TexasEagle/Sunset Limited Connections in SAS

[Bob Dylan]

For all new riders planning to ride the TE/SSL and connnect in SA,Tx.

Train # 21/TE runs from Chicago to San Antonio daily in conjunction with

#421/TE for LAX only 3 days a week. If you have not paid for tain 421 and plan to

continue on West on SSL #1 you will have to get off the train and wait about 5-6hours to reboard

SSL#1.The station in SAS is not in the best part of town, also it is small and crowded on

the nights 421 comes in with 21. If you are in sleeper the fare is very much higher(!!!!!!),

if in coach it also is higher but no more if you are on a Rail Pass.There is not enough time to

really go into town to see the Alamo,Riverwalk etc except in a Taxi which is also pricey even

though it isnt that far away!The drivers are reluctant to take short trips @ the station, just like airports!

The trains have been runnn ing Early since the shutdown, sometimes 1-2 hrs. early on arrival!

The agents here are not very friendly either, last time I was there I thought I was back in New York

or Boston!!!(come on yankees, smile!!!!)I suggest the SWC from Chicago to LA, the scenery is better

and for sure there are no connnection hassles!Hope this is the right place for this, Im new @this!!!!

Thanks for the ideas/help/comments etc. Illhare my trips when I get the han g of this!!! Jim

 

[the_traveler]

If you are booked on train #421 straight thru (NOT #421 to SAS and #1 from SAS) or #422 straight thru (NOT #2 to SAS and #422 from SAS), you get to stay on the train and sleep all night if you want! Otherwise, you have to wait to reboard just before departure. There is only 1 thru sleeper and 1 thru coach - and these are switched to the connecting train. If you do not book #421 or #422 straight thru, your car is not switched!

 

[micmac99]

If you are booked on train #421 straight thru (NOT #421 to SAS and #1 from SAS) or #422 straight thru (NOT #2 to SAS and #422 from SAS), you get to stay on the train and sleep all night if you want! Otherwise, you have to wait to reboard just before departure. There is only 1 thru sleeper and 1 thru coach - and these are switched to the connecting train. If you do not book #421 or #422 straight thru, your car is not switched!

The 421/422 way is how I get from Phoenix (by way of Tucson) to Austin. The first time I made the trip, the sole TE thru coach was overbooked, so I had to sit in the SL portion, deboard in SAS, wait all night in that tiny lounge trying not to watch Conan O'Brien, not be able to get a hotel room in downtown SAS, of which there are a LOT, because I didn't, of course, anticipate the train being overbooked, and reboard that morning for the short leg into Austin. My second trip, this past March, was smoother. I stayed on board the train most of the time except for (on the inbound to Austin) getting off and walking to a Denny's about 2 blks from the Riverwalk...several other Amtrak pax did this as well, and that Denny's was PACKED. I took my ticket with me and made note of the car number, and made sure to do this fairly soon after the train pulled in, because at about 2 am, the SL portion decoupled from the TE portion and went on its way.

BTW, Amtrak national CS gave me discounts on my next two TE trips (one taken in March and my new one 2 weeks from tonight) as a direct and indirect result of the first fiasco.

My concern now...I bought the tix for this upcoming trip in March...for travel in mid-August...hopefully the thru car will not be oversold...and I reserved the LOWER LEVEL, which is cool but they try to reserve it for disabled pax.