Sunset Limited trains canceled 8/10 and 8/12

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Today out of NOL, FRI out of LAX. Apparently this entire consist has no working restrooms, As per other sites. Hits a 3/week train even worse then the others. Is any actual maintenance being done? Rhetorical question, but I think we honestly are seeing Amtrak at it’s rock bottom in 52 years.
 

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Imagine people who made reservations months ago and now aee told the train is canceled? I would imagine there is no bustitution. I am getting nervous. I have a big circle trip involving the Texas/Sunset a week from Sunday.

Never in my 33 years of riding has Amtrak ever been this bad.
 
Wow. I’ve been crossing my fingers since I booked a roomette on the Empire Builder as part of a trip also involving VIAs Canadian (leaving this Friday from Seattle), and Amtrak’s performance since then hasn’t exactly instilled confidence. Feel bad for anyone who has booked trains afflicted by sudden cancellations - given how sleepers are booked up, it is likely difficult/impossible to reschedule anytime soon (and that’s much worse for a 3x weekly train).

Was thinking of booking the Southwest Chief at least one way for the Gathering trip, but this situation has me thinking I’ll just fly both ways - don’t want to be cancelled last minute, and it seems like there’s a good chance of trains going 3x weekly with those with tickets on the “wrong” days SOL. While airlines have had their own issues with cancellations, at least there are multiple frequencies/routings so you should get on a plane within a couple days if facing a cancellation (and airline coach for a few hours is a much more tolerable proposition than 2 days in Amtrak coach with no sleepers available)
 
Imagine people who made reservations months ago and now aee told the train is canceled? I would imagine there is no bustitution. I am getting nervous. I have a big circle trip involving the Texas/Sunset a week from Sunday.

Never in my 33 years of riding has Amtrak ever been this bad.
I just completed trips on both #2 and #1 in the past several weeks. The reservatins were made last September.
I'd be pretty bummed (ok, pissed) if that happened to me.
 
I was on the Sunset Limited last month. The sleeper was ancient. It was hot in the room and there was only one vent. Part of an armrest was missing. The bathrooms were smaller than I'm used to seeing on Superliners. No way to know, of course, if that was the same equipment as involved in this event.
 
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I was on the Sunset Limited last month. The sleeper was ancient. It was hot in the room and there was only one vent. Part of an armrest was missing. The bathrooms were smaller than I'm used to seeing on Superliners. Know way to know, of course, if that was the same equipment as involved in this event.
That was almost certainly a Superliner II. Ironically, while they look older they are actually the newest Superliners. They were delivered in the early 1990s. The Superliner Is, delivered in 1980, look much newer as they were refurbished in the 2000s. The HVAC and internal plumbing were largely untouched in that refurb though. Those core systems certainly were not replaced or extensively rebuilt as part of that refurb.

The bathrooms are precisely the same size, they did not change the overall footprint. What they did do on the Superliner I refurbishment is change the interior arrangement so the space is used more efficiently and there is more open space.

Looks can be deceiving and I don't think the IIs are more subject to breakdowns than the Is in the core systems, which are very old on both, despite the fact that the Is look better cosmetically.
 
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Today out of NOL, FRI out of LAX. Apparently this entire consist has no working restrooms, As per other sites. Hits a 3/week train even worse then the others. Is any actual maintenance being done? Rhetorical question, but I think we honestly are seeing Amtrak at it’s rock bottom in 52 years.
Sad to say but I agree with you.
 
Feeling bad about the cancellation, but wonder how the passengers on the in-bound trip felt.

“Sorry the bathroom are off line, next stop 5 hours, but no station just a platform. So walk a 1/2 mile to the McDees. No worries we will wait.”🥹
 
Today out of NOL, FRI out of LAX. Apparently this entire consist has no working restrooms, As per other sites. Hits a 3/week train even worse then the others. Is any actual maintenance being done? Rhetorical question, but I think we honestly are seeing Amtrak at it’s rock bottom in 52 years.
I'm the most frequent rider on the Sunset Limited, have around 900,000 miles on Amtrak. To answer your situation, you have to understand that these are not the "good old days of passenger trains" as just 1-2 percent of the traveling public take trains. Amtrak is a bureaucracy and it's also a way for the freight railroads to "milk" the federal government since they know they own the tracks and the federal government wants to keep these trains going. Believe me, your complaints are legitimate, but right now Amtrak is under bad management (CEO) and under pressure to cut expenses as, even though people are returning to traveling by train, the COVID hit Amtrak really hard. A bureaucracy, as Amtrak is, takes a long long time to adjust to reality, Me and you adjust to changing situations on a daily basis, but a bureaucracy doesn't happen that way. By the way I was going from Houston to LAX today 9/10, the train was cancelled, so I rescheduled to 9/13. I'm a die hard Amtrak rider till the end but have come to understand how it really is, you have to.
 
I'm booked on the Texas Eagle #422 on October 14th from LA to Chicago. I live in the middle, near Austin, Texas, so I've ridden both directions, but just once I wanted to do the whole 61+ hour thing in one fell swoop. I'm booked from Austin to Chicago to Seattle to LA to get to the beginning of my bucket list trip, then to vary my return I'm booked on the Cardinal to Charlottesville, Virginia, then the Crescent to New Orleans, and the Sunset to San Antonio. 20 days total. Been riding a long time and haven't had to be bussed yet, nor been cancelled, but the harbingers are gloomy for this trip. We'll see. Also a die-hard rider.
 
How does the entire consist have no working restrooms? We've been on a trip when our sleeper car blew the main toilet flush valve and the entire car was down, but we were told to go to the next car to use the restrooms/showers. Just wondering
We were on 49 about 6 or 7 years ago and walking from the Boston sleeper to the dining car in the morning I noticed that all but two of the toilets in the numerous coaches were closed and out of service. The crew had no explanation for the problem. As I recall, the toilets in the Boston sleeper were working.

A real third world experience. However maybe it was worse than third world since I understand some toilets on third world trains consist merely of a hole in the floor so you are at least able to relieve yourself. I felt very sorry for people traveling with small children.
 
I have been on many Amtrak Superliner Trains that have had the Toliet System quit working in some Cars when @ High Altitudes, but never the entire consist!!!!

Hopefully the Mechanical Ctew in New Orleans will get them working so #1 can make the next run to LAX, but with #2 on the way to NOL ( arrives Fri Night)there will be 2 Train sets in NOL if they cant!!???

Fridays (12l) Departure is showing the Rooms "SOLD OUT " on #1.
 
Imagine people who made reservations months ago and now aee told the train is canceled? I would imagine there is no bustitution. I am getting nervous. I have a big circle trip involving the Texas/Sunset a week from Sunday.

Never in my 33 years of riding has Amtrak ever been this bad.
You know, it's not just Amtrak in my own honest and humble opinion. It kinda seems to me like nothing in America works very well anymore. I'm old enough that I know how things were 50+ years ago and they weren't like this! Things really got bad in our country when the pandemic hit but nonetheless, I noticed the trend even before that.

I don't think anyone knows what to do about this. A good first step would be to acknowledge that we have a problem to begin with.
 
MODERATOR NOTE: Please keep the discussion on the topic of the canceled Sunset Limit trains. Off topic posts will be removed.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
 
I'm booked on the Texas Eagle #422 on October 14th from LA to Chicago. I live in the middle, near Austin, Texas, so I've ridden both directions, but just once I wanted to do the whole 61+ hour thing in one fell swoop. I'm booked from Austin to Chicago to Seattle to LA to get to the beginning of my bucket list trip, then to vary my return I'm booked on the Cardinal to Charlottesville, Virginia, then the Crescent to New Orleans, and the Sunset to San Antonio. 20 days total. Been riding a long time and haven't had to be bussed yet, nor been cancelled, but the harbingers are gloomy for this trip. We'll see. Also a die-hard rider.
I was getting so nervous about the #422 woes, with regard to my planned October trip, between horribly late trains, missed connection at San Antonio (as happened again today), and was not wanting to find out on the 13th or even train day that the TE422 was cancelled.
I now have put off the 61 hour train for another more fortuitous time, and will get off the Coast Starlight in Sacramento in the morning of the 13th, and board the California Zephyr on the 14th, bound for Chicago, to protect the remainder of my trip. A day in Sacramento to ride the light rail, or maybe an Amtrak California run to San Jose and back. Good used bookstore there with a long memory history for me. Then the Rockies, the absolutely stupendous ride down to Denver from the Moffat Tunnel, and then a "two-story train trundling sedately across the prairies", as a British fellow-traveler (in the train sense), put it.
Glad I obeyed my premonitions. got the last roomette on the CZ that day.
 
I was getting so nervous about the #422 woes, with regard to my planned October trip, between horribly late trains, missed connection at San Antonio (as happened again today), and was not wanting to find out on the 13th or even train day that the TE422 was cancelled.
I now have put off the 61 hour train for another more fortuitous time, and will get off the Coast Starlight in Sacramento in the morning of the 13th, and board the California Zephyr on the 14th, bound for Chicago, to protect the remainder of my trip. A day in Sacramento to ride the light rail, or maybe an Amtrak California run to San Jose and back. Good used bookstore there with a long memory history for me. Then the Rockies, the absolutely stupendous ride down to Denver from the Moffat Tunnel, and then a "two-story train trundling sedately across the prairies", as a British fellow-traveler (in the train sense), put it.
Glad I obeyed my premonitions. got the last roomette on the CZ that day.
Nice Plan B, you are correct about the Sunset/Eagles troubles, UP is really sticking it to Amtrak on this route!

If you've done the Train to Emeryville and San Jose before, consider hopping on a San Joaquin Train to Stockton,Fresno and Bakersfieid if you haven't done that route.

Of course, there's always the California Rail Museum next to the Amtrak Station, even if you've been it's always worth another visit.
 
I had a roomette booked on the sunset limited yesterday, so I switched to the one last Thursday. Of course, no rooms available so I had an uncomfortable cold night in coach. We were 4.5 hours late leaving Alpine due to a broke down freight train which had to be towed out of the way. Seven hours late getting to Houston. One of the conductors told me that train used to have 3 sleepers and now is running one despite increased ridership. I am afraid that some of the people who have tried trains because of the airline debacle may go back to airlines if they are not treated better. It's a shame because I love the trains and I hate to see this happening.
 
Feeling bad about the cancellation, but wonder how the passengers on the in-bound trip felt.

“Sorry the bathroom are off line, next stop 5 hours, but no station just a platform. So walk a 1/2 mile to the McDees. No worries we will wait.”🥹
In our case, last week on the Sunset Limited, we were put on a bus from San Antonio to NOLA. Not what we paid for. Amtrak emailed my husband and me their apologies along with a voucher that we think is totally inadequate. Not sure how to address that.
 
In our case, last week on the Sunset Limited, we were put on a bus from San Antonio to NOLA. Not what we paid for. Amtrak emailed my husband and me their apologies along with a voucher that we think is totally inadequate. Not sure how to address that.
Call the USA rail or guest rewards line and ask for a guest relations representative. They should be able to issue you a voucher. Usually they offer a fair amount.

I don’t know what your definition for ‘inadequate’ is. I’m surprised your offer thus far was that poor as usually people are compensated pretty well during these situations. (Especially if they paid a lot of money for a sleeper).
 
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Call the USA rail or guest rewards line and ask for a guest relations representative. They should be able to issue you a voucher. Usually they offer a fair amount.

I don’t know what your definition for ‘inadequate’ is. I’m surprised as usually people are compensated pretty well during these situations. (Especially if they paid a lot of money for a sleeper).
We have been compensated several times but it always amounts to a pittance compared to the inconvenience and disruption to our travel plans which took place. Good Luck.
 
We have been compensated several times but it always amounts to a pittance compared to the inconvenience and disruption to our travel plans which took place. Good Luck.
I've been lucky in the past with reimbursements but Amtrak's Bean Counters seem to have been ordered to cut back on the make good Vouchers!

Customer Relations usually has the Best Agents who try to help all they can, call during Business Hours ( EDT).
 
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