I have mentioned before that the train that gets the most cancellations in the winter, is the Empire Builder. You can read about the caveats of traveling the Empire Builder here https://traintravelhelp.com/safe-travel/traveling-in-winter/.
Due to a forecast with a heavy snow storm, and potential avalanches along the route, Burlington Northern Santa Fe closed the Northern Transcon to all traffic, including Amtrak.
This meant that the Empire Builder trains that were traveling both east and west were combined in Glasgow, Montana into one large train and sent east to Chicago.
It ended up being a train with 6 engines (BNSF requires at least 2 engines when going through snow country) a baggage car, 16 passenger (and dining) cars and then another baggage car trailing.
The photo screenshot was taken at a camera along the Northern Transcon route, at Verndale, Minnesota. New engine 304 leading the pack.
A pretty impressive sight to see.
I was glad to hear that passenger safety was taken into account, and they turned the westbound train around, when the situation deteriorated.
Chicago is a better place to deal with getting back to where you need to be, rather than in avalanche country in Montana.
