I walked out to the train and boarded the California Sleeping Car taking my stuff up to room 6 {Yes, it was the same room on the same car}. It would be the exact same train set minus the engines which were not on the train yet. A minute later, the same smell problem started again. During the two days that my train sat here, no one bothered to fix the problem that was causing the smell. I knew we would not have one of engines when I saw P42DC 835 which had led our train east now on the Sunset Limited going to Florida this morning.
The Sunset Limited Train 2 sits next to Train 1 with no power.
That train departed for Florida most likely Sanford at 9:16 AM {10:30 PM}. I waved them good bye and could only wish them luck as they departed NOUPT.
At 11:36 AM our power being P42DC 23 and 24 backed onto the point of Train 1 the Sunset Limited. Passengers were loaded and with Rick my sleeping car attendant again we departed NOUPT on time at 11:55 AM.
Our westbound Sunset Limited crossed the Huey Long Bridge across the mighty Mississippi River. Off the bridge at Avondale, we came to a stop for some minor track work. On the move again we ran to Raceland and stopped to get track authority to continue west.
We crossed one of the many bayous on our route in Louisiana this afternoon.
Where there are not bayous there are miles upon miles of fields. At Schriever we picked up one coach passenger there and departed there at 1:45 PM {1:24 PM}. As we neared New Iberia we were heading straight into the storm due into New Orleans later today. To combat the smell problem with this sleeping car when the smell comes you open the door, let the breeze blew hard into your room, until the room is smell free then close the door until the next time.
The Sunset Limited did its street running as we came into New Iberia. We departed New Iberia at 3:08 PM {2:50 PM}. The heavy rain started at the Lafayette Airport and it really came down that no one got off for the fresh air stop there. I was planning on getting a picture of the train here but that idea was washed away by the pouring rain. We departed a very wet Lafayette at 3:50 PM {3:37 PM}. The Sunset passed by the edge of the very busy BNSF Lafayette yard.
At the west end as the crew changed I took a picture of the BNSF empty grain train ready to head west. We departed Lafayette Yard at 4:10 PM. I listened to the CD of Two River Junction the excellent music from the melodrama in Kamloops on the Rocky Mountaineer Trips. The power line came down on the highway about a half mile to the north so people you are heading east had to detour via a crossing our train is blocking due to a red signal. The reason for our delay here was the UP 5045 West getting out of the way at Crowley, LA. I talked to our new conductor and told him of the smell problem. At first he did not believe me but my other passengers backed me up until lo and behold the smell happened and he became a believer. I asked him to call to make sure this got taken care of in Los Angeles. We departed Lake Charles at 5:55 PM {5:05 PM}. I had a 5:30 dinner reservation and ate off Menu 4. I enjoyed a T-Bone and sundae with a man going to Houston to see his brother he has not seen in 35 years. A mother and daughter going from Chicago to Maricopa rounded out our table group. During dinner we crossed into Texas. After dinner it was the "Eyes of Alice Cooper". It became stop and go before it was announced that we were following freight trains and once they got out of our way we would head west. Since we were now in true freight train mode {We will get there when we get there!} I called it a night in the UP void east of Beaumont. The next morning Rick told me we left Houston at 12:30 AM {9:18 PM}.
12/23/2004 Awakening miles east of San Antonio, I enjoyed a French Toast and then a fantastic shower. At the end of my meal we passed the Rudolph Air force Base before we pulled into the Kirby refueling facility to top off our units. I went to the lounge car while Rick made up my room and from out of the window I could see units from the UP, CSX 7722, Rio Grande patched SD-40T-2 8599, BNSF and a visitor from north of the border CP Rail SD-40-2 6060. We left Kirby refueling at 7:48 AM. Ten minutes out of the San Antonio depot more freight train interference nailed us. The conductor announced that passengers for the northbound Texas Eagle would be bused to catch their train and that is was also only 29 degrees at the San Antonio Amtrak station so bundle up. We pulled by the station then backed into San Antonio to couple up to the two through cars from the Texas Eagle: Coach 34072 and sleeper 32057.
I was off the train for a picture before returning to the warmth of my train. We pulled out of San Antonio at 9:06 AM {3:40 AM}. We got stopped right off the bat by EMDX 2822 East. On the move again we made it to Alamo Jct for more freight train interference. We left Alamo Jct at 9:35 AM and headed west with me in my room just sitting back, drinking Coca-Colas, listening to good music and watching the world pass by outside my window.
Of course you always have the various deer blinds to look at on the way to Del Rio as we passed through the Anacacho
Mountains. After passing a freight with a NS and FURX units at Obi we paused at a red signal before continued on our
way slowly across a broken rail a mile west of MP 320. BNSF 4845 East was at Odlaw in the siding where we returned
to track speed. A slow order at Pinto delayed our train just a bit more. We went by Laughlin Air Force Base as we closed
in on Del Rio where I took a fresh air break. The Sunset left Del Rio at 12:50 PM {6:35 AM}.
A few minutes west of Del Rio, you get a great view of the Rio Grande River and Mexico beyond.
Next came the Amistad Dam, a joint USA/Mexico project.
Behind the dam is the Amistad Reservoir. The Sunset Limited then stopped at Feely as the crew had to inspect our train because something set off a trackside detector.
About twenty minutes further west, our train crossed the Pecos River High Bridge, the highest railroad bridge in the United States. Later, I went to the lounge car to escape the smell in our car for awhile. I returned to my room for some Jeff Beck.
The Sunset Limited crossed one of the many dry washes just east of Sanderson. We went through Sanderson, a flag stop, at 3:27 PM {9:10 AM}. It was a cool cloudy afternoon as the train headed up the grade to Alpine. Our train passed through Marathon at 4:30 PM. I have been enjoying all of the green signals all afternoon. We departed Alpine at 5:14 PM {11:24 AM} and with that we were back on Mountain Time.
The Sunset Limited climbed Paisano Pass, the highest point on the entire Sunset Route. It was twilight as the train passed through Mafra with its famous "Ghost Lights". At 5 PM it was dinner time on the Sunset Limited. For this meal I chose Short Ribs for a change of pace along with a sundae. I had dinner with a couple from "The Villages" near Lady Lake, Fl. traveling to Huntington Beach. Darkness took full hold but in a few miles the ground outside turned white. I guess I get a pre White Christmas east of El Paso. After a few more hours of freight train interference, I called it a night at the start of all this but woke up with the train sitting in El Paso. The scene out the window looked more like Havre on the Empire Builder than El Paso on the Sunset Route. We left El Paso at 10:07 PM {3:25 PM} and while I slept we traveled to Tucson arriving there at 2:45 AM.
12/24/2004 Christmas Eve began with an extended stay in Tucson as they had to figure out how to cut out Superliner Coach 34022 which had flat wheels. We also had to wait for our wonderful Los Angeles train base crew to arrive from Maricopa. We left the station in Tucson finally at 6:05 AM {9:57 PM} and pulled west about a mile to CP Stockham. Here the 34022 was set out and attached to a rear of a freight going into the yard at Tucson. Our crew was also nice enough to put the FRED {freight rear end device} on the rear coupler of the 34022. We departed CP Stockham once our train was put together at 7:31 AM. With the power being down during the entire set out move the dining car could not serve breakfast but myself and other smart passengers still used the shower during this latest delay. I enjoyed my French Toast breakfast with the nice couple going to San Diego in Room 4 behind me as Conductor John and AC Fred stopped by my table to say hello. We made our way to Maricopa for another four station stop as this platform is extremely small. We departed Maricopa at 8:42 AM {11:23 PM}.
Further west Saguaro Cactus as we neared Shawmut.
The Sunset Limited then sped through Gila Bend and beyond out into the Sonoran Desert.
Later off in the distance I saw the old truss bridge on the former Phoenix Line where we did a runby with the Southem Pacific 4449 back in 1984 on the westbound Louisiana World Fair Daylight.
A few minutes later, the Sunset Limited passed through the Gila River Narrows. After a really nice and cool fresh air break in Yuma, the Sunset Limited departed there at 11:13 AM {2:09 AM}.
The Sunset Limited crossed the Colorado River entered California and returned me to the Pacific Time Zone. UP 4745 East was tucked away in the siding at Dunes. We got a red signal at the next intermediate signal which meant we were following something. The Sunset got upgraded to a yellow before we had to stop at the next red signal number 7149 before it changed yellow. The Glamis Sand Dunes were to the west and the Chocolate Mountains were to the east. At Cactus we flew by the CSX ? West in the siding. CSX number boards are really hard to read on the fly.
The Glamis Sand Dunes where in the Return of the Jedi, Jabba the Hutt barge scenes flying over the sand dunes were filmed. Sometimes those old poles just get in the way! The sidings at Clyde, Glamis and Acolita were all empty but when we got to Regina the UP 4402 East was waiting. The train next passed the wreck site of the UP head on about ten days ago at the east switch of Iris. There was another eastbound with a pair of units from the NS and CSX on it. At Niland the UP 9812 West was waiting for us to pass. From here to just before Mecca we would be following the Salton Sea. UP 2405 East was sitting in the siding at Wister.
We ran along Salton Sea beyond Highway CA 111 as our train continued west. Ferrum came and went with the old rails of the Eagle Mountain Railroad still there. The Sunset headed northwest through the Cochella Valley passing through Mecca, Thermal and Indio. I went to the dining car for lunch for the first time on the whole trip having an Angus Beef Burger and a sundae. At Palm Springs all Coast Starlight passengers for points north of Salinas and those San Joaquin passengers were bused to Bakersfield to complete their trip.
At 12:45 PM {3:22 AM} we left Palm Spring through the windmill fields at the base of Beaumont Hill. Seeing all the new double track that the UP has put in is really impressive.
San Timiteo Canyon was a beautiful green from all of the Fall rains that we have had in Southern California. For the first time in my life, I saw the Arrowhead on the San Bernardino Mountains as we descended into the San Bernardino Valley. No delays were to be had at Colton Crossing or West Colton Yard but we made a special stop across from the yard office to drop off 17 deadheading UP employees. The Sunset went non-stop to Ontario leaving there at 2:15 PM {4:53 AM} and on this perfectly clear afternoon headed west to Pomona departing there at 2:27 PM {5:03 AM}. I listened to the Jethro Tull Christmas Album as the train closed in on Los Angeles. The Sunset Limited went into Los Angeles via San Gabriel not the Metrolink Line that we came east on. We stopped at the LA Shops to drop off the last two deadheading UP employees. The Sunset Limited crossed the Los Angeles River and rolled into LAUPT ending its journey at 3:18 PM {6:40 AM} or 8 hours and 38 minutes late. A special thanks to all the fantastic crew employees on the Sunset Limited. The great company, excellent food they provided plus all of their fantastic service they provided me on this unique Amtrak adventure.
Surfliner 582 12/24/2004Train 582 was sitting on the platform across from where my Sunset Limited had arrived. I enjoyed the warm California sunshine before boarding took place for my trip back to Santa Ana. This Surfliner had Cab Car 6907, Superliner coaches 31021 and 34017, Surfliner coach 6452 Mission Beach, Coach/Cafe 6351, Pacific Business Class 6400 and F69PHI 460 pushing the train to San Diego. 582 departed LAUPT on time and I was very happy to be on my final train ride home. The train made a quick trip to Fullerton, followed by Anaheim and then Santa Ana. I stepped off the train exactly one week to the minute that I had started this trip very interesting Amtrak adventure last Friday. Remember "Every Trip is an Adventure!" My mother was there waiting to take me home ending yet another Amtrak trip!
