Jaunted

Train Travel / Amtrak / New York Times / → All Tags

Train Travel for the Super-Lethargic

Find you have way too much vacation time? Don't enjoy punctual conveyances? You're one of those "the journey is the destination" people? The New York Times has the trip for you: a passage from New Orleans to Los Angeles on Amtrak's Sunset Limited.

The epic rail journey is scheduled for 48 hours, but rarely makes it to the West Coast that quickly because of delays caused by freight trains. But that doesn't seem to bother the passengers, who share groceries and swap stories as they inch across the Chihuahuan Desert in sleeper cabins, relaxed by the rocking of the train.

Of the cross-section of passengers--a social worker, an artist and an agronomist among them--one in particular stood out to us:

John Pelham, a Continental Airlines flight attendant from Houston on a vacation to visit friends in Los Angeles, uncorked a bottle of red wine and offered drinks around.

Unbelievable. Even on a tranquil train ride, this guy doesn't take a break from passing out cocktails.

Related Stories:
· Family of Strangers on the Sunset Limited [NYT]
· Train Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Amtrak coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Michael Stravato for The New York Times]