Empire Builder
Chicago Union Station to Seattle. Westbound train 7 and eastbound train 8, daily. The table below lists the named stretches in westbound order with the direction and season each is in daylight.
Duration
46 h 24 m
Westbound end to end, scheduled
Frequency
Daily
A stop is 24 hours or a multiple
Trains
7 westbound, 8 eastbound
40 stations
What you see, in order
Westbound order. Times are the published timetable at the midpoint of each stretch, in Central time unless the station is in another zone. "Dark" means the scheduled time is after sunset or before sunrise in that month; "dawn" and "dusk" are within 30 minutes of them.
| Stretch | Westbound 7 | Eastbound 8 | Stations around it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Dells and the Wisconsin RiverThe red sandstone canyon at Wisconsin Dells, striated rock along the Wisconsin River, and the sandstone formations and Mill Bluff State Park at Camp Douglas on both sides of the train.Watch for Sandstone formations, Mill Bluff State Park | Evening, 7:01 p.m.daylight Apr to Aug; dusk Sep; dark Oct to Feb; dusk Mar | Midday, 12:37 p.m.daylight | Wisconsin Dells, Tomah |
| Upper Mississippi RiverFor 140 miles between La Crosse and St. Paul the line runs along the river: limestone bluffs, riverbank towns, barges, paddlewheel boats, and locks and dams. Lake Pepin forms where the Chippewa River meets the Mississippi and is a home for eagles in winter; Sugar Loaf stands above Winona.Watch for Mississippi River, Lake Pepin, eagles in winter, Sugar Loaf | Night, 9:30 p.m.dark | Morning, 10:13 a.m.daylight | La Crosse, Winona, Red Wing, St. Paul-Minneapolis |
| Gassman Coulee trestleWest of Minot the line crosses Gassman Coulee on a high steel trestle.Watch for Gassman Coulee trestle | Morning, 10:18 a.m.daylight | Night, 9:15 p.m.daylight Jun; dusk Jul to Aug; dark Sep to Apr; dusk May | Minot, Stanley |
| Milk River and the Bear's Paw MountainsThe line follows the Milk River between Glasgow and Havre. Nelson Reservoir and the Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge are outside Malta, and the Bear's Paw Mountains, Fort Belknap Reservation, and Little Rocky Mountains are to the south.Watch for Milk River, Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge, Bear's Paw Mountains | Afternoon, 2:37 p.m.daylight | Afternoon, 2:34 p.m.daylight | Glasgow, Malta, Havre |
| Glacier National Park and Marias PassThe first view of the Rockies comes just west of Cut Bank. Beyond Browning the line crosses the Two Medicine River on a high trestle, passes the Great Northern lodge at Glacier Park Station, and crosses the Continental Divide at Marias Pass, 5,216 feet, the lowest pass between New Mexico and Canada, with the John Stevens statue and Theodore Roosevelt obelisk at the summit. Near Essex it crosses the Flathead River on a high trestle, where mountain goats may be on the canyon wall.Watch for Two Medicine River trestle, Marias Pass summit, Flathead River trestle, mountain goats | Evening, 7:47 p.m.daylight Apr to Aug; dusk Sep; dark Oct to Feb; dusk Mar | Morning, 9:32 a.m.daylight | Cut Bank, East Glacier Park, Essex |
| Flathead TunnelA seven-mile tunnel 42 miles west of Whitefish, the third longest in the Western Hemisphere.Watch for Flathead Tunnel | Night, 11:13 p.m.dark | Early morning, 6:11 a.m.daylight Jun; dawn Jul to Aug; dark Sep to Apr; dawn May | Whitefish, Libby |
| Columbia BasinLava that covered the older mountains here cooled into the largest basin of its kind in the country, now irrigated farmland; Wenatchee grows more than 15 percent of the nation's apple crop. | Early morning, 6:01 a.m.daylight May to Jul; dawn Aug; dark Sep to Mar; dawn Apr | Night, 9:27 p.m.dusk Jun; dark Jul to May | Ephrata, Wenatchee |
| Cascade Tunnel and the Skykomish RiverTumwater Canyon and Icicle Canyon beyond Leavenworth, where goats, elk, beaver, and deer may be seen, then the 7.8-mile Cascade Tunnel under Stevens Pass, the longest in the U.S. The line then follows the Skykomish River past Sunset Falls and Mount Index, dropping 2,800 feet in the 65 miles to Everett.Watch for Icicle Canyon, Cascade Tunnel, Skykomish River, Mount Index | Morning, 8:24 a.m.daylight | Evening, 7:23 p.m.daylight Apr to Aug; dusk Sep; dark Oct to Feb; dusk Mar | Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Everett |
| Puget Sound shoreThe line skirts Puget Sound for about 30 miles, with Olympic National Park, Bainbridge Island, and Whidbey Island across the water, the Edmonds ferry dock, and the Ballard Locks and Shilshole Bay Marina before the Seattle tunnel.Watch for Puget Sound, Olympic Mountains, Ballard Locks | Morning, 10:46 a.m.daylight | Evening, 5:25 p.m.daylight Mar to Oct; dark Nov to Jan; dusk Feb | Everett, Edmonds, Seattle |
Computed from the Amtrak GTFS timetable (feed version 20261015, valid 2026-10-16 to 2026-10-22, fetched 2026-10-15) and sunrise and sunset on the 15th of each month at the midpoint of each stretch. Scheduled times only; a late train moves evening stretches into darkness.How this table is computed.
Stations, in westbound order
| Station | Arrives | Departs | Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Union Station | 3:05 p.m. | Central time | |
| Glenview | 3:29 p.m. | 3:29 p.m. | Central time |
| Milwaukee | 4:35 p.m. | 4:45 p.m. | Central time |
| Columbus | 5:55 p.m. | 5:55 p.m. | Central time |
| Portage | 6:24 p.m. | 6:24 p.m. | Central time |
| Wisconsin Dells | 6:42 p.m. | 6:42 p.m. | Central time |
| Tomah | 7:20 p.m. | 7:20 p.m. | Central time |
| La Crosse | 8:04 p.m. | 8:04 p.m. | Central time |
| Winona | 8:34 p.m. | 8:40 p.m. | Central time |
| Red Wing | 9:42 p.m. | 9:42 p.m. | Central time |
| St. Paul-Minneapolis | 10:56 p.m. | 11:13 p.m. | Central time |
| St. Cloud | 1:09 a.m. +1d | 1:09 a.m. +1d | Central time |
| Staples | 2:10 a.m. +1d | 2:10 a.m. +1d | Central time |
| Detroit Lakes | 3:06 a.m. +1d | 3:06 a.m. +1d | Central time |
| Fargo | 4:13 a.m. +1d | 4:13 a.m. +1d | Central time |
| Grand Forks | 5:34 a.m. +1d | 5:34 a.m. +1d | Central time |
| Devils Lake | 6:59 a.m. +1d | 6:59 a.m. +1d | Central time |
| Rugby | 7:53 a.m. +1d | 7:53 a.m. +1d | Central time |
| Minot | 9:06 a.m. +1d | 9:51 a.m. +1d | Central time |
| Stanley | 10:46 a.m. +1d | 10:46 a.m. +1d | Central time |
| Williston | 11:59 a.m. +1d | 11:59 a.m. +1d | Central time |
| Wolf Point | 12:34 p.m. +1d | 12:34 p.m. +1d | Mountain time |
| Glasgow | 1:20 p.m. +1d | 1:20 p.m. +1d | Mountain time |
| Malta | 2:20 p.m. +1d | 2:20 p.m. +1d | Mountain time |
| Havre | 3:54 p.m. +1d | 4:15 p.m. +1d | Mountain time |
| Shelby | 6:13 p.m. +1d | 6:21 p.m. +1d | Mountain time |
| Cut Bank | 6:51 p.m. +1d | 6:51 p.m. +1d | Mountain time |
| East Glacier Park | 7:48 p.m. +1d | 7:48 p.m. +1d | Mountain time |
| Essex | 8:44 p.m. +1d | 8:44 p.m. +1d | Mountain time |
| West Glacier | 9:27 p.m. +1d | 9:27 p.m. +1d | Mountain time |
| Whitefish | 10:06 p.m. +1d | 10:21 p.m. +1d | Mountain time |
| Libby | 12:05 a.m. +2d | 12:05 a.m. +2d | Mountain time |
| Sandpoint | 12:55 a.m. +2d | 12:55 a.m. +2d | Pacific time |
| Spokane | 2:44 a.m. +2d | 3:19 a.m. +2d | Pacific time |
| Ephrata | 5:28 a.m. +2d | 5:28 a.m. +2d | Pacific time |
| Wenatchee | 6:35 a.m. +2d | 6:45 a.m. +2d | Pacific time |
| Leavenworth | 7:18 a.m. +2d | 7:18 a.m. +2d | Pacific time |
| Everett | 10:03 a.m. +2d | 10:03 a.m. +2d | Pacific time |
| Edmonds | 10:35 a.m. +2d | 10:35 a.m. +2d | Pacific time |
| Seattle | 11:29 a.m. +2d | Pacific time |
Local time at each station; "+1d" is the day after departure from Chicago Union Station.
Connects with
Routes that stop at a station this train stops at, from the same timetable. Transfer times are not checked.