Empire Builder and the Souris River

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That wil be me! I got stuck in Montana one time and on the way back to LaCrosse, WI everybody, their brother and dog must have got stuck in Seattle.
 
How official is this July 14th date? I would love to know as a friend is booked on July 16th MSP-PDX.
 
What I'm wondering is if the train is really sold out or is that just Amtrak's way of dealing with not selling any more seats on a train the will in all probability be cancelled. The short leg where the EB splits show available seats but not the long haul until July 20.
 
Altygrae said:
What I'm wondering is if the train is really sold out or is that just Amtrak's way of dealing with not selling any more seats on a train the will in all probability be cancelled. The short leg where the EB splits show available seats but not the long haul until July 20.
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That's exactly what I mentioned a bunch of posts back.(#97)
 
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just got off the phone with Amtrak as I have a reservation for the 23rd westbound 7 they tell me they are taking reservations for that day so it seem they plan to run but also told me they would call me if plans change.
 
mp-44 said:
just got off the phone with Amtrak as I have a reservation for the 23rd westbound 7 they tell me they are taking reservations for that day so it seem they plan to run but also told me they would call me if plans change.
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I received a call from Amtrak today canceling my July 15 reservation from Shelby, MT to Grand Forks, ND. They said they hoped to be back in operation around July 21

Lorne
 
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There is nothing shown now on the Amtrak website re delays or cancellations on the Empire Builder, so now assume all is back to normal.
 
I called Amtak this morning. They are scheduled to run from LaCrosse WI to Williston, ND the 15th but to call the night before to confirm for sure.
 
The wife and I are flying to Portland on July 12th to see a nephew, then take the Cascades to SEA on the 13th to meet our daughter and son-in-law for a trip on the EB to MSP. However, we have a 3 day stopover planned at Glacier NP so will not be (hopefully) boarding the EB for the eastbound trip through the problem area until July 17th a.m. I called Amtrak on Saturday and they told me service is cancelled through the 14th. We will call them that day from Izaak Walton Inn to see if the service has actually resumed. If not, we will probably go Essex to Havre, then get back on the train for the westbound trip back to Seattle. We'll have to change our airline reservations and are hoping there are still four seats on a late night Delta flight to Atlanta out of Seattle on July 18th if we have to "turn back" from Essex/Havre. Mole Chaser.
 
Al Wussler said:
The wife and I are flying to Portland on July 12th to see a nephew, then take the Cascades to SEA on the 13th to meet our daughter and son-in-law for a trip on the EB to MSP. However, we have a 3 day stopover planned at Glacier NP so will not be (hopefully) boarding the EB for the eastbound trip through the problem area until July 17th a.m. I called Amtrak on Saturday and they told me service is cancelled through the 14th. We will call them that day from Izaak Walton Inn to see if the service has actually resumed. If not, we will probably go Essex to Havre, then get back on the train for the westbound trip back to Seattle. We'll have to change our airline reservations and are hoping there are still four seats on a late night Delta flight to Atlanta out of Seattle on July 18th if we have to "turn back" from Essex/Havre. Mole Chaser.
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Wow...that sounds like a logistical nightmare. Hope it is up and running to eliminate the "turn back" scenario. I'm going to PDX in September on the EB (hopefully), visiting my daughter (student at Lewis&Clark), then also doing the Cascades to SEA. Very coincidentally, I'm stopping over in Whitefish for two days before continuing home to Wisconsin (Madison). Please keep us posted as to the outcome of your trip. Hope it all works out.
 
Looking at Amsnag, I'll bet that right now Amtrak isn't expecting to run trains between St. Paul and Havre until July 20, since they aren't selling sleeper space on the westbound Empire Builder until then. FWIW, I know that a group of private cars headed for the Rock Island Train Fest are supposed to be on July 19th's stub train between St. Paul and Chicago.

Of course, everything is subject to change without notice, and I'll gladly admit that the agents at Amtrak might know more than I do.
 
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I'm really stuck on what I should do. My fiance and I booked a train from Grand Forks, ND, to Portland, OR, then all the flooding hit. Our train is supposed to leave July 21st, which seems to be the earliest day the EB might get going again.

We're thinking that our options may be to drive from Winnipeg, MB to Havre, MT, and then catch the train from there, or, just reschedule. The problem with that is we're worried that the hotel might not let us cancel/re-book for a later date. Who knows, the trains for a later date may even be sold out.

Thoughts/suggestions? Is there even somewhere I can park my car for 10 days in Havre?
 
jshand said:
I'm really stuck on what I should do. My fiance and I booked a train from Grand Forks, ND, to Portland, OR, then all the flooding hit. Our train is supposed to leave July 21st, which seems to be the earliest day the EB might get going again.

We're thinking that our options may be to drive from Winnipeg, MB to Havre, MT, and then catch the train from there, or, just reschedule. The problem with that is we're worried that the hotel might not let us cancel/re-book for a later date. Who knows, the trains for a later date may even be sold out.

Thoughts/suggestions? Is there even somewhere I can park my car for 10 days in Havre?
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I would call Amtrak and try to get something more concrete. I'm also sure you could park your car in Havre. Here's the station number. Most Amtrak stations have "long term parking". 1-406-265-5381
 
Eric308 said:
jshand said:
I'm really stuck on what I should do. My fiance and I booked a train from Grand Forks, ND, to Portland, OR, then all the flooding hit. Our train is supposed to leave July 21st, which seems to be the earliest day the EB might get going again.

We're thinking that our options may be to drive from Winnipeg, MB to Havre, MT, and then catch the train from there, or, just reschedule. The problem with that is we're worried that the hotel might not let us cancel/re-book for a later date. Who knows, the trains for a later date may even be sold out.

Thoughts/suggestions? Is there even somewhere I can park my car for 10 days in Havre?
Click to expand...
I would call Amtrak and try to get something more concrete. I'm also sure you could park your car in Havre. Here's the station number. Most Amtrak stations have "long term parking". 1-406-265-5381
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Thanks! I just got off the phone with Amtrak, and the lady checked and told me they're expecting it to possibly start running again this Friday, and that the 21st looks like a very good possibility. I'll call them back on Friday and see if the train did run.
 
jshand said:
Eric308 said:
jshand said:
I'm really stuck on what I should do. My fiance and I booked a train from Grand Forks, ND, to Portland, OR, then all the flooding hit. Our train is supposed to leave July 21st, which seems to be the earliest day the EB might get going again.

We're thinking that our options may be to drive from Winnipeg, MB to Havre, MT, and then catch the train from there, or, just reschedule. The problem with that is we're worried that the hotel might not let us cancel/re-book for a later date. Who knows, the trains for a later date may even be sold out.

Thoughts/suggestions? Is there even somewhere I can park my car for 10 days in Havre?
Click to expand...
I would call Amtrak and try to get something more concrete. I'm also sure you could park your car in Havre. Here's the station number. Most Amtrak stations have "long term parking". 1-406-265-5381
Click to expand...
Thanks! I just got off the phone with Amtrak, and the lady checked and told me they're expecting it to possibly start running again this Friday, and that the 21st looks like a very good possibility. I'll call them back on Friday and see if the train did run.
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Great! Happy for you. Post up something if you get an update if it ran Friday.
 
I was just at the St. Paul Amtrak station--they say Amtrak will make a determination on the 17th. I was also told they will not run on the KO line--so the Devils Lake route is going to have to be open before they will run.
 
I do believe the rail traffic is getting back to normal on the hi-line now. My BNSF contacts in MT say that BNSF freight traffic is almost back to normal scheduling now, that the water levels along the Souris River are coming down to below major flood stage (to be at moderate or minor by this weekend) and that even the Towner area is drying out. Not sure whether BNSF asked Amtrak to delay the restart of the EB due to the amount of freight that had been bottled up or if Amtrak just decided to wait longer to minimize the inevitable delays after the restart. I know the folks in MT have lost a huge amount of tourist $$$ by not having the thru EB from Chicago.
 
Recent post on the EB Yahoo Group:

Nothing new on the Amtrak website, but the expected opening date for the Devils

Lake subdivision at Towner, between Minot and Rugby is Sunday, July 17.

Evidently, Amtrak doesn't want to start running the train all the way until it

can use this route.

This is perplexing because BNSF is no longer detouring any trains away from

Minot. I assumed that there would be some delay in getting back to the full

traffic pattern (if for no other reason that some of the operating people lost

their homes to the flood), but that wasn't the case. In fact, BNSF has even

hosted a CP detour train from Minneapolis to Minot.

So, it's odd that Amtrak considers the KO unworthy to host the train. Besides,

it's not like the route through Devils Lake will be without slow track....

Very sad....

--Mark M.
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As of tonight Amtrak is telling me that EB is running from SEA but they are still using buses from PDX to Spokane. Anyone know what is going on? If the line in open through Minot why would Amtrak be operating the SEA leg but not the PDX one?
 

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