Reflecting On Rail Travel. A little haze from the wildfires obscures the full sun as Amtrak 8 (Empire Builder) was eastbound through Glacier National Park on Wednesday, August 4, 2021, with Webb Rail's former Northern Pacific Railway Budd built dome/coach 549 (WEBX 801045) and former Northern Pacific Railway Budd built Pullman dome/sleeper 313 (WEBX 801044) holding the markers. The pair of domes represent a different era of rail travel, the style of long distance train travel prior to the introduction of Amtrak's Superliner fleet. While Northern Pacific's North Coast Limited operated near here, this was originally Great Northern Railway trackage prior to mergers that would occur in the creation of Burlington Northern. In this area of East Glacier Park near Rising Wolf Ranch, the tracks run close to U.S. Route 2, allowing for lots of interesting angles as the train travels towards Browning, Montana.
More on the Webb Rail fleet at www.webbrail.com