PROLOGUE
My husband and I rode together on this trip. This was my husband’s first trip on Amtrak. This was my third and after I told him about the last two trips on the Sunset Limited he really wanted to give it a try. We had to be in Fairborn Ohio for a meeting on Monday and Tuesday. We also wanted to hit Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio for some roller coaster action before heading home.
We decided to fly Southwest Airlines direct from Tucson to Chicago on Saturday. There were a couple of reasons for this decision instead of taking Amtrak round trip, 1) I have read from many members on this site that sometimes Amtrak’s schedules don’t always work out so we did not want to chance missing the meeting and 2) It would have been a pain in the butt to get off the train in Sandusky at midnight and get a car from there, not to mention on the return leg it would have required catching the train out of Sandusky at 4 am and switching trains in Chicago. 3) I have an uncle in Chicago so we could visit with him before heading for Ohio. 4) We could only be gone for so many days.
The Southwest Airlines fight arrived at Midway ahead of schedule around 11:30am. We met my uncle at the airport and rode the L train (orange line) to downtown Chicago. This was our first trip to Chicago and so first time on the L. Very cool. The L was very user friendly and many security people around to help you out if needed. All stations were clearly marked and announced. It was also easy to understand where the Orange line linked up with the other lines. We had a great time in Chicago. We took the architectural boat tour and a city night bus tour. Both were enjoyable and informative tours. While on the boat tour we were able to see the Amtrak trains in Union Station. We couldn’t leave Chicago without visiting the Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Wacker Drive (cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger for the old school Saturday Night Live fans reading this. J)
We spent the night in Chicago, had breakfast with my uncle then hit the road for a 6 hour drive to Fairborn Ohio. We did 2 days of meeting in Fairborn and 2 days of fun at Cedar Point. Amazingly the weather held out for us. We drove back to Chicago on Thursday. On the way back we stopped in Toledo at the original Tony Packo’s for a hotdog made famous by Clinger from M*A*S*H. We returned the rental car at Midway Airport around 6pm and took the L train downtown to the Hilton for the night.
Friday morning we spent some time walking around the park and checking out Buckingham Fountain. The weather was beautiful. The park was setting up for a big Blues festival that weekend. We checked out of the hotel at 11am and hailed a cab to take us to Union Station which was a short drive.
THE TRAIN TRIP- DAY ONE
Union Station was impressive. A lot of history. My father’s family settled in Chicago many generations ago and I couldn’t help but wonder how many of them had rode the train to and from this station. After we looked around the station and checked out the Great Hall we hung out in the Sleeper Car Lounge until it was time to board. The Sleeper Car Lounge was packed. At about 1pm the conductor escorted us out to the train. The train pulled away at 1:45pm right on time. Not long after heading out it seemed like we were spending a lot of time at various sidings. It turned out there was a lot of freight trains taking priority on the rails. We were finishing dinner in the dining car as we pulled into Saint Louis. We left Saint Louis about an hour late. Had a beautiful view of the full moon shimmering on the Mississippi River as we made our way south towards Texas.
The last time I rode the train I had a roomette. On this trip we were able to book a room. Having the extra space was nice. We decided to let down the top bunk and us it for storing the luggage. I found it hard to use the small sink without getting water on the carpeted floor. At least when you use the public sink the floor is covered in plastic so it is easy to wipe up the mess with an old towel. It was also nice having our own bathroom and shower knowing that it would be clean when we walked in to use it each time. The hot water was great. If I had to do it again, I would be fine with a roomette and using the public bathroom and shower facility.
We woke up around 8am and were just outside of Marshall Texas. We ended up spending a bit of time in Marshall waiting for a freight train to pass. By the time we got to Dallas and Fort Worth that evening we were running about an hour late. The sky was overcast for most of the day.
We pulled into San Antonio about a half hour late at around 10:30pm. We got off the train and walked around San Antonio. There was a pretty nice looking Holiday Inn Express just down the street. If I had to overnight in San Antonio I’d stay there. There was a convenience store up the road as well. I had a craving for Doritos and a beer. The moonrise was beautiful. On the Texas Eagle our sleeper car was located just behind the diner car. In San Antonio around 1 or 2 am the Texas Eagle dumped our car and one coach car behind us off. Sometime later we were hooked onto the Sunset Unlimited. The Sunset Limited was very late. I found out later from the conductor that a freight train had jumped the track. That put the Sunset limited 10 hours late into New Orleans. The Sunset Limited did not leave New Orleans until the afternoon. It would have normally left in the morning.
DAY TWO
We woke up the next morning around 8 am. All of the flat, green farm fields and trees have been swapped out for rolling hills, sand and desert scrub brush. Waking up to this view makes me feel at home. I was wondering about the passengers who had never been out west were thinking. Maybe, what is this place? Where are the trees? How do people live out here?
Unfortunately during the hook up the night before our two Texas Eagle cars lost the PA system so we missed any announcements. Our sleeper car was now the last car on the Sunset Limited. The plus to this was we had a really cool view out the back window. The down side was that we had to walk through about 4 or 5 coach cars to get to the diner and lounge. There were a few older couples that we had met on the Texas Eagle and now that we were so far away from the diner car many of them were uncomfortable walking all that way on a moving train to get to the diner. I think they really enjoyed the social experience of the diner car and now they felt cut off. I also noticed that our car was being pulled from the opposite side. Our room was now on the left side of the train instead of the right.
The dining car staff were using the entire diner to seat people for meals. In the past they have only used half of the diner for service. The observation car was full for the entire trip. I was glad we had a room. We ate breakfast with the wife of the couple we had dinner with the night before. She said it was too far for her husband to walk to the diner now.
Our new car attendant, Jose, did not seem as attentive or personable as Alfred from the Texas Eagle was. On our way back from breakfast I mentioned to Jose that the coffee was out. He informed me that he was instructed to only make one pot of coffee in the morning. Is this a new budget cut? The website stated coffee and juices available to sleeper car passengers at all times. We had coffee available 24 hours on the Texas Eagle. This was a bummer as my husband and myself had enjoyed a few cups of coffee throughout the day.
We were two hours late getting into Alpine Texas for the crew change. It was nice to get out for a bit and stretch our legs. As we made our way westward we slowly started to make up time.
I decided to check out the view from the back of the train as we left El Paso. We were traveling alongside a Union Pacific train headed in the same direction. We were slowly passing him. As we passed I waved to the engineer. He waved back and blew his whistle. I thought that was pretty cool. As I made my way back to the room, my path was blocked. The family in the room a few doors down from ours door was jammed shut and they could not get out. The room attendant decided to use a crowbar to unjam the door but I think he made it worse. As he put force on the crowbar there was a loud popping sound. With the pop the door came off the rollers and was now sitting at an angle. By this time the conductor came by with a massive sledge hammer. (How many people have a massive sledge hammer in there tool kit? Must be a train thing…) The conductor suggested something had fallen into the path of the door. He was right. It turned out a mini shampoo had fallen down into the door pathway from the closet. Unfortunately the attendant’s use of the crowbar had broken the door. The conductor tried to use the sledgehammer to beat the door back into position. Long story short, they got it open enough so the occupants could get in and out but I doubt that door will be sliding freely anytime soon.
We dropped off passengers in Deming and Lordsburg New Mexico. These stations are not much more than a bench with an awning. Due to the small pathway/platform the train had to move up one car at a time to let the passengers disembark.
Not long after we entered my home state of Arizona the train began its decent into the San Pedro river valley. From here, if you are looking south, you will have a beautiful view of the wild yellow grass fields and mountains down by Sierra Vista. The town of Benson lies at the bottom of the river valley. If you were to get off in Benson and get a car you can visit Tombstone. This is the town that is “too tuff to die” and home of the OK Corral. This town and most of the buildings are the real thing. Maybe because it has not been taken over by mobs of tourist or large corporations it has remained pretty original. It is a fun place to explore.
As the train pulled into Tucson the sun had just set. There was a beautiful burst of color across the sky. Once again I was able to snap a picture of the Sunset Limited with this brilliant backdrop. The train then headed off west again for a final destination of Los Angeles CA.
My husband and I rode together on this trip. This was my husband’s first trip on Amtrak. This was my third and after I told him about the last two trips on the Sunset Limited he really wanted to give it a try. We had to be in Fairborn Ohio for a meeting on Monday and Tuesday. We also wanted to hit Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio for some roller coaster action before heading home.
We decided to fly Southwest Airlines direct from Tucson to Chicago on Saturday. There were a couple of reasons for this decision instead of taking Amtrak round trip, 1) I have read from many members on this site that sometimes Amtrak’s schedules don’t always work out so we did not want to chance missing the meeting and 2) It would have been a pain in the butt to get off the train in Sandusky at midnight and get a car from there, not to mention on the return leg it would have required catching the train out of Sandusky at 4 am and switching trains in Chicago. 3) I have an uncle in Chicago so we could visit with him before heading for Ohio. 4) We could only be gone for so many days.
The Southwest Airlines fight arrived at Midway ahead of schedule around 11:30am. We met my uncle at the airport and rode the L train (orange line) to downtown Chicago. This was our first trip to Chicago and so first time on the L. Very cool. The L was very user friendly and many security people around to help you out if needed. All stations were clearly marked and announced. It was also easy to understand where the Orange line linked up with the other lines. We had a great time in Chicago. We took the architectural boat tour and a city night bus tour. Both were enjoyable and informative tours. While on the boat tour we were able to see the Amtrak trains in Union Station. We couldn’t leave Chicago without visiting the Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Wacker Drive (cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger for the old school Saturday Night Live fans reading this. J)
We spent the night in Chicago, had breakfast with my uncle then hit the road for a 6 hour drive to Fairborn Ohio. We did 2 days of meeting in Fairborn and 2 days of fun at Cedar Point. Amazingly the weather held out for us. We drove back to Chicago on Thursday. On the way back we stopped in Toledo at the original Tony Packo’s for a hotdog made famous by Clinger from M*A*S*H. We returned the rental car at Midway Airport around 6pm and took the L train downtown to the Hilton for the night.
Friday morning we spent some time walking around the park and checking out Buckingham Fountain. The weather was beautiful. The park was setting up for a big Blues festival that weekend. We checked out of the hotel at 11am and hailed a cab to take us to Union Station which was a short drive.
THE TRAIN TRIP- DAY ONE
Union Station was impressive. A lot of history. My father’s family settled in Chicago many generations ago and I couldn’t help but wonder how many of them had rode the train to and from this station. After we looked around the station and checked out the Great Hall we hung out in the Sleeper Car Lounge until it was time to board. The Sleeper Car Lounge was packed. At about 1pm the conductor escorted us out to the train. The train pulled away at 1:45pm right on time. Not long after heading out it seemed like we were spending a lot of time at various sidings. It turned out there was a lot of freight trains taking priority on the rails. We were finishing dinner in the dining car as we pulled into Saint Louis. We left Saint Louis about an hour late. Had a beautiful view of the full moon shimmering on the Mississippi River as we made our way south towards Texas.
The last time I rode the train I had a roomette. On this trip we were able to book a room. Having the extra space was nice. We decided to let down the top bunk and us it for storing the luggage. I found it hard to use the small sink without getting water on the carpeted floor. At least when you use the public sink the floor is covered in plastic so it is easy to wipe up the mess with an old towel. It was also nice having our own bathroom and shower knowing that it would be clean when we walked in to use it each time. The hot water was great. If I had to do it again, I would be fine with a roomette and using the public bathroom and shower facility.
We woke up around 8am and were just outside of Marshall Texas. We ended up spending a bit of time in Marshall waiting for a freight train to pass. By the time we got to Dallas and Fort Worth that evening we were running about an hour late. The sky was overcast for most of the day.
We pulled into San Antonio about a half hour late at around 10:30pm. We got off the train and walked around San Antonio. There was a pretty nice looking Holiday Inn Express just down the street. If I had to overnight in San Antonio I’d stay there. There was a convenience store up the road as well. I had a craving for Doritos and a beer. The moonrise was beautiful. On the Texas Eagle our sleeper car was located just behind the diner car. In San Antonio around 1 or 2 am the Texas Eagle dumped our car and one coach car behind us off. Sometime later we were hooked onto the Sunset Unlimited. The Sunset Limited was very late. I found out later from the conductor that a freight train had jumped the track. That put the Sunset limited 10 hours late into New Orleans. The Sunset Limited did not leave New Orleans until the afternoon. It would have normally left in the morning.
DAY TWO
We woke up the next morning around 8 am. All of the flat, green farm fields and trees have been swapped out for rolling hills, sand and desert scrub brush. Waking up to this view makes me feel at home. I was wondering about the passengers who had never been out west were thinking. Maybe, what is this place? Where are the trees? How do people live out here?
Unfortunately during the hook up the night before our two Texas Eagle cars lost the PA system so we missed any announcements. Our sleeper car was now the last car on the Sunset Limited. The plus to this was we had a really cool view out the back window. The down side was that we had to walk through about 4 or 5 coach cars to get to the diner and lounge. There were a few older couples that we had met on the Texas Eagle and now that we were so far away from the diner car many of them were uncomfortable walking all that way on a moving train to get to the diner. I think they really enjoyed the social experience of the diner car and now they felt cut off. I also noticed that our car was being pulled from the opposite side. Our room was now on the left side of the train instead of the right.
The dining car staff were using the entire diner to seat people for meals. In the past they have only used half of the diner for service. The observation car was full for the entire trip. I was glad we had a room. We ate breakfast with the wife of the couple we had dinner with the night before. She said it was too far for her husband to walk to the diner now.
Our new car attendant, Jose, did not seem as attentive or personable as Alfred from the Texas Eagle was. On our way back from breakfast I mentioned to Jose that the coffee was out. He informed me that he was instructed to only make one pot of coffee in the morning. Is this a new budget cut? The website stated coffee and juices available to sleeper car passengers at all times. We had coffee available 24 hours on the Texas Eagle. This was a bummer as my husband and myself had enjoyed a few cups of coffee throughout the day.
We were two hours late getting into Alpine Texas for the crew change. It was nice to get out for a bit and stretch our legs. As we made our way westward we slowly started to make up time.
I decided to check out the view from the back of the train as we left El Paso. We were traveling alongside a Union Pacific train headed in the same direction. We were slowly passing him. As we passed I waved to the engineer. He waved back and blew his whistle. I thought that was pretty cool. As I made my way back to the room, my path was blocked. The family in the room a few doors down from ours door was jammed shut and they could not get out. The room attendant decided to use a crowbar to unjam the door but I think he made it worse. As he put force on the crowbar there was a loud popping sound. With the pop the door came off the rollers and was now sitting at an angle. By this time the conductor came by with a massive sledge hammer. (How many people have a massive sledge hammer in there tool kit? Must be a train thing…) The conductor suggested something had fallen into the path of the door. He was right. It turned out a mini shampoo had fallen down into the door pathway from the closet. Unfortunately the attendant’s use of the crowbar had broken the door. The conductor tried to use the sledgehammer to beat the door back into position. Long story short, they got it open enough so the occupants could get in and out but I doubt that door will be sliding freely anytime soon.
We dropped off passengers in Deming and Lordsburg New Mexico. These stations are not much more than a bench with an awning. Due to the small pathway/platform the train had to move up one car at a time to let the passengers disembark.
Not long after we entered my home state of Arizona the train began its decent into the San Pedro river valley. From here, if you are looking south, you will have a beautiful view of the wild yellow grass fields and mountains down by Sierra Vista. The town of Benson lies at the bottom of the river valley. If you were to get off in Benson and get a car you can visit Tombstone. This is the town that is “too tuff to die” and home of the OK Corral. This town and most of the buildings are the real thing. Maybe because it has not been taken over by mobs of tourist or large corporations it has remained pretty original. It is a fun place to explore.
As the train pulled into Tucson the sun had just set. There was a beautiful burst of color across the sky. Once again I was able to snap a picture of the Sunset Limited with this brilliant backdrop. The train then headed off west again for a final destination of Los Angeles CA.
