An Order of BNSF, on the Rocks. On a warm, summer's morning in San Clemente, California, a southbound BNSF riprap train slowly cruises into town to continue efforts that have been taking place over the past week to save a portion of the famed "Surfline" from eroding into the ocean. Officially closed to all passenger service on September 16, crews have been working steadily each day to build up protection for a small section of this iconic line between San Clemente and County Line that was beginning to show significant The severity of this situation was emphasized even more after houses located atop bluffs right above the affected section of the tracks also began showing considerable cracks as the hillsides began to sag toward the railroad tracks and beach.
Operating as the W SBDSBD1 24B, today's train is made up of 38 specially built side-dump cars filled with boulders, rocks and dirt from a quarry in Pedernal, New Mexico. Blasted out of the earth immediately prior to being loaded onto this train, the heavy payload has now traveled more than 1,500 miles by rail within the past 48 hours and will shortly reach its final destination just a few miles south of where this photo was taken. Metrolink, the agency overseeing the efforts to stabilize the line, is projecting to reopen the line to passenger service on October 3. In the meantime, a number of similar trains to this one will continue to deliver materials to shore up the affected section. Since these efforts began, the line has since reopened to freight traffic, which has been running at night so as not to affect the work trains.
