Departing San Antonio, TX on Sunset Limited #2

This video was shot from the rear of Amtrak Train #2, the eastbound Sunset Limited, on July 12th, 2013 as it departed San Antonio, TX and headed for Houston and points east.

As a note, since this was shot from inside the car, during the video you can hear some talking by other passengers and myself.

The video begins as our train rolls out of the San Antonio Amtrak Station at 6:33 AM, 8 minutes late. Further back on the track to the left is Texas Eagle #22, which will be departing in about 30 minutes. And on the track to the right are the through Coach and through Sleeper from the Sunset Limited that will be going to Chicago on the Texas Eagle. They will be added to the Eagle after we leave.

Soon, we take the switch from the Depot Lead and get onto Main 1 of UP's Del Rio Subdivision to head east for Houston. After we pass, an Amtrak employee lines the switch back to the main and tells our train's crew that he has done so.

As we roll east, we come across a UP local waiting on Main 2 for us to cross in front of him at Tower 121. After we pass, he will enter UP's East Yard.

Eastbound UP Local
UP GP40-2 #1423
UP GP38-2 #537 (With "We Will Deliver" still painted on its side)
UP GP38-2 #588

And as mentioned above, at Tower 121 (CP SA208) Sunset Limited #2 crosses over from Main 1 to Main 2. To the left can be seen the former SP East Yard locomotive shops, which now house the Southwest Research Institute's Locomotive Emissions Testing Facility. The facility is used to do various testing on locomotive engines looking at output and emissions.

Soonafter, we pass UP's San Antonio East Yard, where a Yard Job is working to the left and an empty autorack reposition train waits to the right.

UP Yard Job
HLCX GP38-2 #3824
HLCX GP38-2 #3843

Westbound UP Empty Autorack Reposition
UP SD70M #4686
UP C44-9W #9830

After we roll through the yard we cross the bridge that carries us over Main 2 of UP"s Austin Subdivision and then pass the east yard entrance, CP SA205.

Next, we pass the crossovers at CP SA204, our engineer informs the dispatcher that the switch at the east end of the Passenger Depot is lined back for the Main Track, and then our engineer discusses a discrepancy in flag placement for a speed restriction. Meanwhile, we roll under the IH 410 - IH 35 Connector Ramps, pass CP SA203, head under IH 410, and then pass West Kirby (CP SA202).

We then roll through the westbound fueling racks at Kirby and roll past Kirby Yard. In the meantime, we find ourselves running alongside the tail-end of the MKBHO 12 (Manifest- Kirby Yard [San Antonio] to Houston, TX). The MKBHO 12 is departing Kirby Yard ahead of us and our train will end up chasing it for about 50 miles out of San Antonio before we can get ahead of it.

We finally come to a stop at the eastbound fueling racks as a UP employee places a blue flag to protect the rear of our train while we are stopped. He then heads up to the head-end to begin fueling our locomotives.

Thanks for watching!
To continue watching, here's our journey eastward from Kirby to Randolph: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4k_FUYxcnE

Видео Departing San Antonio, TX on Sunset Limited #2 канала UPRR11