I used to go to Las Vegas on the train. All the way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

It was a great ride!

Show up in the L.A. terminal at 10:30 and hop aboard. Grab your seat and show your ticket to the uniformed conductor. Watch the edge of LA go by your window and wonder about the wits and wisdom of the early pioneers as your rolled slowly over the great Mojave. Have an early lunch in the fabulous Pullman Car shown to your seat by an impeccable gentleman in a strikeing white and perfectly creased kitchen uniform. Dine with folks you never met before heading in the same direction with dreams of new opportunities or anticipated winnings. Grab 40 winks with the sound of clickety claks in your dreams, then get up to have a beer or two and a conversation with the informative bartender or a kindly stranger in the lounge car and watch the start of Las Vegas slide slowly by as you glided to a stop in the Union Plaza at 5:15 PM.

Downtown Las Vegas, here I am!! I'm gonna enjoy the heck out of the next couple of days!

And so did many other!

Then came the jets and the slow demease of slower modes of transportation. It took a while but transporation on the rails from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and points further on up the rails came to a slow standstill..

And then there was none! And sad to say, it was rarely missed because new travelers wanted to get to Las Vegas in a hurry and the airlines gave them that opportunity.

Now there is talk about the trains coming back to Las Vegas! The big argument is who will pay the bill to get them operating once again.

Will there be enough customers to cover the expense and pay the bills or should the beneficiaries such as the Las Vegas casinos come in and help pay the expenses to get these train passangers into their clubs?

And don't forget the talk about a monorail running at speeds over 100 miles an hour between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Do you think any of this is ever going to happen??? I've seen bigger changes in Las Vegas over the past ten years, so nothing is impossible.





------------------
will800

Will, I don't want the 100 mph monorail. I want Amtrak back!! I rode that track a few times and loved it. Fell asleep in the LA train station one night. Woke up 10 minutes after the train had left. Oh well. One night in a hotel and lunch at California Pizza the next day. And on the train the next night.

I can't believe they stopped that train. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/frown.gif[/img]

[This message has been edited by gailsacco (edited August 21, 1999).]

Gail,

It was the Desert Wind if I recall correctly.

Did they run a night train from LA to Las Vegas too? I only recall the train departing the LA terminal around 10:30 AM and arriving in LV seven hours later around 5:30 PM. We'd get off in the Union Plaza and check right in. Couldn't be more convenient than that!

You caught the return trip to LA about 7:15 in the morning and would arrive about 2:15 PM. That was the train that came down from Salt Lake City with a stop in Vegas and continued on down to LA.

Good times then!

------------------
will800

We have just got train service back in parts of Oklahoma. I checked to see how long it would take from Norman to Vegas. About three days. I will be flying to Vegas.

SNOOKIE: It would sure be nice to have a train from OK city or Tulsa to vegas. I hate those small cramped seats on air planes. The trip and senery would be great.

Will, I didn't like the LV to Salt Lake City to Denver route because it was a night ride. I don't like driving in mountains and around cliffs at night. I want to see what I'm up against if the train goes off the track <g>.

So what I did was catch the LV train to LA. Then take the LA train to Kingman, AZ thru Albuquerque, NM thru Kansas to Chicago. This train was called the Southwest Chief.
Change trains in Chicago and on to Boston.

Yes, the Desert Wind had a run from LA to LV to SLC to Denver to Chicago. Very nice train with the sightseeing car and lounge. This train was much cleaner than the Southwest Chief. Don't know why. But, I really enjoyed the Southwest Chief's staff.

I don't have my old Amtrak schedule handy (will get it though) but I think they cut the LV to LA and LA to LV run to maybe twice a week. Think it was Tuesdays and Thursdays.

>>return trip to LA about 7:15 in the morning and would arrive about 2:15 PM.<<

I don't remember the schedule right now but I do know that the LA to Kingman (Southwest Chief) didn't depart until a few hours later- like 8 pm.

I remember the LA terminal was being fixed up the last time I was there. They had a nice little coffee shop and outdoor patio and grounds with tables was nice.

Kizzy,
You can go from OKC to Vegas. The train goes from OKC to Fort Worth. From Fort Worth you get on another train that goes to Vegas. I just dont want to do it.
Tell Stoney I said hi.

[This message has been edited by Snookie (edited August 22, 1999).]