# Sunset Limited 1 NOL-LAX



## ScottC4746 (Jun 7, 2009)

SUNSET LIMITED ROUTE 1 – NOL – LAX

Friday 5 June 2009

Arrived at the train station around 9:00 AM to check in for the Sunset Limited. The ticket agent was very pleasant and helpful. He directed me to the Magnolia room and gave me the access code to get in. The room contains five doctor office style waiting chairs; a TV; four nice chairs; two round wooden dining tables and four chairs around each; a floor lamp; three end tables, one of which had a table top lamp; a bare floor with an Oriental rug; a coffee bar set up; and art work on the walls typical of New Orleans. The doors of the Magnolia Room have one-way reflective material on the glass. The windows have drapes in lime green very much as you would see at a convention booth and has grape colored sheer accents. Over the door are two bouquets of faux magnolias. The ticket agent advised me that luncheon would be served just after boarding and someone would be by around 11:30 to collect us and take us to the sleepers. The bathrooms are normally outside the Magnolia Room, but the station is working on them and they are a trailer of portable restrooms. A customer service representative came in and announced he rides the rails between NOL and LAX to see what services needs to be improved or changed. He then took our luncheon reservations for us. I got to room 6 and one of the ceiling lights was burned out. I could tell this was going to make my room very dark on one side at night. I asked the SCA if he could call maintenance while we were in the station and he said they left already and he was surprised about the light situation since the train has sat there for two days. He spoke to the Conductor, then came to me, and said they are moving me to room 5, just across the hall. The people in room 6 get on in Tucson so they will not need it that much. I am glad me moved me anyway as room 5 seems to be in better shape. Alice in the Diner had just announced that lunch service will be delayed so all reservations are canceled and they would announce when they will begin. Later I asked her about the status and she said the food had just arrived. It is now 12:15 PM and we are approaching the Huey P. Long Bridge that takes you out of New Orleans and into the rest of Louisiana. Coming off the bridge, we are in Jefferson, LA and you can still see Katrina damage: Lots where a house once stood; boarded up houses; new foundations that had just been poured; and many tarps on roofs. At around 12:25 we stop at a sign that says Vondale Jct. This is just before a rail yard so we probably were asked to go into a siding so the freight can pass. The wait was just a few minutes. The diner finally opened and they announced it was open seating first come first served. I decided that I would have the Chef Special Entrée. This was a Tai curry chicken served over a bed of wild rice, tossed green salad, soda, and a chocolate Oreo tort. Alice was the server and has a great sense of humor and customer service. The 5:00 AM trip to Café Du Monde is catching up with me and took a quick little snooze. Our first printed stop is Schriever and we went straight through. Schriever is a whistle stop so apparently there were no passengers getting on or off. We pulled up to New Iberia, also a whistle stop. The Conductor announced the time and noticed we were 40 minutes late. Around 4 PM, we arrive 40 minutes late into Lafayette and were allowed to quickly step off for "smoke and stretch" where you can smoke and or stretch the legs a bit. It was warm and humid in Lafayette. The dining room came around to the sleepers first and then coaches to get reservation for dinner that evening. I was able to get a 5:30 PM reservation and then went to the lounge car and had a martini before dinner. At 5:30 PM, they call us to dinner and had the sliced brisket with bar-b-q sauce, salad, roll, vegetable medley, wild rice, coffee, red wine, and cheesecake. The food was excellent the service was bad. I did not have Alice this time, who I requested every meal after this. I had a male waiter and do not recall his name. After he placed my dinner down, he failed to notice that my coffee was empty. Since I had to pay for the wine, I kept waiting and waiting for him to bring the check. The fact I no longer had dishes, save for my empty coffee cup and wine glass should have cued him in. It appeared he was sitting on the other end of the diner on his cell phone and I had been forgotten about. Alice passed by and I asked her for more coffee and my bill. We are on the stretch between Lake Charles and Beaumont and the tracks are rough. When we bounced our way into Beaumont, we had made up time and we were allowed to get off to "smoke and stretch" again. I spoke with the SCA about the fact it is a foundation and no station. Rene, the SCA said the city bulldozed it because it was a metal shelter that was not staffed so a lot of the homeless where hanging out there and was deterring Amtrak passengers from wanting to take the train to or from Beaumont. We are estimated to reach Houston by 8:30 PM, a whole 45 minutes early. We had a nice time to doe the "smoke and stretch" again and many people took photos of Houston. We left Houston at 9:50 PM with an on time departure. I asked Rene to convert the room to nighttime and when I crawled into bed, I peered out the window to notice we were in Bellaire, TX, the city I grew up in. We arrived in San Antonio at 2:00 AM and felt a slight bump sometime during the night when they hooked up the Texas Eagle sleeper to us. There was a group of boy scouts that joined us, who I understand were to have boarded in Houston but missed the train and had to drive to San Antonio to meet the train. Good thing it is a 2 ½-hour drive and a 4-hour train. I had a 6 AM wakeup call and took a shower. The bath towel in the room was about the size of a face towel. The next night I found the bath towels,…that was a face towel, but it worked. While at breakfast, I noticed we were in Hondo, TX. I had orange juice, coffee, sausage and Railroad French Toast. Excellent service since I started requesting Alice's section. We had an on time arrival in Del Rio, home of Laughlin AFB. Many Border Patrol trucks. Around 9 AM, we were along the border of Mexico. The Conductor announced that we were about to cross the Pecos River High Bridge. This bridge is 393 feet from the surface of the water to the bottom of the rails.

Our next stop was a whistle stop for Sanderson, TX. No getting off here due to the quick turnaround. The couple I met from England while stopped in Beaumont traded magazines with me. Two copies of Trains Magazine for one copy or Rail Magazine…the UK equivalent. Lunch came and I decided to go light, but it was still very filling. I had a turkey and mozzarella cheese sandwich that had been heated to melt the cheese served on a pretzel bread roll and Pepsi. Came with a salad but opted out of dessert this time. At 12:35 PM we roll through Marathon, TX, our 35-mile marker to Alpine, TX…another "smoke and stretch" spot. We left late at 1:20 PM because just as we had pulled into Alpine, someone had pulled the emergency brake so the train staff had to reset the brakes. The scouts disembarked here…just wonder if one of them grabbed the brake as they left. We pulled to the other side of the Alpine station while the train staff on the exterior of the train performed maintenance. At 1:40 PM, we were on our way again with train 2 passing us going the opposite direction. At 2:50 PM we stopped just ahead of some freight and according to the Conductor, there were signal issues. We were just outside Marfa, TX. This stop was only five minutes long. Again, at 3:40 PM we were stopped again for a few minutes for signal problems. Finally, at 5:05 PM, our last stop in Texas, El Paso at last. There used to be an old saying from early Texas travelers trying to cross the state from El Paso to Houston: "Sun is riz, sun is set, here we are in Texas yet." Pulling out of El Paso is another view of Mexico. Not the beautiful view we had from Del Rio, but the other side of Mexico that is all too common, Ciudad Juarez and homes that look like that had been assembled out of old roadside billboards. It makes you realize how good we really do have it in the US. Dinner this evening was the braised flat iron bordelaise that had been braised in red wine and a veal stock reduction served with vegetable medley and baked potato, red wine, coffee and opted out of the desert. I had sat with an employee from Amtrak group reservations and we were speaking about the food on board how it has improved in the 17 years since I last was on Sunset Limited. I was informed that it is all catered now so all they have to do is heat and serve. Turned in early and woke up in time for Tucson to get out for "smoke and stretch". Tucson has a beautiful multiuse station. Attached to the train station is a nice restaurant that had live blues being played. The next morning was an early one due to our early arrival. While in Palm Springs, we sat watching the wind farm during breakfast. I had orange juice, coffee, scrambled eggs, sausage, grits, and biscuit. After breakfast, we get the announcement that we have been rerouted due to work on the Union Pacific tracks and we will not stop at Ontario, however we will go to Pomona and those going to Ontario will be bused in. Sadly, our last and final stop was Los Angeles Union Station where we left our beloved Sunset Limited and crew. I hope we will have the same crew when I go LAX-NOL in December.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 8, 2009)

Good report thanks for the discription of the Magnolia room. Sounds like the new Menu is good.

Thanks!

Any pictures??


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## ScottC4746 (Jun 8, 2009)

Long Train Runnin said:


> Good report thanks for the discription of the Magnolia room. Sounds like the new Menu is good.
> Thanks!
> 
> Any pictures??


Sadly, no. When I do the return trip in December I hope to.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 8, 2009)

ScottC4746 said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
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> > Good report thanks for the discription of the Magnolia room. Sounds like the new Menu is good.
> ...


 At least you get to make the trip again! Its also nice to know the next time you get ride a train!


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## ScottC4746 (Jun 8, 2009)

Long Train Runnin said:


> ScottC4746 said:
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My family thinks my goal is nuts...taking every Amtrak route numerically end to end. I keep explaining that being winter the sunset will be different and what was at night for the most part will be in the day time.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 8, 2009)

ScottC4746 said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
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Wow thats a new twist! most people settle for just riding them all :lol: So then I guess the SWC will be next?


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## ScottC4746 (Jun 8, 2009)

Long Train Runnin said:


> Wow thats a new twist! most people settle for just riding them all :lol: So then I guess the SWC will be next?


Almost. Still have to do route 2 which is Sunset Ltd. LAX-NOL THEN I can do SWC 3 then SWC 4.


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## MrFSS (Jun 8, 2009)

ScottC4746 said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
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> > Wow thats a new twist! most people settle for just riding them all :lol: So then I guess the SWC will be next?
> ...


How long do you anticipate this will take you to ride them all?


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## ScottC4746 (Jun 9, 2009)

MrFSS said:


> ScottC4746 said:
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Not putting a time frame.


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## Guest_rms492_* (Jun 10, 2009)

ScottC4746 said:


> MrFSS said:
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Wow, that's quite a goal...how much do you expect to spend in total? If you've got the cash, that's a great way to enjoy life. If not, make certain of your decision...I thought I was going to do the same, but things in life can come unexpectedly, such as work, school, marriage, baby, parents, deaths in family, job loss, layoffs, etc., so be sure you know what you are doing. I was interrupted for about 13 years! Last train trip was in 1995, and I started again in 2008. Things have changed a lot since then.


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## ScottC4746 (Jun 13, 2009)

Guest_rms492_* said:


> Wow, that's quite a goal...how much do you expect to spend in total? If you've got the cash, that's a great way to enjoy life. If not, make certain of your decision...I thought I was going to do the same, but things in life can come unexpectedly, such as work, school, marriage, baby, parents, deaths in family, job loss, layoffs, etc., so be sure you know what you are doing. I was interrupted for about 13 years! Last train trip was in 1995, and I started again in 2008. Things have changed a lot since then.


Well the nice thing is is I am related to the airline industry so I can go stand by alot of times and Southwest Airlines has some increadible fares.


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## metrorail (Jul 6, 2009)

I know about Beaumont not having a station. It's a real shame. Especially on our trip last November. See Amtrak Unlimited Post - Waiting on the Sunset Limited - A Little Past Sunset for description.


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## ScottC4746 (Aug 18, 2009)

metrorail said:


> I know about Beaumont not having a station. It's a real shame. Especially on our trip last November. See Amtrak Unlimited Post - Waiting on the Sunset Limited - A Little Past Sunset for description.


From what our SCA said, Amtrak made the city get rid of it. Too many homeless were sleeping in it and ridership was suffering because of it.


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