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.

I think I need to go to a class called Time Zone 101. We are still in Mountain Standard Time, which is the same as Pacific Daylight Time, which means we actually left Tucson at 5:42 a.m. MST, which puts us 4:22 behind schedule.

The lack of cold food in the lounge car is becoming a problem. After a piss-poor breakfast – cold eggs and bacon, as well as grits in place of the potatoes I ordered – there is no pizza, burger or hot dog alternative. During the 40-minute stop in Tucson, I should have run to 7-11.

In between Bowie and San Simon, Arizona – where there is only one track – we stop for five minutes for CSX 7726 to pass.