Riding the Empire Builder train through America’s Midwest

Butter sculpting and lumberjack/jill demonstrations under a bright blue Midwestern sky; “gizmos” (beef and pork in a hoagie bun), bacon-on-a-stick and spam burgers; displays by tractor manu­facturers and the National Guard: one could spend days at the Minnesota State Fair – but I have a train to catch.

Amtrak’s Empire Builder service, from Chicago to the Pacific northwest, passes through Minnesota but once a day, calling at Saint Paul (which, with Minneapolis, is one of the United States’ Twin Cities) at 10.20pm.

I arrive early to find the cavernous halls of Saint Paul’s beautifully restored Union Depot station well-lit but almost deserted. A hand­ful of fellow travellers are milling around, warily eyeing the local youths taking advan­tage of the comfy seating, the free Wi-fi and, that staple of railway waiting halls the world over, the complementary ping pong table.

As departure time approaches, a line forms at the Amtrak door and I get a look at the 40 or so other passengers board­ing the train. Behind me stands a pasty young man in a black T-shirt and a jester’s hat who is obviously excited. Kenobi’s going to PAX West, he says, a gaming-culture festival in Seattle, and he’s meeting a similarly inclined lady from Chicago for the first time – at least in the flesh – on the train. Fortunately for his nerves, the regular traveller who informs us this service tends to run on time (a rarity across the Amtrak net­work, appar­ently) is correct, and the silver carriages of the Empire Builder slip into the station on schedule.

The carriages are double-deckers, bathrooms and luggage racks downstairs, seating up­stairs. I have a ticket for coach rather than a sleeper cabin, and the set-up is much like that in an airliner, albeit far less squashed.