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This morning (6-15-24) we received a new e-ticket for our September trip on SWC Nos. 3 & 4 and which has the new departure and arrival times. (We did not even request a new ticket.)

SWC cars 330 (westbound) and 430 (eastbound) are the first or “prime” sleeping cars; the ones that aren’t removed from the consist if there is shortage of sleepers with bedrooms.

Great news that you were able to request and receive a change to car 430. We, too will be on #4 in September. We made our reservations in October 2023 and specifically asked for a bedroom in car 430. That far in advance, we had no problem obtaining one. Glad to hear that more sleepers are...

If someone makes their May 2025 sleeper reservations in June 2024, it is probably safe to assume that they will pay less than what someone will be paying for sleeper reservations in May 2025.

This morning (6-13-24) we received an automated phone message and an e-mail from Amtrak regarding changes to the departure and arrival times of our Southwest Chief trains Nos. 3 and 4. (We’ll be traveling in September after Labor Day.) No. 4 will now be departing from LAX at 5:22 p.m. (33...

Michigan Mom, Thank you for another great trip report. (Detroit should hire you to help attract visitors and promote tourism. Your positive comments on conditions in the city today would certainly encourage many people to want to visit there.) Your report also served to point out that one...

Someone once posted that Sleeping Car Attendants (SCAs) are only guaranteed four (4) hours of sleep per night.

In the past, we've never really paid much attention as to whether we were in a Superliner I or a Superliner II. The missing shower curtain should have tipped us off that we were in the older Superliner I. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Thank you for your kind comments. Again, we enjoy reading the trip reports submitted by others and this is our way of being able to contribute something in return. As rail history buffs, we enjoy reading about the histories of the famous passenger trains whose former routes we are traveling...

Now we understand. (It seemed like quite a stretch for the Pacific Surfliner to have originated in Oakland. We have revised our trip report accordingly.) If the bus arrives late, would the PSL be held up until it arrives?

Apparently there is some sort of project going on to save the eroding beaches in the San Clemente area: https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2024-02-28/san-clemente-beach-nourishment

We're already starting to revise our packing lists in preparation for our trip next September E & P

Here's the Pacific Surfliner timetable as of 3-25-24 and some of the southbound PSL trains do originate in Oakland. https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/globalassets/pdfs/schedules/1337711547_pacific-surfliner-timetable_3-25-24_padres_a.pdf We were surprised too, since we never knew that it went...

I did some on-line research and many rail fans consider this to be the best general purpose antenna for monitoring railroad radio traffic. I just ordered one and am looking forward to using it on our next trip.

Based on what I’ve read, the preferred antenna for monitoring railroad radio communications appears to be an adjustable whip that can be “tuned” to a specific frequency by altering its length according to the following formula: Correct length (in inches) = 2,800 divided by the frequencies in...

Thank you so much!

Good points raised here. We don’t have a smart phone, but we do travel with a GPS device. We use a Garmin nuvi 2797 GPS device intended for use in a car or truck. We’ve rigged up a stand for it to sit in so it can be set up on a fold down tray table or the little foldout table in a sleeping car...

We use a little Uniden SC230 racing scanner that we bought on eBay for only a few dollars. Here are a few features to look for when shopping for a radio that will scan railroad frequencies: The capacity to receive frequencies of from 160.215 to 161.565 MHz. (This is where most railroads operate...

Stage 3: Los Angeles to San Diego (May 23rd) The day being overcast and chilly, we decided to wait for Pacific Surfliner 770 in the Metropolitan Lounge rather than standing on the platform for almost ninety minutes. A Red Cap with a cart was outside our sleeper when we detrained, and we rode...

(Day 3: May 23rd) We had our GPS device powered up and on-line by 4:30 a.m., just as we were arriving in Barstow. When we departed, we were running about one hour behind schedule. The ascent up Cajon Pass was made in fairly thick fog. Once the fog lifted, the sky was completely covered with...