Despite the movements of the train I somehow managed to sleep but woke up
quite early at around 6:00. Morning hasn’t broken yet so a little lay-in was more
then appropriate.
Peaking a little later through the curtains the first small rays of sunshine tried to
break through the clouds. After a shower and some steps into the dining car
where breakfast was already served.
Overnight the train passed through Minnesota into North Dakota. Wide plains with
farms and sparsely populated.Passing through ND we reached the Missouri River
and followed this at this point small river for a while and entered into Montana.
Clocks had to be switched back by another hour. Mountain Time!
Huge cattle farms could be seen on both sides of the train track.
The Empire Builder doesn’t have many stops, most of them just for a two-three
minutes to let passenger get on board or detrain ( as they say in this part of the world ).
Finally we reached the beginnings of the Montana Mountains and train started slowly to gain
altitude. East Glacier Park Station was reached and boarding passengers told us about
the fires in the park and that a few days ago the train was delayed by up-to 14 hours.
Travelling slowly into the mountains one could occasionally still see smoke lingering over
the trees. Fortunately it had rained the previous night so that the Park Rangers had opened
the roads again for the public. Let’s see how things develop.
We reached the top altitude after sun-set and made our way to West Park Glacier Station
and onwards to Whitefish in the dark.
Finally the train reached Whitefish with about 15 min delay.
Considering the travelled distance from Chicago of 1626 miles almost on time.
Luggage was unloaded very quickly and my car rental agent had all the papers ready so
that I could set off quickly for my motel.
After last nights moving sleeping experience I will sleep like a log !
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