February 23, 2008 Traveling for work often, I rarely have time to check out the local train action. This time would be different. Heading to Anaheim, California, I decided to go out two days early and stay two days later with only one thing in mind: railfanning!
Arriving 2 ½ hours late because the airline "lost" our plane, it was well after midnight when I got to the rental car counter at LAX when my internal clock was telling me it was 230; I started to rethink my plans for Saturday morning's rail adventure. During my drive from LA to Anaheim I drove over several railroad tracks. Every one had a set of headlamps approaching. Taking this as my sign I got excited again and decided after a quick nap I would indeed head out in a few hours to see what I could find.
Waking up in the morning, my mind fresh with dreams of trains and palm trees, I gathered my laptop, some hand-written directions, my scanner and the all important GPS device. I hit the road.
My first stop was the Amtrak platform in Anaheim just across the parking lot for the Angels' baseball stadium. Here I was hoping to find several Amtrak California units along with the Southern California Metrolink trains. Standing on the platform I had a great view of the signals that governed northbound movement out of the station; sadly, they both showed red over red. Taking a few minutes to look over the schedule posted on the boards I saw one of the signals turn yellow. Within seconds I spotted ditch lights rounding a curve - I knew it was time. Running to the end of the platform I readied my camera and lined up my shot.
Arriving on time was Amtrak train 579 with the engine Amtk 459 in command of five cars heading north. These trains are on a tight schedule. As the train arrives, doors open, people off, people on, doors close and poof the train throttles up and off she goes. I was amazed as to the speed, but would soon learn why, as the Amtrak train cleared the grade crossing the signal dropped again and here came the next train. This time I has happy to find it was a Metrolink train being lead by a F59PH. As I took my pictures of this train I caught sight of yet another train fast approaching from the north, another Metrolink train this one lead by a F59PHI number 884.
As the passengers went about their routines, bundled up like Eskimos, I got lots of strange looks being dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. I must have looked crazy to them. I wanted to shout, "Hey, its 67 degrees and I'm from Minnesota!" After a few more trains ran past I decided I wanted some freight action to spice things up, so I was off for Fullerton, where I knew I would find plenty of action.
Arriving at the station in Fullerton, the first thing to catch my eye was a small fenced-off section of track which was keeping two old streamliner cars and three cabooses (one AT&SF, as well as Southern Pacific, the other belonging to the Coast Rail Service). Everything looked to be in good shape and in running order, I snapped of a few shots and headed for the platform to wait for what I hoped would be a great day.
The layout of the station is pretty good. There are three main line tracks: main one is for southbound commuter trains; main two is for the freights; and main three is for northbound commuter trains. There is a nice walking bridge over the tracks. It allows a great view in both directions, including the signals at both ends of the station. There i even have a small coffee stand with outdoor tables where you can sit and watch the trains roll past.
I opted to head across the tracks where I was closest to mains two and three. I sat facing towards the end of the platform - no need for a scanner here, I could almost reach out and touch the signals. I did not have to wait long for my first train. I watched the signal drop to green; watching the switch line itself from main three to two, I knew it would be a commuter train. I waited with excitement as to whom it would be. Moments later I got my answer: Metrolink, unit 854 is another F59PH. As quickly as it had arrived (similar to the station in Anaheim), people ushered on and off the train, a quick blast of the horn and off she went.
Thinking I had a few minutes to kill, I planned to take a walk around and look for another vantage point to shoot from. All that changed as I saw the switch begin to move and the signal drop for main two. Turning around, I saw a BNSF stack train heading for the station. Planting my feet I got ready for her arrival. Three BNSF dash-9s, along with a Ferromex GEVO, pulled this stacker towards the hills and points east.
As the train passed I took time to review the pictures I had just taken when I noticed the telltale heat signature of a DPU. Scratching my head I readied myself for the two dash-9s helping to push the train down the tracks. Believing this was a rare consist, I was surprised to find close to 80% of all stack trains I saw this day had DPUs. Figuring this was for the run over the mountains, I was happy to have just that many more units to shoot.
It went on like this most of the day - Amtrak, Metrolink, and BNSF stackers took their turns. As the day started to turn to evening, the sun set in a dazzling display of colors not seen in the Twin Cities. I took notice of several people in folding chairs who had started to gather near the end of the platform. I saw they all had notebooks and scanners. Puzzled by this, I had asked what they were waiting for. It turns out the railfans in Fullerton come out at night, not to take pictures but to count containers passing by. They all take a guess as to how many containers they will see that night on the stack trains and proceed to count them as the wiz past, the winner gets nothing more than bragging rights until the next night when they start all over again.
After a full day of sun and trains, I was a little sunburned and tired. Looking forward to going to work the next day I was not sure if I would be able to handle another busy day of California railfanning. By the end of the week, I was ready again but that's another story.