The Great Train Adventure: Our First Evening; Portland, OR - Whitefish, MT

Welcome Aboard! Train left Union Station in Portland at 4:40PM on Thursday afternoon

Just a few generations ago, the route of the Empire Builder was wilderness, roamed by Indians and buffalo. Later, it was visited by fur traders and gold miners. And still later, it was developed by merchants, timber men, farmers and -- most dramatically -- by railroads.

Cozy Sleeper with plenty of room to relax; bunk beds made up with fresh linen in the evening

The greatest railroader of all was James J. Hill, a freewheeling, big-dealing tycoon who linked St. Paul and Seattle with his Great Northern Railway. He acquired the land, built the tracks and even encouraged home-steading along the route. In the process, "Empire Builder" Hill came to govern the fate and fortunes of a good part of this powerfully beautiful area.


Today, Amtrak's Empire Builder follows the Soo Line between Chicago and St. Paul. Then it travels the Burlington Northern route to Spokane, where the train splits, with one section going westward to Seattle and the other section going south-westward along the old Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railroad to Portland for direct connections to California.

This isn't a luxurious way to travel, but our first evening was quite an adventure to say the least. We had about 90 minutes of daylight on Thursday evening....enough time to get settled in our room then have a cocktail in the lounge car.

Sink and medicine cabinet by compartment door with shower and
toilet separate

Since we didn't pick up our dining car until Spokane, Thursday's meal (the best of the entire trip) was a gourmet boxed dinner.

PORTLAND: The Chinook Indians were the first to use the site of Portland as a port. It is said that homesick New England settlers flipped a coin to choose between Portland (as in Maine) and Boston (as in Massachusettes) for the name of their new city. Today, Portland, Oregon, calls itself the "City of Roses". In the heart of the Columbia River basin, Portland was the largest city in the Pacific Northwest when it incorporated in 1851.
Columbia River Draw Bridge: Leaving Portland, the train crosses the Willamette River, then a 1,516 ft. bridge over the Oregon Slough (a second channel of the Columbia River) to reach Hayden Island. From the island, the train crosses over this 2,806 ft. structure to enter Washington.

Best meal of the trip; boxed dinner upon leaving Portland (we don't pick up dining car until Spokane)

VANCOUVER: Named for Captain George Vancouver, shipmate of Captain Cook and commander of the British expedition to chart the Northwest. Prune orchards and prune dryers are on both sides of the tracks. To the north is Mt. St. Helens, nearly 10,000 ft. high, a volcano that was inactive until 1980.
Bridge of the Gods: This bridge replaced a natural rock bridge, which the Indians say was destroyed by their deity in anger when his two sons argued over a young maiden. The two sons became Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams. The maiden became Mt. St. Helens.
Cooks: In minutes, you've traveled between rain forest and desert. And here, as the railroad skirts the base of 2,500 ft. high, cone-shaped Wind Mountain, you can see on the cliffs to the north, one of the last lumber flumes (or chutes) in operation in North America. This flume carried rough-cut lumber from above the rim of the Columbia Gorge to a finishing mill located along the river bank.



Darkens desends @ BINGEN-WHITE SALMON, the two adjacent towns were named by immigrants after Bingen, a beautiful town along the Rhine in Germany and the White Salmon River. This is the center of extensive fruit orchards. Across the water is the city of Hood River, Oregon.
Dalles Dam: Dalles is the French word for "tough," and this area was so named because of the narrow and dangerous channel. The 8,700 ft dam, which the Empire Builder follows for the next few minutes. created Horsethief Lake used for fishing and recreation. The dam provides the area with irrigation water, hydroelectric power and a reservoir for water sports.

Just before Pasco, we bed down for the night. Brian in top bunk and me on the bottom bunk. I thought the train would "rock" us both gently to sleep, but neither one of us got more than a few hours of broken sleep between Pasco and dawn (Whitefish, MT)

PASCO, WA: Here in Pasco, Englishman David Thompson claimed the western lands for Great Britain with a simple message tied to a pole. England's claim didn't hold, and the United States finally took over the disputed territory in 1846. The town's name is said to be an abbreviated version of "Pacific Steamship Company." It is the farthest point up the Columbia River that can be reached by seagoing ships.
We reached SPOKANE, WA after midnight: Spokane calls itself "Monarch of the Inland Empire" and lies in the midst of country rich in productive farmlands, lumber and mining. Railroading was responsible for much of the city's early growth. Here the Empire Builder route (the Great Northern route from Seattle) is joined by the Portland route at Spokane. During the night, the train stops at SANDPOINT and LIBBY.
Flathead Tunnel The 7-mile long Flathead Tunnel, 42 miles west of Whitefish, is the second longest in the Western Hemisphere.
As we sleep, the train lumbers through Western Montana. At first light, we enter Glacier National Park

Enjoy!
Stacy