It was another beautiful morning as I wait for the Empire Builder to Chicago. East Glacier is a step back in time and most definitely rural America.
If it was not for technology, you could cut yourself off from the rest of the world for as long as you wanted to. Maybe that is not such a bad thing after all!
For several miles after leaving Glacier we travelled through flat land and passed quite a few Wind farms. The flat land seemed endless and such a change to what I had become accustomed to.
Lunch was by the wait list so my hopeful early lunch turned into a late one. The service up from the kitchen was the slowest I have ever known on an Amtrak train. They said they were very busy as there was no Lounge car on the train, the pipes had burst and it was completely unusable! Hence, most people in coach were eating in the Dining Car.
The train stopped at Havre and we could get out for a stretch and fresh air break. There were three Customs and Border protection guys at the station, had we crossed a border??? I have never seen any at a railway station before. We are still well in Montana, it must be one of the widest States in the USA. Also, a large Pizza order was taken on board, must have been organised for some of the coach passengers.
I went along to the dining car to see if I could get a hot drink but no joy. I had a chat with the lounge car attendant who had a couple of tables at the far end of the dining car so people could get snacks. She said it was a sewerage issue and apparently it could not be fixed. They were not able to replace it even with a spare coach car so people could walk around and stretch their legs. They could not even send one out with the train coming in the other direction.
Amtrak need to get their act together big time!! Coach is very full and their will be some very tired frustrated people by the time we reach Chicago. At least the coach passengers are going to be given a complimentary meal. I am pleased that I have a sleeper and it is upstairs, even for sleeping passengers it is hard being cooped up downstairs.
As we were approaching our next stop, Wolf Point MT, the driver was sounding the horn as we hurtled along. We were running nearly an hour and a half late and I can imagine the locals looking at their watches and making some smart comment about the Empire Builder, lol! We had to stop many times to let freight trains through, so frustrating! I am pleased I sent an email to the hotel to hold my room if I was late, lol!
Later we went very slowly for several miles eventually the reason became apparent. This was where a derailment happened a couple of weeks ago that made the Empire Builder 35 hours late! There were many freight cars still scattered on both sides of the track and it was a straight piece of track, no bends. Once past the area, the train gathered speed and there were many bumps that I have not felt before, it felt like the shock absorbers had gone, lol!
I had dinner with a guy and his two sons, they are from Arlington, Texas, and it was a pleasant meal. Towards the end of it a spectacular sunset could be seen, the red spread across the sky as far as could be seen.
(The photos were taken from the train and the windows were somewhat dirty!)
Sunday
I did manage a few hours sleep and woke just after 6 am to a lovely pink sky. It was rather cloudy at first but as we moved on the clouds disappeared. I discovered I had brought some things from East Glacier with me, mosquito bites! I am not sure how I got the one half way down my back, LOL!!
We had a fresh air stop at St Paul/Minneapolis for about 15 minutes, it was good to stretch the legs out a wee bit. We were running about two hours late at that point in the journey. Connie and Joe tried to catch me at Winona but the train caught up some time so they missed me by about 15 minutes, such a pity!
During the afternoon with no lounge car on the train they needed to be a bit more flexible in their thinking. People pay enough for the "privilege" of being in a superette or bedroom and most would, I am sure, enjoy a hot drink mid afternoon.
We arrived in Chicago just after 5.30 pm so they did catch up some time. After waiting for an age for our luggage I made my way to the hotel. The thought of a decent shower and a proper bed for the night was certainly enticing. I wandered to a nearby Starbucks and had an egg and lettuce sandwich and a coffee for dinner.
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