421 in SAS

[rtabern]

I am taking The Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited to Yuma in a couple of weeks. I noticed the long lay-over in San Antonio between when 21 arrives and 1 leaves the next morning.

Anyone taken this train?

A couple of questions...

Is your attendant the same for all 3 nights... or do you get a new attendant on the 421 sleeper at SAS?

I presume the 421 sleeper is in the station all night -- do they sorta lock it up or leave the door open? I mean it might be nice to have the door open so you could wander out if you wanted, but how safe is that? And speaking of safe, is it safe to wander over to the Riverwalk or Alamo? or not really?

 

[saxman]

From what I remember you stay in your sleeper all night long. The station is open the entire time so I believe you can probably wonder inside. That part is pretty safe, but its quite a hike to the Riverwalk. And you may not find much open, unless you go find the bars. It may be better to spend 5 bucks on a cab. And yes, I do believe the attendant stays on all three nights.

 

[battalion51]

I want to say it's an LA based attendant that stays with the car for the duration of the trip to Chi-town, but it may be CHI based. Windy City LSA would know best. Also I believe they would leave the car open when you're in the station, but they may keep it closed to keep people from just wandering on board.

 

[Windy City LSA]

I want to say it's an LA based attendant that stays with the car for the duration of the trip to Chi-town, but it may be CHI based. Windy City LSA would know best. Also I believe they would leave the car open when you're in the station, but they may keep it closed to keep people from just wandering on board.

So far as I know, CHI to SAS is staffed out of Chicago. The crew LA to SAS is LA based.

 

[Trogdor]

For what it's worth, the one time I took train 422 from LAX to CHI back in May 2004, we had a Chicago-based attendant, who operated from Tucson to Chicago. They called an extra board attendant to work LAX-TUS because the inbound (1/421) was really late, and they short-turned the attendant just in case #1 missed #2 in LA.

 

[jim55]

I am taking The Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited to Yuma in a couple of weeks. I noticed the long lay-over in San Antonio between when 21 arrives and 1 leaves the next morning.
Anyone taken this train?

A couple of questions...

Is your attendant the same for all 3 nights... or do you get a new attendant on the 421 sleeper at SAS?

I presume the 421 sleeper is in the station all night -- do they sorta lock it up or leave the door open? I mean it might be nice to have the door open so you could wander out if you wanted, but how safe is that? And speaking of safe, is it safe to wander over to the Riverwalk or Alamo? or not really?

Hello Robert, I did take the Eagle from Chi to SAS then on to Lax. I boarded in coach but upgraded about an hour out of Chi for the best deal I ever got in my life! well maybee when my wife said "yes" to my proposal...naw.. you don't know my mother in law (who now lives with us). The upgrade was best. I had a real prune for my sleeper attendant, he did prep the roomett for sleeping and let me know he gets off in SAS. I did tip him at the low end of my tip scale. I mean he told me the STL "arch" would be on the right when I knew it would be on the left as we crossed the Missi...River . He warned me not to open the door window for photos and stayed at the top of the stairs to see if I would. Going into SAS it was very bumpy, horn sounding almost continueously and slow. When everything stoped, I thought ahh..here comes deep rem. Not so, they do bump you around a bit moving the last sleeper and coach to what is or will be the SS Limited. I did not get out of my roomett that night till breakfast. I don't know if we had a "guard" on our cars or not. If you study the lock, it does work and with my cellphone I felt safe . I would not dream of going to the river walk at thet time and I don't think you can get into a cab for less than $15 each way. But who knows? Jim

 

[gswager]

There was a topic regarding of booking reservation between Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited and someone mentioned that you'll have to get off the sleeper and stay in the station until one of trainset arrived and hook up with rest of sleeper. I don't remember the details and hopefully someone in this forum will explain to us.

 

[AlanB]

There was a topic regarding of booking reservation between Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited and someone mentioned that you'll have to get off the sleeper and stay in the station until one of trainset arrived and hook up with rest of sleeper. I don't remember the details and hopefully someone in this forum will explain to us.

Never heard of that one GS. Only time that I'm aware of where you wouldn't just stay in your bed or seat, would be when the eastbound Sunset is so late that Amtrak must bus you to connect with the Texas Eagle. Otherwise to my knowledge everyone in the thru coach and thru sleeper remain in their respective cars during the night.

Only way you'd have to get off the train would be if you booked train #21/#22l, which are not thru cars. They terminate/originate in SAS, so you'd have to get off and switch then if you were booked into one of those cars.

 

[DaveKCMO]

i'm looking into a trip from KC to alpine, TX to go hike through big bend national park. if i connect to the eagle in STL, will i have to get off the train in the middle of the night in SAS to wait for the sunset to arrive and connect? also, amtrak.com won't send me through on a train from KC to STL to connect with the eagle, instead sending me on a bus to galesburg. is that because the layover in STL is too long if i take the missouri train? it arrives at 1:10 PM; the eagle arrives in STL at 7:45 PM. i can find plenty to do in STL for that period.

i would fly home to KC from midland on southwest since 48 hours there AND back is a bit much.

 

[AlanB]

i'm looking into a trip from KC to alpine, TX to go hike through big bend national park. if i connect to the eagle in STL, will i have to get off the train in the middle of the night in SAS to wait for the sunset to arrive and connect? also, amtrak.com won't send me through on a train from KC to STL to connect with the eagle, instead sending me on a bus to galesburg. is that because the layover in STL is too long if i take the missouri train? it arrives at 1:10 PM; the eagle arrives in STL at 7:45 PM. i can find plenty to do in STL for that period.
i would fly home to KC from midland on southwest since 48 hours there AND back is a bit much.

As I mentioned above, as long as you are booked into 421, you can remain in your room or your seat depending on which you've booked, all night long. If you sleep heavily enough, you may not even notice that the Sunset came by and picked up your car.

As for the connection between KC and STL, I'm guessing that it has more to do with the fact that the system is just setup to connect pax off of the Chief to the Eagle. The Chief isn't scheduled to arrive into KC, until after the Mule has left for STL. I'm sure if you go to the multi-segment page, that you can book the Mule to STL, and then connect with the Eagle with no trouble. One word of caution, I'm not sure how the ontime record of the Mule is lately. In the past it was often horribly late, which could be a problem and a good arguement for the guaranteed bus connection.

I think that things have improved, but I'm not positive. I don't normally monitor this train's record.

 

[TransAtlantic]

Just to clarify a couple of things: the TAs (both sleeper and coach) on the Texas Eagle are CHI based, and (NORMALLY) work all the way to LAX. The Sunset Limited TAs work between LA (where they are based) and SAS, HOU, or NOL. If you are taking the Eagle from STL to ALP, you SHOULD have the same TA the whole way, but double check with the individual to be sure.

Riverwalk is actually quite a short distance from the station - a five dollar cab fare might not be far off the mark. In fact, if one is NOT alone, it could be walked (get a little map first) - not a horrible area, just a bit dark and quiet. And if the Sunset is late, you might have a few hours to spare before they make the connection. Check with at least two sources first, though (i.e. a conductor and a station agent - make sure they agree - and ignore anything that Julie might tell you).

Not sure about whether the exterior car doors are literally left open (I'm inclined to believe not), but you are almost certainly allowed to exit and reboard at your leisure; there is an onsite security guard 24 hours a day.

 

[rtabern]

I just got back from a trip on 421/422.

If you are going through from Chicago to LA on 421, you get one sleeping car attendant from Chicago to San Antonio... then ANOTHER from San Antonio to Los Angeles. When 421 arrives in SAS around 11pm, the Chicago attendant gets off right away and the new attendant gets on then. When 422 arrives in SAS, the attendant from LA stays on until around 6am, when a new attendant gets on and goes with you to Chicago.

Pictures and blog from my trip from CHI-YUM and ELP-CHI are on my website.

www.rtabern.com

(click on travels link)

Also, you CAN get off when 421 is parked in SAS. I met a mom and daughter on board and we spent several hours exploring SAS (Alamo, River Walk, Hard Rock, etc.). They do some switching so you might have to wait 30-60 minutes to get back on, but the doors are open and guarded all night by your attendant.