The Curse of the Post Amtrak World Part Duex

The eastbound Sunset Limited makes a station stop in Yuma, AZ circa 2010. Morgan Pavia Photo

If you recall in a previous post I discussed the genesis of Amtrak and gave a rough equipment history. In this post I am going to discuss specific trains that I will possibly be modeling, I listed three Amtrak trains in the previous post: The Sunset Limited, The Southwest Chief/ Southwest Limited/ Super Chief, and the Desert Wind.  Since I would like to model Colton crossing as working crossing that possibly brings the Chief and the Desert Wind into play as they ran on ATSF lines, more on that later.  As I stated previously, I make no claims to being an expert on this particular subject so any feedback or corrections are welcome. 

The Sunset Limited on the other hand traverses the entire portion  of the proposed layout with the exception of the Gila line between Wellton and Tucson.  While the train uses the Gila Line today, in the Southern Pacific days aside from at the very end, it traveled to Tucson via Phoenix.

Amtrak's Sunset Limited runs from Los Angeles to New Orleans and gets its name from the Southern Pacific train of the same name that traversed the same route.  At one point the train terminated in Orlando Florida making it the only true transcontinental passenger train and while I do not know when that service began I know Hurricane Katrina put an end to it.  Interestingly enough the two portions of the route that no longer see train service are also the only places serious wrecks occured; Big Bayou Canot near Mobile Alabama 09/22/1993, and Palo Verde Arizona, near Phoenix 10/11/1995. 

The Arizona wreck is of importance here as it occured on a part of the line that may be modeled during the timeframe I am interested in.  This wreck was also an act of sabotage as the track was deliberately taken out of gauge by an unknown party. The method used was so similar to that used to derail the City of San Francisco in the 1930's (also occuring on SP rails) that according to a post on the Southern Pacific Yahoo group the FBI interviewed all members of the Southern Pacific Historical and Technical Society  that resided in Arizona.  Although the wreck wasn't the stated cause around eight months later the Sunset was rerouted to the Gila line and less than a year later SP ceased to be. 

 

Another reason I bring both wrecks up is that we can glean information from the accident reports if they have been released (the AZ wreck is still an ongoing investigation so I am not sure on that one).  As stated in an earlier blog post NTSB reports are thorough and the report would contain detailed consist information for the train including car type and position of each car in the train.  This would tell us what the usual Sunset looked like in that year which will make acquiring the required models easier.

According to my 1981 employee timetables for the Los Angeles and Tucson Divisions the Sunset was a triweekly train (Train #1 westbound and train #2 eastbound) that traversed the line over night.  Like all other Amtrak trains it started life as a conglomeration of cars from different railroads.  I do not know when Amtrak started assigning their own crews to trains but atleast in the 1970's the operating personnel for the Sunset were provided by Southern Pacific.  The Sunset started out as an all single level train but by 1980 some of the former Santa Fe Hilevels had found their way into the consist.  I am not sure when this happened but I assume it was as the other western trains transitioned to Superliner equipment therefore freeing up the Hilevels to go to the Sunset.  In Late 1981 the Sunset began to see Superliner Equipment on occasion and by 1982 the transition was complete.  From my research it appears that the Sunset was one of the last western long distance trains to convert to HEP.  While most other Amtrak Superliner trains were powered by Amtrak's workhorse F40s through the 80's the Sunset was one of the few regular routes for the much maligned P30CH.

So what equipment is required to model the Sunset Limited? From my research I have found the following:

Early Amtrak (Rainbow and early Phase 1):

motive power it was what ever was available however former SP FP7s were the preferred power. The motive power was approximately 10 to 18 single level cars.

Mid to late 70's-1982

Two SDP40Fs with 10 to 18 single level. Former Santa Fe Hilevels used on occasion

1982-1990

Usually 2 P30CHs (usually being drug by atleast one SP unit due to a mechanical failure) and single level baggage followed by 8 Superliner and Highlevel cars including a dining car. The consist may or may not have included a lounge car.

1990s

What ever motive power was available. Photos of the Arizona wreck show a P32BHW onpoint with an F40 trailing and 12 car consist with one baggage car and a mix of Superliner and Hilevel equipment including a dining car and a lounge.

Now that I have discussed the primary passenger train on the layout lets discuss those that are mainly playing a scenery role. The Desert Wind  and the Southwest Chief at one point crossed the SP main at Colton on their way to San Bernardino however they did not originally follow this route.  Both trains originally were routed via Pasadena so other than detours these trains would not have crossed the SP at Colton until after they were rerouted.  The problem is they were not rerouted at the same time. An LA Times article states that the Desert Wind was rerouted in 1986 where as the general consensus on the internet is the Southwest Chief was not rerouted until 1993 when Metrolink took over the Pasadena line.  Also while the Desert Wind was discontinued in 1997, that is outside the modeled timeframe and so we do not have to worry about that.  So except for when I am modeling the late 80's or the 90's I do not need to worry about these trains.

So examining the consist of the Desert Wind (Train #35 westbound and Train #36 eastbound), we find much variation over the modeled period. Unlike its sister train The Pioneer, which I am more familiar with, the Desert Wind always seemed to have a decent length train.

1986-1990

Atleast 2 F40s usually followed by a baggage car and 5 Superliner and Hilevel cars including a step up Hilevel. However a picture from 1989 in the ebook version of Amtrak Across America (Morning Sun Books) shows 2 F40s, no baggage car only 4 Superliner/Hilevel cars including the step up car and 2 single level cars (possibly private cars) tacked on the end.

1990-1996

During this time frame the train was cut back from daily to triweekly and eventually running through to Chicago on the days the California Zephyr did not. It was during this time that the consist was increased to more resemble the Zephyr regularly including both a lounge and a diner.

The Southwest Chief  (Train #3 westbound and Train #4 eastbound) was only a regular sight at Colton for the last three years of the SP. This by far was the longest train of the 3. In fact when I saw it in New Mexico in January of 2000 it more resembled a freight train because it had just as many if not more express cars and Roadrailer trailers than passenger cars. However prior to the express freight period a more normal consist was usual.

1993-1996

What ever motive power was available between 2 an 4 locomotives followed by a single level baggage car and 8 Superliner/Hilevel cars including a lounge and a diner.  By most accounts this train was all Superliner 2 equipped by 1994.

As far as modeling is concerned I have a fair number of Walthers Superliner cars in phase 3 and phase 4 and plenty of locomotives so it should be no problem to model all three trains in the 3 years they all showed up at Colton (1993-1996). Having enough cars and locomotives for the late 80s could be a problem as I only have 2 Kato F40s, I would love to get some Rapido F40s but more importantly I need the P30CH which is not available in plastic as of this writing.  If someone releases the P30CH and former Hilevels in Phase 3 then I will probably have enough cars to model the Desert Wind and Sunset in the late 1980s. For the mid 1980s I still need to acquire passenger cars and locomotives in the phase 2 scheme however phase 3 was present so I might not need that many. For the 70's through the early 80s I need to acquire everything. Since this is my main time frame I definately need to acquire this equipment. I have 1 SDP40F on order and will order more as Athearn announces more variations. As for the rainbow period I also need to acquire everything however modeling pre1973 makes the physical plant of this section of railroad much different and so I might forego the rainbow era.

So as you see I really am a fan of Amtrak, the curse I refer to is merely that I do not have the knowledge base to model Amtrak like I do the SP.  Any time spent researching Amtrak to gain a better understanding is time not spent researching the SP, building models or designing the layout.  Not that I am complaining but Amtrak is like a shiny object to me and it is easy to get distracted, but that is all part of this journey. So lets enjoy the journey, we will get to the destination soon enough.