On a rare move, Amtrak's Empire Builder heads east on its namesake route for the first time in 7 years. Of course during the Great Northern era, and even Amtrak until 1979, the Empire Builder was daily on the Wayzata Sub. However, the cancellation of the North Coast Hiawatha made Amtrak decide to take the faster route along the Northern Pacific in Minnesota, ceasing passenger service on the ex Great Northern mainline in Minnesota. Fast forward to 2022, and a major derailment on the Staples Sub caused a few trains to take the BNSF via Willmar, including Amtrak. Though the new chargers seem to be all the hype, I was pretty happy to see a trio of P42s on the train, because who knows if we'll see these units the next time Amtrak has to take this route? Here in Grove City, Amtrak blasts through town on a moody morning. Even on a less used line like the Wayzata Sub, Amtrak still goes pretty fast (60 tops).
