# The Sunset Unlimited: The Reasons Edition



## Amtrak Cajun (Apr 4, 2016)

Hi everyone, I know its been a while since I've been on. I just got back from a trip to Houston to see some friends. Oh, do I have a story to share. Without further ado, lets begin.

First Segment, Lafayette, LA to Houston, TX, Saturday April 2nd, 2016

I booked this trip earlier in the week. I was excited to go and see a few friends in Houston, they invited me out to have some BBQ. (The two Joe's would be proud of me on this one.)

I arrived at the Lafayette terminal at 11:45am, happily awaiting the arrival of The Sunset Limited, train #1. I had a chat with some of the passengers also waiting to board. Met some good folks heading home to Arizona. I met a veteran heading to Houston. Well, this guy would end up sitting with me....more on this shortly.

The train arrived 25 minutes late. I got my seat assignment, seat # 21, window seat (yesssss). Well, who ends up sitting next to me but the veteran guy. fine. (or so I thought). We roll out of Lafayette, and cruise out towards Lake Charles, our next scheduled stop. I head to the lounge car to see Merrol, my favorite Lounge Car Attendant. (If you ever meet him, hes hilarious). I grab a burger and a Pepsi and hang out downstairs, chatting with Merrol. I noticed this old guy, and my seatmate buying beers every so often....thought nothing of it. Well, then I noticed that things were getting a bit loud upstairs. Well, I really got concerned when my seatmate, and his obviously sloshed 'friend' decided to come downstairs, and box me in at said table. They were both talking to each other in drunken slurred speech. Ohhhhhh boy, here we go, I thought, and as soon as Merrol came downsotairs, I made the (hand across neck) motion to not serve them anymore drinks, he nodded, acknowledging that he had already realized what was happening. The conductor soon came downstairs. Merrol had already cut the guys off from buying anything more and he had already warned the conductor about these 3 guys. There was another guy, but the 2 I was dealing with at my table were the worst off. The conductor warned the two guys that were blocking me in, that if they didnt cool it, they would be put off of the train at Beaumont. The older guy understood, and sorta chilled out. My seatmate however, did not. He continued to be rude and obnoxious, even to the point of cussing Merrol out because he wouldnt serve him more beer upon demand.

As we approached Houston, the guy just kept getting worse and worse. I had gone back to my seat to grab my bag to prepare to detrain in Houston. The conductors had grabbed the guy, and were bringing him back to his seat. He was so bad off that he couldnt remember where he was sitting. I told the conductors that he was my seatmate, and that this bags were above our seat. They thanked me for letting them know. We headed downstairs and the guy was just rambling about how he owned the train and should get what he wants and so on. The assistant conductor looked at me and said. Im sorry you had to be this guys seatmate. I smirked and replied with, "Thats why I was hiding in the lounge car most of the trip!" He laughed. And that was my trip to Houston.

I enjoyed my time in Houston by having some friends take me to a nice BBQ Joint called Rudys. I had some moist brisket, jalapeno sausage. potato salad, and some other delicious items. Anyone who has been to Rudy's will understand how good this place is. The two Joes would love this place.

Return trip. Houston to Lafayette, Sun April 3rd 2016.

My return trip was both better and worse than my outgoing trip. I will explain why.

I arrived at the Houston Amtrak station at 10:30am, in preparation for the 11:10am arrival of the EB SL #2. Well, that wasnt gonna happen. The train pulled in 45 minutes late. We are off to a good start already!!!!!. 

I board the train, and get my seat assignment, seat # 56, window seat again (yessssss). This time, my seatmate, is a mother and her two daughters, heading home to Alabama after spending a week in Houston. I had a great time chatting with them on this trip, which is a good thing, because this is where the Sunset Limited, became the Sunset (Un)Limited. we hit Beaumont and had to sit there for an hour due to a BNSF freight ahead of us that had mechanical failure of some sort. Well, the upside to that is that I got to chat with my new friends a bit more. After reboarding the train, we continued heading for Lake Charles, but lo and behold, right at the border, we stop again. This time, for another 30 to 40 minutes, due to....you guessed it, more freight failure. Im afreight we are having problems.....yes, my lame pun is lame. After that, our timetable was just wrecked. I said goodbye to my friends and wished them a safe trip back to Alabama, and prepared to detrain in Lafayette. We pulled into Lafayette 2 hours and 22 minutes late. Arrival time 7:26pm. I stepped off of the train and made it home safely. So ends another chapter of the Amtrak adventures.

I want to thank all of you for reading this, and I look forward to the comments. 

Anthony (Amtrak Cajun)


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 4, 2016)

Except for the drunks it sounds like a pretty good trip. You could have asked the Conductor about changing seats, you shouldn't have had to put up with crap and hide in the Cafe.

Also Rudy's isn't bad "Tourist Grade" Q.( it started in Helotes and is now all over Texas). If you want some real Texas B-B-Q come to Austin and hop on the Eagle for a day trip to Taylor for Muellers or if you don't mind a 2 Hour wait in line, Franklin's in Austin is just as good! ( Austin has lots of B-B-Q Joints!)


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## Amtrak Cajun (Apr 4, 2016)

I spend most of my time in the cafe car regardless. The cafe car is where you really get to meet some interesting people.


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 4, 2016)

Amtrak Cajun said:


> I spend most of my time in the cafe car regardless. The cafe car is where you really get to meet some interesting people.


Agreed, I just don't like being downstairs, it's much nicer topside where you can take in the passing Scenery and meet folks!


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## Amtrak Cajun (Apr 4, 2016)

The best view between LFT and HOS, are the lakes, otherwise its trees, trees, oh, and more trees. I hope you like trees on this portion of the route. The more beautiful scenery happens west of San Antonio, too bad I wasnt rolling that far. 

Sometimes the scenery just trees me off.....yes, lame pun again.


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 4, 2016)

Amtrak Cajun said:


> The best view between LFT and HOS, are the lakes, otherwise its trees, trees, oh, and more trees. I hope you like trees on this portion of the route. The more beautiful scenery happens west of San Antonio, too bad I wasnt rolling that far.
> 
> Sometimes the scenery just trees me off.....yes, lame pun again.


Thanks! Guess I should have mentioned that the Sunset was my first LD train and that I have ridden it hundreds of times so am very familiar with the route!

Remember the infamous "Slab Station" in Beautiful Beaumont?


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## Railroad Bill (Apr 4, 2016)

Nice trip report Anthony. Also sorry you had to put up with the drinkers. I definitely would have asked to switch seats on the ride.

Lounge car is a great place to see the scenery and talk to fellow travelers along the way.


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## Amtrak Cajun (Apr 4, 2016)

Beautiful and Beaumont dont go well together. 

Hey Bill, good to see ya bud. I didnt think about switching seats, maybe I'll do that next time if there is a problem. Thats the first real issue I've had on Amtrak in my travels.

I kinda felt bad for the guy once we hit Houston, My friend picked me up rather quickly, and I hope the guy had a ride of his own and wasnt just stranded there. He wasnt there when I left yesterday, so I guess he was ok.

The freight delays on the return trip didnt bother me, I was having fun with my new friends on board.

Merrol did tell me something interesting though. He told me that Amtrak started paying for ROW access, and that if the railroads pushed them aside like they used to, that Amtrak wont pay them the fee for that trip. I was like wow, thats interesting.


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## the_traveler (Apr 4, 2016)

Is that why the EB has better OTP now? :huh:

Glad to see you back Ant!


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## CCC1007 (Apr 4, 2016)

the_traveler said:


> Is that why the EB has better OTP now? :huh:
> 
> Glad to see you back Ant!


Is what the reason?


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## Amtrak Cajun (Apr 4, 2016)

CCC, hes referring to the reason Merrol gave me for better OTP being that Amtrak started paying host railroads a fee per trip to get let through, and if they get put aside for hours on end, then Amtrak doesnt pay them the fee for that particular trip. I found that a very interesting statement.

Overall, I enjoyed my trip, despite the drunk guy. The delays are just part of any travel, whether it be train, plane, bus or otherwise, things happen. and I get that. so I cant really be upset about that. I was comfortable and having fun talking to my companions onboard, so no worries there. 

Im looking forward to my next trip already  My next run might be to San Antonio.


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## CCC1007 (Apr 4, 2016)

Amtrak Cajun said:


> CCC, hes referring to the reason Merrol gave me for better OTP being that Amtrak started paying host railroads a fee per trip to get let through, and if they get put aside for hours on end, then Amtrak doesnt pay them the fee for that particular trip. I found that a very interesting statement.
> 
> Overall, I enjoyed my trip, despite the drunk guy. The delays are just part of any travel, whether it be train, plane, bus or otherwise, things happen. and I get that. so I cant really be upset about that. I was comfortable and having fun talking to my companions onboard, so no worries there.
> 
> Im looking forward to my next trip already  My next run might be to San Antonio.


That plays some part of it, no doubt, but there are also the physical plant improvements that have plagued the route with delays for years in order to create.


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## bobnjulie (Apr 5, 2016)

Love Merle.... I had him on the Sunset Limited on our nightmare trip and then ran in to him recently on the Coast Starlight when he was working as LSA in the dining car. I kept thinking he sounded familiar but had a different name on his name tag!! I went to breakfast ,took some pictures with my new camera and left. I'd just gotten back to the room and was looking for my camera when Merle comes along...taking pictures as he walked. They were a crack up!! He got a good one of me... I thanked him profusely and then got a picture with him and David.

https://flic.kr/p/D3YtaN


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## Amtrak Cajun (Apr 5, 2016)

I dont think thats the same Merrol Im talking about, this guy mostly runs the cafe car on the SL. He has lighter hair than the guy in the pic. Hes based out of LA but runs LA-NOL-LA. Hes been with Amtrak for 14 years. He also goes by Elwood sometimes. To give you an idea of his humor. Someone came into the cafe car and asked him about wifi....so he gets on the intercom and goes..."Attention passengers, Merrol here, I get asked alot about wifi on the train, Im sorry to inform you that we dont have wifi, but we do have a service called Windows Live, by that I mean, we have live entertainment right outside these windows!!!!!" I literally about fell over laughing when he did this.

He has this joke about crossing the border from Louisiana into Texas, hes like "Attention all passengers, we are crossing into Texas currently. As we all know, everything is bigger in Texas, but here at Amtrak, we'd like you to know that we keep our prices the same for your enjoyment and convenience!" The whole coach car busted out laughing. I love this guy. Next time I see him, Im going to check his name tag so I can spell his name correctly, this guy deserves recognition for just how well he handles customers, and just being awesome in general.

Just in case anyone knows Merrol, and sees this, Let me know if Im spelling his name correctly. I forgot to ask him Saturday when I was in the cafe car. Its a slim chance, but worth a shot. I know sometimes employees read this, or ex employees as well.

Anthony


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## bobnjulie (Apr 5, 2016)

That's him!!! His name tag was Elwood. That's what had me confused since he was just a blast on the Coast Starlight and he looked and sounded familiar but he had the wrong dang name on his name tag. He works like crazy. When we were on the nightmare Sunset, it was his patter that made me laugh. He does back to back to back..... We were in the diner and he had just gone to lunch and was literally sleeping while sitting in the diner. He goes all over the place when they need someone.

We were talking on the Coast Starlight and he said that the Sunset is his normal run...but that he works everywhere. He is a gem.... I constantly send good comments about him.

From my dream trip trip report: The cafe car attendant is a rock star named Merrill.


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## Amtrak Cajun (Apr 5, 2016)

Wow, thanks for confirming that then. Also, thanks for giving me his correct name spelling. I wasn't far off, but yeah, hes a great person, and I definitely want to give him a commendation for being awesome. I've ridden with him a few times now, and he never fails to make me laugh. You can tell that he is an employee that really loves his job, and he loves the customers, and it shows.

In fact, when I was riding Saturday, I accidentally grabbed the Vegan burger instead of the Angus burger from the pantry, and he was like, Hey bud, this is a vegan burger, I was like oh crap, I want the Angus one. He goes yeah, I remember you telling me on the last trip you didnt like the vegan one. My last ride with him was 2 years ago....  . He has a really good memory haha.

I guess the picture just makes him look different, plus I was tired when i saw it.  But now that I look at the pic again, yeah, thats definitely him. Sleep does a body good lol.

EDIT: I submitted a commendation on Merrill's behalf on Amtraks site. 

Anthony


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## MARC Rider (Apr 6, 2016)

Bob Dylan said:


> Also Rudy's isn't bad "Tourist Grade" Q.( it started in Helotes and is now all over Texas). If you want some real Texas B-B-Q come to Austin and hop on the Eagle for a day trip to Taylor for Muellers or if you don't mind a 2 Hour wait in line, Franklin's in Austin is just as good! ( Austin has lots of B-B-Q Joints!)


I thought Rudys's started in Leon Springs. Unless we're talking about a different Rudy's.

For all the time I spent in Texas, I've never been able to get up to the BBQ "capitals" of Lockhart, Luling, and Taylor, and I've been told that San Antonio isn't a real hotbed of bbq (though, of course, you can find it). I found Rudy's to be pretty authentic, even if it's a chain, though maybe some of the newer branches don't have the atmosphere, like the Rudy's I ate at in Del Rio, which was a bit sterile, sitting out behind the Wal mart. But the original one in Leon Springs is nice, with the wood file pit and the picnic tables and some trees... I've been to a few other independent BBQ places, there's one off I-35 somewhere between Austin and Waco that had pretty good brisket, and I liked Julio's in Uvalde. Heck, you can even find Texas style brisket in Baltimore these days, but if you're up here, better to stick with pit beef.


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 6, 2016)

As Rick Perry would say, Oops!

Wrong SA Suburb, it definitely is Leon Springs, been there many times, and I occasionally eat the Brisket Breakfast Tacos from Rudy's here in Austin which are Excellent!


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## Amtrak Cajun (Apr 6, 2016)

The Rudy's I ate at was off of 290 NW (Houston). I usually get the moist brisket, jalapeno sausage, and the potato salad. Talk about filling.


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## AlamoWye (Apr 6, 2016)

Two good places for fairly authentic Texas BBQ in or near San Antonio: Big Bib BBQ on Austin Hwy. and Harmon's BBQ in Cibolo


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## Amtrak Cajun (Apr 6, 2016)

Im probably gonna be heading out to San Antonio in October, so I will keep these places in mind. Thanks for the suggestions.


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