Train LA to Las Vegas
Mar 12, 2004 | 2:17 am
#1
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Train LA to Las Vegas
Does a rail link still exist from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Glenwood Springs? I did this trip in 1991 using an Amtrak Rail Pass, eventually taking the train from Glenwood Springs to Chicago. I've just borrowed a book from the Library published 2003 about Rail Travel in the USA and there is no mention of this route - does it still exist? It would be a shame if it didn't as I always remeMber the site of neon lit Las Vegas appearing from the darkness of the desert and alighting at the Station which was a casino itself!
Mar 12, 2004 | 7:23 am
#2
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No, that route has been cancelled. I think AMTRAK just can't justify three trains from Chicago to LA (including the Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited connection). The Southwest Chief (the old Santa Fe route) is much faster to LA than through the Colorado Rockies and Las Vegas.
Mar 12, 2004 | 11:50 am
#4
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Yes, the Desert Wind was cancelled in '87-'88.
AFAIK, talk of running a Talgo trainset between LA an Vegas is still just talk. There was some upgrading of the UP mainline that needed to be done and I don't think that work has started yet.
AFAIK, talk of running a Talgo trainset between LA an Vegas is still just talk. There was some upgrading of the UP mainline that needed to be done and I don't think that work has started yet.
Mar 12, 2004 | 7:39 pm
#5
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Actually, LAX-LAS Amtrak service existed at least until 1995 (I have a schedule and brochure from Amtrak from that year with the route in question). It seems to had been cancelled in 1996. A shame, too; more convenient than flying, a lot less weary than driving. Always did want to take that route but I was just 15 at the time.
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Best regards,
Dairenn Lombard
Los Angeles, CA
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Best regards,
Dairenn Lombard
Los Angeles, CA
Mar 12, 2004 | 9:12 pm
#6
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Location: Sacramento, CA, US
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Amtrak was unable to get the new LA-Las Vegas Talgo off the ground due to federal budget problems and the lack of a full state partner. Nevada had some funding available but not to the extent that CA funds its services.
A strip stop at the Rio would have been included. Project could still happen, but very uncertain.
A strip stop at the Rio would have been included. Project could still happen, but very uncertain.
Mar 13, 2004 | 10:19 am
#7
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by dlombard:
Actually, LAX-LAS Amtrak service existed at least until 1995 (I have a schedule and brochure from Amtrak from that year with the route in question). </font>
Actually, LAX-LAS Amtrak service existed at least until 1995 (I have a schedule and brochure from Amtrak from that year with the route in question). </font>
Edited to add the last run appears to have been on May 10, 1997.
[This message has been edited by birdstrike (edited Mar 13, 2004).]
Mar 13, 2004 | 6:20 pm
#8
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by birdstrike:
Silly me. I was on the Desert Wind January 3, 1995. Darn typos...
Edited to add the last run appears to have been on May 10, 1997.
[This message has been edited by birdstrike (edited Mar 13, 2004).]</font>
Silly me. I was on the Desert Wind January 3, 1995. Darn typos...
Edited to add the last run appears to have been on May 10, 1997.
[This message has been edited by birdstrike (edited Mar 13, 2004).]</font>
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Best regards,
Dairenn Lombard
Los Angeles, CA
Mar 13, 2004 | 6:32 pm
#9
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Apologies for the nitpick, but Amtrak has never served LAX. Amtrak serves Union Station in Los Angeles but not Los Angeles International Airport.
Mar 13, 2004 | 7:02 pm
#10
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JS:
Apologies for the nitpick, but Amtrak has never served LAX. Amtrak serves Union Station in Los Angeles but not Los Angeles International Airport.</font>
Apologies for the nitpick, but Amtrak has never served LAX. Amtrak serves Union Station in Los Angeles but not Los Angeles International Airport.</font>
Mar 14, 2004 | 2:00 pm
#12
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Considering that there's already a mismatch between the official LAUPT (Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal) and more informal "Union Station" designations used for the place, it seems fitting that they just went ahead with "LAX" as the three-character designator.
Mar 15, 2004 | 3:43 am
#13
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Thanks for the info folks. I guess I was lucky to have travelled the route before it closed down. There is an intersesting article here http://www.lvlife.com/may1998/features/story06.html
about the background to the closure.
about the background to the closure.
Mar 15, 2004 | 3:54 pm
#14
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I also traveled that route (the Desert Wind), the Pioneer (now also terminated), the San Francisco Zephyr (now called the California Zephyr, but back then it ran through Wyoming instead of Colorado) and just about every other Amtrack route in the Western U.S. I bought a pass my first summer at college and exploited every loophole that pass had regarding routing; for a couple of hundred dollars, I got to almost every major Western U.S. city. You can't do that anymore; the next Amtrak tarriff changed the wording to close the loopholes I exploited.
Mar 15, 2004 | 5:23 pm
#15
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If you really wanted to, you could travel by Amtrak between LA and the lesser gambling mecca of Laughlin, NV. You get off the train in red-hot Needles, CA and take a bus from/to there.