On Saturday afternoon/evening, we go through southwest Texas. There is no wireless Internet access, nor do I even have cell phone access. I have Verizon for both; I can’t rip on them since the service has been great throughout the trip and we are in the middle of nowhere. There is not much to report during this time. About 50 miles Southeast of El Paso, Texas, we pass the Westbound Sunset Limited Train No. 1. They seem to be making a lot better time than our train. At Sanderson, Texas – the last stop before I go to bed – we are 5:38 behind.

I wake up this morning while we are in San Antonio and the Texas Eagle cars are being removed. We pull out of the station before I have a chance to walk outside, get some fresh air and update the consist. We are now 6:07 behind.

Our lounge car attendant, George, gets my early vote as MVP. He just made an announcement that he was up early today in San Antonio, helping the maintenance crew fix our refrigeration unit. They were successful and we now have cold food all the time in the lounge, as well as beer, I’m sure.

Entering El Paso, the train runs parallel to the Mexican border for a small stretch, about 100 feet away from the fences. Wow. It’s a different world on the other side of the border. I’ve heard the term shanty town before. Now I’ve seen one.

Stepping off the train for a brief stop in El Paso, we are hit by a sweltering wave of heat. Football practice at the University of Texas-El Paso, which we passed on the way to the station, must be brutal in late August.

After our extended stop outside of Deming, New Mexico, we didn’t stop at the Deming station for some reason. Must not have been any passengers getting on or off at that location. Anyway, I’ll count our siding stop outside of Deming as our station stop, which now puts us 6:22 behind schedule.

We’ve been following Interstate 10 all day. No longer. About 10 miles east of Deming, we begin heading southeast toward El Paso.

Time for a couple of semi-apologies. First, my Verizon card has been working like a charm, even in semi-remote parts of Arizona and New Mexico. So much for my comment about the service being a scam. If only it would work this well in Washington, D.C. Also, during our extended stop outside of Deming, George – our quality lounge car attendant – made an announcement that he had stockpiled some hot dogs, pizza and burgers in the dining car and they were available for purchase for a limited time. The streak continues. I had a dog and beer for lunch. You’re back in my good graces, Amtrak.

Outside of Lordsburg, New Mexico, we stop for an approaching signal. The UP dispatcher says on the radio that it will be about 10 minutes before the train passes. The dispatcher also tells our train of a Level 1 heat restriction from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The stop actually takes about 15 minutes.

At 11:20 a.m. MT, Outside of Deming, New Mexico, we stop on a siding for one hour, 17 minutes. The explanation on the intercom is that we are waiting for several freight trains to pass. (In fact, three do during this time). However, I later overhear one of the crew members saying that they reached their time limit at 11:30 and the new crew came from El Paso in a van to meet the train. Anyway, a crew change is the reason for this extended stop on the siding.