Amtrak's New Service: The Pacific Joaquin. As thousands of people between Santa Barbara and Carpinteria struggle to find ways to pick up the pieces of their lives following the deadly mudslides last Tuesday...one form of reliable transportation is available for residents to travel by during the indefinite closure of US 101. That's right, the railroad. To help accommodate the excessive amount of passengers using the Pacific Surfliner service during this time, Oakland's Capital Corridor/San Joaquin sent down 8 passenger cars and three locomotives to assist in expanding service to assist during this time of great need. On this sunny afternoon in Simi Valley, a nine-car Amtrak 769 pauses for its station work prior to continuing north with a colorful rear-end. Trailing on 769 today are 3 Amtrak California cars and the CDTX 2052...one of the company's first units to wear the CalTran's paint scheme back in the early 90's that has now been secluded to working the Oakland yard. In a time where ever unit matters, however, trusty 2052 and sister unit 2051 have already been put to work less than 12 hours since they arrived into Los Angeles and are planned to work on Surfliner's until the end of the week.
Stretching from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, the Surf Line has become Amtrak's second busiest route. See the Pacific Surfliner and San Diegan in action along with trains from predecessors Santa Fe and Southern Pacific.
