empire builder question--eastbound

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scott

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Hi again all,

We've just decided that we will take the eastbound EB next summer. We did westbound last summer and loved it. My question is this: you leave Seattle in early July. Just how many hours of mountain viewing do you get on the eastbound journey? Is the train usually behind schedule? It was a bit disappointing on the Westbound run to only have a couple hours of mountains. Why dont they leave Chicago earlier in the day so that people get more mountain views?

Thanks, all.

Scott
 
I believe you depart Seattle around 4:30 to 5P.m. You will have a nice run along puget sound for 30 miles before heading staight east into the cascade mountains. Since the sun sets about 8:30 9:00 p.m., you should have a few hours of good scenery. You will probably not be late. If you are, you will be compensated with more daylight viewing of the Rockies between Sanpoint and eastern most station for glacier park. Have a good trip.
 
According to the current schedule, the EB leaves Seattle at 4:45 PM. It is usually pretty good about leaving on time. I've only taken the Seattle section of the Builder once, which was during the winter, so I don't know exactly how much daylight you'll have during the Cascades. Just looking at the schedule, if the train's on time, you should have some measure of light until about the Ephrata, WA, stop. Eastbound during the summer is the best way to see the Rockies and Glacier Park, as it's starting to get light by the time the train reaches Libby, MT, and the sun is up by Whitefish, MT. The trip between Whitefish and East Glacier Park, MT, is incredible. I would highly recommend spending that part of the trip in the Sightseer Lounge.

As far as the earlier departure of the westbound Builder, it would be nice, but not practical for the maintainance crews in Chicago. The equipment that is used for the westbound Builder came in earlier in the morning as the northbound City of New Orleans. The City is scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 9:00 AM, whereas the Builder leaves Chicago at 2:10 PM, giving the maintainance and cleaning crews only about four and a half hours between the deboarding of the City passengers and the boarding of the Builder passengers. Not a lot of time to clean and restock the train, I'm sure.
 
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