San Diego to Michigan and back via Texas Eagle/SWC

[thully]

After a long wait, I'm finally going on another long distance train journey. While I've done plenty of corridor runs on the Surfliner (and Coaster/Metrolink runs) these past few months, I've still been itching to get on a long-distance train - particularly in a sleeper, which I will be doing on this trip.

This time, I'm headed back to Michigan to see family over Christmas - which will be my first time back since moving to San Diego back in August. Instead of flying SAN-DTW, I opted for the train - in particular, I'm taking the eastbound Texas Eagle (going there) and westbound Southwest Chief (returning), along with connecting Surfliners and Wolverines. Almost the reverse of last year's holiday trip - in which I visited SAN (taking the SWC), and returned via the Sunset Limited and CONO.

Today, I finally set off on my journey with the Surfliner and Texas Eagle. Obviously, I could have gotten there faster had I just opted to take the Chief both ways - but if I did, I would have had to leave SAN earlier (and take more vacation). If I had left tomorrow, I couldn't use AGR points - and I wanted to at least use them for one part of the trip (I nabbed a low bucket on the Chief on the way back).

Part 1: SAN to LAX (#591 Pacific Surfliner)

To start the trip off, I boarded Surfliner #591 from SAN - that being the suggested connection for the Eagle. Ended up going home from work first to get ready - from there, I simply walked the few blocks to the station. As I am traveling on a AGR sleeper award, I had a business class ticket - so I made my way to the business class car. I've never done BC on the Surfliner before - and to be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed by it. Seems like the seats may have a tad more legroom, but I think the Superliner car (which nearly always appears in Surfliner consists) actually offers better seating. Since its an AGR award, I don't really mind (they did at least give us a beverage/snack pack), but I'd only pay for it if I wanted to ensure a reserved seat during a particularly busy period. The only exception would be when they are running the single-level consist (which has the same 2x1 BC you have on Chicago corridor routes and the 66/67 Regionals). Unfortunately, we didn't have that consist on 591.

Trip has been relatively uneventful - though the cafe car was unable to accept credit cards, and being as I was waiting until LAX to hit the ATM that was a bit of a dilemma, since I hadn't eaten. I did remember that I had some change, and managed to find enough to get something. Our first stop was Solana Beach (hi Johnny!) as this train skips Old Town. Got through to Oceanside without incident, and then continued on towards LA. Currently stopped between San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano - we just hit our first slowdown a few minutes ago and seem to be moving a lot slower (and are now waiting for a SB train to pass). All is fine as long as we make it on time to connect to the Texas Eagle - if we miss it, I guess I'll have to find out how they handle rebookings (and pray they can find sleeper space on some combination of trains to CHI). That seems unlikely, though - barring some kind of derailment, equipment problem, or "incident"...

Update: This lateness is adding a little bit of anxiety - just departed FUL 30 minutes late. Given that I have 55 minutes to make the connection if everything is as scheduled, we can't afford any more delays. It is a connection allowed by ARROW, so they should do something if we were to get delayed again - but I really don't want to end up in coach or arriving days later...

Update 2: Made it aboard the TE fine - train made up 10 min into LAX, so the timing was fine. Train was sitting on the adjacent track to our Surfliner, so it was easy to get to - though I ran inside the station to get cash/snacks first (need some for tips, at the very least). Luggage rack downstairs was pretty full - hope that doesn't become too much of an issue (no way I'm fitting that bag in my roomette...) My first impression of a Superliner roomette - tight (I've only been in Viewliners), though it should be workable for 1 (I can't see 2 adults doing this...)

More updates tomorrow...

 

[thully]

Part 2: LAX to CHI (#422 Texas Eagle)-

As mentioned above, I made the Texas Eagle on time (with time to spare). Made my way to my room (at the very end of the train) and got settled. The bed was already put down, though I had to figure out where to put my stuff. It turns out the top bunk works great for that (as does the quasi-hidden closet on the side of the room). Though I think this would be a quite tight fit if two people were trying to sleep in here... Anyway, I went to bed shortly after we left Ontario - though it was dark, I did find myself mesmerized by the Christmas lights of the houses we passed and the busy freeways.

I slept pretty good - the best I've slept on a train, but then again most of my previous overnights were coach (and the ones that were sleeper required me to disembark at 5-6AM in TOL). Even dreamed - at one point I was dreaming that we were stopping in Maricopa...at which point I woke up to us actually stopping in Maricopa! That was kind of funny - though being that Maricopa was the first stop after sunrise, I figured I'd probably wake up around then...

In any case, I made my way to the dining car (through all of the coaches) and had breakfast - they had the Sunset Limited menu (which I had seen when on the SL back in January). Got the French toast - my usual choice among the Amtrak breakfast choices. It was good as always. A couple people around me were going to Tucson (the stop after Maricopa) - both we're coming from the Bay Area (one took the SJ+Bakersfield bus to connect, the other drove...). Also met some people who had just got on at Maricopa - they had to get a ride from Phoenix, which I'm guessing is the source of most of the riders there since there's no Phoenix stop. They thought of spending the night at the casino, but apparently there was not even a cab willing to take them the 2 miles from the casino to the station. Talk about lack of public transportation!

Anyway, I spent some time in the Sightseer Lounge - got some interesting desert/mountain views there. While I had been on the Sunset Limited through this territory before, it was on the old schedule - and thus dark as we went through most of Arizona/New Mexico. So this scenery was a bit new to me. The cafe car attendant came on the loudspeaker and made a quite goofy-sounding announcement that the cafe car was now open, saying things like "We've got Jimmy Dean sausages...JIMMY DEAN!" I think this may be the same guy that spoke of "delicious DiGiorno pizza" that was the cafe attendant on either the San Joaquin or a Surfliner back in September or so - it definitely sounded like him... Currently stopped in Tucson - seems like I just saw a couple people in our sleeper get off...

 

[thully]

The rest of today's journey was quite interesting - even if the scenery was a bit flat at times. The morning/afternoon was spent traversing the Arizona/New Mexico desert, which I found quite interesting. it's definitely nice to do that during the day as opposed to at night as it was under the old SL/TE schedule. Lunch was pretty good - I had the burger, and sat with a couple who was heading to New Orleans, which had started on the same Surfliner as me (albeit at Oceanside). We got engaged in a bit of a conversation that ended up focusing on minor-league baseball. Was a pretty uneventful ride from there - we passed through El Paso (and could see the border from our train) and on through West Texas. It was pretty flat as I remembered it from my ride on the SL. I also had the same experience with cellular service (or lack thereof) - even picked up the Mexican signal in the same spot I did last year!

I will say that one thing stood out from these few hours of traveling through West Texas - the cafe car attendant's announcements. At one point, he boasted about the ability of a Snickers bar to cure hunger, talking about how he saved money on car insurance, and referencing the DiGiorno slogan. Im thinking that it is likely the same guy who made similarly goofy announcements on the Surfliner back in September when I was . Also, at one point they had to make an announcement that passengers should not use more than one seat in the lounge car, which seemed to be targeted at the few people who were using it as a sleeping car.

Ended up going down to the dining car around 5:30pm MST since they never gave me a reservation and were starting to seat people - evidently they skipped me because I had the curtain closed (doh!) They told me to come back at 6, which I did. Ended up sitting with a family going to Texas, and ordered the steak. It ended up taking quite a while, and while waiting I saw that a large group of staff were proceeding to the coach cars. Overheard something about a problem passenger - seems they may have been kicking them off at Alpine, though it sounds like said passenger was getting off at Alpine anyway. In any case, it would be pretty bad to be kicked off at one of the middle-of-nowhere stops - as you can't exactly catch a cab, bus, plane, or rental car from these places. I didn't hear anything more as to what happened, unfortunately. We eventually made it out of the dining car - by then they were an hour or so behind - good thing I didn't get a late reservation!

Anyway, I'm currently finishing out the night by relaxing in the lounge car - perhaps one of my favorite things to do on Amtrak LD trains. After this, I'll head back to my sleeper to go to bed - hopefully I can sleep through all the car-switching at SAS. I will say that I have definitely appreciated the sleeper experience - glad I don't have to struggle with sleeping in coach as I did on previous trips. Ive found that there is quite a bit of space in a Superliner roomette - the upper bunk has proved to be a quite useful place to store things.

Tomorrow will be brand new territory for me - looking forward to it...

 

[thully]

Slept reasonably well last night, though I did find it got a bit cold at times. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well through all the car-switching at SAS - when we got there, we had a lot of jerky movement and had our train move back and forth a few times in the vicinity of the station, with the power going out and back on a few times. Finally, shortly before 7 the power came back on for good and our new SCA began making an announcement regarding breakfast in the dining car. Before I made my way there, I took a quick shower downstairs. I had also done this yesterday, so the experience was similar - it worked OK, but it seems like I could never get the water the right temperature (it was either too cold or too hot). Also, I had to wait for someone to finish with it and then track down someone to get towels. No big deal - it's nice to even be able to take a shower on the train..

After that, I went down to the dining car - which was located one car in front of us in the TE consist, and was a CCC. Much better than walking through all the coach cars in the SL, I will say (and the lounge car was just one car down from there). Had a good breakfast with a few people who had gotten on in LA (and were getting off in Austin) as well as someone who had just joined the train in SAS heading to Illinois. In all honesty, I didn't see much reason to consider the CCC inferior to a "full diner" (though perhaps lunch would be a better test) - its not like the situation on the Cardinal where the cafe is used as a diner. Had a couple brief stops to allow for freight to pass after leaving SAS, and about the time we were finishing breakfast arrived in San Marcos.

Currently en route - so far, the biggest difference between yesterday's scenery and today's is that we're actually close to civilization now (and I can get a cell signal, which the lack of prevented me from posting yesterday night's update until this morning). More updates to follow - tonight and tomorrow should be interesting with Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, St. Louis, and arrival into Chicago (and possible snow there) on the horizon. Definitely a long trip - though it is after all the longest one can go in a single sleeper/coach on Amtrak...

Update: Just arrived into Austin - seems to be quite a crowd getting on and off here, and we've been stopped for a while. Figure that there is probably a lot of UT-Austin students going home for the holidays boarding here. It would definitely be convenient if you were heading to Dallas/Fort Worth or somewhere along the way...

Update: Departed Austin 45min late - an announcement was made on the PA referencing mechanical issues and Union Pacific speed restrictions being the cause. Oh the dreaded speed restrictions - remember those being a real problem with Norfolk Southern on the Wolverine.. After we left, a narration was given regarding sights/attractions of Austin and Round Rock, Texas (home of Dell Computer!) - sounds like this may be something the TE crew does regularly...

 

[Shortline]

Good to meet you on the platform at FTW Tim, hope the rest of your trip is good. Chicago Union Station was packed yesterday, can only imagine it now that we're hitting the weekend. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

 

[thully]

Today was quite interesting - in contrast to yesterday, today we went through more populated areas. Thus, there was more to actually see, and my cell coverage was actually respectable.

Anyway, after San Antonio and Austin came a few small towns on they way to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.Around this time I ate lunch - had the burger, and it ended up tasting just like the one from the Sunset's diner yesterday, despite the use of the CCC (whose inferiority I think is greatly exaggerated). Curiously, lunch was first-come/first-serve instead of by reservation. I did notice some Santa Fe/BNSF equipment and facilities on our route today (and parked at a few stations) - the rest of this trip had been all Union Pacific. Narration continued to be provided over the PA for each stop along the way (including the smalland for several places along the route that weren't stops such as Crawford (famous as the home of George W. Bush's ranch). In Cleburne, I noticed that the train station was labeled "Cleburne Intermodal Station" - which initially mystified me (I later found out through a brief search that Cleburne does in fact have a small bus system, which would explain the intermodality). Also, on the way to Fort Worth I noticed several damaged freight cars sitting in a ditch - which were from an accident a few weeks back.

Once we got to FTW, I met Shortline on the platform, who was waiting to catch the Heartland Flyer to OKC. Eventually found him down by a private car at the end of the consist. However, I didn't get off for too long - we were running late into FTW and I didn't want to be left behind (though being left behind there at least wouldn't be as bad as being left behind in Alpine or Sanderson...) After departing Fort Worth, the train headed towards Dallas, going through Arlington on the way - the home of the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers (and Six Flags Over Texas), and (in)famously the largest city in America without public transit. I did manage to see both stadiums and one of the roller coasters from Six Flags from the train - one might think a station here may be useful, though the lack of transit perhaps limits its usefulness. After Arlington, we soon reached downtown Dallas and Union Station, where I could see both DART light rail and TRE commuter rail trains stopping at the station. One thing that was quite different about both the DAL and FTW stops - both required a backup move to turn the right way going out of the station.

After DAL the scenery was somewhat similar to that earlier in the day - more small Texas towns, more small stations. It was around this time that I had dinner (which they did take reservations for, in contrast to lunch). Ended up having the steak again (I know ai like it, and have been burnt by the other menu items before...) and sat down with a couple who had got on at Maricopa (from Phoenix area) and were headed all the way to BOS via the LSL. That was interesting - talked a little about the trip (including the noise/jerking at SAS this morning - that seems to have woken up a lot of people...). It was their first time doing a train adventure like this - I actually think I've heard others who have said its their first time on this trip as well... While at dinner, we made a stop at Mineola - or actually two stops. One for the coach passengers, and one for the sleepers. Apparantly the whole train couldn't fit on the small platform there so they had to stop twice. Returned to my room soon after this - figure I'll have my bed made up, chill in the lounge car a bit, and they go to bed and get up to see us arrive into STL.

As a side note, I will say that this trip is starting to feel a tad long - though I enjoy it, I'm itching to get to Michigan. Not to say I don't enjoy it, but I do think that 3 days on one train is quite a lot, even in a sleeper (I imagine coach would be brutal). Based on my experience, I'd say 2 is probably optimal - which is good since Im returning via the Southwest Chief. That would probably be the better route to take LAX-CHI (both in length and scenery), though I hadn't experienced the TE SAS-CHI and preferred the later departure of the Eagle on the last non-AGR-blackout day before Christmas. In any case, I am definitely glad I did it - but looking forward to getting there.

Tomorrow - arrival into CHI, Chicago layover fun (if we're not too late...), and the Wolverine...

 

[Engine58]

THULLY-

I'm unsure if you saw the weather report, but the "snowstorm" missed us here in Chicago. Just a dusting on the grassy areas, most melted with todays sun. However, the Wolverine should have some nice winter scenery, NW Indiana and Harbor country are expecting lake-effect snow.

Thanks for the trip updates!

Happy Holidays

 

[thully]

Slept OK last night - one thing I will say is that an extra blanket would have been handy on this trip given that it was a bit chilly at times. Ended up waking up as we were arriving at St. Louis - missed the Arch, but I did get to see us cross the Mississippi River into Illinois, as well as a MetroLink light rail train (not to be confused with LA's Metrolink). Ate breakfast in the diner and saw the people who got on at Maricopa that I had ate with yesterday, and was seated with a couple headed to Wisconsin. Shortly after crossing into Illinois, I began to see something I was expecting to see around that time - snow! It wasn't a ton of snow, but enough to cover the ground in some places. I went back to my room, and saw that the bed was still down -pressed the button, and later heard an announcement that they were making their way through starting with lower bedrooms, then upper bedrooms, then the roomettes. Unfortunately, that meant that my room would be second-to-last (being Room 9). First time I had to wait significantly for my bed to be put up this trip - I did try to put it up myself, but couldn't figure it out... This was particularly odd given that the SCA made an announcement saying that he was going to need to start putting beds up after STL as the train would need to be prepared to turn as the CONO later.

In any case, while I waited for the bed to be put up, I ended up going to the diner and having a very early lunch - they started service shortly after 10. I didn't mind too much as I'm shifting to Eastern Time and plan to do an early dinner in CHI before getting the Wolverine. Had the burger for this early lunch and sat with someone who was in the sleepers (in the transform behind my 422 sleeper) heading ultimately to Wisconsin with their kid. Sounds like they were planning to explore Chicago a bit and take the late Hiawatha. Anyway, while at lunch our car stopped moving - and it stayed stopped after I returned to my room. From what I heard, there was some weather-related issues with the track ahead and something going on with train #302 southbound. We ended up losing 1.5 hrs before we finally started going again and arrived at Bloomington-Normal. We started going again, but hit another delay for about 20min just short of the Pontiac station. At the same time they made multiple announcements looking for a passenger who was supposed to get off at Pontiac - don't know if they ever found them!

Anyway, we're rolling again, but it sounds like our delays are likely to cause at least some misconnects - as the conductor made an announcement regarding missed connections for those with tickets for the 3pm Hiawatha or the 4:10pm Blue Water. Those riding the former will be taking the 5pm Hiawatha (which wouldn't require a ticket change as Hiawathas are unreserved), and passengers for the latter will be taking the #354 Wolverine and a bus for destinations east of Battle Creek. One person on the latter train headed to Flint was visibly upset about this and wanted to get a full refund for that segment. From the sounds of it, we may hit a few more delays heading into CHI - the 6pm Wolverine connection should be safe, but I may unfortunately not have time to do anything in CHI. We're about to stop in Joliet - once again making one stop for the coach and another for the sleepers (this seems to be common with the Texas Eagle though I hadn't seen it on another LD train). Hoping we aren't too late into CHI - though I'm fine as long as we make #354 (and if for some reason we miss it, an overnight in CHI and a ticket on #350 tomorrow wouldn't be too bad...)

 

[thully]

Made it into CHI around 3:30 - late, but still early enough to head down for pizza at Giordano's. As we made our way into Union Station, I saw the usual collection of Amtrak and Metra cars, but saw two oddities - a Superliner consist with a Surfliner car attached, and a Northeast Regional car. Weird to see them in CHI - I'm thinking both were likely being repaired, and the Superliner train with the Surfliner attached was almost definitely the Southwest Chief towing it back to LAX.

Dropped my bag off at the Metropolitan Lounge - which was my first time there as this is my first sleeper trip to or from CHI. Made a quick stop at FedEx to ship a package bound for a Chicago suburb (figured I'd do it here instead of shipping it cross-country back in CA), and am now sitting down to eat at Giordano's.. No time to ride the L, but at least I got to see it at the Quincy stop. Maybe I'll have more time on my return to CHI to catch the Chief back.

Up next - the Wolverine! Looking forward to that - Ill be back in my old home state, and will get to experience the 110mph stretch on the Michigan Line once again. Hopefully Norfolk Southern doesn't spoil the fun...

 

[thully]

Part 3 - CHI to JXN (#354 Wolverine)

After I finished dinner, I walked back to Chicago Union Station to get my bag from the Metropolitan Lounge and get in line to board the Wolverine. Got to the door to the Amtrak waiting area, and the were uniformed officers wanting to see tickets/destinations. When I told them I was traveling on #354, they told me to go to the Great Hall. They let me through when I said that I had to go to the Lounge to get my bag, though. Got my bag from the attendants there (which were actually pretty fast, unlike the LAX baggage handler that seems to be frequently absent) and asked about the Wolverine gate situation (as they had originally told me it would be at Gate E). They said it was at Gate F - and sure enough, that's what was showing on the monitor. A different officer asked me what train I was taking and when I told them, they said "You aren't supposed to be here yet" but didn't stop me. A couple minutes later, I finally heard the boarding call and saw a stampede of people coming from the Great Hall to board the Wolverine - so I proceeded onward. From the sounds of it, they were trying to limit the crowds in the gate areas - probably because of having more passengers than usual due to the holidays.

Once I actually got to the conductor (which took a while, as there was quite a long line - and they were having to tell people to stay in line...) and told them I was going to Jackson, they directed me to the car. Got on, and saw the extra-legroom front row seat was open - so I sat down there. The coaches gradually filled up to capacity (they had mentioned that this was a sold-out train), to the point that a few people had trouble finding seats! Eventually, they were seated somewhere (I think there were a few stray single seats, and someone may have went to the lounge car), and we departed pretty much on schedule. Definitely a packed train, and quite a contrast between being in a roomette alone on the Eagle and being in a sold-out coach in a Horizon!

Once on the train, we ran into a bit of a delay early on in Indiana where we were stopped for 20-30min or so. Remember hearing something about a red light or something - just one of those typical random delays. Eventually we were moving again, and the conductor came around and scanned tickets. One thing I quickly noticed - whenever the vestibule door in front of us opened, extremely cold air blew straight at me! That was definitely an annoyance - perhaps this Horizon has poor insulation, or maybe I should just try and avoid the front row... Other than that and the initial delay, the trip went smoothly - if a bit behind schedule. We did get going pretty fast once past Porter, IN, as usual, and I did see more snow in some spots in west Michigan than I did in Illinois (though being dark, it was hard to see for certain). We eventually arrived in JXN around 11:15, where I got off.

Ill be staying in Michigan until next Sunday (Dec 30), when I return via the Southwest Chief. Great to be back, but it is COLD - that I noticed as soon as I stepped off the train (and in Chicago as well).

 

[Everydaymatters]

Nice trip report, Thully. Hopefully, I'll be on the TE/SL in March so this travelogue was extra interesting to me. Thanks for sharing.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

Hopefully that security theater won't be there when misty and I arrive in Jan for the LSL. Arriving at 11AM wonder if the cops would let us go to the lounge to check in 10 hours early.(yes we are sleepers out of CHI this time)

 

[Bob Dylan]

:hi: Since I have to ride the Eagle and or Sunset to get Anywhere by Train, I Enjoyed your Reports, hope Christmas isn't Too Cold for you, Big Difference between SoCal and the Frozen North as you know! :giggle: A tip for Chicago, Snag a RedCap in the Lounge, whether you are Boarding Coach or a Sleeper, and you can Ride past the Thindering Heard and the Lines, or Avoid the Kindergarden Walk . to your Train! Good $5 Investment! Have a Great stay in Michigan, looking forward to your Return Report on the SWC to Sunny San Diego!

 

[thully]

The Return - Part 1 - JXN to CHI (#351 Wolverine)

After a nice stay in Michigan, it is now time to head home to San Diego. This morning, I started my long journey back at the Jackson, MI Amtrak station, where I was dropped off for #351. The JXN station itself is quite nice - it's one of the older station buildings, and it was still decorated for Christmas (with a model train set circling the Christmas tree). Much more interesting than the ARB station, which is your garden-variety 80s Amshack (the historic station still stands but is now the Gandy Dancer restaurant). Noticed an old-looking arrivals/departures board which showed all arrivals/departures including the extra holiday Wolverines and thruway buses. Noticed the board had a space for "Grand Rapids Branch" service (which showed times for a Wolverine+bus combination) and "Saginaw Branch" service (which simply showed no service). Guessing there must have been direct trains to Grand Rapids and Saginaw at some point... Also noticed a sign in the station advertising CTA day passes - interesting to see they advertise all the way in Michigan!

Anyway, #351 pulled into the station about 10 minutes late, and all of us waiting (10-20 or so) got on and were soon on our way. relatively uneventful so far, though fairly full (an announcement was made about this being a sold-out train, though I still have an empty seat next to me after KAL...so either it wasn't sold-out or there was a no-show). After departing KAL, we started the high-speed stretch on the Amtrak Michigan Line, which has become the highlight of this route. It is a pretty neat route with all the snow on the ground here in Michigan - think this train would definitely benefit from a Dome car.

No more station stops from here until Chicago, as #351 runs express from KAL - which is nice for me, though that must be annoying for anyone who wants to go West from Niles, Dowagiac, New Buffalo, Michigan City, or Hammond/Whiting! Surprised they do it that way - I get having the express train, but I'd think they would want to stop everywhere on the one train that makes all the connections. I guess driving to KAL, taking the LSL/CL from SOB, or taking the South Shore Line and self-transferring from Milennium Station to Union Station are alternatives, though not as convenient.

More updates later - looking forward to getting to CHI and making it aboard the Southwest Chief...

 

[June the Coach Rider]

I will be taking the LSL/TE/SL to SAN in late February and the SL/SWC/LSL back, so I am looking forward to reading more about your return trip.

 

[thully]

#351 arrived at Chicago Union Station a tad late, though not too far off schedule. After waiting for them to lower all the stairs and clear the snow off of them, I finally made my way into Union Station to check my large bag to SAN and store my smaller bag in the Metropolitan Lounge, which was a fairly smooth process. Was worrying that my bag may be overweight or they wouldn't check the bag since I started from a non-checked-baggage station, but neither of those proved to be a problem.

Once I dealt with my bags, I went outside to do some things during my layover. Since I've been to CHI several times now, I finally feel like I know where I'm going when leaving the maze of Union Station. Once outside, it was easy to find what I was looking for - though cold to walk around... I ended up approaching one Dunkin Donuts to find it was closed on Sunday (which seemed odd in Chicago). Found another that was open and got a donut/coffee, but after 10min inside they told me they were closed and made me leave. Weird! Anyway, I eventually ended up grabbing some pizza at Beggars Pizza for lunch - had a few slices, and they were OK if a bit cold. Would have ordered a fresh pie, but by then I had less than an hour before the train departed.

Made my way back to the Metropolitan Lounge, where I claimed my bag and waited for the annoucement to board #3, which followed shortly. We walked directly from the lounge to the tracks, which was nice (no waiting in the massive line). Found my sleeper, and quickly settled in to the roomette, which is basically identical to the one I had on the Eagle. At that point we had a series of announcements on the PA covering nearly every topic imaginable, including our SCA Peggy, the cafe/lounge car attendant, the dining car attendant, and the conductor - the latter 3 which kept interrupting the former's announcement. Was a bit amused to hear the conductor refer to the "large consist" of our train - first time I'd ever heard an announcement use that term. After that flurry of announcements, we finally departed at just around 3pm CT.

 

[thully]

Part 2 - CHI to LAX (or FUL) - #3 Southwest Chief

As the second segment of my journey began, we whisked through Chicago and into its suburbs. Along the route, I spotted numerous Metra stations - at one point, I saw nearly a station every minute along the line! It does seem like they have quite a few stations, even for commuter rail (I don't remember Metrolink having that many stops so close together). Anyway, the first station we stopped at was Naperville, which was a shared Metra/Amtrak station. One thing I noticed about this stop - and nearly everyone after it - was that it was announced on the PA with "Greater" appended as an adjective - I.e. "Greater Naperville". The only exceptions I've noticed tonight were Princeton (which was "Picturesque Princeton") and Fort Madison (which was just Fort Madison). Everything else was "Greater", even "Greater La Plata" which was pretty funny (though having this guy on the Eagle announcing "Greater Sanderson" would top that).

Anyway, most of the trip after departing Chicago suburbia was in the dark, so not much scenery to report there - though I did see the same Christmas light display at Fort Madison that I saw last year on the SWC. I made my dinner reservation for 7:15 since I had an earlier lunch, so I made my way down there at the appointed time. Ended up getting the steak - which was good as usual, though I wasn't overly hungry so I didn't stay for dessert or anything. Sat with someone who had brought a group on a trip to Chicago from somewhere in the greater Kansas City area - sounds like this was the first train trip for most of them. My attendant in the dining car ended up being none other than my SCA for the LAX-SAS portion of the Texas Eagle, who recognized me from that trip! Evidently she's new, and as such is getting a variety of assignments.

Currently rolling at full speed towards our next stop of Kansas City - I figure Ill head off to bed then if not earlier. Hanging out in the lounge car until then... Tomorrow should be interesting with us going over Raton Pass (which of course is somewhat endangered as an Amtrak routing) and the New Mexico desert areas. That was the highlight of the last time I took the SWC (though I got some good daylight views in CA as well - running late meant we got Barstow and Victorville in daylight).

 

[thully]

Went to sleep last night shortly after stopping at KCY, which was quite a lengthy stop. Slept until around 6am CT at which point I heard the first call for breakfast. Dozed on and off until we crossed into Colorado (and Mountain Time), though at that time the dining car attendant reminded people that they would still be closing on Central Time (I remember that announcement last time). Not wanting to miss the last call but wanting to get a shower in, I took this as my cue to get up and do that.

The shower ended up being the best one I've had on a train - not only was I able to get the water going at a reasonable temperature, but the water on this shower flowed continuously (no need to keep pressing the button). I think the water flow control may have actually been broken, though in a beneficial way. Anyway, after the shower I changed and went to breakfast. No French toast on this route, so I did the pancakes, which were pretty good themselves. Stopped in La Junta while we were eating - we were there for a while, though eventually we started rolling again.

After breakfast, I went back to my room to find the bed already turned up (and a copy of the Pueblo Chieftain sitting there), grabbed a few things, and went up to the Sightseer Lounge. Between La Junta and Trinidad, I noticed one significant change - snow on the ground. There was more and more of it as we went toward Raton Pass. Went back to my sleeper when they announced they were doing lunch reservations, and then soon returned to the lounge for Raton Pass. As we approached the summit, the conductor made a few announcements about sights along the way, including the Dick Wootton Ranch and the summit of Raton Pass. It looked pretty neat with the snow. Eventually, we made it to the summit and went through the tunnel, finally entering New Mexico at the end.

Once we exited the other side of the tunnel, we quickly made our first New Mexico station stop in Raton - an interesting-looking town complete with an old historic train depot. After Raton we saw a bit more snowy mountain scenery alternating with more flat areas as we approached Las Vegas, NM. Killed a little time by reading the copy of the Chieftain (which seemed to devote the most space to the Denver Broncos) and simply enjoying the view out my window. Shortly before arriving in Las Vegas, the skies cleared for the first time today, which was nice after seeing the clouds for so long. Arrived there just a few minutes late and left very quickly - hope no one got off this train there looking for casinos!

Anyway, I'm heading off for lunch soon - next stop is Lamy, followed by Albuquerque. I"m somewhat tempted to try to get pizza delivered to the train in ABQ if we aren't running too behind.

 

[thully]

Lunch was pretty good - had a burger, and sat with some people on their way to ABQ (one of which was visiting from the UK) and another person heading to LA. Mused a bit about our train travels - one of them had mentioned that on a previous trip, some one had actually mistaken Las Vegas, NM for Las Vegas, NV! They were all in the sleepers - two sharing a bedroom to ABQ and another single in a roomette.

After lunch, I spent more time alternating between the lounge car and my room. The part between Las Vegas and Lamy seemed to have the best scenery of the trip - perhaps even better than Raton Pass. Saw plenty of snow-covered mountains there, as well as a variety of other scenery (including flat desert). Interestingly, we alternated from snow-covered mountains to completely clear desert within a relatively short period of time, and multiple times at that! After departing Lamy, the snow disappeared for a while as we went through Albuquerque. Didn't end up ordering pizza, but I did go out into the station and came back with a few bottles of Coke Zero.

Anyway, we departed ABQ on time after the 50min stop, and the sun began to recede for the night. Before it was completely dark, however, I saw a large BNSF freight on a different track that looked as if it was going to crash into us! Of course it wasn't actually crashing into us - our tracks curved such that they were adjacent. From the looks of it, this was probably where our line converged with the Transcon (though I could be wrong about this). Anyway, after that it became dark, and I didn't really see much else unti Lowe arrived in Gallup, NM - which had snow, unlike Albuquerque.

After that brief stop, I waited for my 7:15 dinner seating to be called - and after 15 mins, heard nothing. Was hesitant to just go to the dining car (having provoked a "wait until you're called" PA announcement on a previous trip by going to the dining car when no announcement was made) but figured 15min was enough to wait. Sure enough, they seated me immediately. Sat with an interesting couple on their way to LA from Denver (they had taken the Denver-Raton Greyhound bus connection). Had an interesting discussion about trains, Southern California, our jobs, and related topics - turns out this was their first time with Amtrak, and they had been enjoying the trip quite a bit, not even minding the bus. The discussion ultimately turned to how to get from LAUS to Long Beach Airport on transit (they had flown to DEN) - eventually figuring out a combination of Metro Red/Blue lines and local bus that would work.

Ended up finishing dinner as we stopped at Winslow, at which point I went back to the sleeper to get a few things and ask to have it put up. Finally, I went back to the lounge car, where I'm sitting now. May go to bed early - as much as I'd like to celebrate the New Year, I'm also quite tired - and have to get up early if I want to get off at FUL to catch the early Surfliner and/or do any breakfast.

Update: Just made it to Flagstaff - seems like we're burning through Arizona quite fast! Very cold here (12 F), and lots of snow on the ground. Seems to be a lot of people getting on/off here - makes me chuckle a bit at John McCain's famous "Amtrak doesn't serve my state" comment. Lounge car is getting noisy - figure it probably will be at least until midnight.

 

[thully]

Went to bed shortly after my last report, and slept reasonably well - woke up around 5am shortly before arriving at San Bernadino. Was planning to sleep later, but I was pretty awake then (the PA helped this) so I just got up. Ended up having time for a shower (once again, it worked pretty nice with the water flowing continuously and at a reasonable temperature), as well as a brief breakfast. I had the pancakes, which I was pleasantly surprised to find among the items on the abbreviated breakfast menu. Finished shortly after we departed Riverside, and went to my room to pack up everything and leave my tip.

Ended up delayed a bit between Riverside and Fullerton, so we arrived at Fullerton several minutes late at 6:49. Got off here as I had told my SCA earlier - unfortunately, a SB Surfliner had just left 5 minutes earlier. That delay between Riverside and Fullerton cost me an hour! Anyway, it wasn't a total loss - I still made an earlier Surfliner than if I had stayed on until LAX (#3 arrived in LAX at 7:23, after #564 departed at 7:20). Walked around the FUL station a bit and got a coffee at the small "Santa Fe Cafe" in the station area. Eventually, I crossed over to track 3 to catch #564 - was a bit confused since I had earlier seen a single-track area with track 4 over the bridge. Evidently 3 and 4 are on the same physical track!

Got on the train on time, quickly passing Anaheim (and the Angel Stadium/Honda Center). Didn't have any issues when my LAX-SAN ticket was collected (technically a single JXN-SAN e-ticket). Currently between San Juan Capistrano and Oceanside staring out at the ocean - definitely happy to be back in SoCal, and away from the frigid cold! May hop off this earlier to catch one of the Michigan watch parties in the SD area - either at Solana Beach or Old Town (where I can catch buses). In that case, I'd take a trolley or Coaster to SAN later...

Overall, a great trip - though at times it felt long. Yesterday on the Chief and the last day of my inbound journey (coming through Illinois and into Michigan) were perhaps the best days of my trip. My next train trip (unless I take a Coaster home) will likely be a Surfliner run of some sort - though I may try a Coaster/Metrolink shuffle to LAX some weekend soon. Want to do some more LD trips, but figure it won't be for a few months at least - the Coast Starlight perhaps being the most likely next trip.

 

[trainman74]

Walked around the FUL station a bit and got a coffee at the small "Santa Fe Cafe" in the station area. Eventually, I crossed over to track 3 to catch #564 - was a bit confused since I had earlier seen a single-track area with track 4 over the bridge. Evidently 3 and 4 are on the same physical track!

Track 4 is separate from Track 3 -- it's a layover track that's only present at the east end of the platform (if I recall correctly, it ends well before the pedestrian bridge).

 

[thully]

The rest of the Surfliner trip went fine - ultimately, I decided to jump off at SOL and catch a cab to somewhere in Encinitas to watch the Michigan game. Got cash out of the ATM for the fare so I didn't have to deal with credit cards there. Thought I was going to have to wait for one since I didn't see one outside at first, so I called one. However, one that had just dropped people at SOL was pulling away, so I just took that one (and cancalled the one I called). Arrived at my destination on time, and will take the bus+Coaster back (and grab my checked luggage at SAN).

 

[Bob Dylan]

:hi: Happy New year! Enjoyed your Trip Reports and I'm sure most of us (guess the Florida Members may be the Exceptions :giggle: ) are envious that you get to spend it in Sunny San Diego!

 

[thully]

Thanks - though I'm actually returning home now as I live in San Diego (was visiting Michigan over Christmas)! Much nicer weather than in Michigan - Florida may be better, but they wouldn't be saying that in the summer! Anyway, I just hopped on a Coaster to go the rest of the way to SAN after watching a (good, but disappointing) football game. Looking forward to getting back in...

Update: Got home 40min ago or so - claimed my checked bag without issue (it had a SAN tag on it that looked 20 years old - probably not one they use much in CHI...). Ended up seeing some interesting things on the way back - at Old Town, I saw a single-level Amfleet/Horizon consist being pulled by a Cascades locomotive with *both* a club-dinette and a business class car! At SAN, I also saw a few private cars out front - forget exactly what, but I think one may have been a Pullman sleeper.

 

[henryj]

Great trip report thully. Really enjoyed reading it all. Thanks for posting all that.