Although it is still several weeks away we are becoming more and more excited about our planned trip to Oregon via Amtrak’s Empire Builder. We have been doing a number of searches on the internet for information and pictures of the area we will be travelling across.
The above diagram is from Amtrak’s literature. Our trip will be to Spokane and down to Portland. From what I have discovered we will be seeing some mighty beautiful part of this country. It appears that Montana is gorgeous. Below are a few photos I “borrowed” from various sites on the internet.
I’m not real thrilled about the numerous trestles and bridges we have to cross but they are being crossed daily without incident.
The above picture shows a bit of fog while crossing on this trestle near the Marias Pass.
Trestles and bridges not withstanding the scenery is awesome. We will also be going through several tunnels. The Flathead Tunnel, 42 miles west of Whitefish, MT, is 7.01 miles long!
The photo above shows a train exiting the Flathead Tunnel. You will note that this is not an Amtrak train but it is the same tunnel that is used by Amtrak. From the information I have read the East portal has a door that can be closed and fans to ventilate the tunnel. Trains travel at or near 50 MPH going through this tunnel. Looking at the schedule it appears we will go through the tunnel somewhere around 10:00 PM going and about 5 or 6 AM returning. We may never know when we go through this tunnel although one individual commented that he was awakened by a change in air pressure. I guess we will wait and see.
2 comments:
I hope you go through some of this great scenery during daylight hours so you can enjoy it - and take lots of pictures! I always thought it would be fun to take the train somewhere.
Oh man, I just caught up on your blog and Bill is just going to be so jealous of this trip! We talk about taking a train somewhere too! Hope your trip is just wonderful fun! Enjoy those grandbabies! Sara
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