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The Sunset Limited (3) – US Rail Journeys Series 2 Episode 14
Lake Charles, Louisiana:
The Sunset Limited (3) starts as we approach the City of Lake Charles. The city is home to just under 72,000 (2010 census). It is the fifth largest city in Louisiana.
The major activities include petroleum refining, gaming, tourism and education. It is one of the three most humid places in the US.
We cross the lake beside the bridge carrying road traffic and head off into the lush countryside. Then we pass both small and large waterways, go through small towns and pass farms growing sugarcane.
Once over the Sabine river we’re in Texas. It doesn’t look any different!
Beaumont, Texas:
The station in Beaumont was built in 2012 and in 2019 passenger numbers increased to 3,651. We get an air break and so we can walk along the platform whilst there is a crew change. A crew change means a new engineer and conductors whereas the passenger care team is on the train for the whole journey.
We leave the Beaumont running late. As our journey continues we see that oil is never far away in Texas.
Houston:
We travel at speed for parts of the next leg, probably because we’re running late. I get the opportunity to talk to Henrietta and learn about the Cajun culture and cooking.
Houston is the fourth most populous city in the US. Industries in Houston include oil and natural gas, biomedical research and aeronautics. And, of course, there is the NASA Space Centre.
The station is below a flyover on the edge of the city. On the platform I see traditional luggage carts being used to move passenger baggage. In a siding there are a couple of historic railway carriages.
After our break we rejoin the train and start the journey to our next stop at San Antonio where we will be joined by the Los Angeles section of the Texas Eagle.
So far, we’ve averaged 36 miles per hour!
The photographs that accompany the podcast:
Please click on a thumbnail to open the gallery:
Next up:
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this podcast. If so please join me in two weeks for the next episode where I continue my journey on the Sunset Limited along the southern border of the United States towards Los Angeles.
Links:
To visit the Amtrak website please follow this link.
You can also listen to this podcast on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify and Stitcher.
Music:
AKM Music has licensed the theme, Steam Railway, for use in this podcast.
Audioblocks has licensed Twang in Texas by Keith LeBrant for use as incidental music in this episode.
© The MrT Podcast Studio 2019 – 2020
