Great Rail Journeys – The Transcontinental Railroad

Union Pacific Loco 1996

If planning a transcontinental rail journey, there are a number of options, with several transcontinental railroads linking numerous cities within the United States. One of the great rail journeys today still remains a trip on the transcontinental railroad between Chicago and Seattle.

Transcontinental Railroads – Chicago to Seattle Branch

Today the transcontinental railroad between Chicago and Seattle sees a passenger service operated by Amtrak. The company runs one train per day in either direction on the “Empire Builder” service. The journey takes a scheduled 46 hours non-stop journey crossing seven states.

Both of the terminal points of this great rail journey boast cities of significant interest. Chicago is widely acknowledged to be the rail hub of the United States and is ideal for onward travel by train. The city is also home to the worlds first skyscraper and the Willis Tower, North Americas tallest building.

Seattle at the other end of the line is home to a more contemporary West Coast culture, a popular icon of the city is the eccentrically constructed Space Needle, complete with revolving restaurant. Whilst on the other hand the city is also famous for influences in popular culture, including the grunge band Nirvana and popular TV sit-com Frasier.

The Transcontinental Railroad Chicago to Seattle – Key Features

Here are some of the key features of a trip on the transcontinental railroad, travelling from East to West.

The first daytime leg of the trip is between Chicago and the twin cities of Minneapolis/St Paul. On this leg of the trip, the train passes through Milwaukee, home of the famous beer producer Coors. Before arriving at Minneapolis, the train also crosses one of the most northern points of the Mississippi river, a river which goes on to travel the length of the country into the Gulf of Mexico

On the second day, the sun rises over the plains of North Dakota. Here one is treated to a vista of unimaginable open spaces and the classic “big sky’s”. Stops on the second day include those at Fargo and Minot, the so called “magic city”. It is also on the second day that the train crosses the second of the US’s great rivers, the Missouri.

After progressing through Montana, the landscape changes dramatically and suddenly. Gone are the big sky’s and open plains of the Mid-west, the train makes its way into the spectacular views of the Rocky Mountains. An interesting part of the service is the tour guide, who joins the train at Shelby, the guide then talks travellers through the key features of the mountainous landscape until the light has faded. Not only is this informative, it also provides a welcome source of entertainment on the second evening for those travelling non-stop.

The train continues on for a second night pulling through the snow capped Rocky Mountains and arrives mid-morning the next day in the city of Seattle. If taking a trip directly from Chicago to Seattle, the traveller will have covered seven states and 2,205 miles. The journey is one of the most diverse from an aesthetic perspective, over the course of the journey the traveler will have experienced a variety of landscapes from the golden cornfields of North Dakota to the snow-capped Mountains of Washington State.