Newbie traveling LFT - LAUS

My fam of 4 is taking the SSL from LA to L.A. next week! Our first ever train trip. I've been researching but still have some questions. Call me crazy, but L.A. is not our destination, just a stop over waiting for the ride back that night. I know. We will have 1 full day in L.A. and go back. No we don't have more time to stay, gotta get back for kids to start school.

We have upper level coach seats. Can we get those 4 seats facing each other? I saw in another thread about blue reserved seats for groups of 4, will they automatically do that when they see we are 2 adults 2 kids? Or do we have to ask? And we need to be there an hour early to ask? Same thing for return trip, we will have seats together or do we have to be early to ask? Are there for sure outlets at each seat?

No we couldn't swing a family room, it was like $3k instead of $800 for coach. I know what people say but, we are campers, we sometimes rough it. We have these things called Dude Shower wipes lol. We have neck pillows and hoodies/blankets, earplugs, earbuds, all that.

Coffee. I don't do powdered creamer. Is there half & or do I need to bring my own? This is probably the most important thing, seriously.

We get to LAUS at 5am. I saw the Metro lounge...but we aren't sleepers. Is it $25 per person to go in if you aren't sleepers, even kids, or can you just not go in at all? (The website is unclear as it lists other locations) Are there showers in there? What else is there, besides juice & mini muffins, to make it worth possibly $100? Can they store bags? All day? Could just one of us pay the $25 to store the bags? I'd do that for sure. If we can't store them there, then where? Website says no lockers. We'll each have a backpack, but it would be nice not to carry them around all day, from 5am-10pm. I see these other storage facilities that partner with local restaurants and stores but seems kinda shady? Are these legit?

When we get there. Breakfast in walking distance. Anything in station besides Starbucks? I saw a breakfast place in a building nearby but maybe temporarily closed. Phillipes 2-3 blocks away? Seems to have good reviews.

What are all the other cars we can walk to? Dining and cafe I know. Observation and lounge (are those separate?) What's the difference? I read there is a quiet car? If say, I wanted to read a book, could I leave my family and go sit there for an hour or do I have to take my seat ticket with me and put it above that seat? I mean surely one random person won't go sit with my husband and kids right?

Food. Of course we'll bring some small snacks, but trying to pack light. I checked out the menu prices. We may do one Diner car meal, the rest cafe stuff. I'm estimating:
3 coffees thurs sat sun $6
6 water $12
12 breakfast thu sat sun $72
12 lunch thu sat sun $120
12 dinner wed thur sat $120
That's like $330, kind of high. Is there some kind of package deal that I'm not seeing? I know meals are included with family room but it's still not worth paying an extra $2k to me. I suppose we could bring a gallon of water, 2 liter of coke, but that takes up space in our bag. Unless we could bring a carryon with food and drinks--can you access it on the storage rack as needed? But then we'd have this carryon to store somewhere for the day in L.A. If we have to keep backpacks on us all day we can but I'm not dragging around a suitcase! If we could fit the kids backpacks in it and store somewhere that would work, and only pay to store the carryon + 2 backpacks rather than carryon + 4 backpacks. But I'm still really unsure if we can find bag storage. If so we'd need it from say 6am - 8pm, and get it back well before the 10pm departure.

Ok I *think* I asked enough stuff. If you have any answers, let me know

Tomorrow I will prob make the must-see list. We'll be on foot and ubering, so I need to plan things in order. We can get dropped at x area then walk around for a while before ubering elsewhere. Trying to keep it simple. No Universal Studios or anything that will take super long. Mainly just interested in 3 meals and taking pics, free/cheap/quick fun stuff. Not wanting to have a strict schedule, just relax and hang out.

Welcome to AU.
I can answer a few of your questions, but not many. Hopefully, the "experts" on that route and LAUS will chime in.

I believe that Amtrak has half and half (at least I have seen it on the Silver Meteor).

I do not know about boarding in LFT. I believe that conductors and attendants try to seat families together and often they reserve sections of seats for families. I have not traveled on the Sunset Limited in coach, so I have no personal experience. On your return trip, in LA, you may want to get a Redcap, and by doing that, you will board early and MAY be able to choose your seats.
I do not know if the Metro Lounge in LA sells day passes. I do not think so. No showers in that lounge. Many stations provide baggage storage for $10.00 a bag - generally in the area where they check baggage.

The observation and lounge car are the same car (often called sightseer lounge). Coach passengers have access. Downstairs is a cafe where snacks are sold.
I am pretty sure there is no quiet car on the Sunset Limited.

There will be outlets at your seats.

I will let others comment on restaurants in the area. Last December, I had lunch at the brew pub in the station.

I hope all your questions will get answered.
Have a great trip.

Starting with the most important -

Coffee Creamer! In my experiences - International Delight Half & Half Tubs of Creamers are always available when you purchase coffee.

The Cafe Car is on the lower level of the Observation Car. So it's the same physical car. The upper level is the full car with a mix of booth tables and lounge seating. Really great car to play games in, or just sit and enjoy the train ride.

Carefully add up the dining car costs vs. the cafe car costs, especially for Breakfast and Lunch. Scrambled Eggs with potatoes or grits and croissant is $8.50 in the dining car. Kids plate of the same is $4.25. A burger and chips in the dining car is $12.50 vs. $9.50 for a burger and chips in the cafe. The difference is the cafe car is just a microwaved burger and in the dining car it's cooked on board (technically re-heated on the grill.. they do come pre-cooked but in my experience they are better than the microwave!) and served with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle.

Breakfast is by far the best deal in the diner... also... you get free coffee refills in the diner breakfast or lunch. Plus you can order glasses of water for free... that saves a bit too. (Iced tea also gets free refills.)

The quiet car is not on the Sunset Limited, it's on regional trains.

What's a redcap?
So they will provide baggage storage even if the site states nothing about it?
Thanks!

pennyk said:

Welcome to AU.
I can answer a few of your questions, but not many. Hopefully, the "experts" on that route and LAUS will chime in.

I believe that Amtrak has half and half (at least I have seen it on the Silver Meteor).

I do not know about boarding in LFT. I believe that conductors and attendants try to seat families together and often they reserve sections of seats for families. I have not traveled on the Sunset Limited in coach, so I have no personal experience. On your return trip, in LA, you may want to get a Redcap, and by doing that, you will board early and MAY be able to choose your seats.
I do not know if the Metro Lounge in LA sells day passes. I do not think so. No showers in that lounge. Many stations provide baggage storage for $10.00 a bag - generally in the area where they check baggage.

The observation and lounge car are the same car (often called sightseer lounge). Coach passengers have access. Downstairs is a cafe where snacks are sold.
I am pretty sure there is no quiet car on the Sunset Limited.

There will be outlets at your seats.

I will let others comment on restaurants in the area. Last December, I had lunch at the brew pub in the station.

I hope all your questions will get answered.
Have a great trip.

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Lindsay W said:

What's a redcap?
So they will provide baggage storage even if the site states nothing about it?
Thanks!

Click to expand...

Here is information from the Amtrak website regarding baggage storage and Redcap services:

Free Red Cap Baggage Handling Service
In addition to self-service handcarts in a number of Amtrak stations, you can count on uniformed Red Caps to provide free baggage-handling assistance at many major stations. We recommend that you accept assistance from only uniformed Red Cap agents. All baggage handled by Red Cap is protected by a claim check.

Free Red Cap assistance service is offered at these major stations:

• Baltimore, MD
• Boston, MA (South Station)
• Chicago, IL
• Los Angeles, CA

• New Haven, CT
  
• New York, NY
• Newark, NJ
• Philadelphia, PA

• Portland, OR
  
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Wilmington, DE

Temporary Bag Storage
Customers holding tickets for Amtrak travel may store their items in Parcel Check service when available for $10 per item for 24 hours. Check the station detail page for the stations you'll be visiting to see if they offer this service. Customers that don't have an Amtrak ticket may store items for $20 per item for 24 hours (valid photo ID required).

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https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/baggage-policy/at-station-baggage-services.html

Hello Lindsay. Having myself traveled with 4 in our party (2 adults, 2 small children), it was challenging in our experience to be able to move all our luggage / bags on our own (we were in sleeping though).

If I may suggest, you can save some money bringing your own water, sodas and small snacks (granola bars, trail mix, fruit, etc, bringing your own food is allowed), but you have to do it the right way like we did.

Find yourself a lightweight but strong fold-able flexible duffel bag OR a strong disposable plastic / cardboard bag, like from a shopping mall store.

Decide if you want to have enough drinks / snacks for your entire trip OR if you want to travel light, just have enough to make it to Los Angeles. This will determine the size of your bag. You can always refill with drinks / snacks in Los Angeles for your return trip.

Don't take a gallon container of water or 2 liter soda, it will be inconvenient for you especially when the train is moving. Instead, take several smaller single servings instead, 12 oz cans or similar sizes.

Your bag will be at its heaviest when initially boarding in Lafayette, but you can always ask for assistance during boarding. Yes, you can put this bag in the over head (which is huge compared to a plane) above the seats, and you will always have access to it. [Tip: put this bag and your other carry-ons in the overhead across from you (not above you) if it is empty. You can keep an eye on your stuff this way.]

Regardless of the type of bag you selected, if empty by the time you reach Los Angeles, it can always be folded and store in your regular luggage or backpack. If you decide to do this though, practice at home, make sure it will fit.

The advantage of using a disposable bag is you don't have to worry about keeping track of it, being misplaced or forgotten. You also can just discard it if you don't want to be dealing with it later.

Hope this makes sense.
Juan

We def wont have anything too heavy for us to carry. Kids are 9 and 12 so it's not as hard. I wouldn't have attempted this with toddlers! But we flew with them at 7 and 4 and it was easy. When we camp we each take one bag. So we are skilled at packing light. But the bigger foldable bag is a great idea! If we can do the redcap thing at LAUS, we can shove all our packs into that and pay $10 to stash it instead of $40! Sounds like a plan to me!

I was just thinking of the one jug of water and coke bc so many cans or bottles would take too much space in our bags. But we can totally do the individual ones in the duffle bag, prob enough for there and back.

Do they frown upon bringing your own drinks to the cafe car to order food?

juanee said:

Hello Lindsay. Having myself traveled with 4 in our party (2 adults, 2 small children), it was challenging in our experience to be able to move all our luggage / bags on our own (we were in sleeping though).

If I may suggest, you can save some money bringing with your own water, sodas and small snacks (granola bars, trail mix, fruit, etc, bringing your own food is allowed), but you have to do it the right way like we did.

Find yourself a lightweight but strong fold-able flexible duffel bag OR a strong disposable plastic / cardboard bag, like from a shopping mall store.

Decide if you want to have enough drinks / snacks for your entire trip OR if you want to travel light, just have enough to make it to Los Angeles. This will determine the size of your bag. You can always refill with drinks / snacks in Los Angeles for your return trip.

Don't take a gallon container of water or 2 liter soda, it will be inconvenient for you especially when the train is moving. Instead, take several smaller single servings instead, 12 oz cans or similar sizes.

Your bag will be at its heaviest when initially boarding in Lafayette, but you can always ask for assistance during boarding. Yes, you can put this bag in the over head (which is huge compared to a plane) above the seats, and you will always have access to it. [Tip: put this bag and your other carry-ons in the overhead across from you (not above you) if it is empty. You can keep an eye on your stuff this way.]

Regardless of the type of bag you selected, if empty by the time you reach Los Angeles, it can always be folded and store in your regular luggage or backpack. If you decide to do this though, practice at home, make sure it will fit.

The advantage of using a disposable bag is you don't have to worry about keeping track of it, being misplaced or forgotten. You also can just discard it if you don't want to be dealing with it later.

Hope this makes sense.
Juan

Click to expand...

Took awhile to figure it out... are you coming from Louisiana to LA? The LA is a rather common abbreviation, but the rest? LFT, LAUS, SSL To assume everyone understand what and where... well... it took me quite some time.

Best of luck. Your biggest issue is going to be what you have to carry around all day. The good news is that you can still take stuff on first leg and hopefully finish by time you get to LA. Then find some stuff there to bring bag (food and drink).

Lindsay W said:

Do they frown upon bringing your own drinks to the cafe car to order food?

Click to expand...

Personal food and drink is fine in the upper level of the lounge car. The downstairs where they sell the food is reserved for food and drink purchases in the cafe. The same types of tables are upstairs, so you can always get a snack from the cafe and carry it up and enjoy it with food you brought on.

Lindsay W said:

We def wont have anything too heavy for us to carry. Kids are 9 and 12 so it's not as hard. I wouldn't have attempted this with toddlers! But we flew with them at 7 and 4 and it was easy. When we camp we each take one bag. So we are skilled at packing light. But the bigger foldable bag is a great idea! If we can do the redcap thing at LAUS, we can shove all our packs into that and pay $10 to stash it instead of $40! Sounds like a plan to me!

I was just thinking of the one jug of water and coke bc so many cans or bottles would take too much space in our bags. But we can totally do the individual ones in the duffle bag, prob enough for there and back.

Do they frown upon bringing your own drinks to the cafe car to order food?

Click to expand...

The per bag charge of $10 is regardless of size from what I remember.

The trip I mentioned above, the little ones were about 3 and 4, but they were able to carry small child travel bags. You should definitely be ok with 9 and 12 year olds, especially since your family has experience camping. This adventure for your family might be like indoor camping. I have seen some coach passengers setup an enclosed fort at their seat, watching movies or sleeping in the evenings.

As crescent-zephyr mentions above, your own food and drink you can consume at your coach seat (lower and upper level) and also on the UPPER level of the Sightseer Lounge Car (the one with bigger windows and open seating). On the LOWER level of the Sightseer Lounge is where they sell sandwiches, snacks and beverages, but you can only use the LOWER level to eat what you purchased there, no outside food/drink, although you might be able to drink your own water there without much objections.

I just did the Sunset Limited from New Orleans to Los Angeles about three weeks ago. Had a roomette sleeer. My only additional advice would be to bring one or two of those little hand sanitizers. Will help you stay germ free (at least your hands on a 48 our train trip.)

Los Angeles Union Station is pretty big (bigger than I remember last time I was there in 2011.) There is definitely a snack shop in the main area. Also, LA has a commuter rail and subway sustem of sort that also go to Union Station.

The subway is called the Metro:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_County_Metropolitan_Transportation_Authority

The communter rail is the Metrolink:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrolink_(California)

The names are similar enough that I was like wait which one is which.

Also, while riding through the middle of nowhere Texas, find this location on the GPS on your phone and see if you can spot this out the window. It should be on the left side in the direction you are traveling:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prada_Marfa

cruisegary said:

Took awhile to figure it out... are you coming from Louisiana to LA? The LA is a rather common abbreviation, but the rest? LFT, LAUS, SSL To assume everyone understand what and where... well... it took me quite some time.

Best of luck. Your biggest issue is going to be what you have to carry around all day. The good news is that you can still take stuff on first leg and hopefully finish by time you get to LA. Then find some stuff there to bring bag (food and drink).

Click to expand...

I'm confused about that, myself. The only thing I can guess as to how she's traveling, is very likely on the Sunset Limited. Not sure if it's between Lafayette, LA out to Los Angeles, or between a different Sunset route station to Los Angeles.

The things I'd keep in mind when you're riding Sunset Limited, is that when you hit San Antonio going west on #1(per the accounts of others who've ridden this train, hadn't yet but I want to ride Sunset someday), you'll have a 2 hours and 40 minute stop in San Antonio IF the train is on time. Going east on #2, that stop is only for 1 hour and 35 minutes. During while the Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle are combined or split apart in either direction, you can if you want to walk over to the nearby Riverwalk area, or even just over to a nearby Denny's to eat if you want to. Or sleep through that stop on the train and not get off, your call.

Going west from San Antonio, there's an interesting lake you pass through(Lake Amistad) just west of Del Rio, TX. A little bit after that, you'll also pass over a trestle going over the Pecos River that is interesting to see. Stretch/smoke stops on this train after San Antonio are at Alpine, TX(brief one), El Paso(longer, where if you want to look inside the station house you'd have time to do so), Tucson(also a longer stop), and Maricopa(brief one). At El Paso, there is a burrito lady that regularly sells burritos on the platform, where you can buy one if you want to do so during that stretch stop!

I would recommend looking at the thread of the recent Sunset Limited train trip, that user I Like Trains recently posted when he recently rode Sunset: https://discuss.amtraktrains.com/threads/i-am-on-the-texas-eagle-yippee.75579/ Hope you have a great trip, whenever you ride the Sunset!

pennyk said:

Here is information from the Amtrak website regarding baggage storage and Redcap services:

https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/baggage-policy/at-station-baggage-services.html

Click to expand...

That is what I thought, that Red Cap service would only be offered at Los Angeles, but not at any of the stops in the middle of the Sunset route. I'm slightly surprised New Orleans doesn't have this service, myself. Considering IIRC it has a private waiting room(albeit unstaffed) for sleeping car passengers.

Those are Amtrak's abbreviations. LFT and LAUS are Amtrak stations. SSL is Sunset Limited. This is what I read in everyone else's posts. I didn't just make them up lol.

cruisegary said:

Took awhile to figure it out... are you coming from Louisiana to LA? The LA is a rather common abbreviation, but the rest? LFT, LAUS, SSL To assume everyone understand what and where... well... it took me quite some time.

Best of luck. Your biggest issue is going to be what you have to carry around all day. The good news is that you can still take stuff on first leg and hopefully finish by time you get to LA. Then find some stuff there to bring bag (food and drink).

Click to expand...

I searched Sunset Limited and think I've read all the posts here for the last 3 years lol. The train stations are abbreviated on the Amtrak site. LFT is Lafayette (my town) and LAUS is Los Angeles Union Station. So yeah, we're leaving here going there, then returning home. And yeah, I've read in the other thread about the Texas Eagle transfer. I was nervous about, what if we somehow end up on the wrong car and get sent to Chicago?! It seemed a little confusing that you could choose Sunset all the way or Sunset then switch to Texas Eagle. But since I ordered the tickets on Sunset Limited all the way we should be in the right place.

Edit: I just realized the little title you guys have under your usernames is just for this forum! Duh. I was like, they are train attendants but they are confused about train station names? So when I see train attendant and conductor, I'm not actually talking to employees. I thought, there were a bunch of employees on here lol.

dogbert617 said:

I'm confused about that, myself. The only thing I can guess as to how she's traveling, is very likely on the Sunset Limited. Not sure if it's between Lafayette, LA out to Los Angeles, or between a different Sunset route station to Los Angeles.

The things I'd keep in mind when you're riding Sunset Limited, is that when you hit San Antonio going west on #1(per the accounts of others who've ridden this train, hadn't yet but I want to ride Sunset someday), you'll have a 2 hours and 40 minute stop in San Antonio IF the train is on time. Going east on #2, that stop is only for 1 hour and 35 minutes. During while the Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle are combined or split apart in either direction, you can if you want to walk over to the nearby Riverwalk area, or even just over to a nearby Denny's to eat if you want to. Or sleep through that stop on the train and not get off, your call.

Going west from San Antonio, there's an interesting lake you pass through(Lake Amistad) just west of Del Rio, TX. A little bit after that, you'll also pass over a trestle going over the Pecos River that is interesting to see. Stretch/smoke stops on this train after San Antonio are at Alpine, TX(brief one), El Paso(longer, where if you want to look inside the station house you'd have time to do so), Tucson(also a longer stop), and Maricopa(brief one). At El Paso, there is a burrito lady that regularly sells burritos on the platform, where you can buy one if you want to do so during that stretch stop!

I would recommend looking at the thread of the recent Sunset Limited train trip, that user I Like Trains recently posted when he recently rode Sunset: https://discuss.amtraktrains.com/threads/i-am-on-the-texas-eagle-yippee.75579/ Hope you have a great trip, whenever you ride the Sunset!



That is what I thought, that Red Cap service would only be offered at Los Angeles, but not at any of the stops in the middle of the Sunset route. I'm slightly surprised New Orleans doesn't have this service, myself. Considering IIRC it has a private waiting room(albeit unstaffed) for sleeping car passengers.

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Are you getting back on the train and returning home the same day.? I'm sort of confused about your itinerary.
I don't think the metro lounge is open till about 9:00 am. I may be wrong. Also don't know about a fee for coach riders. At LAUS, Phillipi's restaurant is open for breakfast at 6:am, it's close to the station. Olvera Street, also an historic part of Low Angeles is close and well worth a look. Lots of good food and small shops. The Blue Line bus goes to Hollywood and Santa Monica. Two places of interest. Hope we hear more about your trip along the way.

Yes, same day.

anumberone said:

Are you getting back on the train and returning home the same day.? I'm sort of confused about your itinerary.
I don't think the metro lounge is open till about 9:00 am. I may be wrong. Also don't know about a fee for coach riders. At LAUS, Phillipi's restaurant is open for breakfast at 6:am, it's close to the station. Olvera Street, also an historic part of Low Angeles is close and well worth a look. Lots of good food and small shops. The Blue Line bus goes to Hollywood and Santa Monica. Two places of interest. Hope we hear more about your trip along the way.

Click to expand...

Lindsay W said:

Yes, same day.

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While in LA, Have you considered a cheap motel to use for storing luggage and showers. Uber/cab fare is reasonable.

I did. But if we can pay $10 for recap that's cheaper than any cheap hotel you know? I guess we can see, if we just absolutely must shower then we could do that.

anumberone said:

While in LA, Have you considered a cheap motel to use for storing luggage and showers. Uber/cab fare is reasonable.

Click to expand...

I forget to mention-
The LA Union station lounge isn’t worth paying for even if it is an option. It’s fine for what it is, but it’s pretty small and honestly I would rather wait in the historic part of the station anyways.

You may want to look at getting a family bedroom for a portion of a trip? That would get you access to showers, and meals during thst part of the ride.

They may be crazy high prices for all the segments, but you never know. Sometimes someone will cancel and you can get a deal.

Supposedly they no longer do discounts for cancellations, everyone pays full price. I looked up what it would be from Louisiana to Texas, the were no family rooms, just 2 of the roommettes and that was $550. So im guessing the upgrade, would be 550 minus what we paid for that length of the trip, $180. That makes it $370, to pay for 4 people to take showers, $92 for a shower, kinda silly. Not that we would upgrade at the very beginning of the trip anyway right? So I looked up if we would do it from Maricopa to L.A., that's 9pm-5am, and that's $630. Minus the value fare we paid 141, that makes upgrading $489, divided by 4 people, $122 each to shower and sleep (in 2 separate rooms bc that's all that was offered). I guess we'd get 4 meals if we were in there at dinner time but, that's spending $489 extra. If we paid that, it would use up all the money that it would take us to eat the entire trip. Doesn't seem worth it. I paid $800 for the tickets, and estimating 300-400 for food, plus whatever we spend in L.A. for the day, maybe $250ish. So $700 max. I can't justify another 500 on top of that for a shower and sleeping in a bed instead of a chair lol.

I totally would get a room if it was just my husband and me going on a trip, and we'd have the meals included. But we'd have to plan ahead and save for months, for a special occasion.

And about the station, I wasn't planning to sit in the lounge, I just thought that was the easiest safest place to store bags. I didn't understand that it was an option at the station bc I saw it listed nowhere on the site. Someone now says its $10 so hell yeah.

crescent-zephyr said:

I forget to mention-
The LA Union station lounge isn’t worth paying for even if it is an option. It’s fine for what it is, but it’s pretty small and honestly I would rather wait in the historic part of the station anyways.

You may want to look at getting a family bedroom for a portion of a trip? That would get you access to showers, and meals during thst part of the ride.

They may be crazy high prices for all the segments, but you never know. Sometimes someone will cancel and you can get a deal.

Click to expand...

Yeah at those prices it doesn't make too much sense. Understand on the lounge situation as well.

"Full Price" is not always the same though... there are different price buckets and you never know. So it doesn't hurt to keep looking as you get closer to your trip.

Here's some photos of my trip on the Sunset... its a really lovely trip. Hope you have a great time!

Nice! Where were these taken? I'm sorta bummed we'll be in the dark for most of Arizona, on the way there and back!

Are you only able to take pics at the stops? Seems like everything will fly by so fast while rolling? Does video work ok? I def want to get at least one pic of each state we pass through. I bought a little journal that we are going to pass around and write in, all 4 of us, about what we see, do, and when we get home I'll print pics to add.

crescent-zephyr said:

Yeah at those prices it doesn't make too much sense. Understand on the lounge situation as well.

"Full Price" is not always the same though... there are different price buckets and you never know. So it doesn't hurt to keep looking as you get closer to your trip.

Here's some photos of my trip on the Sunset... its a really lovely trip. Hope you have a great time!
View attachment 14644 View attachment 14645 View attachment 14646 View attachment 14647

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I think Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico are all represented in those photos. All of them were taken while the train was moving. Amtrak trains don't go too fast to take in the scenery usually.

If the train is early (yes it does happen) you can have some extended dwell times in Tucson and El Paso. Tucson is a really nice area with a historic train station and it’s right downtown.

As others have said, the subway line from union station in La will take you right over to Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood walk of fame. If you buy a transit pass you can use the busses too, really make a whirlwind trip of LA in your 1 day there.

The Griffith Park observatory is free admission...

Lindsay W said:

Nice! Where were these taken? I'm sorta bummed we'll be in the dark for most of Arizona, on the way there and back!

Are you only able to take pics at the stops? Seems like everything will fly by so fast while rolling? Does video work ok? I def want to get at least one pic of each state we pass through. I bought a little journal that we are going to pass around and write in, all 4 of us, about what we see, do, and when we get home I'll print pics to add.

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Honestly when I take long distance train trips, I take pics ANYTIME something pops up that I see from the window that looks interesting along the route. And if few of those pics occasionally don't come out(always occurs every now and then, i.e. the fact I still lament that I didn't quite get a good pic of the White Sulphur Springs, WV train station when riding the Cardinal not long ago), that's okay and not the end of the world to me. Besides sitting in my assigned coach seat, I'll look to see if there's an empty seat across from me(or in a nearby row) with views of the other side in case something interesting appears on the other side. And of course whenever I've ridden in coach(which honestly I've only ridden sleeper once, due to the extra costs of upgrading to even a basic Superliner Roomette room as I did once), sometimes I'll take opportunities for a little bit of the train trip to walk a few cars over to wherever the Sightseer Lounge/observation car is on the train, and enjoy seeing the views from that car. Which as I remember from riding other long distance trains should be open(Sightseer Lounge), all the way till the train passes the 2nd to last stop of your route you're riding.

At El Paso and Tucson, I would look inside those 2 station houses just for a brief look, since you'll have long enough during those smoke/stretch breaks at those 2 stops. And like I said earlier about El Paso, I would try a burrito from the 'burrito lady' at that stop, were I to ever travel on the combined Eagle/Sunset that far west. Maybe it's only me, but if the stretch stop is long enough, I like to look inside station houses myself, and take a brief pic of the inside of the station as a memoir of me stopping at those stations. And even when a stop is only brief and passengers going onward can't briefly step off the train(which is all station stops, except the few announced as smoke stops), I try to take brief pics at each station stop the train stops at. And of course, take pics of interesting towns, over train trestles, etc. that the train passes along the way.

Yes! I'm definitely into taking pics.