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An Amtrak Hot Deal Sale to Albuquerque! 9/30-10/2/2004

Since the spring, Amtrak revised its website, dropping the Rail Sale feature but revamped it to Hot Deals and promoted with "Every week, www.amtrak.com offers deep discounts on selected train routes, only when you buy on-line. Save up to 90 percent off the regular rail fare!"

Well, it was time for me to ride another long-distance train, so on September 22, 2004 after I returned from a round trip to Solana Beach, I went to the new and improved Amtrak website and found it was easier to use than before, so purchased my first "Hot Deal" on the Southwest Chief to and from Albuquerque. I picked up the tickets at Santa Ana and the next day, paid for my December trip on the Sunset Limited then worked for another week at McArthur Fundamental Intermediate before the day of my journey arrived.

After a hard day at work and coaching football, I went home to pack then after a fantastic home-cooked steak dinner, drove to the Santa Ana Amtrak station and following a brief visit with Marty, my wonderful night-time Amtrak agent, made my way out to the tracks. A few minutes later, my train arrived and I boarded for Los Angeles Union Station. Other than a wait at Santa Fe Springs for a BNSF freight to clear, we ran on time.

I walked from Track 10 to Track 12 and recorded our train's pre-departure consist of P42DCs 48, 179 and 59, baggage 1738, transition 39042, sleepers 32009 and 32039, diner 38814, lounge 33028 and coaches 34015, 34028 and 31000. I boarded 34028, choosing seat 43 with a large window. The coaches were sold out so I, David who was going to Lamy, was my seatmate. We departed on time as we pulled forward then reversed onto our two Express Cars 71086 and 71215 with US Mail. Since Amtrak was exiting the mail and express business, I wondered if this trip would be my final ride on a train with these cars?

David and I had a really nice conversation to Fullerton and I learnt that he was a set designer and was currently working on a fall replacement show. After the fresh air stop there, David and I continued chatting through Santa Ana Canyon and out into the Inland Empire to Riverside and San Bernardino. I felt really tired as we climbed Cajon Pass so called it a night and had a pretty decent sleep as the Southwest Chief made its way to Barstow before crossing the Mojave Desert into Arizona.

10/1/2004 Daybreak found me awakening just before we arrived on time at Flagstaff and it was pre-dawn as I pointed out Canyon Diablo to the passengers waiting for breakfast. I enjoyed French Toast and sausage with a couple from Ojai going to Trinidad, Colorado and a man going to Santa Fe. I learned more about horse racing than I ever wanted to know during this mea then enjoyed some music along with some orange juice as the Southwest Chief rolled into New Mexico, continuing on time to Gallup, where I enjoyed the vistas east of there until Grants.

I napped until the line split at Suwanee and enjoyed our trek down the south main track, passing two eastbound BNSF freights. BNSF is an extremely busy railroad these days. When the tracks came back together, there were two more westbound BNSF freights waiting then at Dalies, another westbound BNSF freight was waiting as we diverged from the ainline to Albuquerque, where we ran to Isleta, crossed the Rio Grande River and arrived at Albuquerque thirty minutes early.

I paid to store my bag at the station then walked over to Century Theater to watch "The Forgotten" which was an excellent suspense film. With more time to spare since being thirty minutes early allowed me to see that first film, I then watched "Shark Tale" and returned to the station to reclaim my bag as the westbound Southwest Chief arrived twenty minutes early.

After I boarded coach 34114 and chose seat 51, I detrained to acquire the consist. This version of the Southwest Chief was a little more interesting than the westbound that had brought me here. It had P42DCs 207, 99 and 82 with F59PH 450, dead-heading Horizon coach 54532, baggage 1852, transition 39046, sleepers 32016 and 32110, diner 38055, lounge 33027, coaches 31527, 34056 and 34114, Express Cars 71243, 71298, 711129, ExpressTrak 74055 and Express 71284. We departed on time and I walked to the dining car and acquired a 5:30 PM dinner reservation then went to the lounge car to enjoy the scenery back to Dalies with a railfan and female friend. They called the 5:30's into the dining car and I enjoyed a New York strip and ice cream sundae. My waiter was Paul, a former Lounge Service Attendant on the old San Diegan trains.

I enjoyed the scenery west to Gallup where a tired Chris called it a night.

10/2/2004 Our on-time departures continued through the night and at Barstow, we sat for quite a while waiting for our scheduled departure then climbed Cajon Pass in the darkness and at 5:00 AM, I went into the dining car for a breakfast of French Toast and sausage as we descended into San Bernardino. We stopped a few minutes later at Riverside before making our pre-dawn sprint through Santa Ana Canyon and I decided to detrain at Fullerton and wait an hour there for Pacific Surfliner 564 instead of going all the way to Los Angles to wait for Pacific Surfliner 566 back to Santa Ana.

We arrived on time at Fullerton and the Southwest Chief then arrived at LAUPT at 7:21 AM, 59 minutes early. After almost an hour wait with no trains, Pacific Surfliner 566 arrived and I boarded for the two-stop trip home to Santa Ana, ending another great, but short, Amtrak adventure.

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