Johnny
Part of the approach to San Antonio is on the old MP (IGN) track. However, shortly after the train passes the location where the MP station stood, it begins a swing around to the Amtrak Station, which is in part of the old Southern Pacific Station.
The approach gives the impression that the train is turning left to get to the Amtrak Station. And as far as I can determine, it is. I believe it follows the track - you can see it on Google Maps - that runs past the San Antonio International Airport, then cuts under U.S. 281, I-10 and I-37 as it swings around to head into the Amtrak Station.
I have ridden Number 21 into San Antonio at least 50 times. I have never been quite certain where we are - it is not because I have spent too much time in the lounge car sipping on its offerings - since the train usually arrives into San Antonio after dark. From the time one can see the Hemisphere Dome until the trains gets around to the station can take as long as 40 minutes. On several recent trips, people have used their cell phone to tell someone waiting for them at the station that they can see the Hemisphere Dome and should be arriving shortly. They are surprised at how long it takes.
At this time of year the two sleepers (transition and regular) on Number 21 are located at the front of the train and the three coaches are on the back of the train. The lounge car and dinning car are in between them. The cars are not turned in San Antonio.
This is how I think it works. Sometime after Number 1 arrives from Houston, it makes a series of moves to pick-up the through coach from of the back of Number 21. Meanwhile, although not simultaneously, Number 21's locomotives pull the two sleepers from the train so as to able to place the through sleeper on the back of Number 1. The through sleeper is the second sleeper; the first is the transition sleeper. This is why your headboard/foot-board - figuratively speaking - is reversed. These procedures are reversed for Number 22/422.
Except the summer months, Number 21 and Number 22 has the two sleepers on the front of the train. Last year, during the summer months, for reasons that no one could tell me, the transition sleeper was on the front of the train and the through sleeper was on the back of the train.
When I am in Alpine, TX, which is frequently, I try to get by the station to see the Sunset Limited. Alpine is a crew change point. The usual configuration of the train, unless it has changed recently, is for the NO to LAX sleeper to be on the front of the train, just behind the baggage car, and the through sleeper (2130) from Chicago on the back of the train.
My options are back!
To give a little more detail on Sam1's description on how #21 enters San Antonio, it comes down to Tower 109 (Apache Junction), where it bears to the left onto the former San Antonio and Aransas Pass (SP, now UP), leaving the IGN (MP, now UP), and at Tower 112 moves onto the former Galveston Henderson and San Antonio (SP, now UP), which is the line used from Houston to El Paso, and enters the station on this. Were it to continue on this track, it could go on to Houston; for it is now headed in that direction. Apparently the seats in the through coach ( a baggage coach) are turned, for they were facing forward west of San Antonio, just as they were facing forward north of San Antonio. However, since berths cannot be turned around and the sleeper itself was not turned around, my berth, which had been at the front of my bedroom, was now at the back of the room. However, I still got up on the right side of the bed.
Incidentally, the Chicago-Los Angeles coach was put between the two New Orleans-Los Angeles coaches.
According to the map in SPV's atlas, there is a connecting track from the GH&SA to the MKT northeast of the station.
I took Number 22 to Dallas on Wednesday and returned on Number 21 yesterday. I was able to catch-up with one of the conductors, who I have known for years. He is based in San Antonio, and he gave me an update on how the cars are transferred.
The through coach from Chicago to LAX cannot be a coach/baggage car. Amtrak is obligated to provide lower level seating on the through coach, as well as the through sleeper. Apparently Amtrak's obligation is driven by ADA. The normal operation is to put the through coach and sleeper on the back of Number 1 or pull them off the back of Number 2. It is possible for the through coach to be spotted in front of the last coach, but it would be rare.
The car transfers are done by an Amtrak yard crew. Apparently it is a good job if one likes working in the middle of the night. It uses Number 21's power. Through checked baggage is taken off Number 21's coach/baggage car and transferred to the real baggage car on Number 1.
Most nights Number 21 arrives into San Antonio on Track 2. The vintage steam locomotive is on Track 1 and the track on the other side of the platform is Track 3. Some time after 11:00 p.m., assuming that Number 21 has arrived, the yard crew moves the train forward to a point where the through coach is near the vintage steam engine, uncouples it , secures it, and then crosses Commerce Street to a point where it can cross over to Track 3. It backs the Eagle onto Track 3, where it leaves the dinning car, lounge car, and regular coaches. Then it pulls the transition sleeper and the through sleeper back across Commerce Street to a point where it can switch back to Track 2. It pushes the through sleeper across Commerce Street once again, couples it to the through coach, and secures it. This is where the through cars sit until Number 1 arrives from Houston.
After coupling the through sleeper to the through coach, the yard crew reassembles Number 21, pulls across Commerce Street to a point where it can switch back to Track 2 and clear Track 3 for Number 1. This is where the story gets a tad fuzzy. I believe that he told me Number 1, after discharging its passengers, runs to a point where it can switch over to Track 2, backs down and couples onto the through cars. This makes sense because the through sleeper, as a rule, is on the back of Number 1.
Once night a week, when making up Number 22, the protect cars that are sitting on the other side of Commerce Street, replace the San Antonio to Chicago sleeper and one of the coaches. My conductor acquaintance said that they do this to help balance out the mileage.
Moving the cars from Number 2 to Number 22 is the reverse of the aforementioned procedure.
Had the proposal to make the Texas Eagle a Chicago to LAX through train, with a connecting train from New Orleans, it would have eliminated the switching and the need for the protect cars. I am not sure why Amtrak could not have made the Texas Eagle a through train, even if it ran only as a three day a week train west of San Antonio. The current procedure does not sound like a very efficient way to run a railroad.
Thanks, Sam, for the detailed description of the switching.
What else does the Amtrak yard crew do besides switch #21/1 and #2/22?
Knowing how the cars for #22 are left explains why we moved as we did before leaving San Antonio (I went from San Antonio to Fort Worth and on up to Oklahoma City last Thursday)--I boarded the train on Track 3, and shortly before time to leave, we backed up so we could move onto Track 2.
When I came back through Fort Worth last Saturday, #21 was already in the station when #521 arrived, and I was able to board soon after all of the arriving passengers had detrained--and ate lunch in the diner.
My contact told me that switching #21/1 and #2/22 is it for the Amtrak yard crew. I believe that they are on duty from 11:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. on the nights/mornings the transfers are made. I had thought that the switching was done by a UP contract crew, but my acquaintance told me that it is an Amtrak crew.
My contact is the senior conductor out of San Antonio. I have know him for years, and we have had coffee together. But I don't like to reveal people's names in a forum.
Number 821 is due in Fort Worth at 12:39 p.m. Number 21 is due there at 1:25 p.m. However, if #21 leaves Dallas on time, it can run to Fort Worth in less than 40 minutes and be in the Fort Worth station well before the advertised. On Thursday, we left Dallas on time and pulled into the station at Fort Worth at 12:45 p.m. So if #821 is a tad late, #21 frequently is in the station, seemingly waiting for it, which is what you experienced. On most days, if #21 and #22 are on time, they are in the Fort Worth Station at the same time. Fort Worth is a service stop for all three trains.
Speaking of Numbers 822 and 821, I have been thinking of taking a ride up to Oklahoma City. I have not been over the Fort Worth to Oklahoma City line since the middle 1970s. Was it worth it?
Although I have not seen anything from Amtrak, my conductor acquaintance told me that Amtrak is going to terminate #21 at Fort Worth for most of July and August because of the track work and the communications construction around Tower 55. Buses will be substituted between Fort Worth and San Antonio. He said that he is going to qualify on the Sunset Limited to Alpine.
When I arrived in Fort Worth Thursday a week ago, #21 was there, but when I went south on Saturday, we met #22 well below Fort Worth (I do not remember just where).
As to the value of a trip to Oklahoma City and back, do you have something to do there that is worth spending two nights? I do not remember anything spectacular in either direction. I stayed at the Residence Inn on Reno (close to the station), and was able to do a week's laundry there. I did enjoy what I saw of the city, and now I can say that I spent the night (two nights) in another sate capital. If you are interested in the baseball team there, the stadium is down the street just a little from the hotel I stayed in (which does provide a fair breakfast at no additional cost).
I understand that in the summer months (June through sometime in September), the Texas Eagle carries the Sunset Limited's coach and sleeper through cars together on the rear of the train. However in the other times of the year, the through sleeper is up front after the transition sleeper and the coach is on the rear. What is the reasoning for the variation in consist configuration?
When I left LA last October on my way to Chicago, my sleeper was on the rear of the train,with all of the coaches next to it. Leaving San Antonio, the diner was right in front of it, so I did not have to walk through the coaches to eat.
Benson I understand that in the summer months (June through sometime in September), the Texas Eagle carries the Sunset Limited's coach and sleeper through cars together on the rear of the train. However in the other times of the year, the through sleeper is up front after the transition sleeper and the coach is on the rear. What is the reasoning for the variation in consist configuration?
During the summer months in central and south Texas the nighttime temperatures often stay above 80 degrees. Keeping the through cars cool during the nearly two to five hour layover in San Antonio is critical for passenger comfort.
The through cars have to be moved to an external power source to keep their cooling systems working during the layover. Getting them moved as quickly as possible is important. This is the reason the through coach and sleeper are on the back of the train during the summer.
Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII
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