My wife and I travel from San Jose CA to Chicago regularly. We've done the CA Zephyr more times than I can remember, and the Empire Builder (via the Starlight and PDX) and the Southwest Chief (via Starlight and LAX) several times.
For our next trip, we were thinking about taking the Texas Eagle (again, via the Starlight to LAX) just to have some different scenery. Our schedule requires that we do the Eagle in the eastbound direction.
Going east it appears that the train #422 cars from LAX stay parked in San Antonio from about 10PM to 7AM. We're curious about the long layover in SAS while they shuffle the cars from the back of the Sunset Limited to train #22 for the rest of the trip to Chicago.
Do they leave the cars at a platform? Can passengers get off during the night? Better yet, can they get back on once they've gotten off ? Do the cars have power, A/C, vacuum for the toilets, etc while they're parked?
And if we can get off and walk around, is there anything to do in San Antonio in the middle of the night?
Are there any other interesting ways to get from San Jose to Chicago via Amtrak?
Thanks, Bob
Posted by a meyer (Member # 4954) on :
Hi Bob, I'm a "newbie" on the forum and just discovered trainweb recently, but, I may have some helpful info. I just came through San Antonio on the TE westbound a couple weeks ago and experienced the layover. I had a coach from Dallas to San Antonio and a sleeper from San Antonio to Arizona. My stay was mostly in the train station while I waited for my sleeper car to come from New Orleans. I have pictures and a short descripton of my layover at my website: http://web.mac.com/ameyer1/iWeb/SpringBreak2007/March%20Trip%202007.html
In a nutshell, there were a couple "night spots" open until 2 AM and a Dennys within walking distance. I personally felt safe walking the well lit streets at those hours and saw fellow train travellers in these businesses, and I believe they entered and exited the 421 sleeper and coach which were sitting at the station. Hope that helps...
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Bob, Like you plan, I tried the Sunset Ltd for variety's sake eastbound from California last August. At that point, the Sunset Ltd and Texas Eagle were the same relatively small train--with one sleeper in the front and one in the back (I think it was Sunset Ltd in the front and Eagle in the back). In San Antonio the Ltd sleeper continued on with at least one coach car to New Orleans, while the sleeper for Chicago and at least one coach car were detached and linked to the actual Texas Eagle, bound for Chicago, which did not leave until morning, embarking on its overnight trip to Chicago. I'm sorry I didn't pay attention to what they did with all the cars, just the two sleepers. . .
Since I had Guest Reward points for only 2 zones, I used them El Paso to Zone 1 (I was going cross-country) and paid cash for a sleeper from LA to El Paso. I got a Sunset Ltd sleeper because it was much cheaper. I thus had to change sleepers to my free one in El Paso. This was no problem, and I got to see both sleeper cars. There was also an observation lounge on my train, though earlier in the season I gather some Ltd trains had no lounge.
The first day of the trip from LA was quite interesting, too. I got a kick out of going through some towns I'd heard of in Hollywood films and in song--we all know more about California place names than we think, because of the pop culture. We passed some desert developments, and it was interesting to see these communities springing up in what looked like the middle of nowhere. Around the stop for Palm Springs (which is not so close to Palm Springs that the actual town is visible), there was an interesting wind farm. Although we experienced some freight congestion while still in the LA suburbs, it was still light when we reachedthe Salton Sea, which was the highlight of this day for me.
My sleeper that first night had a minor air conditioning problem. It probably did not help that after we left the coast, temperatures were up around 100 degrees outside! Anyway, the air conditioner was fine when the doors were open, but when you shut up the sleeper for the night, the roomette became way too hot. Everyone solved this problem by leaving their doors open all night, with just the curtain blocking the doorway. This wasn't too terrible--I have an eye mask to keep any light out--and there weren't too many people going back and forth.
I think it was pretty late when we got to Tucson, but I awoke and got out. It looked really nice, cozy, western, lively, quite lit up for midweek, with lots of hotels nearby. I vowed to come back and stay there some time when it wasn't 101 degrees by day (it wasn't so bad at night).
The next morning we were still in New Mexico. There were some attractive hills, and we passed what looked like mirages but, on closer inspection, turned out to be large patches of water in the desert--there had been terrible flooding about a week before, so bad the Sunset Ltd had been canceled a couple of days. As we neared El Paso, I looked out the right window (I think I was in the observation car, or maybe my sleeper) to see across to New Mexico, all the little hovels were very sad, but it was most interesting to see. I cannot recall how late we were into El Paso, maybe 2-3 hours? Anyway, I made the change of sleepers with no problem and spent time on the platform, making phone calls and stretching my legs. It was exciting for me to be "Down in the West Texas town of El Paso." I'd like to get back there some time too when it isn't so hot!
My sleeper in the Texas Eagle had no A/C problems and seemed newer--maybe that is part of the reason for the higher price to those who pay for it? Or maybe it's just usage--a lot of people using the train at this point get on in Dallas, Fort Worth, Little Rock, etc who are Chicago bound. (On the other hand, the largest bunch were California to Tucson, but I guess they don't get sleepers.) Still, the train, throughout, was not so very busy--I believe there was always an empty sleeper or two, and it was a short train, as I said.
The second day trip across Texas was certainly very loooooooooong. It is nowhere near as scenic as the SW Chief, desertwise--the rocks just don't have the beautiful coloration--and I did not see any Marfa lights, though I did look! But I did see some critters and plantlife and whatnot, and there were definitely some pretty patches, rolling brown hills, interesting scrub brush. . . .
We were running quite late when I went to sleep--no way were we reaching San Antonio anywhere near on time. However, since Texas Eagle-bound passengers had that long layover there, that didn't bother any of us too much. It was all the people going to San Antonio itself, or the stops right before it, or going on to Houston and New ORleans, who were a bit peeved. Though not too much--I think most knew what to expect.
The train pulled into San Antonio around 7 hours late, as I recollect--quite late, as you see. I woke up (I'm an early riser and sporadic sleeper, in case anyone hasn't noticed) and after a time got out to see what San Antonio station was like. The station had quite a few Amtrak people and passengers around, seemed no problem for anyone arriving late to San Antonio, although some had to wait for cabs because I guess the cabs got sick of waiting for the late train and had to be called back. I had planned to visit the Alamo during the layover. I probably should have waited for the light--in which case I might even have walked, if I could find another passenger interesting in walking with me--but it's a late dawn in Texas that time of year, and I was worried about getting back too late to the train (I didn't know what getting a taxi back would be like) so at some point while still dark, maybe around 5:30, I took a taxi over instead. I had it drop me at the Hotel Menger next door. I chatted with the desk clerk there and looked around the neat old lobby. I didn't want to walk over to the Alamo itself in the dark but when it stayed dark, I looked outside and saw it looked perfectly safe, as the bellhop said it would be, so I moseyed over; there was a guard who actually took my picture, although it didn't come out because it was still dark (I didn't have a good camera). I returned to the Hotel Menger. What I shoud have done was hung around and waited for more light and taken a better picture, but as I said, I was nervous about the train, never having done this before, so I had the hotel clerk phone me a taxi and take me back to the train station--it was just around daybreak then.
When I returned they were doing some of the delinking; I watched that. In the light I could see some nice buildings, including the adjoining old train station, which was quite lovely, made into shops or something--too bad it was closed, I'd have loved to go inside. Even more too bad it wasn't still in use by the train!
When I eventually boarded and returned to my sleeper, I realized my car attendant for my second night had left--even on the Texas Eagle part, the attendants apparently go only as far as San Antonio. I had a new one, and I'd never given the old one a tip--I felt bad about that! (But I had given a tip to the one on the Sunset LTd part the first night, when I moved, so it was just for the one night I missed.)
To answer your questions: as far as I know, there was A/C and electricity on the train--oh, maybe a brief spell without it, but, if so, I was probably off the train at that time. You can get on and off most of the time, though obviously there may be times when they are shuttling cars around that you could not. I cannot recall if they do but I have no memory of any toilet unpleasantness on the Texas Eagle after San Antonio, so I think so. Re safety: I was told (by train staff) that heading from the train staton toward the Alamo, which I think is west, is safe--heading in the other direction from the station was less so. But in the dark, I think taxis are best, esp for a female.
As we pulled out of San Antonio, on time at 8AM I believe it was, there were some neat buildings to see. They brought the sleeper passengers a box breakfast, basically like the continental--cereal, yogurt, not bad. I got off the train at Austin too, to see the station, since I plan to visit there--and San Antonio--in fact, I had been planning a trip for early this year but had to cancel due to illness. The Austin station seemed pretty small, and had no left luggage facility, I noted. You could see something of the city, including the dome, as the train neared or left the station. The area as we progressed from there was also interesting for a while, but after a time, the trip through Texas continued to be seem very loooooooooooooong. I was glad when we finally hit Fort Worth--although it looked pretty drab and ugly in the part you see from the train) and not too long afterward, Dallas--which looked much more interesting. Some modern, nicely done buildings and parks near the platform. You can also see from the platform the Lee Harvey Oswald site--a car attendant pointed it out. It was still about 101 degrees in both these stops, by the way.
I was definitely quite exhausted by Texas when I went to sleep. I awoke briefly when we hit Little Rock in the middle of the night--still on time, as far as I could tell--and looked out my window. I could see little in the dark, but what I could see looked nice--a river by the station, as I recall. Another city I plan to visit some time, on my tour of state capitols.
By morning we may have left Arkansas for Missouri, I forget. We were going through some nice rolling greenery and continued on time. Eventually we came to St Louis. The station was a disgrace, but seeing the Gateway Arch--you get a great view as you go around it after leaving the station--was pretty neat. I got some good pix too. Crossing the Mississippi is always exciting to me. Eventually we rolled into Springfield, IL, another city I plan to visit (I may go there this year). You could see the capitol dome. We were still on time. We continued on up Illinois to Chicago, arriving not more than 1/2 hour late. I had plenty of time to leave luggage at the Metropolitan Lound and take a nice walk down to the lake and even bop into the Field Museum (it was close to closing so I didn't have to pay), then continue back down to Millennium Park area and back to the station, where I caught my Lakeshore Ltd east.
Well, that's the trip. One thing I esp did not like about the Sunset Ltd was that east of Tucson the people on the train were far less interesting a mix than the other cross-country trains, so dinner and observation car conversation was not as interesting. Could have been a fluke on the day I traveled. Anyway, I don't think I'd do it again from California-Chicago if those were the points I was visiting--I like the SW Chief too much, it's nicer and prompter, more interesting mix of passengers, and the ride in NM and AZ east of Flagstaff is more awesome. But I'd certainly take the Sunset Ltd again to get to Tucson, either from CA or from the east. I might try a loop, to Tucson, stay there some days, then either catch the SL to LA and come back on the Chief from there, with perhapssome kind of short stopover in California; OR find some way to get to Flagstaff by bus (either regular bus or maybe airport shuttles, if I want to do any stopovers in Phoenix/Scottsdale area) and catch the SW Chief eastbound from there.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Hi, GIZMOS, and welcome to the forum! To answer your questions, there is a through sleeper (and also a through coach?) which operates from Los Angeles to Chicago via San Antonio on the Sunset Ltd and the Texas Eagle. Since the Sunset is often quite late (see Sojourner's report above about her being 7 hrs late into San Antonio), the layover in San Antonio may not be as long as the AMTRAK timetable indicates.
While the through cars are "parked" at the station, yes they WILL have the power and a/c on most of the time, and the toilets will be functional. Concerning whether or not you can get off the train during your layover, that would depend on whether they are in the process of switching cars around to connect to the Eagle consist -- after you first arrive in San Antonio, if it it is not too late, I would guess you could get off for a while, since they typically won't start switching cars to the Eagle until an hour or two before the Eagle is scheduled for departure (depending of course on how early the Eagle is pulled into the station from the yards). There SHOULD be a car attendant available during the layover (but I don't know for sure)-- I would check with him/her before you get off the train to wander around.
Posted by GIZMOS (Member # 4953) on :
Thanks for the answers, guys, especially the long one from sojourner. Unfortunately now I don't know if it's going to happen - Guest Rewards doesn't want to let us use our points for this trip.