Daily Surfliner 785, LAX->GDL, and variations (LATEST: 1/22/09)

[chuljin]

As mentioned here, my daily commute includes, with very very few exceptions, a short trip on Amtrak. That trip (and occasionally other components of my commute) usually has some minute but interesting variation, and I decided to experiment with posting short reports about them.

Only parts that differ from what's described in the background there are here.

Note that I've also become a consist junkie, so when there is something else to report, I'll include the consist (i.e. I won't report the consist if it was a completely routine trip ).

Per Whooz's excellent suggestion, I have given it a better title, and limited it to summaries no more than weekly, and per his other excellent suggestion, started it here in a new thread.

Week ending 6/27

Monday 6/23/08: 'Wrong' Platform

• I got to LAX at around 6:40, and went up to wait at 9B. Julie had told me that 785 was going to be late; it came about 8-10 minutes late and (PSYCH!) unprecedentedly (in my experience) pulled in at 10A, in front of the future 592.
  

Consist: (I didn't record the engine),6852,6304(seat 37),6404,6413,6906

Tuesday 6/24/09: 'Wrong' Platform (bis)

• Again, 785 was slightly late. As I saw it round the corner past the jail, I said to one of my fellow regular 785 commuters, "I wonder if it's going pull another fast one today." DOUBLE PSYCH! It actually went over to track 12 (the next pair of tracks east). So down the stairs, through the tunnel, and looked up the stairs. An also-confused conductor happened by, and we had to tell him (he was doing overtime on an unusual [for him] day or something) that we thought it was 785 (convincing made harder when he looked the wrong way up the stairs and saw train 4's bunch-of-superliners). Anthony the Singing Cafe Attendant was working this train, but sadly didn't sing (at least in the 10 minutes I was on the train).
  

Consist: 454,6851,6306(seat 33),6409,31046,6900 (as more frequently these days, a superlinerstitution)

Wednesday 6/25/09: Rare Red Line Delay

• As I descended to the Redple Line platform at 7th/Metro, I noticed that the new[ish now] EPIS screens (which keep getting more useful as they add more features [notably, next train]) were off (conveniently, as I soon found out). I waited, and waited, and at last someone came on and said that Red Line trains were delayed due to a disabled train between the Hollywood/Highland and Universal stations (read: deepest part [iIRC] of the line and probably a sucky place to be stuck). 785 was back home on 9B today.
  

Consist: 456,6806,6301(some seat),6400,6405,6402,6951. Note six passenger cars, unusual on this train except on Fridays. Also unusual in recent times is that they managed to scrape together an all-Surfliner trainset.

Thursday 6/26/09: Private Varnish on the SWC

• 785 very slightly late on track 9B. While waiting, I got to see train 4 (SWC) leave; attached to the back were two private cars: a half-dome and a full dome; unfortunately I took no pictures nor can even remember the names (California, or Zephyr, or both, or something). In place of a drumhead, the rear of the two had a large extraordinarily bright neon sign announcing its name.
  
• A gratuitous 'so what?' for anyone but me: Shortly after we reached the mainline after leaving LAX, one of the two kids in 37/38 behind me said 'the king is like "I need a son."' which would otherwise be dismissed as a forgettable thing that kids say, but that just now I'm working on a little project about the Proto-Indo-European language, and something similar to this is a line in one of the first (reconstructed) stories in PIE, The King and the God. Like I said, likely interesting to no one but me; I just thought it was an interesting coincidence.
  
• As we passed the Metrolink yards, I noticed, of all things, a UP loco doing switching duty (I guess), pulling Metrolink BBCs around.
  

Consist: 463,6802*,6300(seat 41),6408,6401,6908 (*6802 had the name 'Echo Park' on it. Strangely OTOL's roster admits to names only for 6x5x and 6x6x cars)

Friday 6/27/09: Julie Time-Travels; 'Brutal Honesty Freebie'

• 785 arrived at LAX about 20 minutes late, but they just shortened the dwell, and it left (and arrived at GDL) about 10 minutes late. Just past (north of) the Taylor yards, I noticed out of the corner of my eye another train going by south, and thought it was 798, but it was instead a rather long UP freight. Didn't especially affect me (going the other direction), but its otherwise snarling of passenger traffic became apparent when I got to GDL: the 'there's something to read here' strobes above the EPISes were flashing, and they said 'All Metrolink trains to Los Angeles are delayed 30-45 minutes'. I called Julie to see if it was worth waiting for 798. Julie was confused in a way that's happened a lot recently. 798 is supposed to arrive at GDL at 7:18. At around 7:25, Julie said 798 was expected to arrive on time at GDL at 7:18 (despite Julie's time, even, already being 7:25). She knew this because (when I asked for 'Get Details') it had left SIM at around 7:20 (IIRC). So...30 miles in minus 2 minutes. If Amtrak would just patent this time machine, they'd never have to ask Congress for money again.
  
• Only on about 70-80% of these trips is my ticket lifted by a conductor while I'm still seated. On the others, I need to go find a conductor at GDL (they usually all come out onto the platform) and give him the ticket. This day was no exception. At first there were none to be found near me (there was one way the hell down at car 6 [i was in car 2]); I then noticed one of the usuals near car 1 (the business car). To save his time, I separated the ticket as I approached him, and he said 'You know what? For your brutal honesty [by now he's very familiar with me and my habit of assuring my ticket is lifted], you get a freebie. Have a nice weekend!' Except that I'd already separated the ticket, making it unusable for a future trip, to my very very very mild chagrin. But I was in such an inexplicable good mood that I just decided to write off the 100 points (I'm swimming in them anyways ). It was quite nice of him, if not entirely effective in his intended way.
  

Consist: 461,6807,6352(seat 41),6414,6403,6411,6903 (6 cars in the usual Friday way)

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Somebody actually took my advice!? Check please! Sheesh, chuljin, you made me fall off the fence.

 

[chuljin]

I have not abandoned this effort, it's just that week-before-last, my unusual schedule for the week precluded riding 785 at all, and I've just been too busy to do last week's summary.

Thursday, 7/17/08: Hungry Hungry Escalators; Single-Level Hodgepodge

Under my own rules for this thread , a single day's commute would not get its own post (let alone its own thread), but this one was remarkable red-letter, especially an unusual consist.

As an aside, this day's 785 was on the 200th Amtrak ticket I've bought (though due to various things [Rail2Rail, my purchasing 20 LAX-GDL tickets at once, busy or overly kind conductors], it was not my 200th Amtrak trip...that'll be around the beginning of August).

My commute in the morning was the routine one as described in the introduction to this idea/thread, as was the evening one, up to when I got to LAUS on the Metro Redple Line.

I start checking 785's status around 5:30 or so, so I already knew it would be over 1/2 hour late into LAX, so I took my time getting over there from work. When my Redple Line train arrived at LAX, I started up the east 'lower' (platform/mezzanine) escalator in my usual way. I'm one of those who likes to walk up the left side of the escalator. The guy in front of me on the left side walked up a few steps, so I followed him; he then stopped again. I wound up sharing a step with a stranger, and not wanting to upset her, kept as far left on the step as possible. This was to be my undoing. About halfway up, something got hold of my pants and started pulling me back down the escalator. I muttered 'Feces! Feces!' (a different word, of course ) and the kind guy behind me gave me a push, saving me from doom, but not before whatever-it-was chewed open a 3x3" flap from my pants.

I climbed the upper escalator without incident , then went to 785's usual track 9 for a few minutes. Since it was still around 15 minutes until the most optimistic ETA, I then went to the main hall to look at the board. On my way through the tunnel, I met Dennis Lytton, a friend of a friend (an ex-coworker's ex-GF's ex-roommate's [ex-?]BF, actually [confused? ]), who is also a Director for this region of NARP. Milled around here and there, then back to track 9 a couple minutes before the board's time, and waited. And waited. At last 785 appeared. What I saw more than made up for the pants and the delay.

As many of you will know, aside from 798/799, the typical PS consist is an F59PHI, a 68xx-series Business, a 63xx-series CoachCafe, 2 64xx-series Coach, and a 69xx-series Cabbage. Sometimes (especially on Fridays), there will be another 64xx Coach, and/or one of the two (or three) Coaches will be substituted by a 310xx Superliner I Coach.

Well this one had:

Consist

454 F59PHI

1228 Baggage

81518 (was 44923) Amfleet-I Regional BusinessClass Push-Pull

58107 Horizon Club-Dinette (ADA)

82620 (was 21263) Amfleet-I Regional CoachClass Push-Pull

82580 (was 44600) Amfleet-I Regional CoachClass Push-Pull

*82630 (was 44243) Amfleet-I Regional CoachClass Push-Pull *Seat 6A

82560 (was 44887) Amfleet-I Regional CoachClass Push-Pull

461 F59PHI

I excitedly text-messaged jackal, who guessed that I was probably alone in being excited about Amfleets and Horizons.

After taking forever to load and unload passengers through the 2-3 usable doors, we left at 7:35, 35 minutes late. When we got to GDL, I hurried to the front to record the consist as it went by, and to take the following two crappy cellphone pictures for your enjoyment:



If it were not already late, I might have bought another ticket from GDL to, say, VNC, to extend my enjoyment, but I thought better of it.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Thanks for the report, and shots of the unusual consist.

For the sake of those around you I hope that 3x3 ripped flap was not in a place that was - how you say - strategically inconvenient.

 

[jackal]

I excitedly text-messaged jackal, who guessed that I was probably alone in being excited about Amfleets and Horizons.

Actually, what I didn't tell you was that you wouldn't be alone--while I felt let down on my first 798 trip, now that I've learned more about Amtrak's fleet, I would relish the chance to ride that consist again (though maybe not all the way to SLO). Had I been in your shoes, I likely would have been excited, too... :lol:

 

[chuljin]

Consist454 F59PHI

1228 Baggage

81518 (was 44923) Amfleet-I Regional BusinessClass Push-Pull

58107 Horizon Club-Dinette (ADA)

82620 (was 21263) Amfleet-I Regional CoachClass Push-Pull

82580 (was 44600) Amfleet-I Regional CoachClass Push-Pull

82630 (was 44243) Amfleet-I Regional CoachClass Push-Pull

82560 (was 44887) Amfleet-I Regional CoachClass Push-Pull

461 F59PHI

Saw this crazy consist again earlier today at SAN, whence it was to become 587. I was to be on 591; I almost changed. This is cool, I can use it to validate the 'week in the life of a train' model I've been trying to do (seeing if, based on the timetable alone, how many trainsets are in use and where they go).

 

[chuljin]

There were a few other events of little significance in the past couple of weeks that I could have reported on, but I'm so far behind I'm just starting over with a clean slate.

With that in mind, last Friday, 8/1 was remarkable.

Friday, 8/1/08: Longest Surfliner Consist Ever (IME)

785 was slightly late coming from the south. As it came around the curve past the jail, I noticed it was being pulled by a P42 (Surfliner consists are always, IME, pushed into LAX and pulled out. I always make a point of counting the cars so I know where to stage myself to get into the CoachCafe. As I counted, and counted, I found out why it was being pulled: it was being pulled and pushed, with a P42 at each end, and an unprecedented (IME, anyways) nine (9) cars between, viz:

1. 452 F59PHI
   
2. 6804 Surfliner Business
   
3. 6302 Surfliner CoachCafe
   
4. 6401 Surfliner Coach
   
5. 6452 Surfliner Coach
   
6. 31*** Superliner I Coach
   
7. 6904 Surfliner CoachCabbage
   
8. 6905 Surfliner CoachCabbage
   
9. 6910 Surfliner CoachCabbage
   
10. 6806 Surfliner Business
    
11. 463 F59PHI
    

(some of the car numbers may not be exactly right, though the classes are. I recorded the 452 and 6804 directly; the rest I barely got from the crappy video [see below])

The cars themselves stretched the entire length of the platform and GDL (and the locos beyond it). Here are a couple crappy cell pictures:



Also, a video

. Enjoy!

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Chuljin, Dude: Nice pics and video, but would it kill you to tote a real camera? Mine's like an American Express card: Don't leave home without it.

Never know what you might encounter.

One afternoon I was waiting at Glendale for a Metrolink to Oxnard. A swarm of bees showed up and attached themselves to one of the lightpoles on the platform. People ran away as fast as they could (fortunately not across the tracks). Knowing that bees are actually quite docile in swarming mode, I walked right up and took pictures at close range. People thought I was nuts, but nary a sting. I'll dig around and try to share the pics. There are also pics somewhere online of a swarm of bees that brought a European tram to a halt. All over the pantograph and catenary.

 

[gswager]

Chuljin, Dude: Nice pics and video, but would it kill you to tote a real camera? Mine's like an American Express card: Don't leave home without it.
Never know what you might encounter.

One afternoon I was waiting at Glendale for a Metrolink to Oxnard. A swarm of bees showed up and attached themselves to one of the lightpoles on the platform. People ran away as fast as they could (fortunately not across the tracks). Knowing that bees are actually quite docile in swarming mode, I walked right up and took pictures at close range. People thought I was nuts, but nary a sting. I'll dig around and try to share the pics. There are also pics somewhere online of a swarm of bees that brought a European tram to a halt. All over the pantograph and catenary.

That's a good thing that that colony is not an Africanized bees, but in a few years, you will!

NM is already being invaded by Africanized bees. One person I know was attacked by them when he accidently disturbed the hive. It will attack a person, up to 1/2 mile away.

 

[chuljin]

Tuesday, 8/19/08: Rare Visit with the Jackal

785 was unremarkable today, except that it arrived at LAX a bit late (but left on time by shortening its dwell), and had 6 cars, now the norm on weekdays.

The cool thing about this day's commute home is that between the Redple Line from work and 785 to GDL, I got a chance to visit for about 20 minutes with my favorite PRBert jackal (with whom I'd previously coincidentally shared disappointment) and friend, on their own way through LAX from Hollywood to 'the other LAX', having spent the day in LA on their way from Hawaii to Alaska (crazy damn segment runners...oh wait ). They waited on the platform with me as it came in, then came up so jackal and I could show his friend what Surfliners are like (unfortunately, it had not been convenient for them to ride either the PS or Metrolink during their brief visit). Then off I went.

 

[GG-1]

Chuljin, Dude: Nice pics and video, but would it kill you to tote a real camera? Mine's like an American Express card: Don't leave home without it.
Never know what you might encounter.

Aloha

I agree nice pictures. I've so annoyed with the quality of pictures from a camera phone, compared to a real camera that when my newest one came in I needed to spend time learning to turn it off, heck even took a flash picture of the inside of my pocket. But yours is decent, What brand/model is it?

Hope to see you at the gathering soon

Eric

 

[chuljin]

Chuljin, Dude: Nice pics and video, but would it kill you to tote a real camera? Mine's like an American Express card: Don't leave home without it.
Never know what you might encounter.

Aloha

I agree nice pictures. I've so annoyed with the quality of pictures from a camera phone, compared to a real camera that when my newest one came in I needed to spend time learning to turn it off, heck even took a flash picture of the inside of my pocket. But yours is decent, What brand/model is it?

Hope to see you at the gathering soon

Eric

My cell phone, with which I took the pictures here in this thread, is a Samsung BlackJack II. In retrospect, its still photos are not that bad, but its video blows.

My 'main' camera, which I used to take all but a few of the pictures here, is a Kodak C813, a simple consumer-level camera. I only bring it along when I'm actually travelling; I don't, say, bring it to work with me, as there is seldom (though as this thread shows, not never) something worth photographing.

To show you how behind I am, until I got the C813 a year or so ago (Christmas 2006), my 'main' camera was a Sony DSC-F1. It had no removeable storage; it could hold (IIRC) 26 pictures if you set it at its highest resolution of 640x480; it connected to the computer via RS-232 and each picture took about 45 seconds to transfer to the computer.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

My first venture into digital photography was a gift: Sony MVC-FD83. Primitive even at the time, and basically a hand-me-down from my sister, it stored on floppies. However, for once I was quick on the uptake and realized the fun potential of digital.

The rail pics I post for the forum at Picasa are taken with a Kodak DX6490. Four years old now, and the challenge is to maximize its capabilities. Always learning, and so comfortable with the camera that unless it fails somehow I see no reason to upgrade just for upgrading's sake.

When I do upgrade, it'll probably be to another Kodak, cuz ease of use is a major issue for a nitwit like me. I'm not the kind of railfan who spends a week in the middle of nowhere, and an hour setting up a shot with a thousand-dollar camera, hoping the train and the sun will cooperate. EDIT: If I was getting paid I might have a different view.

Rather just record my experiences as best I can.

 

[jackal]

Tuesday, 8/19/08785 was unremarkable today, except that it arrived at LAX a bit late (but left on time by shortening its dwell), and had 6 cars, now the norm on weekdays.

The cool thing about this day's commute home is that between the Redple Line from work and 785 to GDL, I got a chance to visit for about 20 minutes with my favorite PRBert jackal (with whom I'd previously coincidentally shared disappointment) and friend, on their own way through LAX from Hollywood to 'the other LAX', having spent the day in LA on their way from Hawaii to Alaska (crazy damn segment runners...oh wait ). They waited on the platform with me as it came in, then came up so jackal and I could show his friend what Surfliners are like (unfortunately, it had not been convenient for them to ride either the PS or Metrolink during their brief visit). Then off I went.

PRBert? Is that a character in a Dilbert comic? (P.R.Bert, the PR rep for the Pointy-Haired Boss...hey, I am a journalism major...) Or maybe you're calling me a perbert, in which case I'm very offended.

Oh, PRBert, as in PRBian. Or PRBan. (I think that last one is correct.) How about: un ex residente de la Ciudad de El Paso de Robles. (That's Passah Rubbles, for all of you unitiated in Califauxrnian Spanglish...)

Anyway, said friend doggedly put up with my grand rail-riding adventures (Green, Blue, Red, and Gold lines...sadly, no Amtrak or Metrolink). For a civil engineering student, he was less than enthusiastic about the travel, although he did mention some things about the construction of various freeway overpasses (the big one at the 110 and the 105 was most impressive to him). His extent of experience with Amtrak has been one Regional ride from NYP to WAS and this all-too-brief look inside of the Surfliner Cafe Car. He was less appreciative than I had hoped, though someday I hope to turn him into a real railfan. Someday.

Sorry to all the other SoCalers that I missed...our 12-hour layover flew by much too quickly to satisfy me. I'll be in LAX for all of six hours two weeks from today (arriving on Alaska Airlines and departing on British Airways), but unless someone wants to come out to the airport sometime between 2pm and 8pm, I doubt I'll have a chance to meet up with any of you.

I'll be about 7,500 miles southwest of you all during the Gathering, but best wishes and I (almost) wish I could be there!

 

[chuljin]

Nothing remarkable since the last post...6 cars on 785 is now the except-friday norm, 9 cars between 2 locos the friday norm, and I've been on that (non-798/799) single-level consist once more since then, and a couple times I gave up and took Metrolink 221 because 785 was ass-late.

Friday, 8/28/08: When in Rome (read: Coach)

One little thing: I always sit upstairs in the CoachCafe. Last Friday, a guy sitting a couple rows behind me, chatting up his stranger seatmate, referred to the Cafe as 'the liquor store downstairs' which says everything one needs to know about a few of the people who ride the PS.

Now the coolest ever:

Wednesday, 9/3/08: The Elusive Great Dome

798 (*always*, together with 799, a single-level consist, even before they ran out of Surfliners), stops at GDL about 5 minutes after 785 (when they are both on time). Today I saw what I've been waiting for for 6 months:

10031, Amtrak's last (?) Great Dome, was on 798. Sometimes (not often) I get to GDL early enough in the morning to see 799, but unfortunately not this morning, so I still wasn't able to answer my other burning question: When the capricious whims of some guy in DC put 10031 on this trainset, does it get put on at LAX and go up in the morning on 799, and come back that afternoon on 798? or does it get put on at SLO and come down in the evening on 798, and go up the next morning as 799?

Pictures:



I think I shall send an email to Amtrak (perhaps through the customer service thingie on amtrak.com, though they might just laugh their asses off at the CMIN, but that's the only contact method I can think of) and just ask them: when's the next time it's scheduled?

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

The rail pics I post for the forum at Picasa are taken with a Kodak DX6490. Four years old now, and the challenge is to maximize its capabilities. Always learning, and so comfortable with the camera that unless it fails somehow I see no reason to upgrade just for upgrading's sake.

How much shutter lag is there on the DX6490? That was one of the major improvements I saw when I switched from a 2002 camera to a 2007 camera.

Low light performance is also an issue. Cameras with poor low light performnce will compensate by keeping the shutter open longer, which is unfortunate if you're hand holding the camera. I was kind of unhappy when I was taking a picture of an Acela trainset (I wanted a photo of the trucks and the connection between the cars) and it didn't feel like it was getting particularily dark yet, although maybe it was dusk, and IIRC there was a 1/8 second exposure time. Since it was handheld, somewhere around 1/60 second probably would have resulted in a sharper image.

When I do upgrade, it'll probably be to another Kodak, cuz ease of use is a major issue for a nitwit like me. I'm not the kind of railfan who spends a week in the middle of nowhere, and an hour setting up a shot with a thousand-dollar camera, hoping the train and the sun will cooperate. EDIT: If I was getting paid I might have a different view.

Size and weight are a major issue with cameras. As soon as you buy a ``better'' camera that's too big and or heavy for it to find itself in the location where you take photographs as often, you'll find the total number of good photographs you get out of it will go down dramatically, even if there are rare occasions when you happen to have it with you and it happens to have the right extra functionality to get an image you wouldn't get with the smaller camera.

 

[gswager]

You'll need the film ISO speed, such as 1000 or better, for nighttime photography. It can be done on SLR cameras, the one with interchangeable lens.

 

[chuljin]

Tuesday, 12/23/08: No, the Brake Pedal is the One on the Left

785 was almost unremarkable. 5 cars, the 4th (where superliner substitutions, if any, are made) was 34957, one of the new Surfliner-livery Superliner salvages (OTOL knows of a 34960 and 34967, but not 34957...maybe I recorded it wrong). My buddy Rosie lifted my ticket just in the nick of time, while I was already standing, getting ready to detrain at GDL. We didn't chat like we usually do, but did wish each other happy holidays.

798 is what was remarkable today. As mentioned in my intro to this thread, 798 (the only single-level set on the Surfliner route) is scheduled to arrive at GDL 5 minutes after 785, so if it's on time, I hang around a bit to look for variations in the consist and wave to/chat with Debra, one of the two alternating BC 'Conductendants' (portmanteau of 'conductor' and 'attendant' ).

(Background: GDL has two tracks [well, three, but the third isn't for passengers, and IME has always been occupied by a long train of empty articulated container carriers that never moves], and two platforms: an island platform between the tracks, and a side platform between the station and the closer track. No passenger bridge or tunnel. The platforms are quite long, something like 10-12 standard-length cars (is there a standard length); Metrolink trains stop at the north end of the platforms and board from the island platform regardless of direction; Amtrak trains stop at the south end of the platform and board from the east [station] side of the train regardless of direction [southbound trains on the island, northbound trains on the side]. Train 798 usually stops at the south [Amtrak] end, like other Amtrak, but will often stop short, closer to the north [Metrolink] end.)

While waiting, I went into the station to 'powder my nose', and when I came back out into the main hall of the station and standing at one of the vending machines, I could hear the characteristic 'spitting' sound of the P42 that usually pushes 798, and so I looked out the window towards where it usually stops, and not seeing it, more northwest to where it sometimes stops short, and still didn't see it, even though I could hear it, now being closer to the door. Naturally, I was curious.

So I went outside just in time to see one of the conductors tearing north along the platform, radio in hand, so he could watch while the train backed up. It had overshot the platform by several hundred feet, leaving only the P42 and the rear half of the amfleet with platform next to them (consist was cabbage, horizon bizcafe, 2 horizon coach, amfleet coach, p42...strange as the amfleet had been a 3rd horizon the day before). So it carefully backed up and let several people off, then seemed like it was going to leave when here the conductor came running again, so that it could back up again and let a large group out of BC. Then, at last, it was off.

I know it's in the interest of safety, but it was interesting the care (red tape?) put into backing a train up.

I don't know if it's related or not, but this morning, while I waited at GDL to go to work, this same set came and went as train 799, and the P42 had been replaced with a Surfliner-livery F59PHI.

 

[chuljin]

Welcome to 2009! Because it's a new calendar year, the next several posts in this thread are likely to describe 'Adventures in Requalification'. Were I sure I'd still be in SoCal for the foreseeable future, I'd just requalify slowly over the next 5 months just by commuting home, but I'm not, so 1.5-2 months of tiresome runs and tight turns, going to Burbank on the way from Glendale to LA in the mornings (consult a map to understand the absurdity), and going home twice in the evenings.

Saturday, 1/3/09: SNAP!

I was on 785 this day, LAX-GDL in the usual way, but not for the usual purpose of commuting, but rather as the last leg of a leisure trip (q.v.). High drama at GDL at the end.

Monday, 1/5/09: People Wait for Trains; Trains Don't Wait for People

A typical trip on 785; my ticket was painlessly and very matter-of-factly lifted by Mr. Brutal Honesty Freebee. Trackwork caused (and will cause until 1/14/09) 798 (and 799) to be bustituted north of SBA, and even though it is still a train south of there, the situation confuses Julie into not knowing where it is. So I just waited to see. Some entertainment while I waited: 785 was a couple minutes early at GDL and its doors were still standing open; the conductor announced 'last call for Glendale' and 'doors closing in 30 seconds' as some guy wandered slowly onto the platform. He wandered first to the locomotive window, of all places, and asked the engineer 'is this going to Santa Barbara?' Finding out that it was gave him no sense of urgency, and he slowly wandered towards the passenger cars. He'd gotten about halfway to the nearest one when they all closed and the train started to move. As the first door passed him he beat on it and yelled 'stop!' (It didn't.) He then said to me, thinking that I'd sympathize, 'Can you believe that? They didn't even stop!' (They did, for 2+ minutes.) Shortly after, 798 arrived, and I went to board. As I parted company with my new 'friend', I said 'don't worry, there's another train to Santa Barbara at about 7:45.' (It was about 7:15.) I handed over my ticket on the platform, and the conductor said, 'Sorry, Sir, you just missed it.' (?!) I looked at the ticket; I'd pulled the wrong envelope from my bag (imagine the money-from-different-eras-briefcase in Back to the Future), and given over an LAX-BUR ticket. I said I had the right one; she said 'go ahead on up, I'll get it from you.' I took my seat, and noticed she was talking to slow guy, saying 'all I can suggest is call 1-800-USA-RAIL'. It's a shame I didn't deliver the punchline about the 7:45 train: 'AM. Tomorrow.' (799.) While she lifted my (now correct GDL-LAX) ticket, I told her what she'd missed minutes before, and we had a good laugh about it.

Tuesday, 1/6/09: New LAUPT 100-yard Dash Record

Another typical trip. Rosie waved enthusiastically from the other end of the Cafe Car where I was sitting; I hesitantly waved back, because I wasn't sure it was me waved to. We got to Glendale a couple minutes early, and as she came downstairs to open the doors, she said something like 'Didn't you see me wave?' I asked her 'Are you OK?' (puzzled look), then told her I'd seen The Incident. It was all because she'd dared to ask for receipts.

798 was right on time at GDL, but dwelled a little longer than usual, with the result that it arrived only 8 minutes early instead of about 10, and my dash from 9B to 4B to 'really' go home was madder than usual, boarding M221 right before the doors closed. I imagine someday these tight connections will bite me back there.

 

[chuljin]

Tuesday, 1/13/09: New ANA-FUL 5-mile Crawl Record

785 has usually just left FUL when I leave work to RedLine it over to LAX. Yesterday it had just left ANA (so was about 10 minutes late, acceptable and par for the course). Then it vanished, no further updates.

I waited at the usual 9B at LAX, then finally noticed the Amtrak EPIS over the platform announce that 'due to signal problems between Anaheim and Fullerton ...'

No kidding.

It left ANA at 6:13pm, and arrived at FUL at 7:08pm. It covered those 5 track miles in 55 minutes, or about 4.5 miles per hour, same as a briskly-walking human.

It took slightly longer than normal to get to LAX, finally leaving 53 minutes late (carrying, by the way, refugees from Metrolink 119, whose intended trainset was also apparently stuck in North OC) and arriving at GDL 50 minutes late.

My ticket wasn't lifted onboard, usually not an issue, because I just go find a conductor at GDL. This time they were all hiding or something. Any other time of the year, this would be $2.70 saved, for the win. But this is requalification time, dang it.

 

[Rumpled]

I often don't see conductors (or whatever their exact titles are) on my little ANA-IRV runs of 20 minutes and will tear my own ticket and hand it to one of them as I detrain - often on the platform. Some appreciate it; some seem to be annoyed or maybe realize they didn't lift all the tickets they were supposed to.

I've gotta get my points dontchayaknow.

 

[chuljin]

Tuesday, 12/30/08: Burning Locomotive Gums Up OC, and Sends us on a Rare 'Northeast' Departure (out of sequence, sorry )

Just so they're all together in this thread: 785 on this day was affected by the Lake Forest burning locomotive; the unique experience the incident afforded me is detailed here.

Wednesday, 1/14/09: Hasty Loco Swap and Resulting Rare Pull *From* LAX

785 was due from the south not especially late (IIRC...I have it recorded exactly, but not on this computer), but when I got up to track 9B at LAX 5-10 minutes early in the usual way, and saw something not promising: an F59PHI sitting at the south end of the track, pointing south. Soon 785 came in in push mode under its own power, and pulled forward until the cab almost touched this new engine, the doors opened, and people detraining at 785 did so; then they started in with frequent announcements not to board yet. So I thought I'd watch the proceedings from a safe distance, but nothing happened before one of the usual conductors saw me and encouraged me to board. We'd then sat for a while longer when a completely dark Surfliner set pulled onto pocket track '8 1/2', and after a few minutes left with our cab attached. I'd have thought they'd just bring a locomotive to take it away, but I guess they'd made that other set up for the next day and didn't want to break it up just to get a locomotive. 785 left LAX a little bit later (in relative terms) than it arrived; when we got to Glendale, I walked the consist as I always do, and saw that the spare locomotive they'd brought in was pushing, and the original locomotive that had just barely (apparently) pushed it to LAX was being used as an NPCU. This was in contrast to the one other time that 785 was barely pushed in by a locomotive, when its replacement had been staged at the north end of track '8.5' and replaced directly, then pulling to GTA just as the original would have.

Monday, 1/19/09: Most Casual Walk So Far from 9B to 4B

My commute in was a city holiday twist on the requalification time twist on my usual schedule, and is detailed here (in the section entitled '1/19/09: Bonus Trip 2').

The 'Evening Option 1' turn differed from usual in that 785 was a couple minutes late at GDL, and 798 a couple minutes early there, with the result that 798 waited north of the station until 785 highballed and started to move, then pulled in (usually there's 5+ minutes between when neither train is in the station); I actually had to wait for 785 to leave before I could walk across and board 798 , which then got to LAX even early than its usual 10 minutes early, and my walk from 798 on track 9 over to Metrolink 221 on track 4 was refreshingly leisurely.

 

[AAARGH!]

Wednesday, 12/14/09Monday, 12/19/09

Is this foreshadowing???

 

[chuljin]

Wednesday, 12/14/09Monday, 12/19/09

Is this foreshadowing???

Haha no; I only wish I had that kind of power over space and time. I fixed it.

My commuting-home trip reports in December are now very likely to all be variations on the following:

Friday, 12/18/09: Still No Political Will for Rail Transit in AZ

US 60/Grand Ave was backed up as usual; it took me 45 minutes to drive home. Glendale, CA was a hell of a lot more fun to commute home to than Glendale, AZ. They keep talking about AZ commuter and regional rail; I wish they'd get on with it.



Edit back: thanks for catching that, MrFSS, but the future date was intentional...it was a prediction of life without trains after we move to Phoenix in the spring. I've never been on US 60/Grand Ave, but it's a real street and my most likely way to and from work by that time.

 

[chuljin]

Tuesday, 1/20/09: 785 (complete with BJG) Lends a Helping Hand; SWC Missed Connection Drama and Shenanigans

(or, alternately: BlueJeanGirl is inaugurated as 572/785(SoLA) Conductor )

Now that I've written this, I'm amazed at the length of the 'preamble' to a report about a 16-minute trip.

On Monday evening, our own BlueJeanGirl emailed me to say that she'd been bumped to her third choice, which included 572 and 785 (as far north as LAX) on Tuesdays. Great, that meant that I could at least say hi even just in the course of my normal (even now in requalification time! ) commute home. I emailed back to say I was surprised she was not coming back north on 583, because I know that's how the train itself and, it seems, the BC Attendant, turn. She enlightened me about crew vs equipment turns, and it made sense, otherwise they'd have just 1:05 at SAN. I figure the fact that the BC attendant seems to come back on 583 anyways is because that role is about comfort, not safety.

So I thought she'd come back up on 583, she said 785. Turns out we were both right.

As I left the office, the last update on 785 from 'Mr. Recommender', the application I mentioned here, was that it had left OSD on time. I checked once more before descending into that faraday cage called the LA Subway, and it said that it had left IRV 18 minutes late (by that time it has usually just left ANA).

When I came up, the latest update was still out of IRV, which meant that Mr. Recommender still thought that it would get to LAX very slightly late (historically, trains have done IRV-LAX in as little as 53 minutes), so I went and did musical QuikTrak, picking up 48 more tickets for the next few weeks. Only then did I look at the board, which showed both train 583 and 785 as 'DELAYED'. I guessed at the reason: 785 was pushing 583. This was confirmed when I called and asked Julie for status: they were both estimated to arrive simultaneously, at 7:26. This was, IIRC, around 6:40, and the status had just updated to reflect its having left SNA 52 minutes late. Usually if 785 is going to be quite late, I give up and take Metrolink, but this was just on the edge of workable lateness, so I decided to watch what else would happen.

I went out the East Portal to watch, through the gap between Union Station and the Metro Marble Tower®, the SWC leave. As I came back into the tunnel, I saw several people running back and forth like madmen, yelling 'our train left without us!' I walked back to the main hall to get a soda, and soon these same people appeared at the Amtrak information booth and began arguing with the Lady there about how they were misinformed:

• The reality: All passengers on 583 (originally, I thought only those connecting to the SWC) were put on a Metrolink train at Tustin.
  
• The official instructions (and the ones I believe): Passengers connecting to the SWC should detrain from Metrolink and transfer at FUL.
  
• What these bozos heard, Version 1: Passengers connecting to the SWC should detrain from Metrolink and transfer at LAX.
  
• What these bozos heard, Version 2: Passengers connecting to the SWC should take a taxi from Tustin to LAX and stick Amtrak with the (rather expensive) bill.
  

Not sure which of these latter two ways of disregarding Amtrak's instructions these cretinous knuckleheads chose (I'm thinking the former), but in either case I understand that in the end, Amtrak took undeserved pity and footed the bill to send them all the way to BARstow to catch up with the SWC.

At around 7pm, when 785 normally leaves LAX, it left ANA, 58 minutes late, and they 'downgraded' the ETA for LAX to 7:36. At 7:17, it left FUL, 67 minutes late, and the ETA became 7:48. It was still not too late to take Metrolink, but I decided to stick around, not least because I was enjoying the Missed Connection Floor Show®.

Since, despite the excitement, I wanted to make sure I would at least get home Tuesday , I asked at the information desk whether 785 would have to dwell extra long so they could lop 583 off; she said something to effect of 'probably'. I was walking through the tunnel when I heard the characteristic thudding of a train moving on track 9, so I started up the stairs but turned back when I heard the 'P42 spitting' announcing 798's arrival. Back in the tunnel I met a nice Lady I'd seen several times on 785, and she asked 'Is that our train?' and we walked together back to the main hall, chatting. She told me 'where *I'm* from, you can set your watch by them!' (she's a Danish) and I just said 'funding' (but not in quite as few words). I also explained to (and nearly convinced) her why Amtrak realy *doesn't* know what track a train will be on.

Julie got a between-station update ('The last update for Train 785 was at [whenever], when it was between Fullerton, CA and Los Angeles Union Station') and the ETA became 7:52.

Just then I noticed Rosie (introduced elsewhere) and *Most Senior Conductor emerge from the door next to the Metrolink booth. Rosie and I started to chat, and continued while we walked together down the tunnel towards the platforms. Someone had put out the large sign that says 'Santa Barbara' near the ramp up to 11/12, so we started up that way, while Most Senior Conductor and someone walking with him, who had been following some distance behind us and apparently not seen the sign, went up to 9/10. At the platform, we were met by *Red Haired Lady. I told Rosie that I was surprised she was 'still here' (I would have assumed [admittedly, shallowly, based on appearance] that she has little seniority), and we talked about the bidding process generally. In retrospect, I guess she wasn't bumped because she's already on what must be an unpopular schedule, involving an overnight at GTA. I said 'wanna see something funny?' and showed her the 48 tickets I'd just picked up; she asked why I just didn't get a multi-ride pass, so I mentioned AGR. She said 'Oh, I was a member, too, before I was an employee! When I got hired, I redeemed the points I had for Olive Garden gift cards.' I suppose it would have been senseless to redeem them for free travel. Just then, MSC and his friend came walking across tracks 10, '10.5', and 11 to join us. RHL said 'didn't they see the sign I put out?' and I said 'in their defense, it's always on 9', to which RHL laughed and said 'you'd know, wouldn't you?' (she always sees me waiting there). I asked Rosie 'wait, aren't they trespassing?'

The ETA never budged from 7:52 until the train finally arrived at 8:07, 1:22 late. The reason Julie thought only 1:07 late is she didn't factor in the cutting off of 583, done on the way at the 8th Street Yard of 2008 Gathering fame. Because I was waiting with the conductors, I was way further along the platform than usual, and so had to tear south to board. BJG emerged from Car 1 just as I passed, and I said 'see! you were on 583 anyways!' and we had a little laugh before I left her to chat with Rosie while I quickly boarded (because I know they like to minimize the dwell when late).

We left at 8:16; Rosie was working the center of the train, and MSC lifted my ticket. At first, we were going only a little slower than usual, but shortly before we crossed the river (IIRC), we started to crawl at what seemed like less than 10mph. MSC passed by and I joked 'is this speed punishment from Metrolink for blocking their tracks?', but the joke was a little too deep and he just said 'oh, we have a slow order.' Shortly I saw what I supposed (perhaps naively) to be the reason: out my window, I vaguely saw, in the dark, *some* kind of single-level car; at first I thought it was a Metrolink Comet (as borrowed from NJT) out on a test run. I then saw Superliners and realized that what I'd seen was the baggage car of the southbound Coast Starlight, about to end its journey a half-hour early.

Arrived at GDL at 8:32, no worse for wear.

*Characters: (I feel a bit bad about not knowing their names, especially the former, whom BJG knows and told me his)

• Most Senior Conductor: an extraordinarily nice guy, who works the front of 785 the same days as Rosie; he has the outward appearance of someone who's been with Amtrak for quite a while.
  
• Red Haired Lady: one of the station staff at LAX, whom I meet every day as I wait for 785; she meets 785 and radios the track assignment (invariably 9 IME) inside so they can update the board and fire the starter's pistol.