posted
I took the Sunset Limited from Tucson to Jacksonville and back. We actually arrived in Jacksonville about 1/2 hour early. We were running on schedule or ahead of schedule most of the way. On the way back, we were about two hours late, whch for an Amtrak train, I would consider "On-Time".
I really like the Sunset Limited. I like the rural southern Louisiana area on the Mississippi delta best. The swamps and bridges are also enjoyable. It is sad to go by Juarez, Mexico near El Paso. The homes near the border are such slums. It is sad to see that people have to live in such conditions.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
posted
We're ticketed on the Sunset Limited in April, and I've been curious about arrival times in Union Station.
Amtrak has a link on their web site that lets you check the status of trains -- so I've been watching the Limited off and on over the past couple of weeks. Surprisingly, the train has been running only one-three hours late. 'Course, I guess those times are posted by Amtrak employees, so ... as they say on the Street, past performance is no guarantee etc etc ...
Still, we're looking forward to the trip.
Would be interested in hearing from experienced Limited travelers on this.
Posts: 52 | From: Lithia, Fl, USA | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
I've just got back from riding the Texas Eagle from LA to Chicago in several sections. The LA to San Antonio section was about 45mins late into San Antonio, about 15mins of which was lost waiting for the westbound Sunset to clear the station (which was late by a couple of hours). The next through section from LA (which I caught in Fort Worth) was 30mins early arriving in Ft Worth, so the Sunset can't have been more than an hour or two late at San Antonio earlier that morning.
Before catching the Eagle, I was at LA early in the morning. The Sunset had already arrived and gone off for servicing, so that one was on time.
A couple of years ago I caught the Sunset into LA which was 5 hours late, and again a year before that to Orlando which was about 1.5 hours late.
The Sunset in my limited experience can easily keep to schedule. It's the unforeseen events which add up, a few minutes here, a prolonged stop there, and before you know it, you're an hour or more late!
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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