Saturday night, after talking to our car attendant, Rene, we decide to slightly change our itinerary. Instead of taking the train all the way to Los Angeles, we will get off at Fullerton, California, which is one station prior to the final stop at L.A.’s Union Station. The reason for this change is that the Pacific Surfliner stops at Fullerton on the way to San Diego and we can catch an earlier train.

We leave Winslow, Arizona four minutes late at 8:54 p.m. and are in bed when we reach Flagstaff, Arizona an hour later.

On Sunday, we get up around 5:45 a.m. PT, as we are pulling into Riverside, California. We pack our things and get off at Fullerton, California around 6:40 a.m., which is about six minutes later. (According to Amtrak’s Web site, the Southwest Chief arrived at Los Angeles on time at 8:15 a.m.)

In Fullerton, California, I immediately head to the ticket window to exchange our Los Angeles to San Diego tickets at 11:10 a.m. for Fullerton to San Diego at 7:52 a.m. I receive the tickets – and $10.45 in change – and since we have an hour to kill, we walk around outside the station, wait in the station and then wait on the platform. To reach the platform for trains heading south, one must cross the rails via a bridge over the tracks.

Pacific Surfliner 564 departs on time at 7:52 a.m. and I set up my laptop and GPS and update my travelogue. After a limited and/or non-existent wireless Internet connection the past two days, I am finally able to get a good signal. In the future, maybe Verizon should change the name of its NationalAccess product to Sporadic Service in 10% of the Nation.

Not much happens Friday night. Still full from burgers at the Billy Goat Tavern, we skip dinner. Tonight we’ll find out if the dining cutbacks have taken effect on the Southwest Chief. I stay up until Kansas City, where we depart 8 minutes late at 11:03 p.m.

On Saturday morning, I wake up at 7:30 a.m. CT during sunrise near the Kansas-Colorado border. I take a shower and then get to experience that wonderful task of shaving on the train. As return to my room, we are pulling into Lamar, Colorado. It is now 7:26 Mountain Time and we are 20 minutes behind schedule. Our car attendant, Rene, says there is some padding in the schedule between here and La Junta, Colorado and we should have time for a 15-minute smoke break and pull out on schedule.

Rene is right as we stop at La Junta, Colorado 2 minutes early at 8:13 a.m. We have 15 minutes to stretch our legs – and for some, fill their lungs – and I go into the station and check out the vending machines. Forget Wheaties, the breakfast of champions today is a cherry and cheese bear claw, Andy Capp’s hot fries and pack of Twizzlers, washed down with a Dr. Pepper.

During the stop in La Junta, Colorado there is a crew change and I ask one of the Amtrak employees about the GTB delay last night. He says he wasn’t on the train, but he heard we blew a hose. Mystery solved, I guess.

We leave the station on time at Trinidad, Colorado, cross the Raton Pass (which I learn is the highest point on the Sante Fe line) and actually 12 minutes arrive early at 10:44 a.m. at Raton, New Mexico, which gives us another stretch and smoke break.

We leave Raton, New Mexico at 10:56 a.m., right on time, but then immediately stop for an all red signal in the West Raton Yard. After a short delay of a couple of minutes, we start moving again.

Outside of Lamy, New Mexico we are going very slow, and then we stop for several minutes awaiting an approaching train. It turns out the train we are waiting for is the Eastbound Southwest Chief. With this delay are 21 minutes late in Lamy.

We make the time back during the one-hour station stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which begins at 3:42 p.m. My stomach is still on Eastern time so I decide to get some food from the vendors on the platform. I choose two burritos – one beef, potato & beans, the other spicy steak – and an order of enchiladas, which comes with two of the pork variety.

We walk outside the station and see a Thai restaurant down the street. My girlfriend orders some Thai food to go and I have a beer while we are waiting. We return to the station, I take several pictures of the engines and we return to our room for a New Mexico/Thai feast. The train departs at 4:45 p.m. and we eat and watch the sunset over the desert.

We are on time at station stops at Mendota, Princeton and Galesburg, Illinois. At Fort Madison, Iowa, we stop for a five-minute smoke. The station, located 100 yards from the Mississippi River, is notoriously cold due to winds from the river. Tonight is no exception as the temperature is 32 degrees.

At 7 p.m., we are expecting the train to leave, but chatter on the radio indicates some kind of problem. The conductor says he’s heading over, a light is requested and someone announces there will be delay of 15 minutes. I’ll play detective and attempt to decipher that tidbit of information.