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Trip Report - Sunset Limited
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by HopefulRailUser: [QB] We boarded the Sunset Limited #2 on January 5th in Los Angeles, heading for New Orleans. My husband and myself and another couple were traveling together. We actually left LAX about 30 minutes late. We saw the #1 arrive next to us while we were waiting to leave, it was 4 1/2 hours late arriving in LA. Turns out we swapped diners with it leading to problems later down the road. Our initial travel was scenic as there had been recent wind and the smog had cleared a bit. The mountains were more visible than usual and were snow topped. I felt the first part of the trip was pretty rocky, rough tracks, especially when we picked up some speed. We added quite a few passengers in Ontario and then followed the I-10 Interstate as the sun set. Each couple had one roomette. The train was not heavily populated, the diner was quite empty most meals. In terms of the meals, I find them borderline acceptable. The half chicken is pretty good and certainly large. The burger also seems to turn out well most of the time. I finally decided the continental breakfast is the safest choice in the morning. The next morning we were up early and found ourselves looking at snow at the Arizona-New Mexico border. This is when we chatted with Ray, the dining car steward, and found out the problem with the diner car swap. Although we had waited at LAX for more food supplies, which is why we left late, coffee was not one of those supplies. Ray and the conductor debated about which upcoming town (such as they are in this area) could supply the right type of commercial coffee. They even talked to the #1 trying to arrange for them to leave us coffee at Alpine. We ultimately got more coffee, bought at one of the Walmarts we passed by. But no decaf for this trip. So bad, to partially restock like that. We lost about 2-3 hours as we went, mostly waiting for freights and also due to our late start. We did make up some time and arrived in New Orleans only 1 1/2 hours late which we thought was great. This was the 2nd long distance train trip we had taken and Amtrak was now 2 for 2 for toilets malfunctioning. All of them in our car failed at about 24 hours out of LA. Communication about the problem was poor, primarily a secret our sleeper attendant kept to himself. Turns out there was a "vacuum leak" in our car and we needed to use the toilets in the adjoining transition sleeper. But getting that information was not easy. Once the Texas Eagle peeled off at San Antonio we were able to easily walk to the back of the train for photos. The two coach cars that remained were basically empty of people by the time we reached left Texas. Our return trip began January 15th. We took the Amtrak Thruway bus from Galveston to Houston. Interestingly the bus driver had no idea he had to take us to the Amtrak station after dropping off four other people at Houston Greyhound. And he also did not know where the Amtrak station was located. He asked directions at the bus station and we all helped find it by looking for Amtrak signs. It was found but I can see why no one knows where it is. What a poorly marked station! And I am debating about a letter to Amtrak noting that their contracted bus company did not train their staff properly. The #1 arrived on time and off we went into the night. Our sleeper attendant was named Julie. She was very attentive. We also had purchased two roomettes each couple and loved the extra space. In the diner we met Alice, a 28 year employee and the steward was Williams, also 28 years. The trip home was slowed by weather - the cold front had come through. Gary the conductor kept us very well informed of problems. We had frozen signals, we "tripped a detector" and had to back up while he looked us over and we got behind a freight that tripped a detector. We actually picked up the freight conductor after he walked his train and delivered him back to the front of his train. Once Gary left we didn't get as many reports but there was still some communication. We did a lot of waiting for freight, especially in California at Niland, Indio and a bit at Colton. We even had to wait while the Border Patrol examined a freight in front of us. Of note, the toilets functioned all the way home. Arrival in LAX was about 7 hours late getting us there just at rush hour, 5:00 pm. We had left the car there, paid the ransom for it and hit the freeway. Actually got home in pretty good time thanks to the car pool lane. Overall the trip was great. Would like some explanation of "frozen signals" as it seems to me trains in the northern US run all the time in freezing weather. Do signals always "freeze"? Also, what does "tripped a detector" mean? The staff were quite good on both trains and we were kept quite well informed, especially by Gary. Photos of the trip are on my Kodak site. If you just want trains look at the first and last photos. If you want to see some of the river barge trip check them all out. It was a great trip, both train and barge. Here's the URL: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=118xqhnm.6ndwtrom&x=0&y=lpimed [/QB][/QUOTE]
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