California 2 2018 Metrolink Surfliner

 Brian Sykes of Atlanta recently retired from the Norfolk Southern Railroad.  He asked me to join him on a railfan trip to southern California.  Here is what we did on Day 2.

We wanted to ride trains and I especially wanted to ride the Surfliner, which in places travels right on the Pacific coastline.  So we lined up a circle route, boarding the Metrolink at San Bernadino, taking it to Oceanside, a few miles north of San Diego.  Heading back north we took the Surfliner to Los Angeles Union Depot and then took another Metrolink train from Los Angeles to San Bernadino.

Southern California weather was GREAT and this day was super.  Here is the San Bernadino depot, originally built by the Santa Fe Railroad.

The San Bernadino depot was built by the Santa Fe Railroad and is a Mission Revival Style

depot.  It currently serves Amtrak's Southwest Chief and two Metrolink lines.

Here is a Metrolink train.  We were going on a Saturday and Saturdays are 'All Day' train rides on Metrolink for only $10!  We would get 118 miles of ride for $10.  The Surfliner train would cost $26 to ride 87 miles between Oceanside and Los Angeles.

Come along for a ride to Oceanside and enjoy some scenery!

Passing the Riverside Depot.

 Here is the beautiful Santa Ana depot.  Note the adobe tile roof, found on many buildings in this area.

Continuing our trip, we pass this HUGE building.  I guessed it houses a blimp and then we saw that it joins a service base.

Here is the Irvine depot.

And we come to the seashore . . .where people were sunbathing, swimming, and SURFING!

In the above photo, note the classic VW 'buses.'

And we come to San Clemente.

And we come to Oceanside.

 Time to head to LA on the Surfliner.  Views on the trip back . . .

Cars on the Interstate are about stopped.  They should have taken the train!!

We didn't pass many crops as I think those are grown more up the coast toward San Francisco.

Check out the size of these potted trees waiting to be transplanted.

We come to Anaheim and the home of the California Angels baseball team.  Trains bring baseball fans out to the ball park but unfortunately, they are playing out-of-town this week.

And we pass the Fullerton depot, which we visited the previous day.

Let's go up to the cab car for some end shots.  (This train has the engine on the other end).

We will go up this 'flyover.'  Views from the 'top.'

And we pass the abandoned Mission Tower.  Mission Tower has been cosmetically restored, thus saving it from demolition. 

We get to the beautiful Los Angeles Union depot.  It is the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States.  It opened in May 1939 and became known as the "Last of the Great Railway Stations" built in the US.  Today it serves about 110,000 passengers a day and hosts Amtrak's Coast Starlight, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle, and Sunset Limited as well as many commuter trains and the Pacific Surfliner.  The ceiling in the concourse is 62 feet high, meaning a 5-story building could fit inside.  The marble throughout the station is from Montana, Vermont, Tennessee, and Spain.  The chandeliers are 10 feet in diameter and weigh 3,000 pounds each.  Fred Harvey had a restaurant here that opened in 1939 and closed in 1964.

Out the front, here is a view of the street.

We board our Metrolink train and this view of another abandoned interlocking tower is the only picture I got before my camera ran out of battery.