RED WING, Minn. – Train buffs have their fngers crossed that the new Chicago-to-St. Paul intercity passenger train, the Borealis, will succeed financially. In its first two weeks, the train generated more coach revenue between city pairs than the transcontinental Empire Builder on the same route. City-pairs are like Red Wing-Winona and LaCrosse-Milwaukee. The Borealis has the same 11 stops on its daily round trips as the much older Empire Builder.
Rounding the bend. Westbound at Barn Bluff into Red Wing.
Naming the Borealis
In early planning, Amtrak used the code name Great River for the new train, which posed the question whether it should be the Ojibwe translation “Misi-ziibi.” The planners eventually turned to Latin and chose “Borealis,” which was the ancient Roman word or “northern,” as in “aurora borealis” for the Northern Lights astronomical phenomenon.
Which train to ride
The Borealis rides the same Canadian Pacific tracks as the Empire Builder two to three hours before or after. Both trains are daily and take roughly the same 7 hours and 20 minutes each way. The Empire Builder consist, typically 12 cars but more in peak seasons. A train includes double-deck sleeper cars, sit-down meals in a dining car, and a glass-roof vista car. It’s a classy link west via St. Paul to Seattle and Portland with a few coaches with budget seating. The Borealis is five cars — all-coach, no sleepers., and a business-class car with a snack pre-packaged sandwich lounge. The long-distance Empire Builder is pulled by two locomotives, sometimes three. The Borealis usually has a single red-nose locomotive but sometimes also with a second locomotive at the rear to serve as head-end for the reverse trip.