posted
Got off an nearly on-time Sunset this morning in ELP. Trip was great, highlights include meeting another TO member and the Head of the Southwest Division.
Thursday 3/20 started just like any other normal high school day, bell rings, shuffle to class. Rings again 90 minutes later, shuffle to next class, rings again head out to lunch, and the process repeats itself 2 more times before 3:45 finally comes. #1 arrived about an hour late and was only in the station long enough for us to hop on-board and get settled in the roomette. Our Sleeper was the former "Georgia" #32079. We sped off westward at 6:30 and into the train's namesake trademark, a beautiful Sunset over the New Mexico desert. Deming and Lordsburg came and went only 30 minutes late and Benson was only about 45 minutes down. The desert was an eerie blue, courtesy of the full moon as we headed towards Tucson. We made it into Tucson only 10 minutes late, giving us enough time to wonder around the station and read the many displays in the station's courtyard. We fell asleep shortly after Tucson waking up astonishingly on-time in Indio, Ca at 6:15am. My cousin and I headed to the Diner and we were lucky to be sat with the head of Amtrak's Southwest Division on his was back to LA from Dallas. He seemed pretty amazed that I was only 16 and knew so much about the Amtrak and the Sunset Limited in general. He also clarified some of the rumors that are currently spinning around the Sunset. As far as he knows there has been no official date set for the Sunset east but early June is a high possibility. Also the Diner and Lounge WILL NOT be removed for a combo Diner-Lounge when they become the standard for food service cars throughout the system. The train was simply packed and was 98% full arriving LAUPT. The lack of staff in the dining car slowed things down a bit, but we head maintained a steady stream of green signals from Palm Springs all the way to LA (yes, we did not slow or stop whatsoever for W. Colton). Our official arrival into LAUPT was 10:07am or 3 minutes early.
The early LA arrival surprised everyone and we chose to stay on our itinerary and take 774 south instead of the earlier 572. However, 774 was coming down from SLO and had at ETA of 1:15 but we boarded an extra set of equipment and left on time at 12:25 so there was two 774s operating at once. The dispatcher seemed a little confused too, but quickly caught on. The trip down the coastline was fast and smooth and we arrived in San Diego on-time at 3:10pm. At the San Diego station I met a fellow TO member stone23 and talked while my parents picked up the bags and flagged down a cab. Our stay in San Diego was the best, the weather the people and the attraction made us just want to move there. Also having the ocean right there isn't bad either. On Monday 3/24 we boarded Surfliner 775 and headed up to Anaheim. Our train turned into standing room only after Oceanside. We were happy we were in Business class, the snack packs are pretty good. Again another fast trip up the Surfline and came into Anaheim only about 5 minutes late. The next few days we spent in Disneyland staying at the Grand Californian Hotel, constantly going back and forth between Disneyland and the CA Adventure. I forgot that they still used real steam engines on the Disneyland RR and each one looked like they were frozen in time, going back to when they were first bought. The parks were extremely crowded and 2 hour waits became common on popular rides.
The trip home started on Friday 3/28. We took Surfliner 769 up to LAUPT. The train was standing room only and with our 11 bags (yes that's the total number) we had to stand on the bottom level of the coaches all the way to LA. We caught #1 on the adjacent platform waiting to be backed into the yards. We skipped the long boarding line and got straight on #2 when it backed in at 1:45. Our sleeper was a newly refurbished one #32039. I have to admit, the new redone ones look really nice inside, and the improved lighting makes the car seem a lot bigger. We had some delays along the route, mainly following a disabled freight from Loma Linda to Beaumont. Palm Springs came under the wheels about an hour late, and in the middle of a dust storm too! It made us feel right at home. We hit a little more congestion around Indio but had hardly any delays the rest of the trip back to ELP, arrving just past 9am. I have to comment that our lead unit on #2 P42DC #118 has a perfectly tuned horn and sounds like music to any railfan's ears! The food overall was great! they do need more people working the Diner though. The passengers on all of the runs seemed happy and looking forward to Spring Break. The Sunset needs extra cars though, both #1 and #2 were extremely crowded and the Diner was in full swing during meal times. For the people the that say the Sunset is worthless and is nothing but a problem child, I suggest you try craming into the train around now. I'm sure you'll get a second opinion after you see the passenger load.
Pictures can be seen on the same post over on trainorders.
posted
Thanks for the well-written travel soliloquy, SL. Sometimes San Diegan people take their town for "granted" a bit; it's good that you pointed out some of the good attributes of the place. As to the Sunset, it's always been one of my favorite LD trains...when I was in my high school years I rode it from NOL to LAX in the late 60s under the SP flag. I remember the food in those days came from the "automat" car, with a surly attendant whose main function was to hand out "complaint" forms that you could send to SP management in SF. But we had a blast on that trip; spent most of the time standing out on the back vestibule platform enjoying the view and getting sandblasted crossing the desert miles...
Posts: 588 | From: East San Diego County, CA | Registered: Oct 2004
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Railroad Bob, while many fault the SP's passenger service, I found that, on a Dec 1970, NO to ElPaso journey, after they struck their deal under Ex-Parte 287 to upgrade the service in exchange for tri-weekly frequency (you'll have to dig out your TRAINS for more on this), that SP had really lived up to their side of the bargain.
This Sunset was worthy of being "Train #1"; the consist included a through NY-LA Sleeper, a local Sleeper, Diner, Automat, and Coaches. The Dining car was superb; the steak had to be USDA Prime (or a mighty TOP TOP Choice), and the equipment was impeccably cleaned and maintained.
As for timekeeping, they held for a late #99 L&N Pan American. Departure from Carrolton Ave where the connection was made, was one hour down; nothing much was done NO to Houston, but next day, "he just kept moving" with freights, both EB and WB being "holed" for our passage. Arrival in El Paso was on-time.
I always thought SP got a bum rap on their passenger trains; I rode my share and I always thought the service was "quite good".
Possibly the site owner will permit liberty and allow this link to material I posted at another site regarding my SP journeys:
There sure are alot of people living between San Ysidro and Los Angeles aren't there? I was in California briefly last week and every trolley, every commuter train, and every Surfliner I saw seemed to have standees......even in mid-afternoon.
-------------------- 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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Thank you so much for this report, Mr Sunset. I took the SL east from Tucson to San Antonio in January and had no trouble on it. It was late getting into Tucson but made up the time by the time we go to San Antonio. Food and sleeper were fine. Train was not so busy then, though--and January is a fairly busy time in Arizona, touristwise. I think if they could change the times in Tucson, they would get more business!
I did have trouble on my northbound TX Ltd a few days later, but that was a train that began in San Antonio. Sleeping car had many broken roomettes, and positively disgusto windows, all scratched up, no way to see from them. I hope they don't use that one on the Sunset route!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Yes, it IS very well written. I don't think I could write that well when I was in HS. Thanks SL; I hope to take your train sometime soon.
Posts: 326 | From: San Antonio Texas USA | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
What a great trip report from an intelligent young man!
Glad you made it for a few days at Disneyland. As you figured out, the two weeks of Easter Vacation are always some of the busiest of the year and Disneyland was packed the week you were there. On the bright side, how nice of you to notice the fine condition the crew in the Disneyland Roundhouse keeps Mr. Disney's fleet of steam trains in.
As for California Adventure, did you get a chance to see the 1950's Western Pacific Domeliner consist there in the entry plaza? That will be leaving next year as California Adventure gets remade and the entry plaza is rebuilt into a late 1920's Los Angeles theme.
While the domeliner is leaving, it will be replaced with a working copy of the old Pacific Electric street cars that will offer transportation to park guests from the entrance back through the Hollywood section and on to the new CarsLand expansion area. I know the folks at Walt Disney Imagineering are doing a very thorough job in recreating a fleet of full size circa 1929 Red Cars, and it should prove quite impressive to see and ride in real life.
I wonder what is to become of the Western Pacific domeliner? That might be something worth looking into.
Posts: 56 | From: Orange County, CA | Registered: Jun 2007
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