The following describes my dream rail trip, a trip of a lifetime for me. I took this 8-day, 7,800 mile, 15-state trip to use up some extra vacation time, attend a business meeting, and travel on some Amtrak routes I had never traveled on before (Sunset Limited San Antonio-LA, The Coast Starlight from San Francisco to Seattle, the Empire Builder route from Seattle through the Glacier mountains to Chicago, and Heartland Flyer from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth).
I did not experience any major problems. In fact, this was the first time in three trips that I didn't experience anything worth writing a letter of complaint about and receiving a $100 credit toward future Amtrak travel. The other two complaints involved a way overdue SW Chief at the last 70 miles of my 3,600 mile trip from Tucson, Ariz., to Lawrence, KS, via the Sunset Limited and the Texas Eagle. It was four hours late due to a train-pedestrian accident. I arrived home much later than planned. On a previous trip a year before, I arrived my destination later than expected as Amtrak didn't hold a connecting train as promised from a bus-situation. For a while, I was looking forward to those travel credits.
The worst part of the trip came before the rail trip began. I had made a reservation at the Best Western TradeWinds, located a mile or so east of the Oklahoma Amtrak station. Upon arrival, the motel didn't have my reservation, though it had rooms available. Then it took 10 minutes to enter the room as the safety metal clip that people use from inside the room had stuck. I believe I slept better every night on the train than I did in that hotel (except for the Eagle/Sunset connection in coach in San Antonio).
The next morning, before entering the restaurant for breakfast, I informed the front desk that I'd need a courtesy van ride to the station, and was giving them a half hour notice as I had been advised to when I made my reservation. The clerk said they didn't provide rides to that part of town, or only did such rides to charter groups. I explained my situation to another employee, which turned out to be the new clerk who came on board at 7 a.m. She told me the night crew often never has a clue. Things worked out. I got my ride and was able to keep my car at the hotel for my 8 day trip.
The Heartland Flyer conductor and crew were also staying at the same hotel, so I got to talk to the conductor, Hammon, in the restaurant before the trip. This HF crew is very friendly and helpful. In fact, I think it was the friendliest Amtrak train crew I have ever encountered. There's a local charm about this train that may be lost when or if the train is extended north to Kansas City, as it needs to be.
The HF scenery, in my opinion, was good, comparable to FW-SAS but better, due to the Arbuckle Mountains and the curves which follow the Washita River. There's good rippling streams here which make for some strong scenic photos. People who haven't ever visited Oklahoma will enjoy the hills and appreciate the fact that this isn't a flat boring prairie.
The HF would have arrived about 10-15 minutes early into Fort Worth except that it was held on a siding north of town awaiting a passing freight. Between trains at Fort Worth, I visited the Stockyards, a nice dining and entertainment area. The westbound Eagle arrived on time, and later would arrive San Antonio on time as well.
I had booked coach from FW to San Antonio, hoping to upgrade to economy sleeper on board. However, no space was available. I had essentially planned sleepers for every other night on board. This usually allowed for a more restful sleep the second night on the train. Plus sleeper space isn't as economical for one person. If my wife were accompanying me, it would have been sleeper all the way. This was an adventure, and I wouldn't mind coach on the shorter segments. Plus sleeper upgrades on board were still too expensive for Needles-LA, Spokane-Portland, which were both in the $90 range and did not include meals.
Thus I booked sleepers El Paso-LA, coach Needles-LA, LA-San Luis Obispo, sleeper SLO-Eugene, coach Eugene-Portland, Portland-Spokane, Spokane-Portland, Portland-Seattle, Seattle-Spokane, sleeper SPK-MPLS, coach MPLS-CHI, sleeper CHI-Little Rock, coach remainder.
Usually, coach isn't a problem for me, especially during off-peak travel periods such as February when chances are good passengers can also take the seat next to them. But that first night in San Antonio was different. It was very noisy. Even those in sleepers had a problem with all the switching noise. Every half hour or so another UP freight rolled by blaring its horns. On my previous trip on the Sunset-Eagle eastbound, I heard no switching sounds. I awoke to find the switching complete. This trip, no one could escape the noise.
The Sunset made good time throughout west Texas, stopping only once or twice for freights, and this was near El Paso, which seemed to take forever to get to the station. The train ran no more than 10-20 minutes behind at any given point. We arrived on time at LA on Sunday morning.
I was really impressed by the Sunset Limited's crew, especially in the dining car. The dining car staff have special Sunset Limited uniforms and have a pleasant, courteous customer service attitude. They worked hard to make sure passengers enjoyed their experience in the dining car.
You could tell they enjoyed their jobs. Amtrak needs more dedicated employees like the ones I met in the dining car.
I planned this route primarily because, at the time, among passenger rail supporters, there had been rumors that Amtrak was considering rerouting the Orlando- Los Angeles train from its current New Orleans-Houston- San Antonio-El Paso- L.A. route. The train would detour to Dallas and Fort Worth from Houston, and thus serve the larger west Texas cities of Midland, Odessa and Abilene, thus ending the Houston-San Antonio- El Paso route. In March, this rumor was confirmed. The new route will add more population and serve Texas at more reasonable travel hours.
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This route has good scenic highlights, including the Pecos River bridge, a massive structure, and the Amistad Reservoir, which continues for miles alongside the train. The west Texas scenery is rugged, with canyons, sand and sagebrush.
I slept well overnight in the sleeping compartment from Tucson to L.A. I awoke an hour earlier than expected as I had forgotten to set my watch to Pacific time. I missed most of the eastern California desert as this was all in darkness at this time of year. Saw a lot of suburbs of Orange County and L.A., though. At LA, I heard an announcement that the Southwest Chief was arriving - a half hour earlier than scheduled. I took this as a good sign and hoped this would be the case on Tuesday morning when I would take the SW Chief from Needles to LA to catch the northbound Coast Starlight. I didn't want to be bused from San Bernardino to Santa Barbara, which sometimes happens to passengers connecting to the Coast Starlight. I didn't want to miss the spectacular ocean scenery which the train follows along the coast.
I enjoyed breakfast at Phillipe's, a charming American-type restaurant about a block-and-a-half northwest of the station. Then caught the Amtrak thruway Greyhound bus from LA to Las Vegas. The bus arrived and left on time. I'm glad I took the free bus and decided against renting a car and driving to Vegas for the business meeting.
After the business concluded in Vegas, I caught the thruway van from the airport to Needles, California. Before, throughout the day, I called Amtrak to check on the train's status. I could have ridden an overnight bus to LA, and then been guaranteed to see the scenery I wanted to see. Still the thought of spending all night on a bus is not comforting.
The bus leaves the airport at 9:45 p.m. and arrives Needles after midnight. Unfortunately, we're told both westbound and eastbound Southwest Chiefs are running late. Passengers wait in a large room in the corner of a downtown building, across the street from the BNSF yards and work area. An old Harvey House is caddy-corner to the Amtrak area. The old building needs renovation. It must have been grand in its time. Now only NO TRESPASSING signs are posted on the building.
The eastbound SW Chief arrives on time. The westbound SW Chief arrives nearly two hours late. The conductor assures me we will make-up time and arrive on-time at LA. I make myself comfortable in the coach seat and sleep soundly until San Bernardino, where conversation with fellow coach mates awaken me. One woman is upset because freeway traffic is overtaking the train. I tell her to stop complaining because the train is on time and will arrive as scheduled.
Breakfast was nothing to write home about. Usually, breakfast and dinners are my favorite meals, and are a highlight for me. I don't order the railroad french toast, since I had it the other day in a hotel. I regret the decision. The eggs, grits and toast are passable, but nothing to get excited about. The over-easy eggs are especially weak.
The Coast Starlight leaves LA on time. Some
people in my coach aren't
pleased that the attendant is assigning
