Could you be talking about these shady characters?The most "undesirable characters" that you'll see at LAUT are members of "the AU Gang"!(Many are up to no good, they just keep riding trains!
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Opinions on Los Angeles Union Station (LAX)?
- Thread starter Blackshirt Husker
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Aloha
Been there many times and enjoyed it very much. One time when I was there I saw the Chinese New Year parade just 1/4 mile or so away. Has a touch of Mexico (Olvera St) if you want that. Plus just a subway stop or two from some other nice things in downtown LA. I have always felt safe there and I have been there w/ little kids.
Dan
Dan
AKA
OBS Chief
I concur with all of the favorable replys. Its our favorite amtrak station. We went through in nov.on the way to San Francisco. The two hour lay over from the SWC was relaxing. A good cup of coffee in the court yard while people watching. Would loved to have seen it in the 40s & 50s.
We were there this past summer and spent quite a few hours there especially when we first arrived there. Our daughter and friend came by plane and it was delayed two times and consequently it was several hours late. We decided to hang around the area instead of going to the airport (and then to our cruise destination). I sat in the courtyard and read a book, watch the people go by (yes there was a beggar but we just said no and he left us alone), walked around the area and ate. It was really quite a pretty area. Now if you walk too far out the area, it starts to get a little shabby. There are a couple small museums also across the street and to the left. Don't worry. It is pretty.
Any station with seating like this can't be too bad.
Honestly, this is one of the grand old stations. I've enjoyed it - and felt safe -
every time I've been through it.
Honestly, this is one of the grand old stations. I've enjoyed it - and felt safe -
every time I've been through it.
I'm pretty sure that Needles, California, is much higher up on that list than Los Angeles.
Blackshirt Husker
Service Attendant
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All of your posts have been unbelievably helpful--I knew that there had to be a different side of the story. I showed this thread to the two co-workers--one is standing by her story, but the other looked at the pictures you've posted and realized that he had gotten the Amtrak station mixed up with the Greyhound station he'd been to as a kid (which is apparently about a block away from Skid Row in LA). Thanks all- I'll be taking the Sunset Limited before the end of February.
the_traveler
Engineer
I resent that about NDL!
True, there is no indoor waiting room. (The building at trackside is the BNSF freight office.) True you have to wait outside for the 1 or 2 AM SWC - but there are not many other places where it is 90 or 100 at 1 or 2 AM!
Sounds like you need to take your co-worker down to LAX. I'd say it's one of the top stations in the Amtrak system. But then again I've known people that think any place in a downtown area is always bad, or if you see one "minority" crossing a street, they say its "ghetto." I wish these people would get out more.
But seriously. If you didn't go check out LAX Union Station because one person said it was bad, you will be missing out on one of America's great train station that is still standing and still a very busy place. When I brought I uncle with me there, he made the comment that he though he was in Europe. He had never seen anything like that in the USA.
Bierboy
OBS Chief
I agree....LA Union Station is just fine....
I'm pretty sure that makes it a lot worse than Los Angeles. But, at least, Needles has a platform now....
TransitGeek
Service Attendant
It's weird to keep seeing "LAX" refer to Union Station. Union Station is a gorgeous, busy, grand old place that I absolutely love going to, and it's also usually my portal to Los Angeles (as I take Metrolink in most times). As so many others have said, the station itself is safe as anything you'll find in LA. Wandering about outside of the station during the day and early evening is also fine, and there are many restaurants nearby. Late nights, you might want to take the subway or a bus from the bus loop somewhere else, rather than walking about.
LAX (the airport), however, is a traffic-snarled modernist mess of a place that I despise, but have to fly out of every so often. (So many service cuts at ONT, but hopefully that'll get better when Ontario takes it back from LAWA.)
The two are not comparable.
Oh, and as far as good eats nearby, a couple blocks' walk (shorter than Phillipe's) will bring you to the Spring Street Smokehouse, a very tasty and reasonably-priced barbecue joint that also serves tasty craft beer. (640 N. Spring, Los Angeles, http://www.sssmokehouse.com/)
LAX (the airport), however, is a traffic-snarled modernist mess of a place that I despise, but have to fly out of every so often. (So many service cuts at ONT, but hopefully that'll get better when Ontario takes it back from LAWA.)
The two are not comparable.
Oh, and as far as good eats nearby, a couple blocks' walk (shorter than Phillipe's) will bring you to the Spring Street Smokehouse, a very tasty and reasonably-priced barbecue joint that also serves tasty craft beer. (640 N. Spring, Los Angeles, http://www.sssmokehouse.com/)
Ryan
Court Jester
I love ONT, it's a great airport. The last time I was out at NSWC Corona for a visit, I was somehow able to have the command let me book a flight from ONT-LAX-BWI, rather than have to drive back to LAX. Of course that's also the trip that I unintentionally booked my trip leaving DCA and returning to BWI and didn't realize it until I checked in at the ticket counter at ONT (It was a weeklong trip, I flew to San Diego, then drove up to China Lake and then finished at Corona). That was an unpleasant realization, although the ticket agent was rather amused when I expressed my displeasure with where I was going.
rrdude
Engineer
But that's the Amtrak abbreviation for Los Angeles Union Station too?..?..?........ (or, LAUS)
Devil's Advocate
⠀⠀⠀
Ok, so she's standing by what story exactly?
TransitGeek
Service Attendant
Yes, LAX is the Amtrak code for LA Union Station. For somebody who lives in SoCal, though, "LAX" is the airport. The train station is always "Union Station." Given this, seeing post after post praising "LAX" gives me a moment of "What are these idiots talking about?" before I remember that LAX = Union Station.
LAX for Los Angeles' rail station is a reservation system station code only. The facility itself is Los Angeles Union Station, LAUPT (initials of the older "official" name"), or LAUS. That is what Catellus Corporation, the owner of the station, calls it (along with everyone else).
When Amtrak initiated their 3 position codes as part of their adoption of the Arrow reservation system (which is a adapted version an airline system, Sabre I think), they borrowed LAX for Los Angeles. They did that hit or miss. The thing to remember is that code is simply a code for their computer system.
LAX is a both an IATA airport code AND a nickname for Los Angeles International Airport.
NOBODY refers to Union Station as LAX.
Would you refer to Chicago Union Station as O'Hare? Which, by the way, if referred to by an acronym, is usually CUS, not the Arrow code of CHI, even though CHI is Amtrak's code alone. And CUS is Amtrak's "official" name as well, being sole owners of the Chicago Union Station Corp.
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the_traveler
Engineer
Because the codes for Amtrak stations were only introduced be Amtrak in the 1970's (IIRC), and were introduced by former airline executives, many of the same codes are both the same for the airport and train station. Some of these are:
PVD
ALB
SYR
ROC
BUF
EWR
PHL
BWI
IND
STL
MEM
ATL
TPA
MIA
MSP
DEN
SLC
LAX
SAN
PDX
SEA
and others.
PVD
ALB
SYR
ROC
BUF
EWR
PHL
BWI
IND
STL
MEM
ATL
TPA
MIA
MSP
DEN
SLC
LAX
SAN
PDX
SEA
and others.
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And quite a few that are not, including some pretty big cities, for example:
CHI
NYP (and the old NYG)
WAS
SFC
VAC
Always remember they borrowed some codes for their own independent coding standard. They are NOT IATA codes, even though they are the same as IATA codes in some cases.
Their reservation system required the assignment of 3 character codes, since they adopted an adapted version of an airline system and they also wanted ARC compatibility. The computerization of reservations in the 70s is what actually caused the adoption of these codes.
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Ryan
Court Jester
No, because the train station isn't called O'Hare (or ORD).
I see CHI just as much as CUS used here. Same for Washington DC (WAS/WUS). I always use CHI/WAS, since they're the correct codes for those two cities.
And the train station isn't called LAX, either. Which was my point.
Ryan
Court Jester
Yes, it is.
It is a station code, not a place. Does anyone refer to O'Hare in everyday conversation as ORD? No. They say "I'm changing planes at O'Hare" or "I have to pick someone up at O'Hare." not "I'm picking someone up at ORD" O'Hare is the place. ORD is the IATA code. LAX is both an IATA code and a place name, people do say "I'm picking someone up at LAX", everyone calls the LA International "LAX". It is almost never referred to as LA International. Union Station, LA Union Station is the place, Amtrak's Arrow code for it is LAX, that is all it is in an Amtrak context.
Go to LA and ask for directions to LAX. I guarantee you won't end up at the Union Station, and no one will think to ask if you mean Union Station. It is a very good way to miss a train. Its a code, not a place.
BTW - I can see using CHI and WAS for CUS and WUS, but do bear in mind their names were CUS and WUS decades before they got assigned codes CHI and WAS by Amtrak. LAX was called LAX commonly, not just as an airline code, for a least a decade before Amtrak assigned that code to LAUPT for ticketing and baggage purposes.
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Ryan
Court Jester
Yes, in conversation with a random person, if you were to say LAX, they would think that you were talking about the airport.
On a message board about Amtrak, when you said LAX, especially in a thread titled "Opinions on Los Angles Union Station (LAX)" it's pretty obvious that you're talking about the train station. The station codes are much easier and shorter to type, and you see them in use all the time here when talking about train stations.
Your claim that the train station isn't called "LAX" can easily be disproven by simply reading the number of times on this board that it's referred to as such.
On a message board about Amtrak, when you said LAX, especially in a thread titled "Opinions on Los Angles Union Station (LAX)" it's pretty obvious that you're talking about the train station. The station codes are much easier and shorter to type, and you see them in use all the time here when talking about train stations.
Your claim that the train station isn't called "LAX" can easily be disproven by simply reading the number of times on this board that it's referred to as such.
Yes. I also talk about SFO, IAD, DCA, BWI, and JFK, among others. And people understand me.
Just because it's Greek to you doesn't mean that its gibberish.
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