Sunset Limited

[Flattop653]

New Amtrak traveler. Would like information on how to get the most enjoyment from my scheduled trip on the Sunset Limited (sleeper) New Orlesans to Los Angeles in August, Thanks Flattop653

 

[Bob Dylan]

New Amtrak traveler. Would like information on how to get the most enjoyment from my scheduled trip on the Sunset Limited (sleeper) New Orlesans to Los Angeles in August, Thanks Flattop653

:hi: This is a good trip on a historic route! It has Superliner equipment, you didnt indicate if you had a roomette or bedroom but being upstairs is better IMO! (all the Deluxe Bedrooms are upstairs A-E,and Roomettes #2-10 also. Downstairs is the H and Family Bedroom and Roomettes #11-#14.) This train has very good OBS with High Senority and also has a reputation of having good food and service in the diner! Its a tw0 day-two night trip with a layover in San Antonio from like 2AM-5:45AM where you sleep on the train and it is serviced and connected with the through Sleeper and Coach from the Texas Eagle.

The first part of the trip from NOL to the Texas border includes crossing the Mississippi River on the Huey Long Bridge, and rolling through the swamps and rice fields and small towns of La. Upon arrival into Beaumont,Tex you will get to step off the train on the infamous Beaumont Cement Slab station while a crew change takes place! The Houston Station invloves a failry long layover at night, the station has lots of interesting old pictures/brochures etc. on the walls from the old days in Houston, no where to go though, just vending machines! Youll sleep to San Antonio, the tracks can be a little rough for sure!

Upon leaving San Antonio in the morning youll roll through the mesquite bushes and semi-dessert to Del Rio while having breakfast (on the Mexican Border) where the Border Patrol may check the train. After leaving here youll roll along Lake Amested which is the Border with Mexico! (left side of the train!) You will cross the Pecos river on the famous Pecos High Bridge shortly afterwards(try to be in the Lounge for this!), then a smoke stoip in Alpine, a mountain ranching and college town.

Youll roll through 200 more miles of dessert (even though there are irrigated farms along the way) to El Paso where youll have a lenghty stop at the Beautiful old Station. Upon leaving youll roll right along the Mexican Border, through New Mexico as the sun sets, have dinner in the diner and pull into Tuscon around 11PM where it still will be very hot! Interesting old station with a high end resturant and a Steam Engine outside but not much else here! Onward through the night to Maricopa (closest stop to Phoenix), then Yuma in the wee hours! Youll pass the salton Sea on your left as you roll across the Cali dessert, pull into Palm Springs around sunrise (breakfast is early on this morning, usually only 1 setting!) where youll see Lots of Electric generating Windmills then onto LAX where youll usually arrive early or close to on time!

Please feel free to ask any questions, lots of experience and expertise on here, some is even true! :lol:

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Jim already did a pretty darn good job of covering the basics, but if you have any specific questions feel free to ask away.

 

[Pat Harper]

I also have been on the Sunset Limited (round trip) however we got on at Lafayette LA and off at Maricopa. Lafayette is one of those whistle stops where they only stop if someone is getting on or off. There were quite a few getting on when we boarded. If your train does stop there, you won't have time to get off and look around, and also it's an unmanned station that's not in the best part of town.

Between LFT and Maricopa, we had 4 meals in the dining car and I only spent money in the snack bar once.

If you're a coffee drinker, you'll find the coffee station on the upper level of the sleeper, next to the stairs. To get to the dining car, you will have to go to the upper level and then walk through the car or cars to get to the diner.

If you're in car 30, you're right next to the diner, and if in car 31, you'll have to walk through car 30. The transdorm is located behind car 31. Transdorm passengers have the same SCA as car 31.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[SCrails]

Ok, I just cleaned out my AGR points for a trip to Washington DC, and now you're giving me the bug to ride the Sunset! I thought I got it out of my system for at little while at least...but apparently not.

Would that be a two-zone trip from South Carolina? Or three? Or more?

 

[oregon pioneer]

From South Carolina to NOL is two zones. From NOL to LAX is two more. That's the way I read it.

We just took the Sunset Limited from San Antonio (SAS) to Los Angeles (LAX). Those who were already on the train said there was some serious bumping in the night (during the layover) when they added on the Texas Eagle cars coming from Chicago. The food was good, but not as good as on the Coast Starlight. Ditto the service. It seemed the kitchen staff didn't want to bother to heat the pre-cooked food adequately. Our oatmeal was barely lukewarm, as were the potatoes at an adjacent table. The steak at dinner was perfect, maybe because they had to cook it! If you like salads, the lunch salads are great, too. Our car attendants in both directions (we did the eastbound trip a week earlier) were very nice and the service was good. There was some track work between San Antonio and El Paso (poorly maintained UP track which broke in cold weather and we sat while they replace it in front of us), which made the train 4 hours late, but we were only a couple hours late by the time we got into LAX and made our connection.

 

[Flattop653]

I appreciate the quick response. our trip will begin on August 15th from New Orleans . We will have a roomette - on train #1 west bound - car #0130-06, I understand the roomette will be 6 on west bound and car #0230-05 on East bound.

We will make connections in Los Angeles for the Coast Starlight (train #14 North and train #11 on return) to San Jose - will be coach for that leg of the trip.

Please give me link to codes you use on the form. Is there explanation for things printed on billing? Such as Amtrak 009ED SPR RM

Thanks

Flattop653

 

[had8ley]

I appreciate the quick response. our trip will begin on August 15th from New Orleans . We will have a roomette - on train #1 west bound - car #0130-06, I understand the roomette will be 6 on west bound and car #0230-05 on East bound.

We will make connections in Los Angeles for the Coast Starlight (train #14 North and train #11 on return) to San Jose - will be coach for that leg of the trip.

Please give me link to codes you use on the form. Is there explanation for things printed on billing? Such as Amtrak 009ED SPR RM

Thanks

Flattop653

You have two good roomettes and you are in the revenue car (not the trans-dorm.) You are upstairs and about half way back in the row of roomettes.(They end at # 10 upstairs.)

Both sleepers will be next door to the diner and a quick walk through the diner to the sightseer lounge.Have a great trip; Jim has pretty much summed everything up but I think it's Alpine (a crew change point and a smoke break) where the depot is worth a quick run inside to see the Southwestern paint job.

 

[Tracey Loves Trains]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here. I too am taking this route in June, but the other direction (LA to NOLA). I am very excited, it is our first long distance train trip, and our family of 5 has booked the Bedroom Suite ( I think that's the proper name fpor two Bedrooms linked together, B & C upstairs). My question is, how tiny is the lower bed? I plan to sleep in it with my 6 year old, and I'm wondering how squished we will be.

Also,any difference between going NOLA to LA vs. LA to NOLA? One last quetion. I know that dining car food is included with the fare, is that also true of the snacks from the cafe car? Thanks.

 

[zephyr17]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here. I too am taking this route in June, but the other direction (LA to NOLA). I am very excited, it is our first long distance train trip, and our family of 5 has booked the Bedroom Suite ( I think that's the proper name fpor two Bedrooms linked together, B & C upstairs). My question is, how tiny is the lower bed? I plan to sleep in it with my 6 year old, and I'm wondering how squished we will be.

Also,any difference between going NOLA to LA vs. LA to NOLA? One last quetion. I know that dining car food is included with the fare, is that also true of the snacks from the cafe car? Thanks.

The lower in the redroom isn't tiny (as opposed to the roomette, which is tiny). It is about the size of a twin. You ought to be all right.

Only meals in the dining car are included in the fare (excluding alcoholic beverages). Snacks, sodas, etc from the cafe you have to pay for.

 

[karen k]

I've been thinking of take a trip on the Sunset Ltd from Houston to LA for a very long time. Finally hoping to do so this december 2011. I'm unclear of the difference between coach and reserved lower coach seats. They all seem to be the same size seats so I'm not sure it much matters, does it? I've also read differing comments about whether power outlets are available for electronics by each coach seat row. Do you know?

If we ride coach - do we get to eat in the dining room I see in the photos? I saw a dining car and a cafe car menu on Amtrak's site, but neither appear to serve much more than fast food type of eats.

Lastly, it seems a number of people travel NON-coach. But the size of the seats/beds in the roomette seemed much smaller than the coach seats.... and I'm NOT a tiny woman. The seats/beds in the bedroom seem more adequate at 3'4" wide -- but is it really worth $600-1000 dollars?

Thanks,

karen

 

[darien-l]

I'll give these a shot.

I'm unclear of the difference between coach and reserved lower coach seats. They all seem to be the same size seats so I'm not sure it much matters, does it?

Lower level coach is intended primarily for people with handicaps and disabilities. The upside is easy access and fewer people, the downside is increased track noise and limited views. If you are ok with making it up a narrow and winding staircase to the second level, you probably want to reserve regular (upper level) coach.

I've also read differing comments about whether power outlets are available for electronics by each coach seat row. Do you know?

This is luck-of-the draw. Some Superliner coach cars have outlets at every seat, and some don't. If you find yourself in a seat that doesn't have an outlet, you can request to switch seats and/or cars, or charge your electronics using the outlets in the observation lounge or the downstairs cafe.

If we ride coach - do we get to eat in the dining room I see in the photos? I saw a dining car and a cafe car menu on Amtrak's site, but neither appear to serve much more than fast food type of eats.

Yes, everyone can have meals in the dining car. The difference is that they are included in sleeper fare, but not coach. The menu is not spectacular, but certainly above fast-food level. The steak in particular tends to be quite good. Here's a sample menu: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249225077080&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_TexasEagle_DiningCarMenu_201104.pdf

The Superliner dining car looks something like this:

Lastly, it seems a number of people travel NON-coach. But the size of the seats/beds in the roomette seemed much smaller than the coach seats.... and I'm NOT a tiny woman.

If you're traveling by yourself, chances are you'll find the roomette quite comfortable. Superliner coach seats are 20.5" wide, but the seats in Superliner roomettes are 28" wide, so it's definitely roomier.

The seats/beds in the bedroom seem more adequate at 3'4" wide -- but is it really worth $600-1000 dollars?

If you're traveling by yourself, it's definitely not worth the money, in my opinion. However, if you are traveling with someone, it can be a worthwhile investment because of the extra room it provides. Also, remember that for sleeper accomodations, you are paying per room, not per person, so the accomodation price will be the same whether you have one or two persons in the room.

 

[Steve4031]

In the sleeper, you get first choice for dinner reservations. Coach passengers get what's left. So if eating at regular times is important, than you should consider the sleeper.