We have the option of doing either of these journeys next April and wondered if there was anything to be said , scenically, for starting from New Orleans instead of Houston to Palm Springs.
We have been to NO previously and have no real desire to go back but wonder if we'd be missing out by joining the Sunset in Houston instead ( we're flying in from the UK ).
And anything else to be taken into consideration ?
Thanks in advance.
Let me answer your original question first.
I would definitely start in New Orleans.
• New Orleans has a much larger and nicer station than Houston.
• The scenery between New Orleans and Houston is not overly impressive, but it’s nice enough you probably won’t regret it.
• The New Orleans departure time is 9am, the Houston departure time is 7pm. If you left from Houston after staying for a night you would be hotel-less for 7 hours.
• You get at least two (possibly three) extra meals if you leave from New Orleans.
Now onto the Palm Springs scenario.
I’m speaking as someone who has taken Amtrak to/from Palm Springs,
Here’s the situation:
• The Palm Springs Amtrak station consists of a platform, an open air shelter, and a parking lot. There is no waiting room, there is no staff, there are no amenities except some benches and a wheelchair lift.
• The Palm Springs station is located 6 miles north of Palm Springs, in the middle of a desert. In this desert there are tons of wind turbines, because it is really windy. The Palm Springs station is notorious for having issues with sand piling on the track and platform, causing several shutdowns. The Palm Springs station has been “temporarily closed” for the past year (with an exception for a couple of weeks). When this happens, passengers ticketed to Palm Springs are let off at the next stop, (depending on direction of travel, either Ontario or Yuma).
• The westbound Sunset Limited is scheduled to arrive in Palm Springs at 2:02am (keep in mind Amtrak is often late. When I took the train to Palm Springs, I arrived at 4:30am).
• The station is frequented by people of questionable character. Not necessarily a safe place.
• I had no problem ordering an Uber at 4:30am in Palm Springs on my trip. Palm Springs is pretty big and there will almost certainly be Ubers at 2am or 5am, whenever your train arrives.
Based on this, I would not recommend going to the Palm Springs station if you can avoid it.
If you have the ability, I would get off at the next stop, Ontario CA. Ontario is a nice city in the expanding suburbs of LA. The station is not much better than Palm Springs, but is much safer (speaking from experience). The westbound Sunset Limited gets to Ontario at 3:54 am (if on time, or if they are not early). I would then recommend getting an Uber to the nearby Ontario airport, renting a car and driving back to Palm Springs (or spending time near Ontario).
If you do not have the ability to rent a car, however, I would be prepared for the possibility that the train will not stop in Palm Springs, and have backup plans ready in/near Ontario.
Some more information can be found about the Palm Springs station below
https://www.railpac.org/2023/08/11/...s-station-wind-blown-sand-resiliency-project/
Happy to answer any questions
relating to the Palm Springs or Ontario stations, or New Orleans or Houston,
-Peter