# Sunset Limited ORL-NOL (long)



## NativeSon5859 (Jan 28, 2004)

It was an adventure to remember.

My Southwest Airlines flight lifted off from New Orleans International Airport at precisely 7:03am. The load was light…only around 30 passengers. Scheduled flying time to Orlando was 1h and 17 minutes, pretty short, but we had a 160knot tailwind. The flight was smooth and uneventful. We parked at the gate in Orlando at 9:26am, roughly 14 minutes ahead of schedule. I deplaned, and decided to spend some time in the airport, since my train was not scheduled to depart until 1:45pm.

I killed a good hour at the airport before hailing a cab (I was going to take the Martz shuttle, which would have saved me about $15, but they apparently no longer stop at the Amtrak station…bummer) for the 9-mile journey to the Amtrak station. I got to the station at around 11:30am. We pulled up just as the Silver Meteor was in her final boarding process for Miami and other points south. The Meteor had a fairly small consist: 1 P40/42 (did not get a close look), 1 baggage car, 1 crew dorm, 2 Viewliner Sleepers, 1 Amfleet Lounge, 1 Diner, and 2 Amfleet 2 Coaches. After she left, I made my way inside the nice Spanish-style station to inquire about the Sleeping Car availability. The ticket agent told me that plenty were available, and asked if I would like to book one now for $163. I politely said no thanks, as I decided to take my chances with upgrading en route. It was a beautiful day…..sunny skies, 70 degrees, breezy….so I thoroughly enjoyed sitting outside, anxiously waiting for my Superliner to arrive.

Train #1 the Sunset Limited pulled into the station at 1:00pm. The train was comprised of 1 P42 locomotive #837, 1 Vermonter baggage car (I saw that one just a few days prior on #58!), 1 Superliner Transition Sleeper, 2 Superliner Sleeping Cars, 1 Superliner Diner, 1 Sightseer Lounge, and 2 Superliner Coaches with the new bland paint scheme (one series 1, and one series 2). Boarding commenced promptly at 1:15pm. There appeared to be around 20 or so coach passengers boarding here, as well as maybe 8 to 10 sleeping car passengers. They put all the New Orleans-bound passengers (there were several people going to NOL, including a few making connections to the City of New Orleans) in the 1st coach, which was a series 1 Superliner. Oldie but goodie! I picked out a good seat in the middle of the car with a non-obstructed window view.

We departed right on time @ 1:45pm. We picked up two passengers in Winter Park, one going to New Orleans and the other to Los Angeles. I spotted the Auto Train car carriers as we visited Sanford…a first for me. Our Dining Car attendant, Charlie Brown, came around through the coaches at about 3:30pm for dinner reservations. The choices were 5:00pm and 6:30pm. 6:30pm for me. If you can believe it, we arrived into Jacksonville early. Considerably early actually, pulling in at 4:40pm. This gave us around :50 minutes to get out, stretch, and enjoy the fresh air. At about 5:00pm, I decided to go find the conductor to see if I could get an upgrade. I found him shortly thereafter, and after looking at some papers, he asked me “you wanna go move up there now? It will be, let’s see, $67 to New Orleans.” Of course, I obliged. I got my things from coach and walked down to the Sleeping Car “California”, which looked to be a Superliner series 2. He walked me in and said “just go take room 14, I don’t know where the attendant is, but I’ll find her.”

So here I was. Finally. After riding the rails for about 19 years thus far, I was in my first-ever sleeping car. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. I had known about the dimensions of the standard bedroom going in, so the size of it really didn’t bother me. I was just in shock that I was actually going to be riding one. I guess one could say I was like a kid in a candy store.

The Sunset pulled out right on time at 5:30pm. Just minutes later, the car attendant, Bonita, came by to say hello. She showed me where the shower was and she advised me that she would be turning the bed down at about 9:00pm. A few minutes later, an assistant conductor (at least I think that’s who he was) came in the room and collected the fare. He sat down on the opposite seat while writing out my room receipt. Very nice guy with a noticeable Southern accent. He made sure I was all set and then left.

Thus far, I was very impressed with the service on the train.

At 6:00pm I left my room and made my way to the Sightseer Lounge, where “Seabiscuit” was playing. The car was fairly empty…maybe around 10 people in it. The dinner call for 6:30pm reservations was made at 6:25, so I immediately made my way to the car. Mr. Brown sat me at a table with an old woman, whom I would eventually learn drove trucks all across the country. She was taking the train to Beaumont to pick up a truck and drive it back to Florida. Two more people joined us, a couple from Vancouver, British Columbia, who were in the midst of a long North American train trip. They first took the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago, then they took the Capitol Limited to D.C, then the Silver Meteor to Ft.Lauderdale, now the Sunset to New Orleans. After a 2-day visit in the Big Easy, they were going to take the Sunset to L.A to connect with the Coast Starlight up the coast. Talk about a trip I would love to take! Anyway, the dinner was excellent….I had the steak, medium as always…and the cheesecake was equally as impressive. Two cups of coffee and a full stomach later, I was off back to my room to make a few phone calls.

I hung out in my room until about 8:15, when I went back up to the Sightseer Lounge for a bit. I did some reading in the classic 1995 book “Rail Ventures”, and just took it all in. Everything was just so…perfect. The train is so relaxing and so exciting at the same time. I couldn’t ask for anything more. We just left Tallahassee…right on time! Way to go Sunset! Before going back to my room for the last time at 9:30, I picked up a Diet Pepsi from Karen the café attendant, who was, as were all the employees on this train, extremely courteous.

My bed was turned down when I got back, and man, did it ever look comfortable! After sitting up for awhile listening to some Rolling Stones, I decided that it was time to call it a night. I turned the lights off at 10:00pm, anxious to get a good, long sleep, as my wake up call was not for eight and a half hours. I found the bed to be very comfortable. I dozed in and out of sleep for awhile, and noticed that we were making long stops every now and then. I was hoping that we would be a little delayed so that some of the scenic water crossings in Mississippi and Louisiana would be under a sunny sky. We got to Pensacola pretty much on time, but between there and Mobile, we lost a good deal of time. We got to Mobile at around 5:00am or so. At 5:30 I decided to do some window watching. At around 5:50 we came to a dead stop. I took a quick shower at 6 then made my way up to the diner at 6:30 for an early breakfast.

I had breakfast with a gentleman who was on his way to St. Paul, MN via New Orleans and Chicago. Long ride for sure, but he told me he only goes by train. That’s what I like to hear! Breakfast was excellent, and my server, the same lady who served me dinner the previous night, got a nice tip for her courtesy. We finally started moving again around 7:00am. An attendant in the diner told me we would be about 2.5 hours late into New Orleans, which was fine by me. We got to Pascagoula at around 7:40am and crossed the scenic Pascagoula River. I made sure I was in the Sightseer Lounge for our crossing of Biloxi Bay and Bay St.Louis, which I had done dozens of times before by car, but never by train…and it is a lot more enjoyable by train. I stayed in the Sightseer until we crossed the Rigolets just East of New Orleans (very scenic I must say) then made my way back to my room one final time for our approach into the Union Passenger Terminal.

The train came to a stop at NOL at exactly 11:32am, or roughly two hours and twelve minutes late, just about 21 hours/13 minutes after leaving Orlando….which makes this my longest ever Amtrak journey. Here, the train would be waiting for roughly 45 minutes for re-servicing before heading out to Los Angeles. I did notice that they added an additional locomotive as we came to a stop in NOL.

So what can I say about this trip? In a word: amazing. I had never realized how enjoyable having a sleeping car would be. Rest assured, it won’t be my last time in one.

Great service, clean trains, fairly smooth track, good food, interesting people, what more can anyone ask for? Amtrak has once again shown me that there really is something about a train that’s magic.

The End.


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## Viewliner (Jan 28, 2004)

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip, and got your sleeper upgrade. Thanks for sharing the report. 

At least with the delay you got to spend some extra time on board. :lol:


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## Bill Haithcoat (Jan 28, 2004)

That was a most enjoyable report. I can identify with you about having to wait a long time before you ever rode in a sleeping car. When I was a kid I never rode sleeper, only when I got a job, making my own money (not just "allowances") did I start using it on sleeper.

Seems like you enjoyed talking to some of the people and did not mind the delay too much. A great trip!


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## AlanB (Jan 28, 2004)

NativeSon5859 said:


> I got to the station at around 11:30am. We pulled up just as the Silver Meteor was in her final boarding process for Miami and other points south. The Meteor had a fairly small consist: 1 P40/42 (did not get a close look), 1 baggage car, 1 crew dorm, 2 Viewliner Sleepers, 1 Amfleet Lounge, 1 Diner, and 2 Amfleet 2 Coaches.


Most likely that was the southbound Silver Star that you saw in Orlando, as it's due in at 11:34. If you saw the Meteor, then it was either running about 4 hours early or it was the prior day's Meteor and very, very late. :blink:

Thanks for a great trip report and it sounds like you had a great time. Glad you got your sleeper ride. I figured that you'd have no problems upgrading as I checked early on the morning of your departure and Amtrak was showing plenty of available rooms.


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## NativeSon5859 (Jan 28, 2004)

Alan, you're right, it was the Silver Star  Oops!

Lots of people leaving New Orleans going west, forgot to mention that, probably about 70. I wonder if they added another coach?

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice for my journey! It was the perfect way to spend a day!


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## gswager (Jan 29, 2004)

Wow! You saved almost $100 dollars for upgrade on-board than at the ticket counter.

Maybe I'll try that when I get a chance to ride overnight trip to LA from one of NM stations on Southwest Chief or on the way home. :blink:


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## NativeSon5859 (Jan 29, 2004)

It never hurts to try to go for it!

It was an incredible deal if you think about it, $67 for a room for the night, dinner, and breakfast....since the train was a little late there was a full breakfast service served near Pascagoula....I was told that if the Sunset is on time into NOL, the service stops as soon as the power is cut off after the train backs into the station (as they have to add a locomotive), so if you have a late seating, you may be out of luck.


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## battalion51 (Jan 29, 2004)

One correction I have. The engine was not the 837. I don't know what the engine number was, my source is still working on that. But the 837 is currently stored in Wilmington, DE. The engine ran on NS 25A down the NEC for a couple of weeks, but once NS got the proper cab signals it was stored. 837 is the only engine in the 832-843 that isn't assigned as an Auto Train engine. Although some of the AT engines have been floating around the Intercity East Pool lately.


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## EmpireBuilderFan (Jan 29, 2004)

NativeSon,

Sounds like you had a great trip. Sometimes those short "there and back again" trips are the best. Also, I like your name and signature. "City of New Orleans" is one of my favorite songs. Some day I'll have ride #58 and 59 just so that I can say that I've ridden on the song's namesake train.


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## NativeSon5859 (Jan 29, 2004)

It was engine 832, I just got my pictures back today. I have no idea where I got that 837 from! I need to pay more attention.

EmpireBuilderFan, I need to get on the Builder someday...looks like an impressive journey!


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## tp49 (Jan 29, 2004)

Sometimes 7's and 2's can look similar.


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## bsmith (Mar 4, 2004)

Hi Native Son,

Thanks for the great report. I am leaving Columbia, SC early April 18th for Jacksonville. Then JAX to LAXUS (Los Angeles Union Station) that afternoon. I may buy a ticket from JAX to Orlando ($30.00 RT) so I don't have that all day wait for the "Sunset" in Jacksonville. I have coach to JAX and sleeper from JAX to LAXUS. Two days in LA then the "Chief" to Chicago and "Capitol" to Washington, DC. Viewliner from WAS to Columbia. It's quite a trip and only cost me a bit over $!,000.00. My only concern is there is talk of not providing meals with sleepers after April 1st.

Again tanks for the report.

bmith


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## panamaclipper (Mar 5, 2004)

Is it worth trying to upgrade from a standard to a delux sleeper in route?


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## Steve4031 (Mar 6, 2004)

I rode in that same sleeper(California) when I went to New Orleans on February 27. My buddy and I rode in the family room.


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## Bill Haithcoat (Mar 8, 2004)

panamaclipper said:


> Is it worth trying to upgrade from a standard to a delux sleeper in route?





> Yes---big difference in the comfort level. Much more room.


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