had8ley
Engineer
It was not so long ago that my son in Houston asked me to ride the Sunset from NOL to spend some time with him. My response was that I could probably take the City to Chicago and the Eagle to SAS and walk to Houston and beat #1. Not too long ago that might have been true. My pessimism was qualified by numerous 12-30 hour late Sunsets in days gone by. Perhaps one conductor called it right one notoriously 42 hour late trip; "We're not late;we're just off schedule."
Monday, the 21st, was the first day of a detour from Avondale to Livonia (ex-Texas&Pacific), Livonia to Kinder, LA (ex-Gulf Coast Lines) and Kinder to Iowa Jct. (ex-MOP, Missouri Pacific) then back on the usual route to Houston. Not only did I fear a total melt down but I made some side bets that have been paid off already!
I was sitting in the Magnolia Room (I counted the seats~ 16 total and have noticed that Amtrak now classifies it as a Metropolitan lounge: with just a TV, coffee pot and water cooler it has a long way to go.) and in walked A/C Bob Morgan at exactly 11:25 a.m.exactly 30 minutes before departure. I kidded him at the gate that at least I'd have someone to talk to until he hogged out. The first operating crew works to Beaumont on #1 and the second goes on to San Antonio. I walked from the bumper forward and saw coach #34055, coach-bag #31016 (I found this unusual because the Sunset almost always has a full baggage car, lounge #33034, diner #3805(0) (or maybe 6; I can't read my own writing), revenue sleeper #32115 (State of Washington) and Transistion-Dorm #39009 with baggage car #1754 (I noticed that this must have been a conversion of some sort because it had a vestibule with a metal plug welded in place where the trap door was) and was marked "U.S. Mail only." The two mules were the 114 and 161 with the 161 in the lead.
We departed exactly on time and Janice, our SCA, introduced herself and stayed busy and visible the entire trip. I was fortunate that there were a variety of people that I knew who were on board; most to ride rare mileage. I even met two AU posters who were very nice and cordial. We drifted through the outer limits of the city of New Orleans and hit the Huey P. Long bridge. They have been trying to three lane, for auto traffic, the bridge that was built in the '30's for quite some time now. It didn't look like much progress has been accomplished. About the time we dropped off the bridge and actually went up the main line in the UP yard (ex-TP-MP Terminal of N.O.) it was time for lunch. We had picked up both an engineer pilot and a conductor pilot at Avondale~ highly unusual for the UP as they usually only send an engineer for both freight and pax trains. I went to the diner where I was met by a real upbeat LAX based crew. What happened next was just short of unbelievable. I'm still pinching myself. I was seated with a couple who were going to a Naval re-union for the oiler that the husband was on during Viet Nam. Turns out he was on board when I was fished out of the Gulf of Tonkin after our ship exploded from a double loaded 81 mm mortar! He vaguely remembered the incident but took our pix on the platform at Lake Charles. Lunch was very good; I passed up my usual burger for a tuna salad which was a good restaurant quality. It seems like the chefs are getting used to working by themselves.
#1 skipped station stops at Schriever, New Iberia and Lafayette so by the time we got to Lake Charles the smokers were climbing the Superliner walls. Greg Thompson, the conductor, said he didn't care how late we were~ he was going to give everyone a break. The RR has drastically changed in that a lot of old spurs that I knew as a brakeman and engineer were gone or grown over with weeds. Most of the hand throw switches were now powered facilitating the movement of trains. Personally, I must compliment the UP for something most people would not notice. The UP replaced the MP 8' cross ties with 9 foot ties and double spiked both sides of the ties plates. This may not sound like a lot but it dramatically improves the ride and eliminates a lot of the old rocking and rolling of the past.
Another oddity was the complete lack of any opposing trains. We saw very few all the way to Houston. I counted 38 engines in a dead track at Englewood yard in Houston and read in Progressive Railroader today where the UP has 1,900 engines shut down and not in service. Multiply 1,900 by a conservative 3,000 HP per unit and there is a lot of power standing idle.
We turned from heading south from Kinder to heading west at Iowa Jct. This is about 10 miles east of Lake Charles. We were 1'10" down at this point. From Lake Charles we highballed to Beaumont and I saw why this station is considered the worst on the system. It is basically west of downtown (where it needs to be) and is a pain to get to. I don't know Webster's definition of a station is but it is certainly not a pile of rocks! From some of the horror stories other posters have written I'd rather walk then board or de-train here. We changed crews in Beaumont and headed for Houston, our next stop. I headed for the diner where my standard order is usually the flat iron; instead I ordered and thoroughly enjoyed the half chicken at a table by myself (I did hear two diners in the other end of the car turn down what one called dog food and the other used words I can't repeat but I'm almost sure they were referring to the flat iron.) It was absolutely wonderful watching the sunset off to the west~ the direction I was facing. Night had fallen by the time we passed Englewood yard; one of the biggest the SP had pre-merger. It was very disheartening to see only 1/10th of the cars in the yard that were there in the days immediately following the mid-90's merger. Engines were parked everywhere just waiting for tonnage to pull. It was truly a sad sight for a railroader to witness. We pulled into the Houston station almost an hour early due to extremely heavy padding created by hours of delay in previous years created both by UP trains and dispatchers. I tipped Janice, said my good byes and was met by my son at the door of the sleeper. I have to give both he and Amtrak an A for great service. (Part #2 on #2 tomorrow)
Just an add on; Mr. Ed was right~ the SCA was Julie not Janice. That's the one thing I didn't write down. Senior moments are getting all too frequent
Monday, the 21st, was the first day of a detour from Avondale to Livonia (ex-Texas&Pacific), Livonia to Kinder, LA (ex-Gulf Coast Lines) and Kinder to Iowa Jct. (ex-MOP, Missouri Pacific) then back on the usual route to Houston. Not only did I fear a total melt down but I made some side bets that have been paid off already!
I was sitting in the Magnolia Room (I counted the seats~ 16 total and have noticed that Amtrak now classifies it as a Metropolitan lounge: with just a TV, coffee pot and water cooler it has a long way to go.) and in walked A/C Bob Morgan at exactly 11:25 a.m.exactly 30 minutes before departure. I kidded him at the gate that at least I'd have someone to talk to until he hogged out. The first operating crew works to Beaumont on #1 and the second goes on to San Antonio. I walked from the bumper forward and saw coach #34055, coach-bag #31016 (I found this unusual because the Sunset almost always has a full baggage car, lounge #33034, diner #3805(0) (or maybe 6; I can't read my own writing), revenue sleeper #32115 (State of Washington) and Transistion-Dorm #39009 with baggage car #1754 (I noticed that this must have been a conversion of some sort because it had a vestibule with a metal plug welded in place where the trap door was) and was marked "U.S. Mail only." The two mules were the 114 and 161 with the 161 in the lead.
We departed exactly on time and Janice, our SCA, introduced herself and stayed busy and visible the entire trip. I was fortunate that there were a variety of people that I knew who were on board; most to ride rare mileage. I even met two AU posters who were very nice and cordial. We drifted through the outer limits of the city of New Orleans and hit the Huey P. Long bridge. They have been trying to three lane, for auto traffic, the bridge that was built in the '30's for quite some time now. It didn't look like much progress has been accomplished. About the time we dropped off the bridge and actually went up the main line in the UP yard (ex-TP-MP Terminal of N.O.) it was time for lunch. We had picked up both an engineer pilot and a conductor pilot at Avondale~ highly unusual for the UP as they usually only send an engineer for both freight and pax trains. I went to the diner where I was met by a real upbeat LAX based crew. What happened next was just short of unbelievable. I'm still pinching myself. I was seated with a couple who were going to a Naval re-union for the oiler that the husband was on during Viet Nam. Turns out he was on board when I was fished out of the Gulf of Tonkin after our ship exploded from a double loaded 81 mm mortar! He vaguely remembered the incident but took our pix on the platform at Lake Charles. Lunch was very good; I passed up my usual burger for a tuna salad which was a good restaurant quality. It seems like the chefs are getting used to working by themselves.
#1 skipped station stops at Schriever, New Iberia and Lafayette so by the time we got to Lake Charles the smokers were climbing the Superliner walls. Greg Thompson, the conductor, said he didn't care how late we were~ he was going to give everyone a break. The RR has drastically changed in that a lot of old spurs that I knew as a brakeman and engineer were gone or grown over with weeds. Most of the hand throw switches were now powered facilitating the movement of trains. Personally, I must compliment the UP for something most people would not notice. The UP replaced the MP 8' cross ties with 9 foot ties and double spiked both sides of the ties plates. This may not sound like a lot but it dramatically improves the ride and eliminates a lot of the old rocking and rolling of the past.
Another oddity was the complete lack of any opposing trains. We saw very few all the way to Houston. I counted 38 engines in a dead track at Englewood yard in Houston and read in Progressive Railroader today where the UP has 1,900 engines shut down and not in service. Multiply 1,900 by a conservative 3,000 HP per unit and there is a lot of power standing idle.
We turned from heading south from Kinder to heading west at Iowa Jct. This is about 10 miles east of Lake Charles. We were 1'10" down at this point. From Lake Charles we highballed to Beaumont and I saw why this station is considered the worst on the system. It is basically west of downtown (where it needs to be) and is a pain to get to. I don't know Webster's definition of a station is but it is certainly not a pile of rocks! From some of the horror stories other posters have written I'd rather walk then board or de-train here. We changed crews in Beaumont and headed for Houston, our next stop. I headed for the diner where my standard order is usually the flat iron; instead I ordered and thoroughly enjoyed the half chicken at a table by myself (I did hear two diners in the other end of the car turn down what one called dog food and the other used words I can't repeat but I'm almost sure they were referring to the flat iron.) It was absolutely wonderful watching the sunset off to the west~ the direction I was facing. Night had fallen by the time we passed Englewood yard; one of the biggest the SP had pre-merger. It was very disheartening to see only 1/10th of the cars in the yard that were there in the days immediately following the mid-90's merger. Engines were parked everywhere just waiting for tonnage to pull. It was truly a sad sight for a railroader to witness. We pulled into the Houston station almost an hour early due to extremely heavy padding created by hours of delay in previous years created both by UP trains and dispatchers. I tipped Janice, said my good byes and was met by my son at the door of the sleeper. I have to give both he and Amtrak an A for great service. (Part #2 on #2 tomorrow)
Just an add on; Mr. Ed was right~ the SCA was Julie not Janice. That's the one thing I didn't write down. Senior moments are getting all too frequent
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