Ragin' Rails Raid 2011

[Ispolkom]

Because half of Team Whooz (me) is staunchly opposed to sleeping overnight in a parked vehicle, or camping, the lack of lodging to the west forces a change of route and plans. Today we'll be backtracking to Fargo, then on south to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, before turning west again. RATS!!

You will probably not want to plan to stop in western South Dakota, as well. The Sturgis rally is this week (that's where all the bikers were going), and I'd imagine it'll be hard to find lodging anywhere around there.

One other bit of advice. I'd be sure to visit Devil's Tower.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Because half of Team Whooz (me) is staunchly opposed to sleeping overnight in a parked vehicle, or camping, the lack of lodging to the west forces a change of route and plans. Today we'll be backtracking to Fargo, then on south to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, before turning west again. RATS!!

You will probably not want to plan to stop in western South Dakota, as well. The Sturgis rally is this week (that's where all the bikers were going), and I'd imagine it'll be hard to find lodging anywhere around there.

One other bit of advice. I'd be sure to visit Devil's Tower.

Thanks, Ispolkom, we also heard about the Sturgis thing at a visitor center when crossing into S. Dakota, and that's when it also dawned on us that that's where the La Crosse pack was headed, as well as all the (too) many other Harley-Davidsons seen swarming the highways recently; way more than expected. BTW, we saw the Excelsior and Como-Harriet streetcars while passing through your neck of the woods the other day, and will post about them in a future update.

Greetings from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where Team Whooz is in the process of changing trains. Yes, we know there's not an Amtrak station within 150 miles (the website said so!). What we're doing, see, is going from running along the Empire Builder's route to running along the Southwest Chief's route on our way back west. Can't go north cuz there's an oil boom. Can't go central cuz there's bikers in the way. So south is the answer, and we'll pick up the SWC's route at Kansas City, Missouri. This also puts the kibosh on the original plan to hit rail stuff as we headed down the west coast, not to mention the Devil's Tower suggestion, but oh well.

Photos:

Alongside BNSF - Freight trains from the road, freight trains sitting, freight trains slow, freight trains fast, a BNSF maintenance facility (with map), a Northern Pacific steam engine, and BNSF division offices along the Ragin' Rails Raid route through Minnesota and North Dakota.

Today, Day 35, was the second time a freight train has tried to sneak up on Team Whooz at lunch. The first time was at Iron Gate, West Virginia, and the culprit was a CSX unit coal train. Today it was a BNSF grain train on a branch line at Watertown, South Dakota. Enjoying a tailgate lunch of cottage cheese and sandwiches and minding our own business beside Lake Pelican, I noticed a low rumble and turned to find several locomotives and a string of covered hoppers peering at us from behind some tall reeds on the lakeshore. By some clever countermoves I was able to flush the invader out into the open on an approach to a short bridge:

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Greetings again from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, today's starting point for the ongoing train changing operation.

During Sunday Ragin' from La Crosse, WI, to St. Cloud, MN, Team Whooz paused at Minneapolis to see the historic streetcars operated by the Minnesota Streecar Museum running at their respective locations near Lake Minnetonka and between lakes Harriet and Calhoun...

Video:

Twin Cities Streetcar Eastbound At Excelsior - Twin Cities Rapid Transit car #1239 - built in 1907 - rolls eastbound from Water Street to Excelsior Blvd. near Lake Minnetonka in Excelsior, a southwestern suburb of Minneapolis. Pausing at an intersection, you can hear 1239's air compressor laboring, the conductor and motorman exchanging fare and signal rings, then the growl of the motors as the streetcar gets underway once again.

Duluth Streetcar Departs Linden Hills - Duluth Street Railways streetcar #265 - built 1915 - departs the Linden Hills station on the west side of Lake Harriet in southwest Minneapolis on 8-7-11. Note PCC streetcar in background at beginning, Twin Cities Rapid Transit #322 - built 1946.

Twin Cities Rapid Transit streetcar #1239 emerges westrbound from a route 7 underpass in Excelsior; Duluth Street Railways # 265 (L) and Twin Cities Rapid Transit PCC #322 at Linden Hills station on the west bank of Lake Harriet:

 

[The Crazy Vacationer]

The Como-Harriet streetcar is a fun afternoon activity for my family during the summer. Since it runs right by a cemetery, they do "Haunted" rides in October. Of note, the streetcar station in Como Park has been renovated and is now used by the city as an activity space. (My 10 year old will be going there for a Theater camp next week.) The Excelsion and Linden Hills streetcars are run by the Minnesota Streetcar Museum (http://www.trolleyride.org)

Another fun activity is the Minnesota Transportation Museum (www.mtmuseum.org). They have classic buses, an old depot, an excursion rail, and an old roundhouse that has been converted to a museum. Very fun places to visit while in the twin cities.

Also in the area is the Model Railroad club (www.tcmrm.org) which is located in Bandanna Square. These buildings used to be the shops for repairing the rail cars; you can still see the tracks in the floor.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

The Como-Harriet streetcar is a fun afternoon activity for my family during the summer. Since it runs right by a cemetery, they do "Haunted" rides in October. Of note, the streetcar station in Como Park has been renovated and is now used by the city as an activity space. (My 10 year old will be going there for a Theater camp next week.) The Excelsion and Linden Hills streetcars are run by the Minnesota Streetcar Museum (http://www.trolleyride.org)
Another fun activity is the Minnesota Transportation Museum (www.mtmuseum.org). They have classic buses, an old depot, an excursion rail, and an old roundhouse that has been converted to a museum. Very fun places to visit while in the twin cities.

Also in the area is the Model Railroad club (www.tcmrm.org) which is located in Bandanna Square. These buildings used to be the shops for repairing the rail cars; you can still see the tracks in the floor.

Thanks, C.V., for the comments and additional info. Team Whooz really enjoyed the all-too-brief time at Minneapolis, and was impressed with the large number of folks out and about, taking advantage of the glorious weather on a summer Sunday afternoon by going to parks, riding streetcars (mostly Como-Harriet), and attending a street fair near lakes Calhoun and Harriet. Driving around the latter was fairly congested, but that gave more time to appreciate the attractive neighborhoods in the area.

Greetings from Kansas City, Missouri, where Team Whooz is enjoying its first hardwired hotel connection of the trip. Naturally I can't take full advantage cuz there was virtually nothing left to upload and few photos were taken on Day 36. Figures.

It's Always Something Dept: The whole purpose of running south and changing trains to follow the Southwest Chief's route was to avoid the obstacles of A) no lodging to the west in N. Dakota due to oil boom, and B) Likely no or exhorbitantly priced lodging in western S. Dakota due to swarming bikers. What we encountered instead was C) Extensive road closures, especially large stretches of I-29, due to lingering and still-high flood waters along the Missouri River. The resultant detours were interesting and scenic, but did exact a travel time penalty.

An audio/visual roundup...

Video:

Nevada Northern Evening Train Nears Wye - Nevada Northern runs its Steptoe Flyer only about once a month. This evening train covers both ends of the line, running first to the Ruth mining district and back, then out toward McGill in the opposite direction. In this video the train makes a long, slow, chuffing approach to the wye at Ruth, with the early summer evening Nevada sky joining the mountains to provide a magnificent backdrop for mountain steam railroading, and holding the promise of a stunning sunset later on; a promise that was fulfilled during the outbound leg to McGill.

South Shore Street Running Intersection -After boarding passengers on the street at Michigan City, Indiana, this northbound South Shore Line train deals with stoplights and traffic as it runs on the town's main drag toward private right of way and Chicago on Team Whooz Ragin' Rails Raid Day 29 (8-4-11); the train's motorman gives a wave as he passes.

Flagg Coal No. 75 Returns To Mid-Continent Museum - Completing its work on the last train of its first day (of 9) of operations at Mid-Continent Railway Museum, Flagg Coal Co. 0-4-0T No. 75 brings it home to North Freedom, Wisconsin, while getting some diesel assistance with the heavy steel passenger coach consist. Pretty muched dwarfed by its helper and charges, is No. 75 out of breath and wheezing as it whistles for the grade crossing on approach to Mid-Continent's depot? Hmmmm.

Photos:

Ragin' Day 32: East Troy Electric Railroad - During the day's run from Kenosha to La Crosse, Wisconsin, Team Whooz visited two museums, beginning with the East Troy Electric Railroad at East Troy, Wisconsin. There wasn't time to ride, but it was good to stroll around the small town mid-America setting for awhile on a hot summer afternoon (8-6-11) and kinda relive a bygone era of electric transportation.

Sheboygan Light Power & Railway Co. wooden interurban No. 26 at East Troy, Wisconsin; Burlington 4-8-4 Hudson locomotive in park on east bank of Mississippi River at La Crosse, Wisconsin; Missouri River flooding seen from a rest area just south of the S. Dakota/Missouri border:

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Greetings from Liberal, Kansas, which is not very.

Yesterday saw the resumption of westbound progress as the MayhemMobile slogged across Kansas, and today that progress will continue as we leave Central Time behind, hopefully for some Southwest Chief Ragin' at Raton, New Mexico. Thursday's run along the Chief's route was mostly trainless except while departing Kansas City, a couple early BNSF freights along the way, and a UP stack train seen at Hutchinson, Kansas. We know that BNSF no longer uses Raton Pass as part of its Los Angeles-Chicago transcon, but how far east does the SWC run along the Raton line before rejoining the current BNSF main? And where? Or does it? We've been driving in stick track land for a fairly long while.

Here's a clip that harks back to earlier in the Ragin' Rails Raid, along with BNSF steam and diesel seen during Thursday's run...

Video:

Steam In The Streets At Davenport, Iowa - Iowa Interstate Railroad's Chinese QJ 2-10-2 No. 6988 heads the Train Festival 2011 morning excursion to Iowa on 7-22-11. Having departed festival grounds at Rock Island, Illinois, and crossed the Mississippi River, the train comes off the downtown flyover to run southbound at grade through outer Davenport, Iowa, before turning east and speeding out to Walcott.

Santa Fe 4-6-2 No. 3424 next to U.S. 50 at Kinsley, Kansas; AT&SF 2-6-2 No. 1139 near the Amtrak station at Dodge City, Kansas; BNSF ethanol switching at Dodge City; etc.:

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Greetings from Trinidad, Colorado, where Amtrak has a platform and virtually nothing else while the immediate area is torn up for some kinda construction.

Brief note this morning as we try to get moving to catch the westbound Southwest Chief, train 3, working up the grade to Raton Pass. (EDIT: A Team Whooz Executive Assistant check of Amtrak train status shows train 3 running over an hour late, meaning plenty of time; nothing to add here, though, as I'm too lazy!) Got the eastbound yesterday...

Video:

Southwest Chief Train 4 Descends Raton Pass - Amtrak Train 4, the eastbound Southwest Chief, tries to sneak quietly into Trinidad, Colorado, on 8-12-11. Drifting downhill out of Raton Pass about 90 minutes behind schedule, the noisiest thing about this train is the groaning, creaking, and clacking of the Superliner passenger cars. A major difference from the diesel racket of the train working uphill into the pass.

Santa Fe 2-6-2 locomotives Nos. 1819 and 1024 on display at Lamar and La Junta, Colorado, respectively; Eastbound BNSF unit coal train crew change at La Junta:

 

[TraneMan]

Video:

Empire Builder, Train 8, At Lake City, MN - Amtrak's eastbound Empire Builder, running a mere 3 hours late on 8-7-11, rolls past Lake City, Minnesota, on a wide curve through an industrial area of this Mississippi River town.

This is my hometown.

Go over that track, and go down 5 blocks is where I lived.. Loved hearing the horn blowing at night when it went northbound. Me and a friend would hang out in this spot and watch the Empire Builder go past us! (FYI, this intersection never existed!)

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Video:Empire Builder, Train 8, At Lake City, MN - Amtrak's eastbound Empire Builder, running a mere 3 hours late on 8-7-11, rolls past Lake City, Minnesota, on a wide curve through an industrial area of this Mississippi River town.

This is my hometown.

Nice coincidence! The original intent had been to catch the Builder at its La Crosse, Wisconsin, stop. When Amtrak train status showed it to be running really late we decided to head north as planned, checking station progress from time to time until it seemed a good idea to stop and scope out a viewing spot before the train passed. Lake City was the handiest place, and it only took a few minutes of looking around town to select that grade crossing.

Greetings from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Yesterday's run from Trinidad, Colorado, was filled with trackside fun. First we caught the Southwest Chief train 3 at a couple locations along its way over Raton Pass, then again at its Raton, New Mexico, stop. After that we somehow beat the train to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where we also saw Southwest Chief train 4 for good measure. A fine day of railfanning over widely varied geography and shifting weather conditions. Today Raton Pass results, tomorrow hopefully Raton stop and Las Vegas stuff...

Video:

Southwest Chief Starts Raton Climb From Trinidad - Westbound Amtrak Southwest Chief train 3 begins its climb out of Trinidad, Colorado, and up into Raton Pass on 8-13-11. Note the increasingly rare sound of a train on jointed rail as the train passes this grade crossing at Starkville, just outside Trinidad. The focus is initially poor, as apparently the camera locked on something close by; the train comes into better focus as it nears.

Southwest Chief Stops On Raton Grade - After catching the train at a grade crossing outside Trinidad, Team Whooz raced ahead on I-25 to a turnout spotted during scouting the previous afternoon. I clambered down a hillside and waited above the rail line for the Chief to appear. It was moving very slowly as it came around the curve, then surprised me by coming to a full stop there, about a mile short of the Raton Pass summit. It remained sitting for some while - the engineer even hitting the ground to stretch his legs for a few minutes - before getting underway again. The wait provided an unexpected excellent opportunity to take still photos!

Southwest Chief Resumes Raton Climb - Following a mysterious stop of about 15 minutes a mile or so short of the summit, Southwest Chief train 3 slowly gets underway to continue its arduous climb up through Raton Pass, 8-13-11.

Train 3 climbs into Raton Pass at Starkville, just outside Trinidad, Colorado (note old glass insulators on telephone/power poles); Southwest Chief runs alongside the highway on its way up Raton Pass - photo taken from Team Whooz MayhemMobile driving on I-25; The Chief gets underway again after a mysterious stop about mile short of the summit:

 

[gswager]

Excellent photos! Will we be bumping each other tomorrow (Monday) or Tuesday while in Albuquerque & Santa Fe? I'll be riding RailRunner Tuesday.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Excellent photos! Will we be bumping each other tomorrow (Monday) or Tuesday while in Albuquerque & Santa Fe? I'll be riding RailRunner Tuesday.

Thanks, Greg. Sorry to say, Dude, we were only in New Mexico for the one night, blowing through town on the home stretch of the Ragin' Rails Raid. Closest we got to the RailRunner was seeing the line that runs down the median of I-25 at Santa Fe. Gotta get around to riding it before that new governor of yours kills it off.

Greetings from Flagstaff, Arizona, where the latest in a pathetic procession of poor hotel connections has once again put the upload process in the hole. A little bit got done, but not enough.

Yesterday, between Albuquerque and here, we did some BNSF transcon trackside running over remaining segments of the old Route 66. A very busy line at times, with trains in both directions seeming to appear and be gone in packs, leaving the tracks empty for long periods in the interim. We also left the rails long enough to visit the Petrified Forest National Park. Catching the Flagstaff arrival of the day's train 3 - during a thunderstorm - was another activity, and it's that material, along with remaining Chief stuff from Las Vegas, that didn't make it into cyberspace.

Video:

Southwest Chief Las Vegas Arrival - Southwest Chief train 3 arrives at Las Vegas, New Mexico, on a windy 8-13-11. Running roughly 90 minutes behind, the pause at LSV was very brief. Following train 3's departure Team Whooz settled in for a trackside lunch while waiting for the eastbound Chief to arrive.

Southwest Chief train 3 at Raton, New Mexico, on 8-13-11; Train 3 departs Raton; Off topic, cross section of a fossilized tree at Petrified Forest National Park:

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Greetings from Barstow, California, where if all the hotels on the Ragin' Rails Raid were as good as this one we might not have gone anywhere or seen any trains. Instead of heading down to the station last night to watch the Southwest Chief train 4 make its appearance we sat out by the pool drinking beer and Irish coffee while enjoying the balmy desert evening.

As mentioned above, a couple days back we did some driving on old Route 66 between Albuquerque and Flagstaff. Here are some looks at trains there and beside I-40 along the way...

Video:

BNSF Westbound At Grants, New Mexico - This westbound BNSF stack train almost surprised me while taking photos of a freight in the hole at Grants, New Mexico. Nothing there on first look, so began taking pictures from a hardware store parking lot. Then the bells kicked in and I had to run like hell to get in position for a shot.

BNSF mixed manifest freight at Grants - the one I was shooting when the stack train in the video snuck up; BNSF lead power running alongside I-40 east of Gallup, New Mexico (from MayhemMobile); Distributed power on the tail end passes the Amtrak station at Gallup:

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Greetings from the land of incessantly barking neighbor dogs, subnormal summer temperatures, and oppressively thick marine layers. Yes, Valued Reader, the Team Whooz Ragin' Rails Raid 2011 concluded just over two weeks ago, on Day 42, after six generally glorious weeks. So I suppose it's time to haul myself out of post-party depression to wrap up some loose ends, fork up some final thoughts, and host at least one more round of Name That Diesel!! Of course we can't do all that stuff in one measly post, so consider yourself warned.

Another thing I hope to do going forward is devote some overdue attention to that long-neglected photo thread that kinda went by the wayside during the trip; there just wasn't the time! But there's time now, and a full library of audiovisual stuff to discuss in terms of technique, tips and advice, including material from others that was taken at some of the same locations as the Raid's.

One thing is certain: No more road trips for awhile, and especially none of such length. TOO MUCH WORK, plain and simple. For our next major adventure Team Whooz will be relaxing on the rails to, from, and at the Amtrak Unlimited Fifth Annual Gathering, at Seattle and Portland.

Video:

Southwest Chief Arrives At Las Vegas - Amtrak train 4 arrives from western blue skies and appears headed for stormy weather to the east as it groans to a halt on arrival at Las Vegas, New Mexico, on 8-13-11. The couple seen at right boarded, and soon the train got underway once again - but that's another clip!

Nevada Northern Evening Train Crosses U.S. 50 - Hear that lonesome whistle blow. And blow. And blow some more. Nevada Northern's late run on 7-9-11 - the Steptoe Flyer - crawls toward, then through, a U.S. 50 grade crossing at Ely, Nevada, during the outbound leg of the evening run to McGill. It was later learned (while catching the inbound leg at the same location) that the reason for the tentative approach and crossing was that due to electrical problems with the crossing safety devices the lights, bells, and gates were being operated manually from a trackside box. A close viewing of the clip will reveal - at lower left corner - the guy working the box as he moves about; it went unnoticed at the time.

Photos:

Ragin' Day 22: Leaving Lorton - Check-in, vehicle loading, and other preparations at the Lorton, Virginia, northern terminal of Amtrak's Auto Train before Team Whooz boarded for the overnight run to Sanford, Florida.

Ragin' Day 4: Nevada Northern Evening Run - After riding behind Nevada Northern 4-6-0 No. 40 on the morning run out to the Ruth mining district (7-9-11), Team Whooz scoped out the route by MayhemMobile, then railfanned the evening train - the Steptoe Flyer - as it headed first to Ruth, then back to Ely and out in the other direction toward the old Kennecott concentrator mill at McGill. An amazing evening of steam action, mountain railroading, great weather, outstanding scenery, and a drop-dead gorgeous sunset, capped off with a little night shooting back at the depot. It doesn't get much better!

Below:

1) This is the switcher that hauls the auto racks around at Lorton, coupling them before departures and uncoupling them after arrivals. I blew a chance at a cool engine start video here - the guy on the catwalk was messing around inside the open panel behind him, and I didn't realize he was about to crank up the diesel. Rats! 792 is a 1952 EMD SW1000R.

2) Look closely! Baldwin 4-6-0 and train are dwarfed by mountains, sky, and distance as they approach a curve that will bring them toward the camera over the left track. After passing under the bridge/camera the Flyer will back through the switch and onto the wye at right to turn around for the run back to Ely before heading out in the other direction toward McGill.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Okay, it's been awhile. So where were we? Ah yes: Over there, in a box.

As mentioned several times during the Ragin' Rails Raid proper, in both trip report posts and PM replies, the original open-ended plan had to be cut short due to prior commitments I couldn't get out of. Well, Valued Reader, after those prior commitments got taken care of, this half of Team Whooz got antsy just sitting around suffering the SoCal coast's second dank, dreary, dismal nonsummer in a row. So I proposed to the other half of Team Whooz that we set out to do a bunch of the stuff we'd planned to do in the first place as we made our way south and home along the west coast, but didn't get to. Not EVERYTHING we missed, mind you, but a few things here in California.

Executive Assistant Alice was fortunately agreeable, as she usually is, so after some quick plotting away we went! The result was not only more Ragin' Rails and Radical Roads in general, but also more actual train riding - including points runs under Amtrak's fall promo - than during the entire first/main section of the adventure.

Departing once again from La Casa de Whooz, the first goal was riding Metrolink to and from the Los Angeles County Fair. It woulda been easy to park ourselves at some hotel close to Metrolink's San Bernardino Line for short $7 roundtrips to Fairplex at Pomona, but where's the fun in that? Okay there's SOME fun in that, but not enough for Team Whooz. Nosiree! To jack up the fun factor, and use Metrolink's recently instituted $10 weekend passes, we began by securing lodging in Anaheim, right across the city border from Fullerton and the Amtrak/Metrolink station there.

Arriving in the vicinity on Friday afternoon, 9-9-11, before hotel check-in time, and before the Metrolink weekend passes became available (at 7 p.m.), we decided to check out afternoon rush hour at FUL. With heavy Amtrak, Metrolink, and BNSF freight action Fullerton is a railfan favorite. West Coast Rail Forums even has a section devoted to "Friday Services" at Fullerton, and we were ready to go see for ouselves what all the excitement is about. We were not disappointed. And following fun Fullerton Friday Follies we rode Metrolink the next day from FUL to LAX, changed trains and continued to... Oops, that's for another day!

Video:

Pacific Surfliner 582 Departs Fullerton - An unusual - for a Pacific Surfliner - single level consist of Horizons, Amfleets, and a cabbage cranks up, moves out, and gathers speed, rumbling and humming southbound on 9-9-11 over the mindless yappings and hootings of trackside morons - including one particularly noisy bearded idiot in a wheelchair - who likely fancy themselves railfans but are in fact merely nitwits. Team Whooz Executive Assistant Alice, who also uses a wheelchair, had some thoughts about the wheelchair jerk, but agreed that disability is no excuse.

Southwest Chief 4 Departs Fullerton - Already 20 minutes down at its first stop, the 9-9-11 Chief gets underway at Fullerton, headed for the junction where it'll head east and on to Chicago.

Photos:

Ragin' Restart: Fullerton Friday Follies - Team Whooz restarts the Ragin' Rails Raid by railfanning the heart of rush hour at Fullerton on 9-9-11. Amtrak and Metrolink passenger trains, plus BNSF freight action, make the platforms at FUL railfan favorites.

Metrolink Orange County Line train 686 to Irvine disgorges passengers likely glad to be done with another workweek; Pacific Surfliner 785 is running about 12 minutes behind as it arrives on its run to Goleta; Shooting into the sun is not ALWAYS a bad thing! Metrolink 91 Line train 707 from Riverside to Los Angeles poses for a sundown and silhouette shot:

 

[WhoozOn1st]

On the morning after Friday Follies, $10 Metrolink weekend passes in hand, we returned to Fullerton station to board Metrolink Orange County Line train 653 - first northbound run of the day - to Los Angeles Union Station, where we'd hang out for about an hour prior to boarding Metrolink San Bernardino Line train 358 to the Fairplex (county fairgrounds) at Pomona. Though our Metrolink train was tardy we didn't mind so much for two reasons: A) We got to watch Southwest Chief train 3 make its final stop before L.A., running over two hours late, and B) There's so much padding in the Metrolink schedule between FUL and LAX that even after getting outta there almost 30 minutes late we arrived at Union Station more or less on time.

With plenty of time before our train to Pomona we strolled down through the tunnel to the main station to avail ourselves of the facilities before heading back topside to sightsee any possible Gold Line/Amtrak/Metrolink action that might be going on. However, just as we were about to exit, who should appear but long lost missing AU member and reinstated L.A. resident Chuljin, aka Chris 3. After some time enjoyed in general palavering and catching up - always fun to be pleasantly surprised by AU pals - we all ventured up to the platforms. Chris had a friend in the crew of the departing Coast Starlight that he wanted to meet, Alice wanted some shots of the Gold Line, and I saw a chance to arrange for temporary replacement of Amtrak's dome car with a local substitute while Amtrak swiped mine for fall running on the Adirondack and Cardinal (see photo below).

We got together with Chris again briefly before boarding our Fair train, and as he'd never been aboard one of the new Rotem cab cars that have been coming online with Metrolink I showed him the one we'd be riding. I hadn't really meant for us to ride in it, but the Metrolink conductor showed up and set up the bridge plate for Alice to come aboard, so that was that. The Bombardier cars are really better overall, especially for Alice's wheelchair, and we'll make a point of avoiding the Rotem rolling stock as long as possible in the future.

Good ride out to Pomona, though I shoulda taken video of outrunning cars as our San Bernardino Line train sped down the median of I-10; cars driving full speed on a clear freeway.

The Metrolink stop at Fairplex is only used during the Fair, and consists of no more than a low platform and portable concrete wheelchair ramp. Yes, portable contrete ramp. It's not very big, and has slats on the bottom for placement by a heavy forklift. It seemed to kinda give the lie to railroad whining about the huge expense of retrofitting platforms for accessibility.

Once off the platform and through a gate to the parking lot, we boarded a dedicated Metrolink shuttle, complete with wheelchair ramp and space, which carried us nonstop through the huge and virtually empty automotive expanse to the Yellow Gate for admission to the Fair. Team Whooz had a fine day at the Fair, then successfully, if wearily, retraced the shuttle and two trains procedure in reverse for the return to Fullerton that evening.

Video:

Metrolink 706 Departs For Riverside - Metrolink 91 Line train 706 to Downtown Riverside departs Fullerton on the afternoon of 9-9-11. Audible well before it's visible, the train is accelerating nicely by the time it comes into view from the left.

Southwest Chief Train 4 Rolls Into Fullerton - Video by Alice. Amtrak Southwest Chief train 4 hums to a halt at Fullerton on 9-9-11, already running 20 minutes late at it first stop after departing L.A. for Chicago.

Photos:

Ragin' Restart: Alice's Fullerton Follies - Fullerton Friday Follies Fun Fotos from the lower-level lens of Team Whooz Executive Assistant Alice.

Ragin' Rails At L.A. County Fair - Freight, Amtrak, private varnish, steam on display, garden railroading, and lumberjacks. Lumberjacks!? All part of the fun as Team Whooz rode Metrolink from Fullerton to the Los Angeles County Fair at Pomona on Saturday, 9-10-11.

Ragin' Day 4: Alice's Nevada Northern - Selected, uncaptioned photos taken by Team Whooz Executive Assistant Alice during the Ragin' Rails Raid, Day 4.

Spotting the Silver Splendor at Union Station was a stroke of luck, and I immediately made arrangements for it to stand in as my temporary private car while Amtrak's full dome 10031 gets swiped for its annual fall foray running back east on the Adirondack; Santa Fe 4-6-4 No. 3450 was built by Baldwin in 1927 as a coal burner and retired an oil burner in 1953. Designed for fast passenger service, 3450 had a top speed of 110 mph. Note smokestack extension; Long view of the Fairplex Garden Railroad, which occupies an acre and includes 3 miles of track comprising several scenarios and topographies representative of southern California: