Another Messed Up Train in the Making

[snake]

I was a little surprised to see the Sunset Limited this morning when I went for breakfast at the Hotel Congress in Tucson. Only 8 hours late, heck, I remember one time a couple of years ago when # 1 came through 48 hours late.

 

[Eagle Connection Made]

Evidently the Eagle was held in San Antonio for the transferring passengers. Train 2 is still here, getting fuel. Guess we are still going to be 8-10 hours late, which is not bad compared to your 48!

 

[Train 2]

Well anyway here is what I have learned from this trip:

One of the conductors said it best: "UP has us at their mercy and they show no mercy"

The plastic plates and paper table cloths are nothing to be feared. The food is still OK or better.

If planning to board in the middle of the route in the middle of the night, be sure you have back up plans. Pick a station that at least has an open waiting room.

Don't make reservations for anything too soon at your destination, allow some padding in your schedule like Amtrak does.

Aloha

 

[Train 2 Finally Arrives]

Just a post script, Train 2 finally arrived New Orleans I guess in the wee hours after running through some horrible thunderstorms in southwest Louisiana and losing additional time. The cafe car ran out of food after Houston, but the diner still had roast chicken left, so I got to eat again. AFter all, the best part of the whole deal was getting a half a day extra of train riding and two more meals for free! Some folks might not look at that way, but I do. I jumped off at Lafayette, and was home by midnight. The 70 or so passengers left headed for New Orleans were not so lucky.

The Barnum & Bailey circus train was in Houston, which made for an extra nice catch.

The Sunset is doing directional running between Beaumont Texas and Houston Texas, so the trip back was different mileage from the trip going. That was another unexpected bonus of riding a very late train 2. Eastbound a backup move is made around a wye, and we went across Lake Houston and through Huff, Texas. Quite scenic. The boaters on Lake Houston were treated to an unusual late afternoon passenger train.

The trip is going to be memorable, as all Amtrak trips seem to be.

 

[Guest]

Chuck, you mentioned there was no sightseer lounge on the westbound train. Same for the Eastbound trip? Are there no Sightseer lounges on SL at all? I am making the eastbound trip later in the year. Hopefully they will have them back by then.

 

[AlanB]

Chuck, you mentioned there was no sightseer lounge on the westbound train. Same for the Eastbound trip? Are there no Sightseer lounges on SL at all? I am making the eastbound trip later in the year. Hopefully they will have them back by then.

As both Robert and I mentioned on the first page of this topic, Amtrak pulled the lounge car on the Sunset route shortly after the hurricane truncated the service east of NOL.

So far I've not heard of any plans to return the lounge to this route in the future.

 

[Guest]

Okay, I'll bite...

How are you getting internet access to post these updates?

 

[AlanB]

Okay, I'll bite...
How are you getting internet access to post these updates?

My guess is that he's either got a cell phone that he can hook to his laptop or he has a Verizon Wireless Card in his laptop.

I know that I had great success at posting from the train on my recent trip using my Cingular cell phone connected to my laptop. You can read my multi-part trip report in the Trip Report section on this forum.

 

[Boxcar]

Okay, I'll bite...
How are you getting internet access to post these updates?

My guess is that he's either got a cell phone that he can hook to his laptop or he has a Verizon Wireless Card in his laptop.

I know that I had great success at posting from the train on my recent trip using my Cingular cell phone connected to my laptop. You can read my multi-part trip report in the Trip Report section on this forum.

Aw Shucks Allen, you sure you didn't use the telegraph lines that run along beside the tracks?.... :lol:

 

[Chuck]

Yes, using a cell phone card plugged into laptop. Won't mention any particular brand. Be careful passing thru El Paso though, the Mexican towers suck in your signal and you can get hit with international roaming charges, depending upon your carrier and your plan.

Did I mention there was a food shortage in the cafe car after Houston? Maybe not, but there was a near-riot in coach. It was a very interesting trip, starting with unruly coach passenger being kicked off in Ontario, and ending with more unruly passengers after Beaumont, Texas.

Observing that there is no train 2 running at all today, it was cancelled due to a UP freight derailment. Just looking at those that have run since my trip, they have had better records of time performance than ours did.

 

[RailFanNebraska]

Is there anything amtrak can do to boost ridership on the Sunset??

 

[AlanB]

Is there anything amtrak can do to boost ridership on the Sunset??

If the UP problem can't be fixed, then no there is nothing that they can do. If the UP/on time problem can be fixed, then yes there is a lot that Amtrak could do to boost ridership.

That includes, but is not limited to:

Restoring the train to it's full run

Restoring the Sightseer lounge

Running the train Daily, not three times a week.

Advertising

 

[Boxcar]

Is there anything amtrak can do to boost ridership on the Sunset??

That includes, but is not limited to:

Restoring the train to it's full run

Restoring the Sightseer lounge

Running the train Daily, not three times a week.

Advertising

If I might add, Open up the route East Of New Orleans to Florida.....

 

[AlanB]

Is there anything amtrak can do to boost ridership on the Sunset??

That includes, but is not limited to:

Restoring the train to it's full run

Restoring the Sightseer lounge

Running the train Daily, not three times a week.

Advertising

If I might add, Open up the route East Of New Orleans to Florida.....

That's what I meant by restoring the train to its full run.

 

[RailFanNebraska]

I think restoring the train the train to a daily runner would be the best idea, then it would fit more into rides schedule.