Union Pacific train LOA32, the "Costa Mesa Local," hops onto Metrolink's Orange Sub for slightly over 5 miles (a bit over 8 km) thanks to the widening of Interstate 5 requiring the land on which the old Southern Pacific Santa Ana Branch's trackage was laid. As a result, connectors were built in Anaheim and Santa Ana to allow Metrolink to come to the rescue of this twice per week train.
After a few weeks in which this train was powered by a single locomotive, today is was back to two diesels: UP "GP62" 1117 (the former Cotton Belt GP60 9647) and "GP40R" 1529 (formerly CSX Transportation 6811, ex- Seaboard System 6811, originally Louisville & Nashville GP40 3015, although its heritage also includes portions of the second Southern Pacific GP40R 7294 for much of the body), pulling seven cars to Santa Ana, but they will return (with UP 1529 leading) two hours later with nine cars in tow. Thanks to some time working locals in downtown Los Angeles, these locomotives became "canvases" for taggers.
