10 replies to this topic

[johnny.menhennet]

I am writing this little trip report from Sunday, February 5th.

Here is a general timeline of the day:

6:34A: scientist (Craig) and Golden grrl (Anne) get off of the SWC at Fullerton. They purchase their tickets in the station and hurry to the far platform
6:44: aforementioned members get on the southbound PacSurf
7:26: arrive at San Juan Capistrano
7:26-9:28: drop off stuff at hotel, get a cup of coffee, other things I'm not quite sure of
8:40: johnny.menhennet (ME!) gets on PacSurf 567 in SOL
9:30: I arrive 4 minutes late into SJC, meet up with Anne and Craig
9:45: after walking around the periphery of the mission, we enter the compound (thank you Craig for covering my admission!)
P.S. the mission is, IMHO, the very best of the 22 missions California has to offer
until 12:30: We tour the mission. Whether it be the remains of a church built in 1791, a cemetary with up to 2,000 native americans, the chapel (gold-plated altar, extremely beautiful), or the lush native gardens, it is all very fascinating and it never fails to be impressive.
12:10: We have someone take a picture of the three of us at one of the many stone fountains, hopefully Craig will post it soon; I'm not sure if their x-country loop is done yet.
12:40: Leaving the mission, we go to an outdoor Mexican restaurant. The food is all great and cheap; I had fish tacos, which were exceptionally good.
1:25: We walk to the other side of the tracks just to see what is there, but it turns out that there really isn't anything other than a petting zoo I used to go to when I was little.
1:35: Retracing our steps, we walk up past the mission again to see the "first post-modern" building, which is the San Juan Cap library.
1:45: We went down to a park, found a picnic table, and I was shown some slide shows of past trips just for fun.
comment: Now this is where the schedule changes from January affected me. It would have been nice to get on the train that left LA at 2:00P but it was cancelled entirely and now there is a 2:35 minute gap in service. Grrrrr...
2:15: We head to a Starbucks, where we all get fruit smoothies and lounge in the AC'ed spot (the temp outside is perfect though. It was probably around 73 degrees all day).
2:45: Strolling around town, just checking out all of the buildings, architecture, etc. and talking about trains.
3:15: We meander back to the opposite side of the tracks, and just sit in the shade and talk. Catching up with everything new since April and reminiscing about past trips, past AU threads, and everything is relaxing.
3:50: We go to the platform to await my 4:14 train to SOL. I'm glad I ended up staying this long. Continuing to chat while awaiting my train, I'm super glad I was able to see Anne and Craig again. They really are great people. Something that really surprises all of us are the people on the tracks. There were multiple people running across the tracks (not at the crosswalk) and walking up and down them right in front of the station, and they did not even get off that fast when the gates went down.
4:30: My train comes in almost 20 minutes late, and I board in BC. I used the one-class upgrade coupon that boxcar817 (Tracy) was kind enough to send to me. A station agent in Solana Beach (I do not remember the name) had that morning given me the upgrade for the short 45 minute ride for the roundtrip.
5:25: I arrive almost half an hour late into SOL. We are being pulled by the big boxy engine (I do not recall the exact type) in the same consist that pulled me up there. I was surprised with the train rides overall. The car was the most quiet train car I had ever ridden in, and the ride was exceedingly smooth. However, I felt that the engine might have had some restrictions. We not once went faster than the cars on the 5 through Camp Pendleton, which we usually exceed by 10-15 mph.

Overall, I had an incredible day with my friends, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. We barely missed Davy Crockett, who was in Southern California from Virginia just like Anne and Craig, but opted to visit SOL!!!!! and instead had a great day there, which I do not fault him for

I know that Golden grrl referenced it somewhere else in AU in the last couple of days, but we were talking about possibly getting together in New Jersey in April, when I will be there. They will (If they can find time) ride up to have a lunch or something similar on Friday the 13th or probably Saturday the 14th, if I can get my dad to agree to let me spend time to see them. I will be staying in South Orange with my best friend in the world, who moved out there just a year or so ago. If anybody else can get something possibly organized, I will see what I can do to attend any mini-gathering or just meal with other members. Thanks for taking the time to read about our 3-person micro-gathering!!!

Johnny Menhennet

[MistyOLR]

Nice report. Hmm. Re - engine: while you may not have caught the specific number, do you remember how many numbers it had (example, 5 numbers, with an example of a specific number being "90025")?

Edited by MistyOLR, 10 February 2012 - 12:51 AM.

[jimhudson]

Nice point run Johnny! Beautiful places along that Route, we wish we had these opportunities here in fly over country where there is only One train a day going North and South! (Texas Eagle)Glad youre getting to Travel so much when you're Young and Healthy and so Excited by it!! Keep on keeping on!!!

[The Davy Crockett]

Johnny, I was on the Surfliners for the first time last Sunday, when I rode in BC r/t Lax - SOL. It was an extra $28.00 r/t, but my impression was that they might well be the best upgrade deal in the entire system. Having a drink, a snack and a newspaper brought to my seat while watching the scenery roll by felt like AE FC at a fraction of the cost!

Another thing I didn't mention in the PM I sent you was that even though I had to leave Pizza Port barely into the second quarter, it was a great spot to catch the Super Bowl. Now pardon me while I gloat , but I picked the Giants by 3, so when I got off the Gold line in Pasadena and found out the end result, it pretty much summed up the day I had. And my apologies if you wanted NE to win.

Thanks again for your advice on what to do in SOL. It was a great time. The Cedros, farmer's market, beach and Pizza Port made for a truly fantastic and memorable day!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the 'Surfs' had a case of the slows last Sunday due to a switch that malfunctioned somewhere south of Camp Pendleton, according to the friendly, informative and entertaining conductor I had on both my SB and NB trips.

Edited by The Davy Crockett, 10 February 2012 - 10:28 AM.

[Hotblack Desiato]

You did make sure to register as an unattended minor.....right?

[Trogdor]

Looks like you had P32-8 #507.

[Golden grrl]

1:45: We went down to a park, found a picnic table, and I was shown some slide shows of past trips just for fun.
comment: Now this is where the schedule changes from January affected me. It would have been nice to get on the train that left LA at 2:00P but it was cancelled entirely and now there is a 2:35 minute gap in service. Grrrrr...
2:15: We head to a Starbucks, where we all get fruit smoothies and lounge in the AC'ed spot (the temp outside is perfect though. It was probably around 73 degrees all day).
2:45: Strolling around town, just checking out all of the buildings, architecture, etc. and talking about trains.
3:15: We meander back to the opposite side of the tracks, and just sit in the shade and talk. Catching up with everything new since April and reminiscing about past trips, past AU threads, and everything is relaxing.

One of the things we discussed at the Southern California Micro-Gathering was the meaning of the term "bad-ordered." I posted a question about this a while back, while still on our Around-Our-Great-Nation Loop
Tour, and got several good replies. Also, while on our Tehachapi detour on CS, we were among many train lovers in the Parlor Car. I saw my opportunity and asked. I got a detailed answer from Marty, a great character who works for Amtrak. Basically, he said to me that bad-order goes back to the days of paper train orders. Originally, it reflected the fact that when a car had something wrong with it, an order would be posted on the car, showing the malfunction. This was a "bad order." The term is now used as either a verb, or adjective, and is far more significant for freight traffic - if a freight car is bad-ordered, FRA will not let it be used. For Amtrak, even if a car has a bad-order, it may still be usable until it can be repaired, so long as it presents no safety hazard. Obviously, if the problem is severe enough, then Amtrak can't use it for revenue.
Later on our trip, once on the EB heading to Chicago, we got new examples on that train. We had a Superliner sleeper car dead-heading after the three engines and before the baggage car and trans-dorm, then only one Seattle sleeper car before the diner, then the normal consist of coaches and SSL and Portland sleeper (14 cars total). When I asked, the conductors agreed that the deadhead sleeper was hitching a ride to Chicago for some kind of repair, though I never heard just what.
Also, in our sleeper car from Seattle, we developed a bit of a problem along the way. At certain times, there was a rather unpleasant smell. Whether this was from faulty sewage seals, or from that diapered infant in the roomette near us, I don't know. Whatever, it was definitely "bad-odored." Not to be confused with the official "bad-ordered" designation, however.

[scientist]

Thanks to Johnny for getting the Southern California Micro-Gathering post up. Between coming home with colds from the Around-Our-Great-Nation Loop Tour and diving back into work, we have not gotten any trip posts up. With the long weekend, we hope to put up Loop photos, describe our experiences on the 7,500 mile Around-Our-Great-Nation Loop Tour, which of course incorporated the CS detour though the Tehachapi Loop, and respond to a few other questions posted out there at AU. So, more to come later, but as for the Micro-Gathering...

After two full days and three nights on board the Capitol Limited and Southwest Chief, we bailed out early in Fullerton rather than heading all the way to LAX. Got breakfast on the Chief, with serving stopped at Riverside, as several of you responded to one of my prior posts. Timing was perfect in Fullerton, as we purchased tickets (100 points and 125 points added to our counts), ran up and over the tracks on the ped bridge, and waited for the southbound PacSurf to arrive about 5 minutes later. Got to San Juan Capistrano on time and headed to the Starbucks a block from the station for a cup of Joe. [Yes, I know. Not an official Starbucks term but one from Trader Joe's.] Walked the several blocks to the hotel and were unloading packs when Johnny called and said he was headed our way on the northbound. Walked back to the station and met him some 20 minutes later. Noticed that although we have become older and grayer in the past year since we met, he has become older and better looking. Youth does have its advantages!

As Johnny's chronology indicates, we had a good time heading all about the mission and around town. If you are into history, this is a great place to see it. On a daily basis, most of probably don't think about a tallow pit to produce tallow for candles and to treat ropes and saddles. Also, we have to appreciate the beds we have today after seeing what these folks were sleeping upon. Johnny gave us a fine tour. So, let me end with the official photo of the SoCal Micro-Gathering at the San Juan Capistrano Mission.



scientist

[jb64]

thanks for posting the picture. I love having faces to associate with names.

Looking forward to reading your full trip report. Headed to San Francisco via Cardinal, SWC, and CS in three weeks and getting very excited.

[Golden grrl]

Nice point run Johnny! Beautiful places along that Route, we wish we had these opportunities here in fly over country where there is only One train a day going North and South! (Texas Eagle)Glad youre getting to Travel so much when you're Young and Healthy and so Excited by it!! Keep on keeping on!!!

You are so right about having more than one train a day - we used to live on the Zephyr route, and had the choice - do we want to go east or west to connect for our "real" trip. Much easier now that we live near multiple trains.
Like Johnny and Davey Crockett, we got some great point runs along the Surf route. Fullerton to SJC, SJC to San Diego and back, then Fullerton to LAX. Spent $86 for me and got 400 points - and transportation! Could have done it for $76, but chose to upgrade to BC for the Fullerton to Lax trip for the coffee, sweet roll, & newspaper, since we left our motel before breakfast was ready. Johnny had advised us that BC would not be worth it for FUL/SJC or SJC to Old Town - he was right.
And since I'm responding to Jim Hudson, have to end this with appropriate punctuation!!!

[Golden grrl]

Looks like you had P32-8 #507.

That is correct. Here is a photo of the arrival: