Amtrak San Diegan 774 (Santa Barbara to San Diego) pulls into the siding in Orange, just across the Santa Ana River from the Anaheim station, for a rolling meet with northbound San Diegan 577 (San Diego to Los Angeles). Train 774 is led by Control Coach (aka “Cab Car”) 9635, built from Amtrak Metroliner coach 810 (built by Budd in 1967 as Penn Central 810, and rebuilt into AMTK 9635 in February 1988). At the rear of this six-car train, Dash 8-32BWH 502 is providing the muscle. Train 577 will have Dash 8-32BWH 516 up front, and Dash 8-32BWH 509 on the rear. To see this same cab car in Massachusetts in 2019, 27 years later to the day, click HERE. (Orange, California – January 24, 1992)
What did passenger trains look like before Amtrak in America, and Via Rail in Canada? Find out in this album with 2,700+ Historical Photos from early passenger trains of North America from the 1900's up until the early years of Government passenger trains
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.
