Empire Builder With Kids: Every Stop, Both Branches and Kids Tickets

13 min read

Yes, you can ride the Empire Builder with kids, and it's one of the easier long-distance trains to cut into short pieces. One train leaves Chicago every afternoon, crosses the northern plains and the Rockies near Glacier National Park, then splits in two at Spokane: half goes to Seattle and half to Portland. Below are all 46 stops on both branches, what kids can watch for, and how child fares and sleepers work. Times come from Amtrak's current westbound timetable for Trains 7 and 27.

The short version

• One train a day each way; it splits at Spokane in the middle of the night, so check which city your car is going to.
• About 2,206 miles to Seattle or 2,257 miles to Portland, roughly 46 hours from Chicago.
• Ages 2 to 12 ride for half the rail fare; the price of a room doesn't shrink for kids.
• Westbound in October, Glacier Park goes by after dark, so save the awake hours for the Gorge and the Cascades.
• The Seattle section rides the 7.8-mile Cascade Tunnel, the longest railroad tunnel in the United States.
• Double-decker Superliner cars, a Family Bedroom, and a Sightseer Lounge that rides all the way to Portland.

From Rally Takes the Train, watercolor by Leslie Dunn.

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Empire Builder at a glance

Runs between

Chicago and Seattle (Train 7) or Portland (Train 27), splitting at Spokane

States

Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon

Distance

about 2,206 miles to Seattle, 2,257 miles to Portland

End to end

about 46 hours

Trains

one daily train each way

Train cars

Superliner double-decker cars

Four-seat tables

Not in coach; tables in the Sightseer Lounge and dining car

Upstairs seating

Yes, coach seats on upper and lower levels

Quiet Car

None listed for this train

Food

Dining car and Cafe; cold catered meal for sleepers from Spokane to Portland

Sleeper rooms

Roomette, Bedroom, Bedroom Suite, Family Bedroom, Accessible Bedroom

Checked bags

Yes, between stations that offer it

Look inside the book

Water on one side, cliffs on the other: Rally gets the window.

Rally Takes the Train is a five-minute read, short enough to finish between Wishram and Bingen-White Salmon. Turn a few pages below.

Page 1 of 8

Click the page, swipe, or use the arrow keys to turn

Like it so far? See the full book

25 hand-painted pages, paperback, $13.99 with fast shipping from Amazon.

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Every page is real watercolor on paper, painted by hand by Leslie Dunn. Nothing in this book was made with AI.

In this post

1. Kids tickets on the Empire Builder
2. Every Empire Builder stop
3. What kids can see
4. Where to sit
5. Best first ride
6. Food, bathrooms and naps
7. A train book for the ride
8. Questions parents ask

Do kids need a ticket on the Empire Builder?

Kids' tickets are half fare, and every ticket picks a car, so Portland families stay put when the train splits at Spokane.

A child 2 to 12 pays half the adult rail fare as long as an adult 18 or older is on the same reservation. Under-2s ride free on your lap, one per paying adult. Sleeping car rooms are priced per room, and the kid discount doesn’t touch that part.

What’s different about buying for this train:

• Your ticket picks your car. At Spokane the locomotives, baggage car and front cars go on to Seattle as Train 7, and the rest go to Portland as Train 27. So a Portland family should never wander into a Seattle car to sleep, no matter how empty it looks.
• There’s a Family Bedroom. Amtrak lists it on the Empire Builder. It holds two adults and two kids aged 2 to 12, has two big windows, and uses the shared restroom and shower in the car. Meals are included.
• Washington’s Youth Fare is a Cascades deal. Amtrak describes free coach travel for riders 18 and under on Amtrak Cascades trips that begin and end in Washington. It isn’t described for the Empire Builder, so expect the normal child fare even on a short Everett to Seattle ride.
• Solo teens stick to daytime pieces. Amtrak lets 13 to 15 year olds ride alone only on same-day trips between staffed stations, with no overnight travel. Anything that rides through the night, including anything through Spokane, is out.

Free for train families

Free Empire Builder printables for the ride

Screen-free fun for the whole ride: track all 46 Empire Builder stops, spot landmarks out the window, play train window bingo and earn an “I rode the Empire Builder” certificate. Free to print at home.

Get the free Empire Builder activity book

Every Empire Builder stop, from Chicago to Seattle and Portland

The Empire Builder has 46 stops: 35 shared ones from Chicago to Spokane, then 6 more on the Seattle branch and 5 on the Portland branch, listed below in that order. Browning and East Glacier Park take turns by season, so only one of them is served at a time.

Illinois

1. Chicago Union StationLook for: In the Great Hall, ask kids to spot the two statues by Henry Hering. Night holds an owl and Day holds a rooster, because trains run around the clock.
2. Glenview

Wisconsin

1. Milwaukee (Downtown)
2. Columbus
3. Portage
4. Wisconsin Dells
5. Tomah
6. La CrosseLook for: Three rivers meet here: the Black, the La Crosse and the Mississippi. Grandad Bluff rises over town, with a lookout across three states.

Minnesota

1. Winona
2. Red Wing
3. St. Paul (Saint Paul Union Depot)Look for: The depot was finished in 1923. Have kids look up at the skylights, blacked out in World War II and restored in 2012, and watch for the Green Line light rail stopping out front.
4. St. Cloud
5. Staples
6. Detroit Lakes

North Dakota

1. Fargo
2. Grand Forks
3. Devils Lake
4. RugbyLook for: Rugby calls itself the geographic center of North America, though that claim is disputed. Look for its marker, a rock monument with the flags of the United States, Canada and Mexico.
5. MinotLook for: Watch for the drop: the Souris River valley sits 160 feet below the plains. Near town the train crosses the steel Gassman Coulee Trestle, built in 1899 after a tornado wrecked the wooden bridge.
6. Stanley
7. Williston

Montana

1. Wolf Point
2. Glasgow
3. Malta
4. HavreLook for: A giant Great Northern steam locomotive, No. 2584, is parked next to the station. Nearby stands a statue of railroad builder James J. Hill.
5. Shelby
6. Cut Bank
7. Browning (about October to April)
8. East Glacier Park (about April to October)Look for: West of here the train tops Marias Pass, 5,213 feet up on the Continental Divide at the south edge of Glacier National Park. Watch the window for a 60-foot obelisk honoring Theodore Roosevelt.
9. EssexLook for: The Izaak Walton Inn stands next to the rail yard. Tell kids it was built in 1939 to house railroad workers and the crews who cleared snow off the tracks.
10. West GlacierLook for: The Belton Chalet sits just south of the depot, joined by a trellis path. It opened in June 1910, a month after Glacier became a national park.
11. WhitefishLook for: The old Great Northern depot holds the Whitefish Museum, and it’s the busiest Amtrak station in Montana.
12. Libby

Idaho

1. Sandpoint

Washington

1. Spokane (train splits here)
2. Ephrata (Seattle section)
3. Wenatchee (Seattle section)
4. Leavenworth, Icicle Station (Seattle section)Look for: Get ready for the dark: west of here the train enters the Cascade Tunnel. At 7.8 miles it’s the longest railroad tunnel in the United States, opened in 1929.
5. Everett (Seattle section)
6. Edmonds (Seattle section)
7. Seattle, King Street Station (Seattle section)Look for: Ask kids if the 242-foot clock tower looks Italian: it was modeled on the bell tower in St. Mark’s Square in Venice. Inside, the carved ceiling was hidden for decades and uncovered in 2010.
8. Pasco (Portland section)
9. Wishram (Portland section)Look for: A railroad town with a rail yard and a big maintenance shop. Nearby is the site of Celilo Falls, where Native peoples fished and traded for thousands of years.
10. Bingen-White Salmon (Portland section)Look for: Gorge winds around 35 mph bring out windsurfers and kiteboarders, so count the sails. Farther west, watch for Beacon Rock, an 848-foot rock right at the river’s edge.
11. Vancouver (Portland section)

Oregon

1. Portland Union Station (Portland section)Look for: The station dates to 1896. Point out the 150-foot clock tower and the blue and gold neon “Go by Train” signs, lit since 1948.

What kids can see from the Empire Builder

What you see in daylight depends on the season

The westbound train leaves Chicago at 3:05 p.m., so the Wisconsin river towns and the Mississippi show up in the early evening, around dinner. It reaches Browning at 7:28 p.m. and Whitefish at 10:21 p.m., which puts the Glacier Park stretch in the dark in fall and winter.

The westbound daylight show is the next day: North Dakota and eastern Montana, from Minot at 9:51 a.m. to Havre at 4:15 p.m. That’s a long sit, so plan it like a school day, with a snack time, a quiet time and a lounge break.

Plains, coulees and the Missouri River

Amtrak points out the Gassman Coulee Trestle in North Dakota and the Missouri River into Montana. On the flat parts, hand kids a tally sheet for grain elevators, cows and freight trains.

Glacier National Park

The tracks run along the south edge of Glacier and cross the Continental Divide at Marias Pass, the lowest crossing of the Divide between Canada and central New Mexico. The Great Northern Railway, which built this line, helped push for the park to be created. In summer, Trails and Rails volunteer guides ride in the lounge on parts of the route and point things out.

Two endings, two kinds of scenery

The Seattle section climbs the Cascades past Leavenworth, goes under Stevens Pass in the Cascade Tunnel, and comes down to Everett and the Puget Sound shoreline. The Portland section follows the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge, where Amtrak points out Mount Hood and Beacon Rock.

Both arrive in late morning. Westbound, those are the best daylight hours of the whole trip, so that’s the morning to have everyone fed, dressed and at the window.

Where to sit with kids on the Empire Builder

The Empire Builder runs bilevel Superliner cars, which means a staircase to manage with a toddler. You’ll find coach seats on both levels, in pairs with no middle seat. Upstairs sits higher for the views; if you’re carrying a car seat or stroller, ask the car attendant which level makes sense.

Coach cars on this train don’t have four-seat tables. For a snack table or a card game, use the Sightseer Lounge, which runs from Chicago all the way to Portland, or the dining car, where diners share booth tables. Headed to Seattle? Get your lounge time in before Spokane, because the lounge goes on to Portland after the split.

In a sleeper, the Family Bedroom spans the width of the car with a window on each side, so kids can watch both sides of the Gorge or the Cascades from bed. Business Class isn’t sold on the Empire Builder.

Split up on the Empire Builder? How to get back together

Put everyone on one reservation. Amtrak seats people on the same booking near each other where it assigns seats, if there’s room, and on this train your ticket also decides whether your car finishes in Seattle or Portland. In Chicago, a busy station, staff often let parents with young children on before the crowd, so hover near the gate. At the car door, tell the attendant who’s with you: “Two adults, a 4-year-old and a baby.”

Ended up apart anyway? Search both levels of your car for an empty pair or a seat holding somebody’s backpack; one ticket buys one seat, and the crew can ask that a bag move. Before you try another coach, make sure it’s bound for your city, since the cars part ways at Spokane. Sit across the aisle from each other meanwhile.

Asking a stranger to trade works best before the first evening. Explain in a sentence and offer something equal, an upstairs window for an upstairs window. Don’t ask anyone to hand over a window in return for something worse, and if they decline, let it go with a smile. Nobody on the crew will make a seated passenger move. Either way, keep each young child next to a grown-up for every mile.

Climbing into a two-level Superliner with a toddler and a car seat? Ask the car attendant which level fits your gear first.

The best first Empire Builder ride with kids

The Seattle section rides the 7.8-mile Cascade Tunnel, the longest railroad tunnel in the country, so talk about the long dark ahead of time.

Not sure your crew is ready for two days? A short ride gives you the double-decker and the scenery with no night on board. From the westbound timetable:

1. Chicago to Milwaukee, about 1 hour 40 minutes. Leave Union Station at 3:05 p.m. and arrive at 4:45 p.m., if the app shows seats on this short hop. It’s a good test run for a toddler who has never climbed upstairs on a train.
2. Wishram to Portland, about 2 hours 40 minutes. Board at 8:35 a.m. and ride the Columbia River Gorge into Portland at 11:17 a.m. Boarding at Bingen-White Salmon at 9:10 a.m. cuts it to about two hours.
3. Wenatchee to Seattle, about 4 hours 45 minutes. Leave at 6:45 a.m., climb past Leavenworth, ride the long Cascade Tunnel, then run along Puget Sound into King Street Station at 11:29 a.m.

Eastbound trains keep a different clock, so check the Amtrak app for times in your direction.

Food, bathrooms and naps on the Empire Builder

Sleeping car passengers eat in the dining car, and Amtrak lists a kids’ menu. Westbound, the trip covers dinner, breakfast, lunch, dinner and breakfast. One catch for Portland riders: there’s no dining car between Spokane and Portland, and sleeping car passengers get a cold catered meal instead.

Anyone can buy meals, snacks and drinks in the Cafe. For a coach family, though, 46 hours is a long time to live on Cafe food. Bring a big bag of your own, with a real breakfast for the first morning, when the train is crossing North Dakota. Tuck a few printable Rally activity pages in with the food for after the meal.

Every coach car has restrooms. Changing tables on these cars aren’t something we could confirm, so a fold-up pad belongs in your seat bag. Family Bedroom guests walk to the restroom and shower in their sleeping car, so keep pajamas, toothbrushes and a towel in one grab bag. If your kids nap well with motion, the long Montana afternoon is the time for it; save the awake hours for the Gorge or the Cascades on the last morning.

For 46 hours on the Empire Builder, pack a real breakfast for North Dakota and the toys that carry kids through the long Montana afternoon.

A train book for the ride

Rally has his white bird; your kids get the Columbia River Gorge on the last morning, water on one side, cliffs on the other.

Rally’s favorite page is the window seat, nose to the glass, watching a white bird outside. On the Empire Builder, the last morning along the Columbia River Gorge is that page in real life: water on one side, cliffs on the other, and nothing to do but look.

Read the book the night before, then ask your kids what Rally would spot from your window. The free Rally activity pack has pages for drawing what you saw.

Put Rally in the Empire Builder bagBefore the Gorge morning, read about a corgi with his nose on the window: Rally Takes the Train, hand-painted and rhyming, ages 0 to 8, about five minutes. $13.99 on Amazon.

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Forty-six hours sounds long, but it comes in pieces: plains, a sleepy split at Spokane, then a late-morning arrival by the water.

More for train families

• Every Amtrak route with kids: find another train by city or station
• The complete guide to Amtrak with kids: tickets, car seats, changing tables, family tables and what to pack by age
• Free Rally activity pack and coloring pages to print before your trip
• Amtrak Cascades with kids
• California Zephyr with kids
• Hiawatha with kids
• Borealis with kids

Sources

• Amtrak: Empire Builder
• Amtrak: Empire Builder timetable
• Wikipedia: Empire Builder
• Wikipedia: Marias Pass
• Wikipedia: Cascade Tunnel
• Wikipedia: Columbia River Gorge
• Wikipedia: Browning, Montana (seasonal stop)
• Wikipedia: Chicago Union Station
• Wikipedia: Saint Paul Union Depot
• Wikipedia: Minot, North Dakota
• Wikipedia: Havre, Montana
• Wikipedia: King Street Station
• Great American Stations: Essex, MT
• Great American Stations: Portland, OR
• Amtrak: Family Room
• Amtrak: Discounts for children
• Amtrak: Unaccompanied minors

Checked against Amtrak and partner railroad pages in October 2026. Schedules and policies change, so confirm on amtrak.com before you ride.

Empire Builder with kids: questions parents ask

Do kids need a ticket on the Empire Builder?

Everyone 2 and older does. On the Empire Builder, a child from 2 through 12 rides for half of what a grown-up pays in rail fare, provided someone 18 or older books with them. Washington’s free Youth Fare is described for Amtrak Cascades trips, not this train, so even Everett to Seattle uses the normal child fare. Room charges aren’t discounted either: a Family Bedroom costs the same for a 3-year-old as for you.

Do babies ride free on the Empire Builder?

Each adult on a full adult fare can keep a baby under 2 on their lap without paying. Twins traveling with one parent, or a baby you’d like in a separate seat, means buying a child fare for that extra one. Spreading a lap baby onto an empty coach seat works only while no paying rider claims it, so plan on holding the baby through the first night across Minnesota and North Dakota.

Is a car seat required on the Empire Builder?

No. Amtrak can’t secure car seats to its seats, so there’s nowhere to strap one in. You can rest one on an unused seat, as long as no ticketed passenger wants that seat. Bring a car seat if you’ll drive after you get off, for example into Glacier country from Whitefish or West Glacier. It swaps in for one of your bags at no charge, carried on or checked where checked baggage is offered.

Where do I change a diaper on the Empire Builder?

We couldn’t confirm whether the Empire Builder’s cars have changing tables. Amtrak sets no official rule on diaper changing, and setups differ. Your best plan: a roll-up changing pad, used in the roomier accessible restroom. With about 46 hours on board, bring more diapers than seems reasonable, and keep a small changing kit at your seat so you aren’t digging through the big bag during the North Dakota morning.

What are the restrooms like on the Empire Builder?

Every coach car has restrooms, with a light that says when one is taken. Walk along with small kids: there’s a staircase inside the car, the train is moving, and that whooshing flush can make a toddler jump. If you’re in a Family Bedroom, the restroom and shower are shared in your sleeping car, so pajamas, toothbrushes and a towel in one grab bag saves trips.

Can I bring a stroller on the Empire Builder?

Yes. Under-2s come with a perk: an infant item (stroller or diaper bag) that sits outside your 2 carry-ons and 1 personal item. A folding stroller may ride at your seat or go as checked baggage for free, up to 50 lbs, between Empire Builder stations with checked baggage. Big jogging or double strollers may need checking. Fold yours at the bottom of the Superliner stairs and ask which level suits your gear.

Can I breastfeed or warm a bottle on the Empire Builder?

All eight Empire Builder states, Illinois to Oregon, protect a mother’s right to breastfeed in public. Amtrak also suggests asking dining car staff to help get a bottle ready, so ask at mealtime. Heading to Portland? After Spokane that branch has no dining car, so pack formula, water and bottles for the last morning along the Columbia River.

What can kids eat on the Empire Builder?

Sleeping car riders eat in the dining car, which has a kids’ menu; westbound you get five dining car meals, from dinner the first night to breakfast on arrival day. Every rider is welcome at the Cafe for snacks, drinks and simple meals. Even so, coach families should bring a big food bag, including a real breakfast for the first morning out on the plains. Portland-bound sleepers get a cold catered meal after Spokane instead of the dining car.

How do I keep kids entertained on the Empire Builder?

Plan around daylight. Westbound, Glacier Park goes by between about 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., after dark in fall and winter, so your big window day is Minot to Havre. Hand out a tally sheet for grain elevators, cows and freight trains. Print a stack of free Rally coloring pages, and make a walk to the Sightseer Lounge part of the schedule.

Can we sit together on the Empire Builder?

Your ticket puts you in a specific car for Seattle or Portland, so stay in it. Inside, coach seats run in twos on the upper and lower levels, with no middle seat; plan on two pairs for four people. Tables live in the Sightseer Lounge, not coach, and in summer Trails and Rails guides ride there on parts of the route. Seattle families should get lounge time before Spokane. No Business Class is sold.

We got split up on the Empire Builder. Now what?

Stay close and keep looking. Grab two seats on opposite sides of the aisle, then check both levels of your coach for open pairs or seats piled with coats, because one ticket covers one seat. If you try another coach, confirm it’s bound for your city, Seattle or Portland, since the train divides at Spokane. Never park a young child by themselves a few rows away while you sort it out, even for a minute.

How do I ask another passenger to trade seats on the Empire Builder?

Ask early, before people unpack for a 46-hour ride, and keep it to one friendly sentence about your child. Make the trade fair: their window gets your window, their aisle gets your aisle, ideally on the same level. A no is fine; thank them and check with the conductor during the ticket scan about open seats in another car going your way. Nobody can be made to move.

Is there a Quiet Car on the Empire Builder?

No Quiet Car is listed for the Empire Builder. Coach becomes one big shared bedroom after dark, though, so be a good neighbor: headphones for any show or game, soft voices, and a slow walk up the aisle if a toddler wakes up loud. If that sounds stressful for two nights, a Roomette or the Family Bedroom gives your crew a door to close.

What should I pack for kids on the Empire Builder?

Pack for about 46 hours. Layers help on a train that crosses the northern plains and the Rockies. Put pajamas, toothbrushes and a towel in one bag. Then add spare diapers, wipes, headphones, a printed tally sheet, the fill-in train ticket page and food for two days. Portland-bound families should pack the last breakfast, because that branch has no dining car after Spokane.

Where do kids sleep on the Empire Builder?

In coach, kids sleep in reclining seats next to you. Sleeper families can book a Roomette or the Family Bedroom, where two adults and two kids between 2 and 12 share four beds stacked two over two, with windows facing both sides of the train and meals included. Showers are shared in the car. If your kids nap well with motion, the long Montana afternoon is a good time for it.

What is the best first ride on the Empire Builder with kids?

Wishram or Bingen-White Salmon to Portland. You board at 8:35 or 9:10 a.m., ride the Columbia River Gorge past Beacon Rock, and reach Portland Union Station at 11:17 a.m., with no night on board. Starting in Chicago instead? Union Station to Milwaukee takes about 1 hour 40 minutes, if the app sells seats on that short hop, and it’s a good test of the stairs.

Can a teen ride the Empire Builder alone?

Kids 12 and under never can. For 13 to 15 year olds, Amtrak’s unaccompanied minor policy allows it only for daytime trips between staffed stations, booked by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL, at the adult fare, with no transfers and nothing overnight. Anything through the night or through Spokane is out, so a solo trip means a short daytime piece of the route. Teens who are 16 or 17 can ride alone.

How early should we be at Chicago Union Station for the Empire Builder?

Aim for about 30 minutes before the 3:05 p.m. departure, earlier with a stroller. Chicago is a busy station, and staff at busy stations call families with small children to board first, so stay near your gate and listen. While you wait, send kids hunting for the two statues in the Great Hall: Night holds an owl and Day holds a rooster. Then board the car your ticket shows.

What if my child gets scared on the Empire Builder?

Name the loud and dark parts ahead of time. The horn is loud, and Seattle-bound trains go through the 7.8-mile Cascade Tunnel after Leavenworth, the longest railroad tunnel in the country. Tell kids it’s long, count together, and watch for light at the far end. Rally’s tunnel page in the book makes a good practice run, the Rally train word search and maze keeps busy hands calm, and a hug covers the rest.

Is the Empire Builder safe for kids?

Yes, if you keep a few rules. Grab hands on the platform, keep everyone back from the edge line, and grab hands again crossing between cars to the lounge. Shoes on, bottoms in seats or a hand on a rail while rolling, and a grown-up beside them on the Superliner stairs. If you step off at Havre to see the big Great Northern steam locomotive, ask the attendant how long the stop is first.

What if the Empire Builder is delayed with kids?

Watch the Empire Builder’s spot on the live map in Amtrak’s app, read any travel advisories before you leave, and check both again along the way. Pack an extra day of snacks, diapers and wipes. A delay also shifts what you see in daylight, so recheck the times for the Gorge or the Cascades on the last morning. Keep tickets handy, because staying in the right car for Seattle or Portland still matters.

Where does the Empire Builder split for Seattle and Portland?

At Spokane, in the middle of the night, so with luck your kids sleep right through it. Westbound, the front of the train continues to Seattle as Train 7 and the rear cars go to Portland as Train 27. Your ticket puts you in the right car, so stay in your assigned car. Eastbound, the two sections join back together in Spokane.