Recent Trip on Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited

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rtabern

rtabern

Conductor
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
1,606
Location
Northwest Wisconsin
Just got back from one of the most "interesting" trips on Amtrak. (none of it was really Amtrak's fault though)

I left out of Chicago on 421 on Tuesday, 3/4/08... going CHI-LAX... to visit my best friend from high school who lives out in Santa Monica. (a trip I do about twice a year) I know I could take the Southwest Chief, but I usually like taking the Eagle/Sunset because you get an extra day and night on the train... and I like the layover in San Antonio where I usually walk to the Alamo.

Anyway, 3 interesting occurances. When we were boarding the Texas Eagle on 3/4/08, there were tons of cops swarming around Chicago Union Station and as we were getting on the train they were wheeling a body out of the station. From what I heard some guy died in the bathroom located between the North and South boarding gates. (I hope it was natural causes) Then, before we pulled out of Chicago, 4 cops boarded the train and busted the guy IN THE ROOMETTE NEXT TO MINE in the 2130 sleeper for having drugs and a gun. Nice, huh? I don't know if the cops were Am-cops or DEA agents or what, but they got the passengers pretty upset. I was pretty freaked when I heard them tackle the guy in the hallway next to my room. THEN, we got bussed from Tucson to LA because of a UP derailment in Palm Springs, CA. Unfortunately, the bus trip was 12 hours and was overnight... so I lost a night in my sleeping car room. I'm a light sleeper (that's why I ALWAYS get a sleeping car room on LD trips) and didn't get a wink of sleep on the bus.

Crazy trip.

Pictures are here:

http://rtabern.shutterfly.com/

Enjoy!!

I did talk with Amtrak and they put 30,000 AGR points back into my account because of everything.

Not a bad deal since they trip cost me only 20,000 AGR points.

Now I can re-book the trip for later this fall, except in a deluxe bedroom!! :)

That's what I tell people about Amtrak -- they DO take care of you when crap happens on your trip... even when all of the problems were beyond their control. Something the airlines DON'T do.

Enjoy the pics.

RT
 
Hello Robert,

This is Shanghai. We traveled on the same Texas Eagle from Chicago on March 4th. We ate breakfast and lunch together. It was fun chatting with you about your train experiences. I wasn't aware of the commotion at Chicago with the police. I was in a roomette, number 3 I think. It was also interesting when we had lunch with the two men from Montana. I enjoyed your pictures. I hope we meet on a train again.
 
AlanB said:
Just enough points to get you to the next gathering in LA this October. :)
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Wow, I hope so I had a blast with you guys in Chicago. I'm still negotiating with the boss on to get off, but it's not looking good. It's really close to our November sweeps period at the TV station that I work at... and chances are they won't let me have the time off. :(

I will definetly plan on '09 though (hopefully it's in NYC). *ahem* :)

Ok, speaking of the forum gathering, I did check out the hotel that Whoooz has been recommending... "The Metro"... and it seems decent. $79 a night. I mean it's not resort, but it's RIGHT by the station and atleast the lobby seems to be clean and everything.
 
rtabern said:
Wow, I hope so I had a blast with you guys in Chicago. I'm still negotiating with the boss on to get off, but it's not looking good. It's really close to our November sweeps period at the TV station that I work at... and chances are they won't let me have the time off. :(
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Tell the boss that you're headed to LA to find out the best shows to promote for sweeps. :lol: :lol:
 
Guest said:
Hello Robert,This is Shanghai. We traveled on the same Texas Eagle from Chicago on March 4th. We ate breakfast and lunch together. It was fun chatting with you about your train experiences. I wasn't aware of the commotion at Chicago with the police. I was in a roomette, number 3 I think. It was also interesting when we had lunch with the two men from Montana. I enjoyed your pictures. I hope we meet on a train again.
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Yes, how could I not mention, I got to meet forum member "Shanghai" on the trip... :)

For the Texas Eagle, they normally board most people out of the back door of the Metropolitan Lounge in CHI (unless you need Red Cap assistance and then you board out the front door). Well, from what I heard, someone came down and told the agent in the lounge to board everyone out of the front door. BUT what they should have said is to board everyone out of the back door... because they were wheeling the body out of the bathrooms by the front door... just as we were boarding the train that day.

Anyhow, Shanghai, nice to meet you, and glad you got off in Texas before the bustitution.

I hung out a lot with 2 railfans from Montana. The 3 of us were weighing our options when we found out we were going to be bused from Tucson. At first, we were going to just stay the night in a hotel and rent a car and drive the next day into LA instead of trying to sleep on a bus, but the cost of a 1-way rental from TUS-LAX was outrageous.

Then, I heard they were going to let Amtrak crew sleep on the train and they were going to bus them to LAX the next day... I tried asking the conductor if I could just do the same... but that didn't work either... even though I'm Trails & Rails and have an Amtrak badge, they said there would be no room in the crew van.
 
Looks like I missed all of the excitement (and a chance to meet someone from the board in person). I arrived at CUS on 3/4 at about 3:40 p.m. on th EB and boarded the SWC on 3/5.

Hopefully, your next trip will not be quite such an adventure!

Dan
 
TWELVE HOURS from Tucson to LA????? Did they go via Las Vegas or something??? Even if they took their time at all the regular stops, it shouldn't have been more than about 8 hours...500 miles on mostly 70 m.p.h. highway...
 
Robert;

I'm sorry about how your trip went. I've been lucky so far and escaped the overnight bustitutions. At least you got your points back and were very understanding. Can you imagine what a first time Amtrak traveler might be thinking right now especially if they want to go anywhere else by train?
 
Robert - out of curiosity. How many buses did it take to accommodate all the train passengers? How crowded was your bus?
 
A guy is taking drungs FROM Chicago to the Southwest? Would think the usual route is the other direction, unless it was just a personal supply.

Did cops go directly to his room? I wonder how they knew he was a person of interest? Not really expecting an answer, just seems strange.
 
TransAtlantic said:
TWELVE HOURS from Tucson to LA????? Did they go via Las Vegas or something??? Even if they took their time at all the regular stops, it shouldn't have been more than about 8 hours...500 miles on mostly 70 m.p.h. highway...
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"MOSTLY" 70mph is the key.

First, the driver got lost in Tucson because I-10 was shut down for about a 10-mile stretch due to contruction.

Then the stops for smokers (ugh!)

And, Try driving the I-10 into downtown Los Angeles at 8-10AM. You'd be lucky to go 20mph.
 
MrFSS said:
Robert - out of curiosity. How many buses did it take to accommodate all the train passengers? How crowded was your bus?
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Hey Tom! :)

They had 3 buses total -- 2 that ran "express" Tucson to Los Angeles (express was a relative term because it still seemed like forever with the driver getting lost in Tucson when the freeway was shut down due to construction, the stops for smokers, and the morning rush coming into downtown LA)

The other bus made all the local stops from Maricopa on into San Bernardino and Riverside and Ontario, CA. *THAT* would of have been a real painful experience. Looking at the map, you'd have to go to Maricopa, then down to Yuma, then all the way back up to the west suburbs of Los Angeles.

The derailment was in Palm Springs so I was hoping they would take the train into Yuma instead of Tucson. BUT they didn't because there was no checked baggage service at Yuma. From my Jan. 2007 trip out there, there isn't even a station at Yuma for Amtrak -- it's a freight office for the UP.

The bus was pretty crowded... maybe 60 percent. They let the sleeping car passengers board first, so I was able to get the first seat on the right-hand side. So I was able to atleast have a little more leg room and the nice window ahead of me look out at. I probably would have had someone sitting next to me... but as soon as I boarded I stretched out over both seats and pretended to sleep. Egh, most people did have a seat to themselves I'd say.
 
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Dakguy201 said:
A guy is taking drungs FROM Chicago to the Southwest? Would think the usual route is the other direction, unless it was just a personal supply.
Did cops go directly to his room? I wonder how they knew he was a person of interest? Not really expecting an answer, just seems strange.
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Yeah, I know... wrong direction.

The cops *did* seem to go right to his room from what I saw so I am guessing they got a tip or something. I got on and went to my room (5) in the 2130 car and then a minute or so later I saw the guy go his room (3) next to me... and most of the other passengers were going to their rooms around that time too. What caught my attention about this guy was he was young and he was sorta dressed like a street thug (sorta like Eminem) -- not your typical sleeping car passenger.

About 3 or 4 minutes later, these 4 cops boarded... 3 guys and 1 woman. They started yelling at him to keep his hands out his pockets... and "do you have anything that is going to cut us?". One of the guys detained him while the other 3 took his suitcases out and started going through them right in the middle of the hallway.

I walked out in the hallway because I wanted to go back downstairs to put my bigger suitcase down in the luggage rack on the lower level of the sleeper -- and the agents told me to go back in my roomette. I tried to see if they had an ID or something, and NOTHING. So I dont know if they were DEA or Am-cops. If they were Amtrak cops I thought they'd have to display and ID... so I don't know. Does Amtrak even have undercover cops outside of the NEC?

I did peek at the manifest and apparent he had a ticket from Chicago to Longview, TX with a bus connection there.

I am sure he used a fake name --- last name of the manifest was "Physco". I'm NOT kidding.
 
I thought Amtrak checked ID's the same way the airline clerks do. Can't believe he actually had a real ID with that name.
 
Dakguy201 said:
I thought Amtrak checked ID's the same way the airline clerks do. Can't believe he actually had a real ID with that name.
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In my experience, and from what I gather, many others' experiences, Amtrak rarely checks IDs. For the most part, if a conductor sees that you have a halfway decent-looking ticket stub for the route you're on, you're fine.

In the rare occasions they do decide to check IDs, to prevent accusations of profiling, they (if I understand it correctly) choose a random number between 0 and 9 and ask for IDs for ticket numbers ending in that number. So, at best, you have a 1 in 10 chance of getting ID'd.
 
jackal said:
Dakguy201 said:
I thought Amtrak checked ID's the same way the airline clerks do. Can't believe he actually had a real ID with that name.
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In my experience, and from what I gather, many others' experiences, Amtrak rarely checks IDs. For the most part, if a conductor sees that you have a halfway decent-looking ticket stub for the route you're on, you're fine.

In the rare occasions they do decide to check IDs, to prevent accusations of profiling, they (if I understand it correctly) choose a random number between 0 and 9 and ask for IDs for ticket numbers ending in that number. So, at best, you have a 1 in 10 chance of getting ID'd.
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Yes, about the only sure fired way to have your ID checked is to visit a ticket agent. Many times though I note that the Metro Lounge attendants seem inclined to check ID, although I can't imagine why. I have been asked for ID while on the train once or twice, but it is rare.

As for anyone having seen the ID, consider the following. No Amtrak personel have received any training on spotting phony ID's. US Customs where agents receive extensive training on ID's has eliminated using drivers licenses as a form of ID on flights to/from Canada and Mexico, and they want them gone from land crossing too, because they are having trouble spotting phonies.

And if tellers at bank will cash checks either made out to or signed by Mickey Mouse, it's quite clear that no one really pays attention to the name on the ID or the check. They're just matching the name up and not even thinking about the possibility of it being a phony name. Besides, there are some unusual names out there.
 
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