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The transition sleeper on the Sunset is intended primarily for the on-board service personnel who work the train from end point to end point, i.e. Los Angeles (LA) to New Orleans (NO) and vice versa.  These include the dinning and lounge car personnel, sleeping car attendant(s), and coach attendant(s).  The eastbound Sunset is scheduled to arrive at San Antonio (SA) at 10:25 p.m. on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.  It is usually 60 to 90 minutes late.  The Eagle sleeper and coach are uncoupled from the train in San Antonio and positioned to be coupled to the Texas Eagle, which is scheduled to depart San Antonio at 7:00 a.m.  The sleeping car attendant who works the Eagle sleeper from LA to SA stays on the car until 6:00 a.m., when she is relieved by the attendant who will work it between SA and Chicago. The LA to SA attendant stays in SA until the next westbound train, following coming off duty at 6:00 a.m., which departs SA on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 5:40 a.m.  This means that the Eagle sleeping car attendant who arrives in SA on Monday night does not leave SA until Thursday morning.  This procedure was explained to me last February by the Eagle sleeping car attendant on the train that I rode from El Paso to Austin.  It may have changed, but as far as I know it is the same.           The transition sleepers have more sleeping spaces than are required for a typical Sunset and Eagle crew.  Accordingly, if the regular sleeper is full, Amtrak will sell the roomettes in the transition sleeper.  They appear to be comparable with the roomettes in the regular sleeping car.  The coach baggage car contains an area for checked baggage, which is baggage that passengers have check through to their destination as opposed to taking it on the train.  It is put in the checked baggage area in the coach baggage car with a tag telling the train crew its destination.  At the destination the train crew removes the bag from the train and delivers it to the passenger.  This transfer usually takes place in a designated area of the station, at least for large stations.  However, at some smaller stations, the baggage may be delivered to the passenger at train side.The coach baggage cars on the Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited are Superliner coaches that have a baggage area on the lower level.  For relatively short, lightly patronized trains like the Sunset and Eagle, which don't require a full length baggage car, the coach baggage format is a better fit. The locomotives that pull the Sunset Limited, as well as most if not all of Amtrak's long distance trains are General Electric built P42 "Genesis".  Most of the time one locomotive is sufficient to handle the Sunset and the Eagle.  However, on occasion, I have seen two locomotives pulling the Sunset.  The locomotive runs through from end point to end point.  This is also true for the locomotive that pulls the Texas Eagle from Chicago to San Antonio and back to Chicago.If you type Amtrak Passenger Locomotives or Amtrak P42 into Google, Yahoo, or Live Search - I am sure there others, you can get the specifications for the Genesis locomotives.
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