I have to go to Yuma Az in Mar 08 . I am thinking about a sleeper on the Texas Eagle. Idont know anything about it as far as on time performance? consists? Service? I will leave from Chi the first week of March. After reading some of the posts lately on Amtraks poor customer service I wonder if I would be better off just flying!! I have rode the CZ and SWC in the past andhad great trips on both!!
I love to ride the rails and I think it is one of the best kept secrets as far as the Best way to see this great country of ours!!!
Any info on the Texas Eagle would be very helpful.
the texas eagle was our 'home train' before we moved from austin to the northeast a few months ago, so i'd be happy to share my thoughts with you on rail vs air on this route. you would book a coach seat or sleeper compartment on #421 which is the through coach and sleeper cars on #21 traveling from chicago to san antonio. you leave chicago in the early afternoon, get to st. louis that evening, travel overnight through missouri and arkansas and awake in texas the early morning of day two. from there you'll travel all day through texas plains, hitting san antonio that evening. the through coach and sleeper stay in san antonio overnight and is tacked on to the sunset limited early the next morning for your twenty-four hour run to yuma.
time-keeping on this route is very, very poor. although the sunset limited portion (from san antonio to los angeles) had been doing well -- or at least better than previous years -- for much of the first half of 2007, it is now getting into los angeles very late indeed. the chances of an on-time arrival into yuma are virtually nil. that having been said, if it did arrive on-time, you'd be detraining shortly after 4AM so maybe a little lateness isn't such a bad thing here.
on the service front, it is rather inconsistent on these runs. we've had excellent dining car crews and we've had sleeper attendants which spent nearly the entire trip hanging out in the diner with other crew members talking amongst themselves for two days. most people get very bent out of shape about the on-board service they receive on these trains, especially in the sleepers. well, that's why amtrak has quit referring to the sleepers as 'first-class' service -- because it rarely is. nonetheless with the through sleeper you stand a fairly good chance of getting a refurbished car complete with wood-grain panels and newer upholstry. i'd say nearly a 50/50 chance based on our experience. not sure why, but we tend to get lucky on that score more often than one would expect. the consist out of chicago will be a transition sleeper, diner, lounge, coach, coach-baggage, through coach (to #1), and the through sleeper is on the end.
if you book on #421 all the way to yuma, you'll be in the rear of the train. some feel that the ride is bit more jostling back there, although i've never really noticed much of a difference. we usually book the rear sleeper even if detraining in texas as up front you are right next to the locomotive's blaring horn. through the night. plus you get a great rear view. you can book on #21 going south and then transfer to #1 in san antonio to save a little money, but i wouldn't recommend it unless you are on a tight budget. stepping off a comfortable train in the early evening to spend the night around a train station is not my idea of a good time. and while they do transfer the cars while you are sleeping to the westbound sunset in the early morning hours, it has rarely woken us.
there is another option, however. you can book chicago to los angeles aboard the southwest chief and then take the eastbound sunset limited from LA to yuma. you'd have to book it as a multi-city trip, so the connection is not guaranteed; but the chief's OTP is usually quite good and you'd have a six-hour window between the two trains in LA. i cannot recall the last time #3 came into LA late enough as to cause you problems with the connection. others on the board can tell you if this is a reasonable option or not. we've always taken the eagle, but that's because we didn't need to leave from chicago.
either way you'll be spending nearly four days on board the trains. the scenery isn't as fantastic as the southwest chief's on the eagle/sunset, but there are some great desert views along the sunset limited portion of the route, including the bridge over the pecos. crossing the mississippi at st. louis is also superb. the texas eagle isn't the most scenic, but it is very historic. if you need to get there quickly, just go ahead and fly. it will end up being substantially cheaper compared with sleeper car service from chicago to yuma. but if you have the time, inclination, and money, it is a worthwhile trip. just don't expect to be waited on 'hand and foot' and you should be fine.
-- eliyahu
waterbury, ct
