I started my trip on a Friday afternoon , October 15, from Lafayette, La. The Sunset Limited was to arrive at 3:37 pm. It was about 10 minutes late. Once the train pulled up, the attendant took our tickets and assigned us seats. We went into the coach car, placed our larger baggage at the bottom and ascended the stairs to our seat. It was not crowded. The colors were dark blue, air conditioner on, very roomy and relaxing. The train started rolling. I was impressed with the smooth “Cadillac” quality of the ride. It was also very quiet. I had brought earplugs expecting noise. There were only occasional bumps. Our first delay was before Lake Charles. There was construction on the tracks that needed to be cleared. One hour later we were on our way. I remember stopping in San Antonio and they added 2 private cars to the consist. They were maroon and one had a dome observation on the top of it. We dropped these cars off in El Paso. The conductor made a stop in Del Rio just for smokers. I was amazed when the train almost emptied. I had always assumed the smoking cars were removed because there were not very many smokers. My husband took pictures of the Pecos River from the observation car while I covered my eyes. We experienced a long delay prior to Tucson. There were a lot of interesting people traveling. Some were from England. It was raining as we went through Palm Springs. The clouds against the white mountains were beautiful. We arrived 8 hours late into Los Angeles. The Pacific Surfliner was waiting for us. It was already overcrowded, but they herded us out of the door of the Sunset Limited and into the door of the Pacific Surfliner. Then we shot out like a rocket. How fast does that train go anyway??? We were in Anaheim in 37 minutes flat. The surfliner gave us free sodas and snack packs and had TV’s behind every seat. It was great.
The trip back started on October 20. We started in the Los Angeles train station at 10:30 at night. It was scary. They had to call the police for one person that appeared to be on drugs. They had all of the passengers for the Sunset Limited stand in line and then they proceeded to cart the handicapped to the train. ( I think they should have carted the handicapped before having all the people stand in line for 30 minutes. ) We took a very long walk to the tracks, going uphill. I think the train pulled out of Los Angeles after 11:30, 1 hour late. We stopped numerous times. Once we had to wait 2 hours for 3 freights to go by, not just one freight. In El Paso some people had to get on a Greyhound because we were too late for their connection in San Antonio. The conductor had to talk to some upset people in our car. They were mad because we kept stopping for long times and no announcements were made to let people know what was going on. Our coach car was much better then the one on the trip up. The footrests did not work on the other car. This car (34035) had some type of legs on the bottom of the legrests. It was much more stable. We stopped in Houston for what was suppose to be a few minutes. Someone got their jewelry stolen out of their baggage and the police had to be called to meet us at the station. We were told “all aboard” and about 10 minutes later we were told we could get out because we had to wait for another pilot. A freight had derailed in front of us and we would go on another track. We had to get another pilot that was certified for the new track. We would still end up in Beaumont, so not to worry. We were there for 5 hours.
Earlier that day, they had asked for dinner reservations. We did not get reservations because we were suppose to be in Lafayette for 9:00 pm (5 hours late). After our delay in Houston, they said everyone with reservations would get dinner and everyone without reservations could not have dinner because there was not enough food. I was a little upset about that. Some lady on the train ordered two large pizzas that were delivered to the train and she gave everyone in our car a piece of pizza. That was real nice of her.
Eventually the new pilot came and we headed towards Beaumont. There was one place where we traveled in reverse. Even though it was not announced, I knew we would because I had overheard 2 attendants talking about it. My sister was suppose to pick us up in Lafayette. It looked like we would arrive around 4 am. After we passed Lake Charles, I watched for the Watermaid rice plant and then I called my sister. I told her we should be arriving around 4. 30 minutes later the train stopped. We sat for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour……No announcements of any kind. No attendants of any kind. Other passengers started roaming through the train looking for an attendant. Finally one man said he had woke up the Cook and the cook had no information. Some passengers had went and found coffee in the sleeper sections. Some passengers were downstairs opening the door windows and looking out. It was too dark to see anything. I was worried about my sister sitting in the parking lot of the station in Lafayette. At about 5:30 the train started rolling. I went downstairs and prepared to get off of the train in Lafayette. A new conductor showed up. He said that the old crew had run out of time and they had to be replaced. He had just come from New Orleans in a van and had to walk ½ mile to get to the train. He told the smokers that they could smoke in Lafayette. The old conductor did not let anyone smoke unless it was a designated smoke stop. (Those stops with departure and arrival times) The same man that had woke up the cook got off in Lafayette. It was not his stop but he said he had train rage and could not stay on it a minute longer. We arrived in Lafayette at 6 am as opposed to 4 pm the previous day.
I’m doing better now, but my first day home I felt as if I had been incarcerated rather than on a vacation. I may ride on Amtrak again, but I doubt I will ever ride on the Sunset Limited again.
The trip back started on October 20. We started in the Los Angeles train station at 10:30 at night. It was scary. They had to call the police for one person that appeared to be on drugs. They had all of the passengers for the Sunset Limited stand in line and then they proceeded to cart the handicapped to the train. ( I think they should have carted the handicapped before having all the people stand in line for 30 minutes. ) We took a very long walk to the tracks, going uphill. I think the train pulled out of Los Angeles after 11:30, 1 hour late. We stopped numerous times. Once we had to wait 2 hours for 3 freights to go by, not just one freight. In El Paso some people had to get on a Greyhound because we were too late for their connection in San Antonio. The conductor had to talk to some upset people in our car. They were mad because we kept stopping for long times and no announcements were made to let people know what was going on. Our coach car was much better then the one on the trip up. The footrests did not work on the other car. This car (34035) had some type of legs on the bottom of the legrests. It was much more stable. We stopped in Houston for what was suppose to be a few minutes. Someone got their jewelry stolen out of their baggage and the police had to be called to meet us at the station. We were told “all aboard” and about 10 minutes later we were told we could get out because we had to wait for another pilot. A freight had derailed in front of us and we would go on another track. We had to get another pilot that was certified for the new track. We would still end up in Beaumont, so not to worry. We were there for 5 hours.
Earlier that day, they had asked for dinner reservations. We did not get reservations because we were suppose to be in Lafayette for 9:00 pm (5 hours late). After our delay in Houston, they said everyone with reservations would get dinner and everyone without reservations could not have dinner because there was not enough food. I was a little upset about that. Some lady on the train ordered two large pizzas that were delivered to the train and she gave everyone in our car a piece of pizza. That was real nice of her.
Eventually the new pilot came and we headed towards Beaumont. There was one place where we traveled in reverse. Even though it was not announced, I knew we would because I had overheard 2 attendants talking about it. My sister was suppose to pick us up in Lafayette. It looked like we would arrive around 4 am. After we passed Lake Charles, I watched for the Watermaid rice plant and then I called my sister. I told her we should be arriving around 4. 30 minutes later the train stopped. We sat for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour……No announcements of any kind. No attendants of any kind. Other passengers started roaming through the train looking for an attendant. Finally one man said he had woke up the Cook and the cook had no information. Some passengers had went and found coffee in the sleeper sections. Some passengers were downstairs opening the door windows and looking out. It was too dark to see anything. I was worried about my sister sitting in the parking lot of the station in Lafayette. At about 5:30 the train started rolling. I went downstairs and prepared to get off of the train in Lafayette. A new conductor showed up. He said that the old crew had run out of time and they had to be replaced. He had just come from New Orleans in a van and had to walk ½ mile to get to the train. He told the smokers that they could smoke in Lafayette. The old conductor did not let anyone smoke unless it was a designated smoke stop. (Those stops with departure and arrival times) The same man that had woke up the cook got off in Lafayette. It was not his stop but he said he had train rage and could not stay on it a minute longer. We arrived in Lafayette at 6 am as opposed to 4 pm the previous day.
I’m doing better now, but my first day home I felt as if I had been incarcerated rather than on a vacation. I may ride on Amtrak again, but I doubt I will ever ride on the Sunset Limited again.
