A tardy Empire Builder rolls west along the Columbia River just east of Rock Island, WA. Next stop Wenatchee. The April 15 schedule change resulted in daylight running through Wenatchee and over Stevens Pass. Even with the new slower schedule, this train arrived in Wenatchee more than two hours late.
This train, which runs between Chicago and Seattle and Portland, takes its name from James J. Hill, who founded the Great Northern Railroad and extended it from Minnesota to the Pacific Coast.
With two sections of the Empire Builder, the Coast Starlight, Seattle, the Cascade Mountains, Columbia Valley and Puget Sound, Washington state offers rail buffs plenty of variety and beauty.
