While waiting for a friend to arrive from San Diego, I was surprised by the arrival of Pacific Surfliner 572 … not because the train was unexpected, of course, but because it was pulled by a P42DC, not the usual power one finds on the Surfliners. But they do show up occasionally, however this P42DC is in the Phase VII scheme, which is the first of its kind that I've seen on these Los Angeles to San Diego trains. It would have been even more exciting if P42C cab car 9700 (the former P42DC 184), also in Phase VII paint, which spends a lot of time sitting in Amtrak's Redondo Junction facility in Los Angeles, had been attached to the train's rear, as it was actually used on a train the other day. But now I was just getting greedy, and I wasn't complaining about P42DC 154 making an appearance on this train.
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.
