move around them as they take up the entire aisle talking to people.
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