SUNSET LIMITED
with the lifestyle (and ranch-owner
Russell True, now her husband) and today
runs the family business. She follows in a
long tradition of ‘dude ranchers’ stretching
back to the 19th century, when wealthy
city-folk paid cowboys to teach them to
wield a lasso, rope a steer and ride
Western-style. It’s an experience as
seductive as ever: each year, hundreds
of guests visit the ranch for backcountry
cookouts and twilight trail-rides.
‘Deep down, everyone wants to be a
cowboy – or cowgirl,’ Laura says, pouring
herself a coffee from a pot on the camp-
stove. ‘It’s a universal fantasy. People say
it’s like stepping onto a movie set here,
and I know what they mean.’
The deserts around Tucson certainly
look cinematic. Scorched red by the
Arizonan sun and spiked by barrel
cactuses and brittlebush, it’s the kind of
landscape where you expect Road Runner
to race around the corner at any minute,
pursued by Wile E Coyote.
But if the setting looks familiar, it’s not
surprising. Since the early days of cinema,
Tucson has provided a backdrop for classic
westerns, from Gunfight at the OK Corral
to The Magnificent Seven. Many of them
were filmed at Old Tucson, a film studio
established in the 1930s, complete withpurpose-built sets including a saloon,
sheriff’s office, Spanish mission and a
Civil War fort. It’s one of Tucson’s top
attractions and several times a day actors
stage shows in which varmints and heroes
gun each other down in a hail of pistol
cracks and cordite.
Thankfully, railroad robberies are no
longer something the Sunset Limited’s
passengers must concern themselves with.
By the time the train leaves Tucson at
7.35pm sharp, they’re already settled in
for supper in the dining car, watching
Arizona’s desert roll past as they tuck into
Caesar salads and southern-fried chicken.
Most will fall asleep as the train clatters
through Maricopa and Yuma and few will
notice as the Sunset Limited slips into
California two hours past midnight,
thundering through Palm Springs, Ontario
and Pomona towards the Pacific and
journey’s end.Mile 1,995
Ironically, the Sunset Limited grinds into
its last stop, LA’s Union Station, greetednot by dusk, but by the candy-pink light
of dawn. Bleary-eyed and blinking,
passengers stumble onto the platform
at 5.35am, piling luggage onto carts and
calling taxis on their cell phones. In the
grand entrance hall, they join a stream of
morning commuters passing under arched
windows and Art Deco chandeliers into
the blazing Californian sunshine.
Outside, it’s soon rush hour and,
as usual, the freeways are tangled with
automobiles. People lean on their horns,
listening to the chatter of the drive-time
DJs as they plot strategies to beat the
tailbacks. Although the car is still king in
LA, there’s another way to reach the beach
these days. A new metro line, the Expo
Line, makes it possible to travel from
Union Station to Santa Monica entirely
by public transport – something that
hasn’t been the case since the 1950s,
when the old Pacific Electric streetcar
ran for the last time.
The morning commute isn’t something
that bothers Nick Ostrogovich. He’s been
surfing the swells at Santa Monica since
6am and is taking a breather before he
conducts his first surf lesson of the day.
‘That’s the weird thing about LA,’ he says,
sipping a latte as he watches rollerbladers
cruise along the boardwalk. ‘DowntownCLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT
Horse grooming at White
Stallion Ranch; filming at Old
Tucson studios; breakfast at
White Stallion Ranch; the ranch’s
longhorn cattleLOS ANGELES,
CALIFORNIA