A The Sunset Limited became the country’s first transcontinental train when Amtrak expanded the former Southern Pacific Los Angeles-New Orleans tri-weekly train to Miami in April 1993. The Sunset was cut back to the Orlando, Fla., area in 1996, however, because freight delays on Union Pacific and CSX Transportation hammered the train’s schedule. It then stopped running east of New Orleans following extensive damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, 2005. Although CSX immediately rebuilt its tracks and towns restored most stations along the route within several years, Amtrak continues to show service between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Fla., as “suspended.”
Prior to Amtrak’s debut in 1971, competing railroads terminating at Chicago, St. Louis, and New Orleans provided so many options that there was no need for a train across the continent. However, the lines did jointly establish transcontinental Pullman sleeping car routes through these cities. (The last such car was a New York-Los Angeles sleeper on the Crescent and Sunset through New Orleans, operated by Amtrak until 1985.) At Chicago, here trains to and from both coasts often arrived and departed from different stations, cross-country travelers were permitted to leave everything in their rooms while the cars were switched; the passengers transferred on a shuttle bus. – Bob Johnston
I was wondering does anyone know how talks between Amtrak,CSX,the Feds and the states of AL,MS,and LA to restore service between New Orleans and Jacksonville,FL have gone, the last i heard there’s a hang up with the states bickering about their share of funds,CSX wanting the states and Amtrak to pony up more,and the question of the cost of PTC along the route.
Honestly, is there a real need 4/”T-C” passen-
ger service? Frt svc is a different manner as
it only accounts for 6% of the nation’s total tonnage.
However, this is a small factor when mea-
sured as tonnage, but a far greater impact when considering revenues.
Fyi, Pat
What ever happened to the Golden State. I thought it was cross country.
Amtrak did run the National Limited with through sleepers.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=43364
One of the reasons I advocate single level passenger cars system wide on Amtrak’s long distance trains is to permit whole trains to operate between the height restricted Northeast and the Pacific Coast.
Trains would be more aerodynamic with less wind drag when the cars do not exceed the height of locomotives pulling them in any case. Dome cars are the exception with sleek windshields.
There was talk of a transcontinental train as noted in a Trains magazine. The major railroads thought about it around the time the sleeping cars were running, but it didn’t happen