On Amtrak's 51st Anniversary, Pacific Surfliner 588 makes its stop at the Santa Ana Transportation Center just after sunset as it heads from Los Angeles to San Diego. California Department of Transportation SC-44 "Charger" 2111 leads this six car train. Originally, when Amtrak started on May 1, 1971, the San Diegans, a name inherited from predecessor Santa Fe, these trains also were operated with leased Santa Fe F7s for power, with only three roundtrips per day. Within a few years Amtrak E-Units found a home on these trains, until the arrival of Amtrak's first new power: SDP40Fs. Those were later replaced by AMTK F40PHs when the inherited "Heritage" cars were changed to new Amfleet cars. Eventually Amtrak-owned equipment gave way to new bi-level "California Cars" and F59PHI diesels, with much of their funding coming from the state of California. This coincided with a name change as well, when the service was christened Pacific Surfliners on June 1, 2000. The "California Cars" are still in service, but the F59PHIs were getting tired and replaced in 2018 with California-built Siemens AG SC-44 "Chargers," as seen here. Train 588 is one of ten roundtrips operated between Los Angeles and San Diego today, along with some trains operating north of Los Angeles to Goleta (adjacent to Santa Barbara) or even beyond to San Luis Obispo – skirting the Pacific Ocean for much of these trips. (Santa Ana, California – May 1, 2022)
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.
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)
