I've been riding the Sunset Limited for 60 years. I really enjoy seeing the desert southwest as it passes through west Texas and points farther west. When I was young the Sunset Limited was run by Southern Pacific. At meal times one of the dining car attendants would walk through the train with his chimes and announce, "First call for breakfast," or what ever meal it was. I finally bought an old set of Deagan dinner chimes from a man whose father had worked for the Southern Pacific.
The bridge you crossed over at 950 was really cool. I will be taking a ride on the Sunset Limited in April to New Orleans. I am looking forward to this trip. It will be the first time on a train for me.
The Sunset Limited averages about 25mph. It takes more time to travel between New Orleans & Los Angeles today that it did in the 1800's when a steam train first ran the route. I got to ride the Limited at 80mph from the AZ/CA border to Palm Springs in 2009, low traffic at that time. A fast ride never happened before or again. Imagine the fluidity of travel if there were enough tracks for travel in both directions :) If you didn't realize it, most of this Amtrak route is on a track that passes trains in both directions. Trains starting & stopping to play leap-frog really slows down the travel time. In the 90's I rode the Southwest Chief from Chicago to Lame, NM. The ride through Kansas was in part at 100mph. Amtrak long distance routes could be quick with proper track on the routes.
Amtrak isn't limited to 79 mph everywhere. Amtrak's Southwest Chief can go 90 mph on some sections of it's route AND in the Northeast Corridor Amtrak can go as fast as 150 mph.
That trash can lid scared me. Nice footage. Especially liked the bridge footage at the end watching the rail crews coming out from between the beams. The bump isn't too bad. ;)
Just so you know, Trump just announced that he is cutting the Sunset Limited and all other long distance Amtrak trains under his new infrastructure "improvement" plan.
Not meaning to beat a dead horse here but due diligence is a prerequisite when making such statements. He cannot interfere with Amtrak as that is wholly a power of congress alone. Its a private corporation with government oversight same as the Post Office.
ive lived in yexas for 8 years and i have never seen al paso. even on amtrack. then again, i was going to galesburg, IL. i had to get on the sunset limited in beaumont texas so i dont recall even passing al paso or the river.
Great video; I made the same trip from New York to Tucson in February 2010. Your windows are a lot cleaner than those on my trip; maybe Amtrak decided to wash the windows as part of their Spring cleaning. I think I saw those Amish people on my trip in February. Thanks for posting.
@NWPhotographyDirect Thanks! I'm going to do a similar video for the California Zephyr later. I don't have as many outside shots but the scenery is amazing.
I don't think there are many Superliners left on the dead lines. There are documents circulating (Amtrak Fleet Strategy) that point to 2017 for the delivery of new bi-level long distance cars.That document also discusses the need to start ordering new diesel locomotives. I don't know how many P40s they will be willing to invest in restoring if new power is coming sooner rather than later.
It use to take forever to get from Houston to New Orleans by train, anyone know if that is still the case? I took the Sunset Limited from Houston to New Orleans for a cruise and almost missed my cruise because the train was many hours late. I cant recall exactly how many but it was over 5 hours....just wondering if thats still the case in 2022.
@dituwonga I enjoyed my trip on the Sunset Limited, and I've been on the Southwest Chief many times. I have yet to try the City of New Orleans yet, but when I do I hope I have a better experience.
@photoguyhudson Thanks! I actually shot most of this using an Omni Pod which is a bean bag with a rubberized bottom and a tripod mounting screw on the top. I've gotten way more than my $30 worth out of it.
I see at the end, The city of New Orleans using a second diner car for a snack and sightseeing car. i was on a Texas Eagle train last year and the the sightseer/lounge car was in the shops for maintenance and there was no extra sightseer car around to replace it so Amtrak used a extra diner car to sub for the regular sightseer car.
Thats the longest railroad bridge I've ever seen, in New Orleans. Just imagine someone doing a model of that, that would have to be a museum size layout! I havent seen any P40's working any Amtrak trains in Chicago. Would be nice if Amtrak can get enough money to get the rest of the P40 fleet restored and get some more Superliner coaches rebuilt and off the dead lines.
@bnsf7597 We had #92 and #139 pulling the train. We made it through with ho problems. We were pretty much on time the entire way, we were even really early getting in to New Orleans. We did have to hold for a while to let the City of New Orleans clear the station so we could wyed to back in to the station.
Orlando to LA. Except that the Orlando to NOLA portion has been "suspended". Since Labor Day 2005, so I think they should just do a "train off", unless some law requires them to maintain the route, even though no one wants to replace the bridge.
Good job on the vid!!!!! I'm going on that same route at step 4 of a larger trip when I take a great circle run on amtrak around the U.S. in August. Will open up the channel One Eye Photo Guy for the 1st official Vlogs with daily posts on UA-cam, IG & IGTV (bandwidth on cell permitting). I’m going in this order July 31st Amtrak lakeshore Limited to Chicago from Boston Aug 1st Arrive Chicago Aug 5th Amtrak empire builder to Seattle Aug 7th Arrive Seattle Aug 8th Amtrak Coast Starlight to Los Angeles Aug 9th Arrive LA Aug 10th Amtrak Sunset Limited to NOLA Aug 12th Arrive NOLA Aug 17th Amtrak Crescent to Bham Aug 17th Arrive Bham
San Antonio, TX train station, for Amtrak is a train wreck. Texas Eagle, SW chief, and The Sunset limited. They move the SW chief, it sits for 6 hours you come back from seeing San Antone and you can't even get back on w/o bitching, and need to get an escort to your sleeping car.
I did the Sunset Limited in mid October 2011. It and the South West Chief were the best trips. The City of New Orleans from Memphis to N'Awlins was the worst. Bad track and understaffed.
+Pancho308 Because, Pancho308, their doctrine restricts from using their own technology (such as cars etc..) but they can use other (another example: can't use a phone, but they can use yours). Like many religious doctrines, it's quite silly. As for my total lack of political correctness - I'm not, and this won't change.
Agreed. I have traveled on just about every Amtrak long distance round all over the US, and have seen countless Amish people on trains. I just didn't get the "bizarre". very strange or unusual, especially so as to cause interest or amusement.
+Pancho308 Semantics is such a difficult fields of mines. I remove the word "bizarre" and, in an effort compromise to what is effectively political correctness, substitute with the word "interesting" Compromise! (I hope)
I've been riding the Sunset Limited for 60 years. I really enjoy seeing the desert southwest as it passes through west Texas and points farther west. When I was young the Sunset Limited was run by Southern Pacific. At meal times one of the dining car attendants would walk through the train with his chimes and announce, "First call for breakfast," or what ever meal it was. I finally bought an old set of Deagan dinner chimes from a man whose father had worked for the Southern Pacific.
Exceptional video. I just can not wrap my head around the length of the Huey P. Long Bridge. God Bless You.
The bridge you crossed over at 950 was really cool. I will be taking a ride on the Sunset Limited in April to New Orleans. I am looking forward to this trip. It will be the first time on a train for me.
The Sunset Limited averages about 25mph. It takes more time to travel between New Orleans & Los Angeles today that it did in the 1800's when a steam train first ran the route. I got to ride the Limited at 80mph from the AZ/CA border to Palm Springs in 2009, low traffic at that time. A fast ride never happened before or again. Imagine the fluidity of travel if there were enough tracks for travel in both directions :) If you didn't realize it, most of this Amtrak route is on a track that passes trains in both directions. Trains starting & stopping to play leap-frog really slows down the travel time. In the 90's I rode the Southwest Chief from Chicago to Lame, NM. The ride through Kansas was in part at 100mph. Amtrak long distance routes could be quick with proper track on the routes.
Amtrak isn't limited to 79 mph everywhere. Amtrak's Southwest Chief can go 90 mph on some sections of it's route AND in the Northeast Corridor Amtrak can go as fast as 150 mph.
Rusty yB I took the Southeast Chief from Chicago to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2004, my trip actually began in Boston, Mass. God Bless You.
Fantastic camerawork on this video. Very impressive!
Very nice video Brett. Perfect shots of inside and outside of the window.
@PatrickTomaszewski10 Thanks, I'm glad you like it!
Great Video. Thanks for the upload. Good scenery.
That trash can lid scared me. Nice footage. Especially liked the bridge footage at the end watching the rail crews coming out from between the beams. The bump isn't too bad. ;)
I just took this train to N.O from L.A. Loved it. Planning another trip soon.
Just so you know, Trump just announced that he is cutting the Sunset Limited and all other long distance Amtrak trains under his new infrastructure "improvement" plan.
Just to let you know, Trump can't cut any Amtrak trains - without the agreement of Congress.
Not meaning to beat a dead horse here but due diligence is a prerequisite when making such statements. He cannot interfere with Amtrak as that is wholly a power of congress alone. Its a private corporation with government oversight same as the Post Office.
How comfortable are the seats? I'm thinking of booking this round trip instead of a flight home for holidays! Thanks!
@jfybby2 Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.
fantastic travelogue, great perspectives, and very informational. well done!
@NSrailfan1 Thanks buddy! There are plenty more videos in the works, so stay tuned.
I am going to go by train to LA can t wait looks good
@foxystig The Texas Eagle is the last two cars on the train. They get removed at San Antonio and switched to the Eagle after the Sunset leaves.
Yup, I see them often on the Southwest Chief too.
ive lived in yexas for 8 years and i have never seen al paso. even on amtrack. then again, i was going to galesburg, IL. i had to get on the sunset limited in beaumont texas so i dont recall even passing al paso or the river.
Thanks Cam! I can't believe I hit 10,000 views on this one.
Great video; I made the same trip from New York to Tucson in February 2010. Your windows are a lot cleaner than those on my trip; maybe Amtrak decided to wash the windows as part of their Spring cleaning. I think I saw those Amish people on my trip in February. Thanks for posting.
Yeah, how the bloody hell does a rail fan say "dislike" to such an enjoyable video? I rode the "Sunset" way back in 1976!
The opening shot reminds me a lot of the old 80's Atari game called "Battlezone" with the tanks and stuff :-)
@NWPhotographyDirect Thanks! I'm going to do a similar video for the California Zephyr later. I don't have as many outside shots but the scenery is amazing.
I don't think there are many Superliners left on the dead lines. There are documents circulating (Amtrak Fleet Strategy) that point to 2017 for the delivery of new bi-level long distance cars.That document also discusses the need to start ordering new diesel locomotives. I don't know how many P40s they will be willing to invest in restoring if new power is coming sooner rather than later.
Now that was a nice, relaxing video. Thanks!
the use of a tri pod pays off!!! great vid!!
How does the train split up? do the passengers on the texas eagle transfer to another train?
Great video, but how did you get tht high angle in the Sightseer Lounge car???
It use to take forever to get from Houston to New Orleans by train, anyone know if that is still the case? I took the Sunset Limited from Houston to New Orleans for a cruise and almost missed my cruise because the train was many hours late. I cant recall exactly how many but it was over 5 hours....just wondering if thats still the case in 2022.
@dituwonga I enjoyed my trip on the Sunset Limited, and I've been on the Southwest Chief many times. I have yet to try the City of New Orleans yet, but when I do I hope I have a better experience.
@photoguyhudson Thanks! I actually shot most of this using an Omni Pod which is a bean bag with a rubberized bottom and a tripod mounting screw on the top. I've gotten way more than my $30 worth out of it.
They are also on the Empire Builder, as well as the Lincoln Service. I see them all the time.
Were you on the Texas Eagle laying over or did you get off the train there to stay for a while?
@AmtrakSurfliner768 Yes, the shutter on the still camera is quite loud. I wish that there was a way to make it quiet.
I see at the end, The city of New Orleans using a second diner car for a snack and sightseeing car. i was on a Texas Eagle train last year and the the sightseer/lounge car was in the shops for maintenance and there was no extra sightseer car around to replace it so Amtrak used a extra diner car to sub for the regular sightseer car.
Which is better the Sunset limited or Southwest chief?
Thats the longest railroad bridge I've ever seen, in New Orleans. Just imagine someone doing a model of that, that would have to be a museum size layout! I havent seen any P40's working any Amtrak trains in Chicago. Would be nice if Amtrak can get enough money to get the rest of the P40 fleet restored and get some more Superliner coaches rebuilt and off the dead lines.
Thank you so much for your reply!
Awesome video!!!
@BNSF9192 Thanks!
Nice video but wish you could have shown Houston between San Antonio and NOLA
What camera did you use to film this, it looks amazing!
Also if you can recall, what font did you use?
Trellux I used a Canon HF10 camera to shoot this. It was discontinued years ago but it still serves me well. I don't recall the name of the font.
I had a video camera mounted on a bean bag I placed on top of one of the partitions in the car. I think a lot of the partitions have now been removed.
@bnsf7597 We had #92 and #139 pulling the train. We made it through with ho problems. We were pretty much on time the entire way, we were even really early getting in to New Orleans. We did have to hold for a while to let the City of New Orleans clear the station so we could wyed to back in to the station.
@jeremykhn Have fun, it's a great train to ride!
Thanks!
Oh ok I'll ride that next time how long was the train ride?
I'm planning to take the Sunset Limited to San Antonio this January.
at 0404 that UP double stack train must be a Z train, had 5 high horsepower locomotives up front. Nice video.
This train needs to be restored to at least Jacksonville. The Florida Panhandle needs this train back.
I want to ride the sunset limited so bad
lol spending the night in san antonio was fun
went to visit the alamo
had a nice dinner at dennys down the street from the station
Does this train go any longer to New Orleans from Houston? I so want to do that.
@funnykid31o0 The wind caught the lid of the dumpster. It was really windy and rainy that night.
how long is the Huey P Bridge
Good video but showed very little of Del Rio, Tx. entering the city from the west. I can u understand the time limit restrictions of the videos.
Excellent video!
I can tell it's your video when I hear a regular pattern from your other camera: *Snip.snip.snip..snip...............snip-snip..snip*
@akytilop Yeah, I was lucky and got clean windows. Lately it seems that the Los Angeles crew base doesn't care much for cleaning windows.
I would like to ride the Amtrak train
Where do Amtrak Sunset takes you?
Orlando to LA. Except that the Orlando to NOLA portion has been "suspended". Since Labor Day 2005, so I think they should just do a "train off", unless some law requires them to maintain the route, even though no one wants to replace the bridge.
Good job on the vid!!!!!
I'm going on that same route at step 4 of a larger trip when I take a great circle run on amtrak around the U.S. in August.
Will open up the channel One Eye Photo Guy for the 1st official Vlogs with daily posts on UA-cam, IG & IGTV (bandwidth on cell permitting).
I’m going in this order
July 31st Amtrak lakeshore Limited to Chicago from Boston
Aug 1st Arrive Chicago
Aug 5th Amtrak empire builder to Seattle
Aug 7th Arrive Seattle
Aug 8th Amtrak Coast Starlight to Los Angeles
Aug 9th Arrive LA
Aug 10th Amtrak Sunset Limited to NOLA
Aug 12th Arrive NOLA
Aug 17th Amtrak Crescent to Bham
Aug 17th Arrive Bham
This video brings me back memories.
Nice video!
I can't believe someone idiot disliked it...
wow
I believe in the sunset limited
San Antonio, TX train station, for Amtrak is a train wreck. Texas Eagle, SW chief, and The Sunset limited. They move the SW chief, it sits for 6 hours you come back from seeing San Antone and you can't even get back on w/o bitching, and need to get an escort to your sleeping car.
I ride Amtrak fairly frequently, and have seen them on board many times. After all, ya can't travel cross-county by horse and buggy, can you? ;o)
I did the Sunset Limited in mid October 2011. It and the South West Chief were the best trips. The City of New Orleans from Memphis to N'Awlins was the worst. Bad track and understaffed.
Siri says it is 22,995 feet.
Amish people on a train?
what the heck? 03:34
amish people at 1:23..how bizarre
I have taken this route a lot and always see a few amish people on it
+Tony Walton Just why is that "bizarre?"
+Pancho308 Because, Pancho308, their doctrine restricts from using their own technology (such as cars etc..) but they can use other (another example: can't use a phone, but they can use yours). Like many religious doctrines, it's quite silly. As for my total lack of political correctness - I'm not, and this won't change.
Agreed. I have traveled on just about every Amtrak long distance round all over the US, and have seen countless Amish people on trains. I just didn't get the "bizarre".
very strange or unusual, especially so as to cause interest or amusement.
+Pancho308 Semantics is such a difficult fields of mines. I remove the word "bizarre" and, in an effort compromise to what is effectively political correctness, substitute with the word "interesting" Compromise! (I hope)
I think it is rude to occupy one of the seats in the scenic car and then bury your eyes in a book!
TRUMP just announced that he is cutting the Sunset Limited and all other long distance Amtrak trains as part of his infrastructure "improvement" plan.
Trump can't do that on his own. He needs Congress to agree to the changes.
Thanks!