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Just completed my round trip from El Paso to San Diego this morning for Tennis Camp at UC San Diego. But as with any trip, not everything goes according to plan. This trip would one interesting adventure.
I boarded #1 on Saturday July, 17 as it pulled it late, the first train in a month to not arrive into ELP on-time. I slugged my 12 racket tennis bag and baggage up the stairs without trying to damage anyone (or anything for that matter). Right away I knew this trip was going to be strange, I found my roomette in the dorm car with the beds down, and trash everywhere and no car attendant in sight. I hurried to the Diner to get a dinner reservation, only to be told that my car attendant had my reservation and that there was attendant covering the 2 sleepers by himself. I found him cleaning up a roomette on the upper level of the 0130 car and inquired with him about dinner and my room being made up since I had nowhere to go (the lounge car was at capacity, all seats were taken as this was a sold out train). He quickly informed me that there was a car attendant in the 131 car and to just homestead in the hallway and he’d try to call her. She did come by about 15 minutes after leaving El Paso and I finally began to enjoy my first solo trip on the Sunset. Deming and Lordsburg sped past with “no one home” as reported on the scanner, and I headed to dinner about 7:00. I was sat with a couple from Roseville, CA heading home after vacation and a lady from Beaumont, CA returning home from New Orleans. Dinner was Chicken Enchiladas which I found to be decent, but then again I’m used to real Mexican food from the border, but no complaints here. Shortly after we departed Lordsburg we were treated to an insane Sunset across Arizona where a storm covering most of southern AZ put on an unparalleled lightning show. We did our work in Tucson on-time and once again were speeding through the lightning storm, not slowing for the rain or numerous freight trains we passed. I turned in for the shortly after Picacho Peak, AZ. During the night we would lose around an hour or so leaving us with a fantastic sunrise over the Coachella Valley in the morning. We ran mostly an hour late the rest of the way into LAUPT, arriving there on-time and I simply planted myself on a bench on track 10 and watched the action as Metrolink and Surfliners arrived and departed within minutes of each other, I finally headed over to track 9 as Surfliner 768 rolled in from Goleta, and boarded Business Class car “Echo Park” to find the car entirely redone. TV monitors are now positioned above the luggage racks and wifi is now available on some Surfliner cars. The trip down the Surfline was fast, and we reached Standing Room only for awhile. Trouble was brewing however when we were stopped at Irvine, one of the conductors mentioned on the radio channel to the rest of the crew that our counterpart train 769 had barely left San Diego. We ended up passing it shortly after leaving Oceanside. The trouble began as we took the siding at Sorrento Valley we were told as we pulled into the Coaster station that we would be here for at least 30 minutes because of track work up ahead. They explained that if our ride can pick us up here we could detrain. I figured this wouldn’t be an issue since my ride to UCSD had not called me yet. As the 30 minutes came and went people began to bail off as their rides pulled up, my ride called me and he had been at the San Diego depot since noon and they had informed him of what had happened and he offered to pick me up at Sorrento Valley since this was the closest station to the UC San Diego campus. I quickly grabbed my things at grabbed a bench and began to wait, shortly after I sat down they called all aboard and took off for downtown San Diego as a northbound Surfliner sped past also running late I assume. My ride arrived about 1:00 and I headed up the hill to camp.
The camp at UCSD was rigorous was tiring, but it’s the level of play I was most amazed with. Players in West Texas are not used to the humidity, so more muscle and accuracy is required to play decently in southern California. My camp ended Friday, and I was not to attend the closing ceremonies due to time constraints that really upset me, since this would be my last year at camp. I was dropped off at the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego at 9:00am, once again in the overcast weather that I found pleasurable but odd for southern California. I boarded train 769 north, and found that this was the same set I took south a week earlier. The trip north was through overcast skies and fog, finally reaching the sun south of Irvine. We pulled into LAUPT on-time and I headed into the station to get a bagel and update my family on my status. Bagel in hand I headed up to track 12 to await train #2 to back in. As I was headed down the concourse I heard yelling and what appeared to be an argument between the check-in attendant for the Coaches and passengers. I overheard that the train was not going to New Orleans, but to San Antonio. Many of the passengers were angry that they were being told this now. I ignored it and figured I’d the get the story later. I watched as #2 backed in and quickly took up in my roomette. We departed LAUPT on-time and only lost 10 minutes due to slow orders where a train had derailed a few weeks earlier on the Alhambra Sub. At Pomona is where things became interesting. From what I was able to make out on the scanner, the police were being called to the Coaches due to a riot. A RIOT?!? What? Why? I headed back to the Lounge car but could not get a good look, so I headed downstairs to grab some chicken wings for a snack instead, as I was next in line the attendant sliced his finger open on the metal framed that surrounds the area where the cash register is (This Sightseer was a Superliner I). The conductor was called, who then in turn called the paramedics. Our Lounge attendant was removed from the train and taken off to the hospital to get stitches, and another crew member took his place to Tucson where another attendant was flown from LAX to meet the train and take over. We finally pulled out of Pomona about an hour late after all this took place, and we lost our spot that the dispatcher had for us, so we were stuck weaving in and out of freights the rest of the way up Beaumont Hill. We dropped down past the Salton Sea and sped eastward, and I retired around Gila, AZ for the night. I awoke at about 5:00am Mountain time to find us just west of Lordsburg, still running about an hour and half late. I showered, had breakfast, and packed up my roomette before I finally pulled to a stop in ELP at 9:15am Roughly an hour late. Overall the trip was great, the crews were excellent. Now it seems that I’ve brought the humidity back with me as El Paso is predicted to be under thunderstorm watch for the next few days!
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Reading your report, Mr. Schillinger, reminded me of the time I "almost" met Billie Jean King aboard the London-Paris "Night Ferry" during July 1979 after Wimbledon closed.
While she was then well past her prime, she still had an entourage to handle little details such as her many racquet cases. She had a room in my very Wagon-Lit car. The entourage was elsewhere - and I think there was even a room for all her paraphernalia.
Since I'm not in the celebrity gawking business, I had no inclination to approach her party for anything such as an autograph, even if I had Nieces and Nephews that wished I had.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Nice report and very detailed. That was interesting a riot. I wonder if that ever made the news. Scanners are so cool aren't they.
Posts: 465 | From: elgin (s-line) | Registered: Dec 2008
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Nice report, thanks for posting it. I, too, wonder about the "RIOT". Did you ever find out why the train was being terminated at San Antonio?
On the Surfliner, were the TV monitors used? I have not seen these yet and have not seen one of the newly renovated cars. Did Echo Park have the seats with the red grab bars and fixed seat back?
Frank in Sunny SBA
Posts: 2160 | From: Santa Barbara, CA, USA | Registered: Oct 2003
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Good report Sunset, good to see some young blood amidst some of us 'mature' travelers.
Aside from the unexpected crises some of us have on our trips, it seems Amtrak equipment and crews have been consistently better than in the past.
Have you heard anything more on the changes on the Sunset/TE that Amtrak and others have been discussing for a couple years?
GBN, too bad the Night Ferry is long gone. You can still travel this route but requires multiple changes. Much better to take the Train/Ferry to Amsterdam via Harwich/Hook of Holland. We did this about 20 years ago and sounds like service is just as good if not better: Amsterdam via Train/Ferry. Who needs Eurostar.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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I too have done Hook to Harwich on a Dutch vessel.
The North Sea was "oh the ocean waves may roll and the stormy winds may blow".
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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I too have taken the H to H. As I recall it wAS very rough. We spent the first half of the night afraid we would die and the last half we wouldn't.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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