Without slipping off into nostalgialand, when I was a young man in the late 60s, MP and SP both stopped in Beaumont and both stations were inadequate. The MP station, while possesed of a certain mystique that that accompanies great age, was appalling.
The Beaumont Enterprise has an editorial in support of the proposed station improvement.
A worthier project for stimulus funds in Beaumont would be spending $750,000 to build a real Amtrak station. Currently, when the Sunset Limited comes through Beaumont three times a week, it drops off and picks up passengers at a non-station – a naked slab of concrete at Hollywood and 11th streets.
With a real depot, Amtrak would attract more passengers in Beaumont. House and Senate members from Texas should remember this priority in any discussions about stimulus money.
Filed under: Amtrak, Passenger Rail Politics, Passenger Rail Transportatio Policy, Regional USA Passenger Rail
Trains For America 
ARE THERE ANY MAPS OF AMTRAK TRAIN FROM CHICAGO TO BEAUTMONT TEXAS
Disclaimer: I am not a travel agent.
You can go to amtrak.com, click on Timetables, click on City of New Orleans. There’s a map of that route.
Depart Chicago at 8 p.m. Arrive New Orleans at 3:32 p.m., the next afternoon.
Click on Sunset Limited. Another map on this timetable.
Depart New Orleans westbound at 11:55 a.m., or almost noon, on the next Monday, Wednesday, or Friday.
Note that this train runs only three days a week.
Sorry about that ‘connection’ but maybe they assume you want to spend a night in the Quarter. Or, maybe they don’t care what you want. Pick one.
Arrive Beaumont at 6:43 p.m. Have someone meet you because there isn’t actually a station in Beaumont, just a place where the train stops for a minute.
O.K. Try Plan B.
Click on the schedule of the Texas Eagle. Map here shows a route from Chicago to San Antonio.
Depart Chicago at 1:45 p.m. Arrive the next day in San Antonio at 9:55 p.m.
On a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday, you can take the eastbound Sunset Limited at midnight, 11:59 p.m., to arrive in Beaumont at 7:05 a.m. Remember, this train runs only three days a week.
All arrival times subject to delays. And I’d really watch out for the 2-hour connection in San Antonio. A lot can go wrong for the Sunset Limited coming all the way from L.A. But if you allow a full day to make the connection, San Antonio is a lovely city with many attractions located downtown not too far from the station.
Hope this is helpful.
Isn’t it annoying how you can’t just enter Chicago and Beaumont, TX into the Amtrak trip planner and have it suggest connections for you.
You could also take the the Texas Eagle to Longview, TX then a bus to Houston for a long connection to the Sunset Limited.