#empirebuilder

[railwayhistorical]

Empire Builder and the Izaak Walton Inn

We're in Essex, Montana, as the eastbound Amtrak Empire Builder is seen rolling by the Izaak Walton Inn.

The train, Empire Builder, was named in honor of the founder of the Great Northern Railway, James J. Hill. It ran for that railroad beginning in 1929 and was retained in the Amtrak era up to the present. One can read more about this famous train here.

The Izaak Walton Inn, named for an English writer and fly-fisherman, was constructed for railway crews in 1939 but was eventually turned into a hotel for the public. Here is more information on this historical structure. The place is dripping with railroad history.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken September 17th 2025.

[maximumchange]

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[railwayhistorical]

Columbia River Gorge

This is the Portland section of Amtrak Empire Builder. It is headed westward along the Columbia River between Lyle and Bingen, Washington. It will make its station stop at the latter.

The line here is the former Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway—later Burlington Northern and now BNSF. The diminutive train, made up of four Superliner cars, is powered by a single, relatively new, Siemens ALC-42 locomotive. The tugboat pushing a barge upriver in the first image is the Sundial, built in 1982.

The Columbia River Gorge is an area super rich in history, including, perhaps most famously, the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Corps of Discovery would have passed this way in 1805 and returned, after wintering on the coast, in 1806.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken March 20th 2023.

[railwayhistorical]

Modes of Travel

Here’s an image with two modes of travel evident, along with the river for a barge, though one did not happen by for my photograph.

The westbound train, along the Columbia River, is Amtrak’s Portland section of the Empire Builder. It’s on the former SP&S, now BNSF. In the distance is the Hood River Bridge, between its namesake town in Oregon and Bingen on the Washington side.

The span is quite old: it opened in 1924 but was substantially rebuilt in 1938 to accommodate higher water levels due to the building of the Bonneville Dam downriver (source). Having driven across it, I can say that it’s a narrow two lanes, with the speed limit being 15 MPH.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken March 18th 2023.

[railwayhistorical]

Rondout, Two of Three

More on the former Milwaukee Road double-track mainline between Chicago and Milwaukee at Rondout, Illinois.

Very soon after the Fox Lake Metra train went, Amtrak’s Empire Builder came flying through.

Three images by Richard Koenig; taken April 14th 2023.

[railwayhistorical]

Columbia River Gorge

Here is a color version of what I posted nearly two weeks ago...

This is the Portland section of Amtrak Empire Builder. It is headed westward along the Columbia River between Lyle and Bingen, Washington. It will soon make its station stop at the latter.

The line here is the former Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway—later Burlington Northern and now BNSF. The diminutive train, made up of four Superliner cars, is powered by a single, relatively new, Siemens ALC-42 locomotive. The tugboat pushing a barge upriver in the first image is the Sundial, built 1982.

The Columbia River Gorge is an area super rich in history, including, perhaps most famously, the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Corps of Discovery would have passed this way in 1805 and returned, after wintering on the coast, in 1806.

One thing I didn’t say on the earlier post: to get to the shooting location here I utilized the Catherine Creek Recreation Area. There’s a nice parking area on Highway 14 and some very nice, well-maintained trails to reach the cliff from which I shot.

Three images by Richard Koenig; taken March 20th 2023.

[railwayhistorical]

Stonehenge Redux

In addition to visiting Sam Hill’s Maryhill Museum of Art, I took in his replica of Stonehenge nearby. Hill wanted to build a monument for servicemen from Klickitat County who had died in the Great War, and this is the form it took, high on a hill overlooking the Columbia River.

The man himself is entombed on the hillside just below where I took the second picture. I had mistakenly thought Sam Hill to be James HIll’s son, and he was part of the Empire Builder’s family, but by marriage—to Mary Hill, and thus the name of this place.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken March 19th 2023.

[maximumchange]

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