Catching the morning light between Tunnels 26 and 27 on its way through the rock outcrops of Santa Susana Pass, Amtrak 11, running 13 hours late for the second day in a row, drifts downgrade into the San Fernando Valley.
Unlike the previous morning's passage of Amtrak 11 where the train began its journey in the Pacific Northwest over nine hours late, this edition of the southbound Starlight was only an hour late as it departed Sacramento for its next station stop of Martinez. Things quickly went from bad to worse, however, after the train went into emergency across the river from Martinez - unable to move for the next seven hours.
When it was all said and done, the train was finally coaxed into Martinez eight and a half hours late at 4 p.m. Picking up up five additional hours before reaching San Luis Obispo at 4:20 a.m., the train would begin slowly making up time as it nipped on the heels of Amtrak 768 out of San Luis until finally reaching Los Angeles Union Station, 12 hours and a half hours late.
