Running around 90 minutes off schedule, the Portland section of the Empire Builder rolls through the Columbia River Gorge. The train is about 53 miles into its journey to Spokane, where it will be combined with the Seattle section for the rest of the trip to Chicago.
With two sections of the Empire Builder, the Coast Starlight, Seattle, the Cascade Mountains, Columbia Valley and Puget Sound, Washington state offers rail buffs plenty of variety and beauty.