Grand Canyon Sunset Limited

Sunday, November 24, 1996 Amtrak Sunset Limited
My only other experience with Amtrak was a "dry run" I took in October when I went from Boston to Washington, D. C., to see the NAMES Quilt display. On the East Coast, where they rely on public transportation, the trains seem to run on time and in some organized fashion. This isn't the case here. When we were making our reservations, Amtrak changed the scheduled departure, and time of stops, several times. At one point they cancelled the Texas Eagle (our ride from Dallas to San Antonio) after we'd already purchased tickets from Dallas to Arizona. They told me on the phone that we could board the train anytime from 1:00am to 5:00am; when we got there at 4:00am (I always worry about being late places, it's an obsession), they laughed at me and told me that the train wasn't even here yet. Oh... and did I mention it was raining? Raining is too nice a word for it, it was actually POURING on us as we arrived at the station, so we (and all our baggage) were drenched to start our trip. And, the train was four hours late arriving in Arizona.
	Eric and Ellen are sitting in the observation car, watching the world go by. If you've never been to Texas before, you'll have to understand that you usually spend at least a day on a trip just getting through the state. Riding by train is an excellent way to appreciate how big the state is.
	Amber sitting in the observation car. Amber enjoys new experiences and seemed to take to train travel quite well.
	A view out the window at the Texas scenery, and the Rio Grande... snow flakes, an unexpected flurry, are starting to fall.
	In this shot from the train, you can see some big flakes coming down. I think this is the first snow any of the kids have ever seen.
	More of the Texas countryside, with the Chisos Mountains of the Big Bend area (I think?).
	Yet more Texas landscape.
	Amber and Joey started getting restless on the train trip. I stretched my brain to remember the rules of "Go Fish" and taught it to them, then encouraged them to play it with some of the other train kids. Here, Amber is joining three other kids in one of those hand-clapping rhyming games.
The Sunset Limited made the following stops/whistles: Del Rio, Texas Langtry, Texas, the headquarters of "Judge" Roy Bean, the "Law West of the Pecos" Sanderson, Texas, a truly dead little train stop we made Alpine, Texas, the entry to Big Bend, Texas' own version of the Grand Canyon. Marathon, Texas, home of the Gage Motel, a wonderful place Judy and I stayed at after an incredibly awful backpacking misadventure (our 'guide' had taken us into Big Bend too late in the year, and temperatures were hovering at about 120 degrees Fahrenheit, to make a long story short). It was such a wonderful place that it almost made up for near-death in Big Bend. We plan to return to the Gage sometime! Marfa, Texas, home of the legendary Marfa Ghost Lights (we didn't see any, darn it) El Paso, Texas -- gee. You just can't think of anything much to say about these west Texas towns. Dry and hot. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico is thirty feet south of the train track at one point. Juarez is alarmingly poor, with people living in shacks made from cardboard and wooden pallets, and the contrast from the train is remarkable where you can view Juarez from one side, and Texas from another, and understand why there are so many border crossings. Franklin Mountains, NM and some extinct volcanoes. Deming, NM Continental Divide Crossing at 4,587 feet elevation Benson, AZ site of the "Gunfight at OK Corral" Davis Monthan Air Force Base which has a vast aircraft "boneyard" storing hundreds of military planes. I seem to recall a pretty bad recent action-movie with one of the Sheen kids which featured this boneyard, but I'm not sure. Anyone? Tucson, AZ, our final destination, where we leave the train and catch the Amtrak Bus Thruway to Phoenix.

Written by Kathy D. Lessa