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July 28, 2004
Riding Around America: Riding to Tucson
The following was written while on the train in the past few days. I did finally make it to Tucson.
Near the Texas/Louisiana border... 11:00 pm
The thing that you need to expect about Amtrak if you're planning to travel with them, is that they are nearly always late. This morning, before leaving my hotel, I called the automated train status toll free number to find out if things were running on time. The automated voice on the other end, "Julie", informed me that the train was six hours late, but that they were expecting to make up time along the way and should be departing New Orleans at 2:15. OK, I figured, that's not so bad. I can handle a two hour delay. So I waited until the last possible moment to check out of the hotel, and headed over to the station.
Guess what time we actually departed New Orleans? 5:45. I finished the Crichton book and read the entire Sunday edition of the New York Times, had a Subway sandwich, banana and a bagel. It could have been worse I suppose, but I wish I had known the train would be that late because I could have found a coffee shop with internet access and posted the New Orleans photos. So it was a waste of a day but not the end of the world. Like I said, you have to expect these types of problems when travelling Amtrak.
It seems that a big part of the problem is, not surprisingly, the lack of tracks. Amtrak has to use the same rails as freight trains and the freight gets the right of way. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe it's a law or has to do with ownership of the tracks. If anybody out there knows the reason, let me know by writing in the comments of this entry (at bottom). This is the type of thing I would usually look up myself, if I had an internet connection that is.
I think this trip will be very nice, however. The cars on this train are double-deckers and are probably a bit newer than what I was riding on before. In coach class, the bottom level holds luggage, bathrooms, and seats for the disabled, while the upper level is where the regular seats are. There are lots of advantages to this. First, the seats themselves are over 20 feet off the ground which makes for a great view. I'm basically on the same level as the rooftop of a one level house. Another advantage is that there is more space for passengers and more space for bathrooms. The bottom level of each car has three bathrooms plus a lounge for the ladies which has additional sinks and a big mirror with stools in front of them. And by the way, I only know this because someone left the door open.
Finally, and this is perhaps the best part, is the double decker lounge car. This thing is awesome. The upper level has floor to ceiling windows and skylights. It really feels like the car is clear plastic. It's like something you'd expect to see in Star Trek with futuristic looking pedestal type seats and all. The lower level of the lounge car contains a very well stocked snack bar and bench seats with tables.
Because we left so late, I didn't get to see much before darkness fell. The big highlight occurred just outside of New Orleans when we crossed the Mississippi over the longest railroad bridge in the world, the Huey Long Bridge, which measures an astounding 4.5 miles from end to end. The reason it's so long is because it needs to be high above the river so that the cargo ships can clear it. Because of it's height the approaches to the bridge are very long so that the train can rise up to such a height. On the bridge approaches it felt like the train was flying through the sky because, from the second level, I could see nothing to either side except the ground far below. It was cool but a bit scary not being able to see what was holding us up.
After clearing New Orleans we passed through southern Louisiana which seemed to me to be entirely swap. In most cases we were riding on top of a little embankment with water just a few feet to either side of the train. To our right, I could see the highway, which is built on pylons above the level of the swamps. The amount of water on the ground wasn't surprising. At some point in New Orleans I learned that the city gets an average of 65" of rain per year. The record was 18" in six hours! The only other notable part of the landscape before darkness fell were the sugar cane fields and rice paddies to the south of the tracks.
So now we are moving along, not very fast I might add, towards Texas. I can see streetlights and houses as we go through the towns. The guy sitting across the aisle from me brought a bottle of Southern Comfort on the train and is mixing it with iced tea. He offered me some but I politely declined. I'll probably be trying to sleep soon and waking up in Bush Country.
Pulling out of Del Rio, TX... 1:00pm
Twice today I've tried to connect to access points in stations, once just now in Del Rio and once in San Atonio. Both times I've been unsuccessful and I'm not really sure why. Each time it's been able to connect to the access point but not to the internet. Oh well. Maybe later.
Last night I slept quite well. I think it was because I had two seats to myself and could "stretch out", if you can call it that. I only woke up a couple of times between 1:00 and 8:30 am which is better than I've managed to do in the past.
This morning has been pretty uneventful. I've fallen asleep a couple times since breakfast, read a little, and talked to the car attendant, Mike. He is doing a good job considering the train is so late and he's gotten so little sleep. When he heard what I do for a living he asked if I was a priest which I found amusing. He's been working for Amtrak since May and doesn't seem to like it very much.
The scenery has changed rapidly in the past few hours. Now we are riding through rolling ground with white rocky soil, little scrub plants, small round cactus, and a few trees. There's a little of trickle water here and there but it's white and murky. The ground has the consistency and color of oatmeal with lots of rocks on it. There are no animals but every once in a while I can see a dirt road or windmill.
The dining car just opened for lunch and I think I'll go and see what they have to offer.
Approaching El Paso, TX... 9:30pm
I should have been in Tucson by now. Instead, we aren't even out of Texas yet. That means there are still two states to go before I'll be getting off this train. I wouldn't be bothered except that my gracious host in Tucson will be very inconvenienced by my lateness. Other than that, I don't really mind.
For lunch I had a burger with a couple from Salinas, CA. They were returning from Little Rock, AR and their 50th high school reunion. We had a good time and I had cheesecake for desert which was nice and filling.
After lunch I enjoyed a movie in the lounge car. I forget the title but it was about a town called Mooseport and a hardware store owner, played by Ray Romano, runs for mayor against a former president, played by... Gene Hackman I think. It also had one of my favorite actresses in it, Maura Tierney, who plays Abbey on ER. It was a pretty good movie.
The scenery has changed quite a bit, and there are now some beautiful mountains on both sides of us. I think I've got some good photos as the sun went down. It's almost completely dark now and I can see the headlights of the cars on the highway in the distance and, beyond that, flashes of lightning on the horizon which silhouette the mountains.
I'm going to shut down now to conserve battery power. Of course I'll try and connect in El Paso so I can post this.
El Paso, TX... 12:00am
Holy delay Batman, this is ridiculous! It's now midnight and we still have many hours to go. Other than that, not much else to write. I'm just chilling, reading the New York Times Magazine which has an interesting article about cockroaches in it. That's pretty much it.
Posted on July 28, 2004 at 8:36 PM
Comments
what kind of work do you do?
Posted by: paul at August 17, 2004 1:21 AM
I'm a teacher.
Posted by: manyhighways at August 24, 2004 3:45 AM
The freight railroads own the tracks and dispatch all of the trains. They are paid by Amtrak to run their trains and are offered incentives for on-time performance. Some railroads are better than others with respect to maintaining schedule. In general, all of the railroads have capacity problems at this time. The Sunset Ltd has the reputation for being one of the worst trains for on-time performance.
Posted by: Drew at August 25, 2004 12:36 PM