Today's Special: Steamed Amtrak

[WhoozOn1st]

SECTION 1

We'll commence with a bit of off-topic prologue.

You've probably all heard about the Universal Studios fire that occurred on the morning of the Santa Fe 3751 steam excursion; 6-1-08. I was right there!

I had taken Surfliner 784, OXN-LAX, on 5-31-08, then the Red Line out to Universal City. Stayed at the Sheraton Universal hotel, down the hill from the Universal studio/theme park/retail (CityWalk) complex.

I'll spare you the interim details, but was up and about at 4 a.m., with the plan of taking the Red Line to Union Station around 5:30 to be on hand early for the excursion action.

While pursuing my morning ablutions I started hearing sirens shortly after 5 a.m. And they didn't stop. My room was directly adjacent to the 101/Hollywood freeway, and I figured that because it was L.A. there was probably just some idiot high-speed chase in progress. But the sirens, instead of fading away, actually increased. Highly annoying, and I can only imagine how other hotel guests reacted to all that noise before the sun was up on a Sunday morning. But I remained focused on getting to LAUS.

Strolled out of the hotel and down the hill to the Red Line station on schedule, sirens still blaring. "Oh well. The jerk will run out of gas eventually, or they'll stop him with spike strips."

Then a very low-flying chopper caught my attention, and I looked around.

Holy Moly! A huge column of black smoke rising from the other side of the hill. Wow. Naturally I started taking pictures (which will be posted soon as I make the conversion from archaic dial-up to DSL in the coming week). Just a few shots. More important things to do.

At LAUS the presumptive plan was to take a few pics of the train, trot over to Phillipe's for breakfast, and return before boarding time. Somehow I expected that the train would already be in place. But it wasn't. Goodbye to breakfast, cuz there was no way I was gonna miss 3751 arriving.

As I arrived on the platform about 6:30 a.m. there were already about 20 other folks on the scene. Talked around, with everybody guessing and speculating about 3751's arrival. The Starbucks coffee provided by the hotel was getting to my bladder, so I jokingly put an older guy "in charge," and told him I was holding him responsible for the safety of the growing group.

Returning to the platform from the LAUS restroom, I was immediately accosted by irate photographers. "Who put you in charge, to tell that old guy to tell us what to do?" "Nobody put me in charge. It was a joke that the guy took seriously. And get off the tracks, pal."

About that time, 3751 appeared with the train, backing in. First Foto Frenzy ensued. Quite a spectacle, and all us railroad paparazzi were jockeying for shots.

Departure was scheduled for 7:45 a.m., but we didn't actually start rolling until 8:16. A half hour late outta the gate. I dutifully wrote down the departure time for my notes, and everybody else seemed to be doing so as well.

NEXT: Departure and the run to Fullerton.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

SECTION 2

My boarding pass for the excursion had assigned me to Coach 8. This turned out to be ideal, in my estimation, as Coach 8 turned out to be the next-to-last car on the train, ahead of only heritage dome Silver Lariat. Knowing the LAX-SAN route fairly well, I grabbed the window seat left on what would be the east side of the train. It was less than perfect for photography, with a pillar between fore and aft windows, but that was okay. The main deal was that so far back in the train I would have decent views of 3751 on the curves I knew about along the route.

After boarding around 7:30 a.m., with departure scheduled for 7:45, we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Guy sitting beside me said "This is a bad omen," and "A train that runs late is gonna run later." Events would prove his words prescient.

Too far back in the train to hear the locomotive (the downside of Coach 8), there was a smattering of applause when we got underway at 8:16.

First opportunity to get a shot of 3751 would be the Redondo Junction flyover, and while it did not disappoint, the Amfleet window optical properties did. I could see okay, but the camera couldn't. There must be reasons for this disparity, but I don't know what they are. Still, a grand view of the locomotive working the train up the grade in a left curve, then twisting back down from the flyover on a right curve. Oh man!

Let me mention here that by the end of the excursion my facial muscles were stiff and painful from being stuck in a near-perpetual wild grin. Talk about a BLAST...

Following the flyover we jammed through the industrial areas of Los Angeles - miles of intermodal freight yards, shipping facilities, factories, cement plants, recycling yards, and the like. From time to time wisps of 3751 smoke would drift by.

We noticed that we had aerial company: a helicopter pacing the train, which remained with us for most of the southbound trip. More on that in following sections.

Further along on the way to Fullerton I started noticing the trackside turnout. While I had fully expected spectators along the route, the sheer number exceeded my expectations. If there was pedestrian access to the tracks, there were people with cameras or just there to witness and wave at the spectacle. Had there been more cops around there woulda been many trespassing citations that day.

Pulling into Fullerton, it was kinda funny to see the looks on the faces of people who were clearly L.A.-bound Surfliner passengers waiting for their train on the northbound platform. Dumbfounded and perplexed, with many dropped jaws. Once they recovered from the steam locomotive shock, out came the smiles and cameras.

The stop at Fullerton was to board passengers. The fares and boarding passes allowed for southbound boarding, and northbound detraining, at L.A., Fullerton, and Irvine, your choice.

Scheduled Fullerton departure: 8:12 a.m. Actual Fullerton departure: 9:03 a.m. We were already losing time beyond leaving late from LAUS.

NEXT: On to Irvine.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

SECTION 3

The run to Irvine was interrupted by a lengthy stop, the reason for which nobody seemed to know. The pace chopper noted above hovered throughout. The pilot musta been real happy to be sitting up there, at about 500 feet, burning fuel without action on the ground. Nothing going on.

Got back underway eventually, ran to Irvine. Scheduled Irvine departure was 8:37 a.m. Reality was 9:42.

By this part of the excursion I had noticed that if one listened closely 3751's whistle could be faintly heard from so far back in the train. But you know what? From that distance it almost sounded like a diesel horn. Go figure.

NEXT: Run-by at Carlsbad. The GOOD STUFF!!

 

[WhoozOn1st]

SECTION 4

I'll write about this later. Just enjoy the video for now.



Anybody who would like a higher-resolution version is welcome to PM me with their e-mail address.

Other videos of 3751 as well, and I'll post them as I upload 'em.

Note the little whistle shout out we got as 3751 passed our position.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

SECTION 5

Carlsbad Pointsettia is not an Amtrak station. It's a Coaster (commuter) station, and the platform is pretty short. That meant that in order to detrain for the watering and run-by, those of us in Coach 8, Silver Lariat dome, and a couple cars forward, had to walk the train to alight on the platform What a crowd!

At one point I thought there was a line of people to be allowed forward of the platform for pictures with 3751, but was mistaken. Started asking, "Is this the line?" But no, most were just locals out for the fun and photos. One guy's response was fairly typical: "You in line?" "Nah, just out here gawking." "Well it's a fine day for spectating." "Never seen better." And we did a high-five. "Yeah!"

Once everybody who wanted to detrain was off, the train backed up to be in position to replenish the tender. There had been rampant speculation about this. Those who know steam are well aware that you can't use just any old water. It needs to be the right water, or chemically conditioned, so as not to muck up the works and result in breakdowns and costly (not to mention time-consuming and labor-intensive) repairs.

The Carlsbad Fire Department was on hand, and they took water from a nearby hydrant, ran it to a fire engine, and pumped it from there to 3751. I started asking around about water quality, but never got a straight answer.

During the watering sequence a photo line started setting up for the run-by. A volunteer crew member said he'd never seen such a well-behaved photo line. But the photo line was not appealing. Why jostle around to get the same shot as everybody else? So walked back up the line, and up a convenient low hill, for a different perspective.

Backing for the run-by commenced, then stopped for passage of a southbound Surfliner. At the time I didn't know why because I was so heavily focused on the excursion train. But upon review of the video the reason is clear: Single track from the north, with a siding at Carlsbad Pointsettia. The excursion train was occupying the main line, so the Surfliner had to go around on the siding, and the excursion train had to stop backing so the Surfliner could get to the siding. Simple, no? Just didn't see it at the time.

Perched on the hill, with 3751 fully backed, the run-by commenced. Some people around me started hooting and howling. A guy taking video from trackside yelled for them to shut up. They did!

Following the run-by, upon reboarding those of us toward the back again had to walk the train from the short platform to return to our seats.

Didn't note the time of departure from Carlsbad, but we were running way late.

NEXT: Run to San Diego.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

SECTION 6 - Final Southbound

Boarding at L.A., the seats that would be on the coast side of the train went first. This was good for me. I've seen more than enough ocean views, and frankly they bore me. Besides, being familiar with the L.A.-San Diego route I knew that the run through the hills into San Diego is rich with left-hand (inland side) curves through canyons, arroyos, and interesting little valleys. Photo fodder. Some of those curves are on grades which would make 3751 work hard.

There were others of similar mind, but as we threaded through the hills it became clear that they were disappointed. Why? No huge clouds of black smoke, which from photos and videos of steam locomotives they had come to expect. That's not the way it works when a steam locomotive is being run right. I think had8ley will back me up on this. The smoke is a crock. Hollywood crap for the cameras, or somebody doesn't know how to run a steam locomotive.

The itinerary called for a stop at Old Town San Diego, but we were informed early on that the kibosh had been put on that; no Old Town, either coming or going.

Mass crowd waiting upon arrival at downtown San Diego. A zoo. Stuck around long enough to watch 3751 and its Amtrak friend get switched and run around the train. The locomotives parked in front of the San Diego depot before heading out for a turnaround at a wye. Foto Frenzy. That's when I stopped taking pictures, met my sister, and went to lunch.

There will be a northbound excursion story under another title. Pretty cool, and includes a mysterious emergency stop. ????

Amtrak Gets Steamed

 

[Guest]

..especially nice, night pictures!