Chris: As soon as I heard the announcement of the Mardi Gras Train service, I immediately bought tickets for a round trip. I used to live in New Orleans and its not very often that anyone can ride a new passenger train service on its first day of opening, so I jumped at the chance.

I arrived at the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal at about 6:30 AM Monday morning. I knew the train was likely sold out and that I wouldn’t be the only rail fan to be there. I also wasn’t sure how boarding would go, so I wanted to increase my chance of getting a window seat. I immediately recognized a few rail fans when I got there, including a few that I had seen on Youtube. They all had their cameras out.

A few Amtrak managers were running about as well. About 20 minutes before departure, they announced boarding for business class. I was riding in coach and boarded in the second group. Luckily, I was able to board near the front of the group and made my way to the front end. The consist was made up of three cars; one cafe/business class car, and two Amfleet II coaches. I was pleased to see these were the “long distance” coach cars that came with leg rests and foot rests. The train was full, but I was lucky enough that no one else sat next to me. 

We left right on time at 7:35 AM. The trip is actually quite scenic. The tracks hug the coast line for much of the journey. There are lots of swamps, wetlands, and quite a few long water crossings making for lots of great photo ops.

Unfortunately, we did get delayed outside of our first station stop of Bay Saint Louis. Apparently, a semi truck was stopped on a crossing and was blocking both us, the west bound Mardi Gras train and another CSX freight train. Luckily, the dispatchers knew about the stuck truck and they were able to clear things up without any mishaps. We were suck for almost an hour when we finally saw train #23 pass us along with that freight train. The rest of the journey went smooth and we even made up some time due to timetable padding. We arrived into Mobile just 34 minutes late.

Upon arrival in Mobile, there was quite a fanfare of people waiting to welcome us. The Mobile Chamber of Commerce had tents and information booths set up. Several people were all dressed up in their Mardi Gras attire. A company was there to give anyone rides on gold carts into town. A couple of tour companies also offered tours. I chose to walk into town to explore the downtown area. I grabbed lunch with a couple other rail fans and then walked around downtown for the next 4 hours.

At about 4:00 PM I made my way back to the station. My only complaint about the Mobile station was the lack of shelter. It was a hot August day and we had to wait in the sun until boarding. Hopefully the city can get something built in the near future. I understand the old station building was knocked down after the Sunset Limited stopped running in 2005. 

The trip back to New Orleans left on time and we arrived early at the end. This train was a little more lively as everyone probably had “woken up” by then. I did not get my own seat pair on this time, but luckily my seat mate made for good conversation. I also spent more time in the cafe car. Many people had flown into New Orleans just as I had. 

In conclusion, I hope this service in successful. The fact they are running two trains per day will definitely help. The bad part is this train only makes connections to the northbound City of New Orleans toward Chicago. Same day connections cannot be made to the Sunset Limited, nor the Crescent. This has always been the case with New Orleans though. I do understand they are talking about Thruway Bus to Baton Rouge though. Since I travel to New Orleans pretty often, I plan to take this service again.

Photo credit: Chris Wyatt