Sunset Limited Information

The Sunset Limited is a passenger train that for most of its history has run between New Orleans and Los Angeles, California, and that from early 1993 through late August 2005 also ran east of New Orleans to Jacksonville, Florida, making it during that time the only true transcontinental passenger train in American history. From late August 2005 to the present, the train has remained officially a Florida-to-Los Angeles train, with the service between New Orleans and Orlando considered temporarily truncated due to the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina.

During fiscal year 2010, the Sunset Limited carried a total of 91,684 passengers, an increase of 16.4% from FY 2009's total of 78,775.^[1] The train carried the fewest passengers of any long-distance train in the Amtrak system.^[1] During FY 2010, the train had a total revenue of $9,962,415, a 20.4% increase from revenue of $8,272,084 during FY 2009.^[1]

Route

The tracks used were once part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and the Southern Pacific Railroad; they are now owned by CSX Transportation, 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.

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

Timetable notes

Service on the Sunset Limited between Orlando and New Orleans has been suspended indefinitely. 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

Pre-Amtrak

Prior to the start of Amtrak service on May 1, 1971, the Sunset Limited was operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Sunset Limited is the oldest name train in the United States still operating, having held the name since its inauguration in 1894. The Sunset Limited was Southern Pacific's premier train, built for luxury first-class long-distance travel. Initially the Sunset Limited was an all-Pullman train, consisting only of sleeping cars and no coaches, running directly from New Orleans to San Francisco via Los Angeles. In 1924 the train received new all steel cars, replacing the old wooden cars. From its beginning in 1893 until streamlining in 1950, all the train's cars featured 6-wheel trucks and were painted in dark olive green with black roofs and trucks.

A typical 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 typical 1929 consist included:^{[citation needed]}

• 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 typical 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 lost its all-Pullman status for the first time. After the Great Depression, in 1936, the train once again began running through to San Francisco and was also one of SP's very first trains to receive air-conditioning; in 1939, the train gained back its exclusive all-Pullman status. From 1939 to 1941 the train operated at its zenith, being equipped with air conditioning, featuring exclusively sleeping cars (All-Pullman status) and running the complete New Orleans to San Francisco routing via the magnificent coast line. The advent of the Second World War in December 1941 saw the train carry coaches again, and in January 1942 it was again cut back to Los Angeles. The Sunset Limited would never again be all-Pullman status, nor would it have the direct New Orleans to San Francisco routing.

The train was dieselized in late 1949, and upgraded to a streamliner in August 1950. The Sunset Limited was the last among the big American luxury trains to be streamlined, and in 1950 the train was reintroduced in a completely new look, featuring stainless steel cars, painted in silver with red letterboards and white "Southern Pacific" lettering. All cars except the RPO-Baggage (which had 6-wheel trucks) were built with 4-wheel trucks, and the last car of the train was a sleeping car with a blunted rear end, featuring 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 pulling the train, especially on the western portion of its run. Steam on the Sunset Limited lingered until 1953, when there were enough diesel locomotives to provide steady diesel power to the train.

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 pulling the train were painted in the Southern Pacific's "Daylight" scheme; later in the 1960s and 70s EMD F7 diesel locomotives in A-B-B-A sets and painted in SP's "Bloody Nose" scheme powered the train on the entire run.

A typical consist from the early 1950s included:^{[citation needed]}

• An A-A Set of Alco PA-1 or an A-B-B Set of EMD E-7 diesel locomotives, both painted 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, the Sunset lost its "Limited" status, and 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 consisted of only 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 for a while. In October 1970, the Sunset stopped running daily between New Orleans and Los Angeles, running only three times a week, but with full dining and sleeping cars returning across the entire run. 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 from the Amtrak takeover until April 29, 1984, when an Amtrak train called the Gulf Coast Limited, running between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, began service; 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, a new Amtrak train that was actually a Mobile section of Amtrak's New York-to-New Orleans Crescent; at Flomaton the train's route turned northeast towards Montgomery. The Gulf Breeze was discontinued in 1995. Meanwhile, on April 4, 1993, the entire New Orleans-to-Jacksonville route had gone into passenger train service with the extension of the Sunset Limited to Jacksonville and Miami, using the route of Amtrak's Silver Meteor south of Jacksonville. The train's eastern endpoint was later cut back from Miami to Orlando due to the difficulties associated with turning the equipment in time if the trainset was delayed.

On September 22, 1993, the locomotives and some cars of the eastbound Sunset Limited derailed and fell off a bridge into water near Mobile, Alabama, 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 hide the sabotage.^[2]

On June 2, 1996, the Sunset Limited was rerouted to a more southerly route between Tucson, Arizona, and Yuma, Arizona, bypassing Phoenix, Arizona, in order to accommodate the Union Pacific Railroad's desire to abandon a portion of its Phoenix-to-Yuma "West Line". As of early 2006, however, the line had not yet been abandoned, and construction activities suggested that Union Pacific might reopen the line.

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 southwest Louisiana had by that time 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.^[3]

Section 226 of the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007 (H.R. 2095), signed into law by President Bush on October 16, 2008, giving Amtrak 9 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."^[4]

Future service

Future service on the segment east of New Orleans has not yet been determined, but according to Brian Rosenwald, an Amtrak executive, and what he has said in New Orleans, there will be something by 2012, even though implementation could be later.^[5] Furthermore, from the same meeting, due to the plans to restructure the Texas Eagle to operate over the Sunset's route west of San Antonio, the train will still make use of Amtrak's bi-level Superliner fleet but only as a stub train with thru-cars that come and go from Los Angeles.^[5] Whether or not the Sunset name will remain is yet to be seen. What is known, though, comes from the July 2010 issue of Trains magazine in which the stub train will make use of the recent addition to the Superliner equipment, the Diner-Lounge car.^[6] However, according to the December 2010 issue, the plans were halted when Union Pacific stated that in order to accomplish even a daily Sunset Limited, $750 million^[7] would need to be paid by Amtrak in order for proper infrastructure improvements. Also included in establishing daily service was an updated timetable, with a return to a late-night departure at 10:30 pm from Los Angeles and an earlier departure from New Orleans at 9:45 am. The schedule change would provide daylight service in Arizona (10:17 am eastbound and 6:49 pm westbound), cut transfer time from eastbound Sunset to northbound Texas Eagle to 50 minutes, cut eastbound San Antonio layover time to one hour, provide daylight service to Houston (11:58 am eastbound and 6:25 pm westbound), and restore both late-night service to New Orleans (9:00 pm) and a restored connection to the Coast Starlight (5:05 am).^[8]

References

• Mike Schafer, Amtrak's atlas, Trains June 1991
• Bob Johnston, Getting Ready for the Sunset, Trains March 1993
• Bob Johnston, At last, a transcontinental passenger train, Trains July 1993

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "AMTRAK SETS NEW RIDERSHIP RECORD, THANKS PASSENGERS FOR TAKING THE TRAIN (link to PDF download)". Amtrak. 11 October 2010. http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/Page/1237608337144/1237608345018?passedMonth=October&passedYear=2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
2. ^ "At least one dead, 100-plus injured in Amtrak derailment". CNN. 1995-10-09. http://www.cnn.com/US/9510/amtrak/. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
3. ^ "Release 06-06: NARP Urges Resumption of New Orleans-Florida Rail Service". National Association of Railroad Passengers. 2006-05-03. http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/news_releases/more/nr06_06. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
4. ^ Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007
5. ^ ^{a b} http://www.railpac.org/2009/06/11/sunset-limited-marketing-meeting/
6. ^ "Amtrak Trains Under the Microscope in 2010", Trains, July 2010, 20.
7. ^ "The 'Sunset Limited' and the Future of the Passenger Train", Trains, December 2010, 14-15.
8. ^ "Sunset Route Revamp Put on Hold", Trains, December 2010, 20-21.

External links

• Amtrak - Sunset Limited
• Sunset Un-Limited - Google group for advocates of restoration of the cross-country Sunset Limited route

Categories: Amtrak routes | Named passenger trains of the United States | Passenger rail transport in Florida | Passenger rail transport in Alabama | Passenger rail transport in Mississippi | Passenger rail transport in Louisiana | Passenger rail transport in Texas | Passenger rail transport in New Mexico | Passenger rail transport in Arizona | Passenger rail transport in California | Transportation in Southern California | Transportation affected by Hurricane Katrina | Night trains of the United States

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