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New Orleans, LA to Los Angeles, CA Train #1, Sunset Limited Superliner Roomette 11/4/05 - 11/6-05
I was dropped off at the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal for 11:15am. Boarding of the first post-Katrina Sunset Limited was scheduled to begin at 11:30am. There were a fair number of people in the waiting room, but most of those were going on the City of New Orleans. Our train, being the first one, only was scheduled to have sixteen passengers board in New Orleans. Boarding was called right at 11:30 for sleeping car passengers, and I was the only one. I made my way down to my car and took note of the consist: 2 locos (#52,166), Transition Sleeper (39044), Dining Car (Superliner 2), Sightseer Lounge (Superliner 1), and two coaches. It was a small consist but one which will suit the market for a while I think…at least until service from New Orleans to Florida resumes next year. My sleeping car attendant, Cynthia, told me that I was her only customer until Lafayette, and that she was expecting ten people in the car by the time we arrived into LAX. I made my way up the stairs and found my room, #23. It was in good condition and it was clean. The only thing missing was a route guide, which I was told that they didn’t have on this run, as the NOL office isn’t fully stocked yet. No bother, I had an old one from 1993 so I followed along with that.
Two blows of the horn and we were off at 11:55am, on time. The first call to lunch was made at 12:05pm, and I was initially the only one in the diner, before being joined by several others from coach. The dining car steward, Robert, has been a twelve year veteran of the Sunset. He is very gracious and a pleasure to talk to. He clearly enjoys his job. Just as I started to eat the chef (his name was Bruce) came into the car and shook my hand, congratulating me on being the first person to eat a meal on the inaugural westbound Sunset out of New Orleans following the hurricane. I told him I’m doing this trip to show my support for Amtrak. I had a good cheeseburger and apple pie while we were held up for 45 minutes waiting for clearance to cross the Huey P. Long bridge. A freight was coming down the bridge and it had to back up onto some side track before we were allowed to proceed. According to one of the conductors, that delay was blamed on “poor dispatching”. Once we got over the bridge, we made pretty decent time through bayou country, picking up a passenger or two in Schriever and New Iberia before coming to a stop in Lafayette at 4:30, a little less than an hour late. About seven people got on here, but the two people who were supposed to join us in the sleeper did not show. Two UP crewmembers got on here as well. They were hitching a ride to Houston. During dinner, around 5:15, we had a forty five minute delay waiting for freights to pass. The delay didn’t concern me anyway. I was enjoying an excellent steak while chatting with two ladies going to Houston. We talked a lot about New Orleans and what it will take for the city to prosper.
We ended up about an hour and twenty minutes down by the time we got to Beaumont, which was a crew change point and a brief smoking break. I don’t smoke but I still like to get off the train to get some fresh air. At about 9:30pm Cynthia came in and turned down my bed for the night. We were not delayed at all between Beaumont and Houston and we arrived in Texas’ largest city at 10:30pm. We were only there for ten minutes before heading out towards San Antonio. It was a somewhat restless sleep, the track was kind of rough, and I just couldn’t get comfortable. But I did manage to sleep a few hours, and I woke up at 3:30am to find us sitting in San Antonio. If all went well, I saw no reason why we couldn’t leave there on time at 5:40am. I drifted back to sleep, and woke up again to the sound of a marching band. I thought I was dreaming, but we were parked next to a high school and the band was playing its heart out at the ungodly hour of 6:45. So much for the wake up call! Apparently we had just left San Antonio minutes earlier…the Texas Eagle came in late so we had to wait on its through coach and sleeper to join our train before we could leave. I had breakfast at 7:00am with a man going to LAX who had been volunteering in New Orleans. Once again, another interesting conversation, and out of this world French Toast.
We stayed an hour down and arrived into Del Rio at exactly 9:35am. This was also a smoke break so I got off and snapped a couple of pictures. We were there no more than five minutes before heading off into the scenic territory that is west Texas. I made sure that I was in the Sightseer Lounge for our crossing of the gigantic Amistad Reservoir and the Pecos River High Bridge, which was simply incredible. That bridge crossing was worth the price of the ticket alone! We crossed over the scenic Eagle’s Nest canyon and flew past the historic town of Langtry at about 11:02am. Lunch was served at 12:15pm (had a grilled chicken sandwich this time just to mix it up a bit) just before we arrived at Sanderson, which badly needs a new rail terminal. No one got on or off here not surprisingly, but the crew let the smokers out for a quick one. We left Sanderson about an hour and eighteen minutes late, but lost more time as we were nearing Alpine. We had to wait for eastbound train #2 to pass us. The conductor said it should be “twenty or thirty minutes” but it ended up being a full hour. When train #2 did pass, I spotted an old ex-Santa Fe railroad Hi-Level coach on the very rear of the train. Anyway due to the delay, we ended up being a full two hours late into Alpine. Before we arrived at the station, however, we got a nice salute from a high school cheerleading squad and from some other people who all waved at us as we went by. Once we left Alpine, we really made use of that 79mph running speed. It was smooth sailing at track speed with no stops at all in between Alpine and El Paso. The scenery was quite picturesque…lots of mountains, interesting rock formations, sheep, cacti, you name it. It was hardly boring. I had dinner at 5:30, and wouldn’t you know it, they had one of my all time favorites: Chicken Fried Steak. It was good, too. And of course apple pie for dessert since it was the last night on board. We ended up leaving El Paso only twenty nine minutes behind schedule. As we left the station is was fascinating to see the little houses and shacks in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, since the train runs just feet away from the border for a good while. We got a great view of the entire area as we climbed the high bluffs out of the city (it reminded me of the California Zephyr’s approach into Denver) and ventured on into New Mexico. I had my bed turned down for me at about 8:00pm since I felt like just lying back and watching the star filled sky while listening to some Ryan Adams. We cruised right through Deming without stopping. It was a flag stop and there were no takers tonight. When we reached Lordsburg at about 8:48, I felt my eyes grow heavy, and decided to try to get some sleep, with the goal of waking up as early as possible to hopefully see some of the sights in Southern California prior to our arrival in LAX. I slept soundly and missed all of our station stops in Arizona, including the smoke break in Tucson.
I woke up to a gorgeous sunrise at 6:00am as we were cruising past the Salton Sea. It was gorgeous…my eyes were glued to the window to say the least. I took a quick shower then made it to breakfast for about 6:30, where I enjoyed the new “Bob Evans Breakfast Scramble”. It was a brand new menu apparently. Some of the prices have went up a little and some of the entrees have changed. Anyway, we pulled into scenic Palm Springs at 7:03am (only about twenty minutes late), and I got off for a minute to take a couple of pictures. It was interesting to see all the giant windmills in the area. After we left Palm Springs it was slow going for about thirty minutes due to yellow signals, and as such, we arrived into Ontario at 8:51, but not before we passed some scenic farmland including some orange groves. Around this area I saw a “****** Implants for $3500” billboard, which obviously meant that we were in Southern California! We flew past the Ontario airport at 8:47am. Our train was held up at a BNSF/UP interlocking for about ten minutes to let two really long BNSF freights pass.
Just after we left Pomona at about 9:00am chef Bruce stopped by and shook my hand again, asking me if I had a nice trip. I said of course, and that I will be back. He just smiled and said “we’re looking forward to it”. Also Robert from the dining car said goodbye, which I thought was very nice of him. The whole crew on this train was really a class act. The conductor came on the p.a and announced that we would be fifteen minutes early into LAX! Sure enough, we were. We came to a stop right at 9:55am next to the Coast Starlight on track #11. As I detrained I gave Cynthia a nice tip for the excellent and friendly service. Also I took a picture of her next to the train.
Overall it was an amazing trip. Although not quite as scenic as the California Zephyr, the old Sunset Limited still can show you a very good time. The “Southern Way West” is just fine in my opinion.
Since we got into LAX so early, and since my flight back to New Orleans didn’t leave until 11:20pm, I decided to catch a Pacific Surfliner train down to San Diego and back. I’m glad I chose to do it. Talk about stunning views! I had heard how nice the line was, but words didn’t do it justice. I took the 11:11am train out of L.A, and we arrived San Diego’s attractive Santa Fe depot at 1:50pm. After killing an hour in and around the station, I took the 3:00pm train back to LAX, where we arrived at 5:45pm. It was a great way to spend much of the day.
Back at Union Station Los Angeles, I decided to take the subway to the airport, since I was in no rush and I enjoy seeing new areas. It was a double connection: red line transer to blue line, blue line transfer to green line. All in all it was very easy. It took me about an hour and twenty minutes overall to get from Union Station to the United Airlines terminal at LAX. At only $3, it was quite a bargain. I got to the airport for 7:30pm and, after checking in, killed a couple of hours in a sports bar by drinking some beers and eating a pretty mediocre turkey sandwich. You win some, you lose some. My flights back home to New Orleans on United Airlines were both uneventful.
The end...for now.
-------------------- Good morning America, how are ya?
44,950 Amtrak rail miles traveled since August 18, 2003. Posts: 135 | From: Atlanta, GA / New Orleans, LA | Registered: Jan 2004
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Supurb trip report. Thanks for sharing with us. I'm looking forward to your next one as well.
Having ridden eastbound from El Paso in July, I'd second the ride across the Pecos High Bridge and Amistad Reservoirs as real highlights. I'd also like to hop off the train and explore Alpine, TX for a day or two!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Thanks for not ragging on Beaumont. We are working on a better station in a different location.
Posts: 562 | From: Beaumont Texas | Registered: Jul 2005
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Really good report NativeSon, thanks for whetting my appetite for a journey on the Sunset Ltd. Mike in Australia.
Posts: 60 | From: Ballan, Victoria, Australia | Registered: Oct 2001
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Thanks for the trip report ! We have tickets on the same line for the Sat right after Thanksgiving. Going to Schreiver (last stop before New Orleans) and back home to Tucson 1 week later. Been on this run for 5-6 times now over the last 4 years and really like it, food is always great. When I got my tickets online there was no sleeper available from Schreiver to Tucson so I called every morning early trying to upgrade and 1 week later an available one came up. Sure didn't look forward to sitting coach all the way home . Steve in so az
-------------------- steve in so az Posts: 21 | From: Tucson, Az , usa | Registered: Aug 2004
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Great report! I need to know if after taking the Sunset to LA, you can still make a connection with the Coast Starlight. Thanks.
Posts: 133 | From: Florida, U.S.A. | Registered: May 2004
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