Texas Eagle (SAS) Stop

[NAVYBLUE]

This Christmas trip back east I am about 90% leaning towards TE/CL going east. If I take the #422, does that mean I stay in my roomette snug as a bug in a rug from 4:50 AM arrival to 7:00 AM departure at SAS or do I switch trains at SAS ?

Coming back west, it will be CL/SWC (which I rode 12/11) or CL/EB/CS I am 90% leaning towards the latter so any input about that LD combo would be appreciated. Is the Parlour car on the southbound and northbound CS as I may go CS/EB/CL north/eastbound depending on prices ?

Thanks

NAVYBLUE

PS: I have now decided to add ALL the LDs to my bucket list (no, I am not dying) and to run them end to end after seeing what that young whippersnapper Johnny has accomplished. So much kid's inheritance to spend and hoping I have the time to do it.

 

[AlanB]

Yes, 422 means you get to stay in your room.

 

[Bob Dylan]

If you're booked on #422 (or #421 going South/West) you will stay on the train while the Switching takes place in SAS! If you book #2/#22 you would have to get off and hang out in the Station with the too Large for the Place Crowd! The Parlour Cars Normally are on #11 and #14 Daily unless they are Bad Ordered that day in which case a CCC or SSL would be Substituted!! (These Cars are over 60 years Old and High Mileage)YMMV

 

[Nathanael]

I wouldn't rely on a Pacific Parlour Car. They normally run on every Coast Starlight in both directions, but I managed to take a trip not so many years ago where, pure luck, they were bad-ordered in both directions of my trip. But hey, if you take the route in both directions, you get two chances to get one.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

If I take the #422, does that mean I stay in my roomette snug as a bug in a rug from 4:50 AM arrival to 7:00 AM departure at SAS or do I switch trains at SAS ?

Technically both answers are yes. You'll be allowed to stay on board as your car switches trains if you so choose. Or you can get off and watch from outside. Or you could walk around downtown if you really wanted to. So long as you're on the 422 (or 421) the choice is yours. If you're on anything else (or if you're transferring to or from SL East of SAS) then you are required to leave the train until the next boarding call.

Coming back west, it will be CL/SWC (which I rode 12/11) or CL/EB/CS I am 90% leaning towards the latter so any input about that LD combo would be appreciated. Is the Parlour car on the southbound and northbound CS as I may go CS/EB/CL north/eastbound depending on prices?

Stringing three LD trains together is going to make for a very long trip. I'm a pretty big passenger rail fan compared to most folks I know, but when I tried to string the TE to the CZ and the CS I eventually got bored with the constant movement in tiny compartments and ended up leaving the train in Sacramento. I summoned a rental car to the station with my phone and went back to explore some more of the Donner pass area by car. After a few days I returned the rental car and needed a flight back home. By then I was ready to ride again and managed to work in a Capital Corridor trip to SFO. On the flight back home I made a mental note to never chain more than two LD trains into a single continuous trip to avoid exhausting my level of interest.

 

[NAVYBLUE]

If I take the #422, does that mean I stay in my roomette snug as a bug in a rug from 4:50 AM arrival to 7:00 AM departure at SAS or do I switch trains at SAS ?

Technically both answers are yes. You'll be allowed to stay on board as your car switches trains if you so choose. Or you can get off and watch from outside. Or you could walk around downtown if you really wanted to. So long as you're on the 422 (or 421) the choice is yours. If you're on anything else (or if you're transferring to or from SL East of SAS) then you are required to leave the train until the next boarding call.

Coming back west, it will be CL/SWC (which I rode 12/11) or CL/EB/CS I am 90% leaning towards the latter so any input about that LD combo would be appreciated. Is the Parlour car on the southbound and northbound CS as I may go CS/EB/CL north/eastbound depending on prices?

Stringing three LD trains together is going to make for a very long trip. I'm a pretty big passenger rail fan compared to most folks I know, but when I tried to string the TE to the CZ and the CS I eventually got bored with the constant movement in tiny compartments and ended up leaving the train in Sacramento. I summoned a rental car to the station with my phone and went back to explore some more of the Donner pass area by car. After a few days I returned the rental car and needed a flight back home. By then I was ready to ride again and managed to work in a Capital Corridor trip to SFO. On the flight back home I made a mental note to never chain more than two LD trains into a single continuous trip to avoid exhausting my level of interest.

Thanks to everyone for the info. It is much appreciated.

T.S. For me the newness is still there. I was disappointed we had to get off on our SWC/CARD run, but there were grand kids awaiting. I could have easily added another 3 day/2 night LD run on top of that one. I spent a lot of time in the SSL sightseeing, checking a few things on the computer with my air card, but primarily engaged a lot of people in conversation for social purposes but to hopefully learn from them.

That, with sightseeing from the roomette, dining and the evitable conversations, 2-3 strolls through the whole consist for exercise and (8) hours sleep it seemed as if the days went by fast. I guess it is the Newbie thing and seeing the same things I saw by car through a train window and seeing things differently and in fact better from a train.

For me a train takes me back to a more calmer time in my life. Living very near the PRR tracks in Southwest Pennsylvania and seeing freight trains daily with coal on the way to the coke ovens (for steel) and a Great Uncle (former PRR Engineer) with stories. AMTRAK is my freight train substitute although I do not understand very much about the locomotives.

I get that same feeling when I hike the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

NAVYBLUE

 

[the_traveler]

The Parlour Cars Normally are on #11 and #14 Daily unless they are Bad Ordered that day (These Cars are over 60 years Old and High Mileage)YMMV

Very true! I've had trips on the CS which had either a CCC or SSL instead of the PPC.

Hey Jim - the above quote sounds like it applies to you too!