Sunset Limited - Lake Houston

Hello Amtrackers;

When we were on our Loxton 2017 Amtrak winter vacation, for one of our segments, we caught the SUNSET LIMITED train between Houston and New Orleans.

Come departure time from Houston, the train reversed out of Houston about 1 mile or so, and then took a branch line.

After about half an hour, the conductor announced that we were crossing Lake Houston in 2 minutes time so we went to the sightseer lounge car. The sight was simply amazing - as the train appeared to be floating on the water as we raced across the almost mile long trestle which took us less than 2 minute to cross.

After we returned home, i have googled up Amtrak route maps and route guides and none of them show the sunset limited route crossing lake Houston so it must be unusual however the conductor announced it just like any other scenic highlight such a the Huey P Long Bridge in New Orleans.

I would like to know if this routing over the scenic lake Houston trestle is normal for the Sunset Limited? or did i just happen to experience some rather lucky rare mileage?

I don't remember Lake Houston which is NE of Houston. I thought SL followed the track that sorta parallels I10 and US90 to Beaumont

It's normal Eastbound now. UP is using directional running between Houston and New Orleans, and the eastbound traffic uses the more northerly route.

See http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/65166-surprise-detour/

So since when has the Amtrak Sunset Limited crossing lake Houston been routine? It must be only recently?

JoeBas said:

It's normal Eastbound now. UP is using directional running between Houston and New Orleans, and the eastbound traffic uses the more northerly route.

See http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/65166-surprise-detour/

Click to expand...

That means that there are two different station locations in places like Lake Charles?

No, the directional running re-joins together before the Beaumont Station.

JoeBas said:

It's normal Eastbound now. UP is using directional running between Houston and New Orleans

Click to expand...

And, for the record, BNSF owns the line from Iowa Junction, between Beaumont and Lafayette, to West Bridge Junction in New Orleans.

sechs said:

JoeBas said:

It's normal Eastbound now. UP is using directional running between Houston and New Orleans

Click to expand...

And, for the record, BNSF owns the line from Iowa Junction, between Beaumont and Lafayette, to West Bridge Junction in New Orleans.

Click to expand...

Ah. Had me wondering. You did say between Houston and New Orleans.

Heath Loxton said:

Hello Amtrackers;

When we were on our Loxton 2017 Amtrak winter vacation, for one of our segments, we caught the SUNSET LIMITED train between Houston and New Orleans.

Come departure time from Houston, the train reversed out of Houston about 1 mile or so, and then took a branch line.

After about half an hour, the conductor announced that we were crossing Lake Houston in 2 minutes time so we went to the sightseer lounge car. The sight was simply amazing - as the train appeared to be floating on the water as we raced across the almost mile long trestle which took us less than 2 minute to cross.

[...]I would like to know if this routing over the scenic lake Houston trestle is normal for the Sunset Limited? or did i just happen to experience some rather lucky rare mileage?

Click to expand...

Just a couple of shots from our Houston-New Orleans leg on the Sunset Limited last September for "Railfan Madness Part II":

Crossing Lake Houston:



Mom and Dad in the Sightseer Lounge just after we finished crossing the lake:



Our (day trip) Bedroom:



Crossing the Atchafalaya River in Morgan City, LA at sunset:



Okay, so I admit some of those pics are "off topic". Still, I liked them.

Palmetto said:

sechs said:

JoeBas said:

It's normal Eastbound now. UP is using directional running between Houston and New Orleans

Click to expand...

And, for the record, BNSF owns the line from Iowa Junction, between Beaumont and Lafayette, to West Bridge Junction in New Orleans.

Click to expand...

Ah. Had me wondering. You did say between Houston and New Orleans.

Click to expand...

I did, mea culpa, mea culpa.

But if we're being pedantic, I did say that UP was running directionally between the two. I just didn't say anything about BNSF...

JoeBas said:

Palmetto said:

sechs said:

JoeBas said:

It's normal Eastbound now. UP is using directional running between Houston and New Orleans

Click to expand...

And, for the record, BNSF owns the line from Iowa Junction, between Beaumont and Lafayette, to West Bridge Junction in New Orleans.

Click to expand...

Ah. Had me wondering. You did say between Houston and New Orleans.

Click to expand...

I did, mea culpa, mea culpa.

But if we're being pedantic, I did say that UP was running directionally between the two. I just didn't say anything about BNSF...

Click to expand...

There's only one line between Beaumont and New Orleans... BNSF is now just in possession of the greater portion of it.

sechs said:

There's only one line between Beaumont and New Orleans... BNSF is now just in possession of the greater portion of it.

Click to expand...

Actually, there is a second line. It hasn't seen passenger service since the 1960s, but the old Missouri Pacific line from Beaumont to New Orleans via Opelousas and Baton Rouge is still in place according to the map below. KCS now owns the western approach into Beaumont, but the line itself still appears to be usable. Anyone else think that Baton Rouge could generate more traffic than Lafayette and Lake Charles?

I reckon it would be pretty scary crossing Lake Houston by train during a storm - the track is so low to the water.

ehbowen said:

Heath Loxton said:

Hello Amtrackers;

When we were on our Loxton 2017 Amtrak winter vacation, for one of our segments, we caught the SUNSET LIMITED train between Houston and New Orleans.

Come departure time from Houston, the train reversed out of Houston about 1 mile or so, and then took a branch line.

After about half an hour, the conductor announced that we were crossing Lake Houston in 2 minutes time so we went to the sightseer lounge car. The sight was simply amazing - as the train appeared to be floating on the water as we raced across the almost mile long trestle which took us less than 2 minute to cross.

[...]I would like to know if this routing over the scenic lake Houston trestle is normal for the Sunset Limited? or did i just happen to experience some rather lucky rare mileage?

Click to expand...

Just a couple of shots from our Houston-New Orleans leg on the Sunset Limited last September for "Railfan Madness Part II":

Crossing Lake Houston:

Lake Houston.jpg

Mom and Dad in the Sightseer Lounge just after we finished crossing the lake:

Sightseer.jpg

Our (day trip) Bedroom:

Bedroom.jpg

Crossing the Atchafalaya River in Morgan City, LA at sunset:

Atchafalaya.jpg

Okay, so I admit some of those pics are "off topic". Still, I liked them.

Click to expand...

Your mom & dad look like teenagers. Eyes on phones, not the scenery.

AmtrakBlue said:

Your mom & dad look like teenagers. Eyes on phones, not the scenery.

Click to expand...

I'll have to forward that post to Mom and Dad. Well, at least the first half of it ....

ehbowen said:

AmtrakBlue said:

Your mom & dad look like teenagers. Eyes on phones, not the scenery.

Click to expand...

I'll have to forward that post to Mom and Dad. Well, at least the first half of it ....

Click to expand...

:giggle:

ehbowen said:

sechs said:

There's only one line between Beaumont and New Orleans... BNSF is now just in possession of the greater portion of it.

Click to expand...

Actually, there is a second line. It hasn't seen passenger service since the 1960s, but the old Missouri Pacific line from Beaumont to New Orleans via Opelousas and Baton Rouge is still in place according to the map below. KCS now owns the western approach into Beaumont, but the line itself still appears to be usable. Anyone else think that Baton Rouge could generate more traffic than Lafayette and Lake Charles?

Click to expand...

Actually, that's two lines that meet in Baton Rouge, not one.

The Sunset Route runs directly between the two cities.

sechs said:

Actually, that's two lines that meet in Baton Rouge, not one.

The Sunset Route runs directly between the two cities.

Click to expand...

There are two lines from New Orleans to Beaumont. One line runs via Baton Rouge and Opelousas, the other runs via Lafayette and Lake Charles. The latter is the Sunset Route; it's the heavy east-west line in purple at the bottom of the map.

There are two lines from New Orleans to Baton Rouge (actually, it looks like there may be three, but the last is distinctly of tertiary importance). One (in red) is owned by Union Pacific and formerly by Missouri Pacific; it was the line which continued on west to Opelousas and Beaumont while MoPac still served that passenger market. The other, in green, has been owned by Kansas City Southern ever since it acquired the former Louisiana & Arkansas during the Depression years.

The Sunset Route is the farthest line to the south and it has never run between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

ehbowen said:

There are two lines from New Orleans to Baton Rouge (actually, it looks like there may be three, but the last is distinctly of tertiary importance). One (in red) is owned by Union Pacific and formerly by Missouri Pacific; it was the line which continued on west to Opelousas and Beaumont while MoPac still served that passenger market. The other, in green, has been owned by Kansas City Southern ever since it acquired the former Louisiana & Arkansas during the Depression years.

Click to expand...

The third's the CN line (before that, Illinois Central, through its subisidiary the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley). It is actually quite important historically; I strongly suspect it was the first route from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.
I don't have the history of what order things were built in available without a lot of research. It looks like the first line into New Orleans ran around the lake, and the first one which connected to anything else is the one the City of New Orleans still uses. That was it for New Orleans service in 1839. The strange route west out of New Orleans which is currently taken by the Sunset Limited came next but only got as far as the Atchafalaya River by 1861. By 1866, there is finally a railroad line in Baton Rouge -- heading west only.

The next reference map I can find easily is 1882. And now we have gone from zero Baton Rouge-New Orleans lines to two lines: the IC system line (now CN) on the east shore, and the future T&P line (later MP, now UP) on the west shore. The L&A / KCS line had not been built yet.

I'm going to make an educated guess that the IC / CN line is actually the oldest of the three. It follows a lot of the the curves of the river, which was a practice of earlier railroads, avoided later. (The newest of the three lines, the KCS line, is the straightest and therefore the one being eyed for commuter rail service.)