The First Sunset Limited Trip on New ScheduleMay 31st, 2012Robert Manning
The next morning I was put on a waiting list for breakfast because the diner was full. After a short wait, I was seated and had a wonderful breakfast. I had oatmeal, which was not instant and I was offered eggs cooked to order, plus a good variety for a breakfast menu. This was a very pleasant surprise. I should also add that the dinning car staff was nothing short of excellent. The food for breakfast, lunch and dinner was very good. However, the second morning for breakfast was another thing. The only offering was cold cereal, and pancakes, no other hot food. The dining car was clean, but showing a lot of wear. It needed to be refurbished. On the second day traveling in east Texas, we were told of a delay because of a tornado that had damaged Union Pacific freight cars and track at Weimar, Texas. I remembered hearing heavy rain and hail during the night. It was something to look out my bedroom window as the train was moving and seeing the lighting in the distance. What a pleasant experience. But, as a result of the tornado we were two hours nine minutes late arriving into New Orleans. Obviously this was not an Amtrak problem, but due to this kind of weather event. This two day trip was an overall wonderful experience, and many of the fellow passengers I talked with seemed to very much enjoy their train trip. I certainly am concerned with the aging condition of the long distance equipment. This stuff is definitely wearing out. SUNSET LIMITED COMMENTS: The new schedule with a seven hour later departure from Los Angeles allows for a connection from the 9:00 pm arrival of the Coast Starlight. This time change, along with a different time departure from New Orleans, will apparently financially improve the Sunset's bottom line. This is good. One major problem is the early morning arrival into Los Angeles Union Station. This train has been arriving at 4:30 to 4:45 am. This is way too early, especially for mom and the kids. I know we can find a later arrival time slot into LAUS. We strongly believe that a reroute from LAUS via Fullerton and Riverside, as opposed to the current Pomona and Ontario schedule could be accomplished. That reroute would have an immediate financial improvement for this beleaguered train. Of course if this train were a daily train coupled with this reroute, you can only imagine the financial benefit. The public benefit would of course be immense. It really comes down to this: There is apparently barely enough long distance equipment to service the current Western trains.
Robert Manning, |