Sunset Limited

Sunset Limited

The Sunset Limited eastbound in 2004.
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Operating
Locale	Southern United States
First service	1894
Current operator(s)	Amtrak
Former operator(s)	Southern Pacific
Ridership	105,041 total (FY14)[1]
Route
Start	Los Angeles, California
Stops	20
End	New Orleans, Louisiana
Distance travelled	1,995 mi (3,211 km)
Average journey time	48 hours
Service frequency	Tri-Weekly Sun, Wed, Fri from LAX (Los Angeles) Mon, Wed, Sat from NOL (New Orleans)
Train number(s)	1 (westbound) 2 (eastbound)
On-board services
Class(es)	Coach and First
Disabled access	Yes
Seating arrangements	Reserved Coach Seat Superliner Lower Level Coach Seats
Sleeping arrangements	Superliner Roomette Family Bedroom Superliner Bedroom Superliner Bedroom Suite Superliner Accessible Bedroom
Catering facilities	Dining car
Observation facilities	Sightseer Lounge
Baggage facilities	Checked baggage available at selected stations
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Operating speed	42 mph (68 km/h) Average (including stops)
Track owner(s)	UP, BNSF, and CSX (Even though it only owns trackage from New Orleans to Orlando, which is currently suspended)
Route map Legend Dist. Station Service suspended Silver Meteor and Silver Star continue Orlando Winter Park Sanford Deland Palatka Jacksonville Silver Meteor and Silver Star Lake City Madison Tallahassee ET CT Chipley Crestview Pensacola Florida Alabama Atmore Mobile Alabama Mississippi Pascagoula Biloxi Gulfport Bay St. Louis Mississippi Louisiana 0 mi New Orleans Huey P. Long Bridge over Mississippi River 55 mi 89 km Schriever 127 mi 204 km New Iberia 145 mi 233 km Lafayette 219 mi 352 km Lake Charles Louisiana Texas 330 mi 531 km Beaumont 362 mi 583 km Houston Texas Eagle to Chicago 572 mi 921 km San Antonio 742 mi 1194 km Del Rio 867 mi 1395 km Sanderson 959 mi 1543 km Alpine CT MT 1177 mi 1894 km El Paso Texas New Mexico 1265 mi 2036 km Deming 1325 mi 2132 km Lordsburg New Mexico Arizona 1443 mi 2322 km Benson 1493 mi 2403 km Tucson Pre-1996 route Coolidge Tempe Phoenix 1579 mi 2541 km Maricopa 1744 mi 2807 km Yuma Arizona California MT PT 1889 mi 3040 km Palm Springs 1956 mi 3148 km Ontario 1963 mi 3159 km Pomona Coast Starlight / Pacific Surfliner Southwest Chief / Metrolink 1995 mi 3211 km Los Angeles

The Sunset Limited is a passenger train that for most of its history has run between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Los Angeles, California, over the nation's second transcontinental route.

Both passenger totals and revenues have shown a steady improvement in recent years. During fiscal year 2014, the Sunset Limited carried 105,000 passengers, an increase of 2.1% over FY2013, even as the total for all long-distance service declined that year. But held back by running only three days a week (one of only two of Amtrak's 15 long-distance trains that are not at least daily, the other being the Cardinal), the Sunset Limited carried the fewest passengers of any Amtrak train. For FY2014, it had a total revenue of $12,598,000, giving it a 2.6% increase over FY2013.^[1]

Route

Amtrak Sunset Limited (interactive map)

West of New Orleans, the route was owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad and is now owned by the BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad. The name Sunset Limited traces its origins to the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, which was known as the Sunset Route as early as 1874. On the portion of the route east of New Orleans, service was suspended after Hurricane Katrina. Those tracks, between New Orleans and Florida, include parts of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad—all now owned by CSX Transportation. Currently, the segment of the former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad between DeLand and Orlando is owned by Central Florida Rail Corridor (CFRC) as of 2014.

The train uses the following route segments, identified here by the names of their original owners:

Timetable notes

Service on the Sunset Limited between New Orleans and Florida has been suspended. The rail line in the path of Hurricane Katrina east of New Orleans was washed out. The operating railroad CSX restored the line itself between New Orleans and Jacksonville. However, at the time in 2006 Amtrak said it was deemed too expensive to rebuild to modern passenger rail standards. Amtrak identifies the route as suspended. In 2016 Amtrak has proposed to return the Sunset Limited back into Florida in the near future.

At San Antonio, the Sunset Limited train and Texas Eagle thru-cars are combined for the journey westward and split eastward.

A highlight of the trip is the crossing of the Huey P. Long Bridge just west of New Orleans. The bridge is one of the longest railroad bridges in the United States, at 4.5 miles (7.2 km); it takes the train 135 feet (41 m) above the Mississippi River.

History

The train when it ran between New Orleans and San Francisco

Early depiction of the train at Yuma, Arizona.

The train crossing Ciénega Creek near Vail, Arizona, in 1921.

Pre-Amtrak

Before the start of Amtrak on May 1, 1971, the Sunset Limited was operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Sunset Limited is the oldest named train in the United States, operating since November 1894, along the sunset route (though originally named the Sunset Express). The Sunset Route (originating in New Orleans) is the southernmost of the three gateways to the West Coast, envisioned through the Transcontinental Railroad Act. The other two were Chicago IL, and St. Louis, MO. The advantages of the Sunset Route were that unlike the other two, it did not have to assault the front range of the Rockies; and, was an all-weather, year-round route that didn’t face the crippling snows of the Wasatch or Sierra mountain ranges, to reach the Pacific coast.

In addition, opened 20 years before the Panama Canal; the Sunset Route, vastly shorted the time to reach the US West Coast from the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea; as New Orleans was already an established seaport for Atlantic shipping lines’ passengers, seeking to reach the US interior; disembarking passengers could; from New Orleans, reach the US West Coast in days, by the Sunset Limited, not weeks.

The Sunset Limited was Southern Pacific's premier train.^[2]:170 Initially the Sunset Limited was an all-Pullman train, with sleeping cars and no coaches, running from New Orleans to San Francisco via Los Angeles. From its beginning in 1894 until streamlining in 1950, all the train's cars had 6-wheel trucks and dark olive green paint with black roofs and trucks. In summer 1926 it was scheduled at 71 hr 40 min New Orleans to San Francisco; it then carried a coast-to-coast sleeper Jacksonville to Los Angeles.

An 1895 consist included:

• A 4-4-0 American steam locomotive

1. Composite Baggage car with barber shop, bath and buffet smoker lounge El Indio
2. 7 Drawing Room Sleeper with ladies´ parlor lounge El Piloto
3. 10 Section 2 Drawing Room Sleeper El Dorado
4. Dining Car Gourmet
5. 6 Section 1 Drawing Room 3 Compartment Sleeper Cliola
6. 14 Section 1 Drawing Room Sleeper Los Angeles

A 1929 consist included:

• A 4-6-2 Pacific or 4-8-2 Mountain steam locomotive

1. Railway Post Office
2. Baggage
3. Buffet library baggage combination car
4. 12-section, 1 drawing room sleeper Brazos
5. 12-section, 1 drawing room sleeper Calaveras
6. 12-section, 1 drawing room sleeper Pecos
7. 12-section, 1 drawing room sleeper Tontos
8. Diner
9. 10-section, 1-drawing room, 2-compartment sleeper El Monte
10. 10-section, 1-drawing room, 2-compartment sleeper El Norte
11. 10-section, 1-drawing room, 2-compartment sleeper El Occidente
12. 10-section, 1-drawing room, 2-compartment sleeper El Oriente
13. 4-2 sleeper lounge observation Sunset Beach

A 1940 consist included:

• A GS-1 4-8-4 Golden State steam locomotive

1. Railway Post Office
2. Baggage
3. Parlor Sleeper Abington
4. 16 Section Tourist Sleeper Catlin
5. 12 Section 1 Drawing Room Sleeper Alamo
6. Coffee Shop Lounge
7. Diner
8. Lounge with barber shop, shower-bath and valet service
9. 10 Section 1 Drawing Room 2 Compartment Sleeper Lake Ariana
10. 10 Section 1 Drawing Room 1 Compartment Sleeper Prior Lake
11. 8 Section 1 Drawing Room 2 Compartment Sleeper Des Plaines
12. 6 Compartment 3 Drawing Room Sleeper Glen Aladale
13. 6 Single Bedroom 2 Double Bedroom Sleeper Lounge Sun-Room Solarium Observation Mission Santa Ynez

In 1930 the route was cut back to Los Angeles and the train carried coaches for the first time. In 1936 the train resumed running to San Francisco and was one of SP's first trains to receive air-conditioning. In January 1942 it was cut back to Los Angeles; the Sunset Limited was never again all-Pullman and never again ran beyond Los Angeles.

The train was dieselized in late 1949 and became a streamliner in August 1950. The Sunset Limited was the last among the big American luxury trains to be streamlined but in 1950 the train got a new look, with stainless steel cars with red letterboards and white "Southern Pacific" lettering. All cars except the RPO-Baggage (which had 6-wheel trucks) had 4-wheel trucks. The last car of the train was a sleeping car with a blunt rear end and a lighted neon sign with the train name on the rear door. Until 1950 the train was pulled by 4-6-2 Pacific type and 4-8-4 GS-1 Northern type steam locomotives between New Orleans and El Paso, and by 4-8-2 MT-4 Mountain type and 4-8-4 GS-4 Northern type steam locomotives between El Paso and Los Angeles/San Francisco. Occasionally, even some 4-10-2 Southern Pacific type and 4-8-8-2 AC class Cab Forward type steam locomotives could be seen, especially on the western portion of its run. Steam occasionally appeared on the Sunset Limited until 1953.

After dieselization Alco PA A-A Unit diesel locomotives powered the train between New Orleans and El Paso, and EMD E7 and E9 diesel locomotives in A-B-B sets pulled the train between El Paso and Los Angeles. Between 1950 and 1958 the diesel locomotives were painted in the Southern Pacific's "Daylight" scheme; in the 1960s and 70s EMD F7 diesel locomotives in SP's "Bloody Nose" scheme powered the train on the entire run.

Interior of the "Pride of Texas" lounge car.

A typical consist from the early 1950s included:

• An A-B-A Set of Alco PA-1 or an A-B-B Set of EMD E-7 diesel locomotives, both in Daylight colors

1. Railway Post Office/Baggage
2. Baggage Dormitory
3. Partitioned Coach
4. Coach
5. Coach
6. Coffee Shop Lounge Pride of Texas
7. Coach
8. Coach
9. 10-roomette, 6-double bedroom sleeper
10. 10-roomette, 6-double bedroom sleeper
11. Diner Audubon
12. Lounge French Quarter
13. 10-roomette, 6-double bedroom sleeper
14. 10-roomette, 6-double bedroom sleeper
15. 10-roomette, 6-double bedroom blunt ended sleeper

A typical consist between October 1970 and April 1971 (the last months under Southern Pacific's thrice-weekly operation):

• An A-B-A Set of EMD FP-7 units or a SDP-45 diesel locomotive, painted in the "Bloody Nose" scheme

1. Box Car Baggage Express
2. Baggage Dormitory
3. 10-6 Sleeper
4. 10-6 Sleeper (Southern Railway through car New York - Los Angeles via the Crescent Limited)
5. Lounge French Quarter
6. Diner Audubon
7. Coach
8. Coach
9. Coffee Shop Lounge Pride of Texas
10. Coach
11. Coach

During the decline in the 1960s more and more services on board were cut back, culminating in the elimination of the dining car, lounge car and all sleeping cars. By 1968 the once proud streamliner had three cars: a baggage car, a coach and an automat lunch counter car. The Sunset was even combined with the Golden State passenger train west of El Paso in 1964. In October 1970 the Sunset's daily service between New Orleans and Los Angeles was reduced to tri-weekly, but with full dining and sleeping car service returning over the entire route. This was the state of the train when Amtrak took control in May 1971.

Amtrak

Amtrak retained the Sunset unchanged, while it dropped the Gulf Wind, which was operated between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida, by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (previously the Seaboard Air Line Railroad).

The tracks between New Orleans and Jacksonville remained unused by passenger trains until April 29, 1984, when an Amtrak train called the Gulf Coast Limited, running between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, began service, seeking to regenerate some form of regional intercity rail traffic between large cities, outside the Northeast. However, this train only lasted until January 6, 1985. Almost five years later, on October 27, 1989, the track segment between Mobile and Flomaton, Alabama, came into passenger train use as part of the route of the Gulf Breeze. This was another attempt to regenerate regional inter-city rail traffic, this time between Birmingham, Alabama, and Mobile. The train was actually a reestablishment of the Mobile section of Amtrak's New York City—New Orleans Crescent. It branched from the Crescent's route at Birmingham, turning south toward Montgomery, Flomaton, and terminating in Mobile. The Gulf Breeze was discontinued in 1995.

Meanwhile, on April 4, 1993, the entire New Orleans—Jacksonville route reestablished passenger train service with the extension of the Sunset Limited to Miami, using the route of Amtrak's Silver Meteor south of Jacksonville. It was serviced at Amtrak's Hialeah yards for the return trip but schedule unreliability caused the Sunset Limited's eastern endpoint to be shortened to Orlando, with the train deadheaded (operated empty) between Orlando and Sanford for servicing. Sanford was, and still is, the servicing point for Amtrak's Auto Train.

On September 22, 1993, the locomotives and some cars of the eastbound Sunset Limited derailed and fell off a damaged bridge into water near Mobile, in Amtrak's worst train wreck, the Big Bayou Canot train disaster. 47 people died.

On October 9, 1995, saboteurs derailed the Sunset Limited near Harqua, Arizona by removing 29 spikes from a section of track, and short-circuited the signal system to conceal the sabotage.^[3]

On June 2, 1996, the Sunset Limited was rerouted to a more southerly route between Tucson, and Yuma, Arizona, bypassing Phoenix, in order to accommodate the Union Pacific Railroad's desire to abandon a portion of its Phoenix-to-Yuma "West Line". This made Phoenix one of the largest cities in the nation without direct passenger service; although the designated Phoenix-area stop is in Maricopa, a suburban community about 40 miles south of downtown Phoenix. (Some Phoenix passengers choose instead to travel to Tucson to board the train.)

Katrina and aftermath

On August 28, 2005, the Sunset Limited route was truncated at San Antonio, Texas, as a result of damage to trackage in the Gulf Coast area caused by Hurricane Katrina. In late October 2005, service was restored between San Antonio and New Orleans, as the line through Louisiana had been repaired.

As time has passed, particularly since the January 2006 completion of the rebuilding of damaged tracks east of New Orleans by their owner CSX Transportation Inc., the obstacles to restoration of the Sunset Limited's full route have been more managerial and political than physical. Advocates for the train's restoration have pointed to revenue figures for Amtrak's fiscal year 2004, the last full year of coast-to-coast Sunset Limited service. During that period, the Orlando–New Orleans segment accounted for 41% of the Sunset's revenue.^[4]

Section 226 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (H.R. 2095), signed into law by President Bush on October 16, 2008, gave Amtrak nine months to provide Congress with a plan for restoring service that "shall include a projected timeline for restoring such service, the costs associated with restoring such service, and any proposals for legislation necessary to support such restoration of service."^[5]

There has been a push for service by many people, but it is unclear when service restoration will start. Many local officials are in favor of bringing back the Sunset Limited or other Amtrak service.

Recent changes to service

Amtrak's Return to Service Special arrives in Chipley, Florida, on February 19, 2016, to fanfare and an overwhelming crowd of people eager to support this train's return.

In 2009, Brian Rosenwald, a now departed Amtrak executive, outlined ideas for a complete overhaul of the route, including daily service.^[6] It was to have the Texas Eagle operate over the Sunset's route west of San Antonio, with a stub train connecting San Antonio (with a cross-platform transfer) and New Orleans. The plans were halted when Union Pacific stated that in order to get a daily Sunset Limited,^[7] Amtrak would need to pay $750 million for infrastructure improvements.

The Sunset did receive a somewhat better schedule on May 7, 2012, moving its Westbound movements from New Orleans to a Monday, Wednesday, Saturday circuit. The changes restored daylight service to both Houston (11:10 a.m. eastbound, 6:18p westbound) and Tucson (7:28 a.m. eastbound, 6:45p westbound); a 10:00 p.m. departure from Los Angeles eastbound and a 5:35 a.m. arrival westbound; and arrival into New Orleans at 9:40 p.m. eastbound and departing westbound at 9:00 a.m.^[8] The times allow several 7- to 12-hour rides between major-city pairs; for example, overnight between Tucson or Maricopa (for Phoenix) and Los Angeles in both directions.

In exchange for the Union Pacific speeding up the current three trains a week each way, Amtrak promised not to exercise its legal right to ask to increase the frequency to daily before 2015.

Passenger totals would double with daily service, according to the PRIIA study that looked at Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited service. It forecast an incremental improvement of more than 100,000 passengers from the daily service, which is already running in excess of 100,000 a year.^[9] In the meantime, the Union Pacific has double-tracked much of the route with its own money. However, Amtrak still lacks the equipment and funds needed to move to daily service.

In January 2016, Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission announced jointly that a Gulf Coast passenger rail inspection trip was to be made from New Orleans to Jacksonville, with elected officials among those on board during the February 18–19 excursion. Stops were planned for all of the stations formerly part of the Sunset Limited's route between those two cities.^[10]

References

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sunset Limited.

• Amtrak - Sunset Limited