'Best of the West'
Rail discovery tour
By David Bennetts
On Saturday morning, we arrived in San Francisco somewhat bleary eyed after our long flight from Australia. The early start from Canberra didn't help much either.
We walked down Market Street, and saw the brightly-painted 50-year-old PCC street cars in operation, painted in the colours of the various transit authorities which used to operate this type of car.
After visiting the cable car turntable at the foot of Powell Street and the California Street terminus, we concluded our walk at the Amtrak Station in the distinctive Ferry Building - a station with a difference as no trains ever stop there, only the Thruway buses which travel over the Bay Bridge to link with trains at Oakland.
Some of our group took the opportunity to ride the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) suburban rail system in the afternoon, as word had got around that this system would be shut down on Sunday evening with an indefinite strike called.
On Sunday we had the optional excursion to the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railroad at Felton, to the south. We boarded the Caltrain service to San Jose at the former Southern Pacific depot for a one and a half hour journey. This service, operated by the California Dept of Transportation, proved most interesting.
The train consisted of huge gallery cars built in Japan, hauled by a diesel electric loco with the loco leading out of San Francisco, and return journey with the loco pushing at the rear, controlled from a cab in the end car. The cars were of unusual design, with centre entrance and double seats on the lower deck and galleries with single seats each side on the upper level, a lot of wasted space compared with conventional double deck stock.
At San Jose we boarded a bus for Santa Cruz, a coastal resort town with old-fashioned pier and amusement arcades, reminding me of English seaside resorts except the weather was much warmer and there was sand on the beach instead of shingles.
From Roaring Camp, we had a very enjoyable ride through the spectacular redwood forest in open 'gondola' cars, climbing the steepest grades in North America (1 in 12) worked by adhesion, and using a Heisler logging loco for motive power. The line includes a switchback near its summit, this was installed after a forest fire destroyed most of a wooden trestle bridge. The commentary on the train was excellent, informing us of the history of the line, the trains and the redwoods themselves.
On the remaining days in San Francisco, many of us rode the cable cars and the Muni light rail systems. The new light rail cars were very comfortable, and the system was put to the test carrying commuters who would normally have used the BART system, now closed by the strike.
Some went to Sacramento to visit the California Railroad Museum, travelling on Amtrak's smart new double deck California cars, very comfortable to travel in. Like Caltrain, these trains also work as push-pull sets.
The Railroad Museum had excellent displays, outlining the history of railroads and their importance to the development of the USA. There were locomotives from steam to diesel, and of all sizes, you could walk through a variety of cars, from sleepers to diners, and a postal van.
Volunteers were on hand to explain the exhibits. Presentation was excellent, you could walk under one loco, one car was set up to simulate movement of a train, gently rocking as you walked through, with attendant sound effects such as level crossing bells. The narrow gauge lines were also represented, with a complete train crossing a bridge. Another impressive exhibit was a huge cab-forward Challenger steam loco, sadly the only one its type remaining.
Wednesday morning saw us leave the Ferry Building on a Thruway Bus, travelling over the Oakland Bay Bridge to connect with the Coast Starlight for our journey south to Los Angeles and on to Fullerton. After a short wait at Oakland's new Jack London Square station, our train pulled in, the loco's bell clanging as we were to become accustomed to on our travels.
The train of bi-level Superliner cars looked huge against the low platform, which in the usual American style, was just above rail head. Seats were set aside for our group in one of the coaches, and we had a most enjoyable journey south on the upper deck of the superliner car. The sightseer lounge car offered good viewing, with its large windows, and a commentary on the places of interest we passed through.
A very pleasant lunch and dinner were taken in the dining car, prices were quite reasonable for the standard of food offered. The scenery varied during the trip - the earlier part travelled through quite dry country, but the afternoon was very pleasant as we travelled alongside the ocean. On arrival at Los Angeles, the train terminated but our car and some others were attached to another loco and after a short while we reversed direction and proceeded for another half an hour before reaching Fullerton, where we alighted and transferred to taxis for our accommodation in nearby Anaheim.
Thursday was a day in which most of the group visited Disneyland across the road from our hotel. Some of us rode the Disneyland railroad, which uses steam locos fuelled by propane gas.
On the Friday we took a San Diegan service from Fullerton into Los Angeles for our tour of the city, only taking around half an hour, whereas a freeway journey could occupy more than twice that time in early morning. On alighting at Union Station, we inspected the splendid main buildings built in the late thirties in the Spanish mission style, the very last of the USA's grand station buildings.
Here we boarded the spotlessly-clean new Red Line subway train for downtown LA's Pershing Square station, where we walked a block or two to the Angels Flight funicular, billed as the world's shortest railway.
This quaint funicular, originally erected in 1906, has only recently been re-erected to serve the modern financial district atop Bunker Hill. Fares are 25c up or down - it originally cost 5c a trip, but that's inflation for you! After a welcome coffee break at the top of the hill, we retraced our steps to Pershing Square and went another stop on the subway to join the light rail line (the Blue Line) for our trip out to Long Beach.
The subway was rather uncrowded in terms of passengers, but next year this situation is likely to change when it reaches Hollywood and Vine, a most popular tourist destination. The light rail line, in contrast, was well patronised, with two articulated cars nearly full, and quite impressive speeds of 55mph were achieved when running along its own right of way.
At Long Beach, some of the group went out to visit the retired ocean liner RMS Queen Mary, others returned on the bus to Anaheim, while some went back to the light rail and changed to the Green Line. At present this line only goes across country and uses single articulated cars, but it is planned ultimately to serve the busy LA International Airport. The Green Line operates partly in the centre of a major freeway, and it is quite satisfying to zoom along at 55mph, passing heavy road traffic moving at a snails pace.
At the Norwalk end of the line, I took a shuttle bus to the station and thence a Metrolink commuter train back to Fullerton. Metrolink operates double-deck push-pull trains along the main lines for the benefit of commuters - they are very comfortable trains but rather expensive to ride, and have a very limited number of services, inbound to Union Station in the morning and outbound afternoons weekdays, with almost no weekend operation.
On Saturday we took the morning train to San Diego. This train of single deck stock was propelled by the locomotive, and we were fortunate in being able to meet the engineer on this train.
The lead car was a former electric Metroliner car used on east coast services. It was interesting to note the pantograph up/down switch above the cab window.
Travelling at more than 70 mph along the coast with a lot of surfers crossing the tracks, it was interesting to note the indifference displayed by many of them to the train's approach. One of them looked up on hearing the train whistle, turned back then crossed the track straight in front of us. I won't repeat the engineer's remark here!
Arriving at San Diego, we took the excellent San Diego trolley to the Mexican border at San Ysidro, and crossed into Tijuana. After a few hours looking at what the street vendors had to sell, and rejecting the offers of cheap dentistry, suspect pharmaceutical remedies, and questionable offers of entertainment by spruikers outside dubious-looking premises, we returned to the relative order and sanity of the USA.
An optional tour on Sunday took us to Perris, home of the Orange Empire Railway Museum. Here there was a vast collection of equipment to explore, street cars and trains of all types - narrow gauge and standard, diesel, electric and steam. We took rides on the operating railroad behind electric and diesel power, and on street cars which were used in the LA area. Coming home, we drove back along a winding scenic road which took us high above Lake Elsinore, and thence back to Anaheim via the San Diego Freeway, 12 lanes wide in places.
Monday was a free day, I took in Knott's Berry Farm, with an enjoyable ride on an historic Rio Grande Southern 'Galloping Goose' rail car during the afternoon. In the evening we returned to Fullerton station, where we boarded the Southwest Chief for our overnight journey to Flagstaff.
After a "welcome aboard" party in the dining car, with fruit, cheeses and champagne, we retired to our sleepers for overnight.
Tuesday we got off the train early in Flagstaff. Our group and the other passengers were marshalled by the local depot master for our trip by bus to the Grand Canyon. After a little uncertainty over the weather, which had been overcast with showers, we arrived at the Canyon to find the skies clearing and glorious sunshine illuminating the view. After a late breakfast, we had time to ride the free shuttle buses along the rim of the Canyon to drink in the vast and most colourful landscape of one of the world's natural wonders.
In the afternoon we boarded the Grand Canyon Railway's Williams Flyer steam train for our journey south to Williams where we would rejoin our coach for the return to Flagstaff for overnight. Our tickets were punched by the striker plate on our conductor's six-gun, and we had some troubles with 'ornery lawless characters on our journey, but we made it through to Williams unscathed, fortunately with our wallets intact.
Wednesday saw us boarding the next day's Southwest Chief to Albuquerque, just a few hours' journey, although our train was running a little late. Once again our depot master organised us into three separate lines for boarding the trains, with military precision. One line was for passengers past Albuquerque, the other for passengers up to Albuquerque, and the third was for 'the group'.
When the stern depot master was asked of his background by a member of our party, his face broke into a smile, and he proudly replied 'marine corps'. On the train, a native American guide explained the background of the area we were travelling through. At times it was necessary to keep a firm hold, as this section of track was the roughest we encountered anywhere on our trip, causing our carriage to gyrate wildly. We were fortunate not to have to travel this section at night, or we would possibly been flung from our bunks.
We arrived in Albuquerque early afternoon, the station was hardly an impressive structure, no shelter anywhere despite the summer heat, and the concrete station building resembling a 1930s public toilet block. Coupled with a shortage of taxis in this city, it was no wonder that several of our party were sighted in the swimming pool very soon after arrival at our motel.
Thursday morning saw us leaving Albuquerque on our charter coach. The coach was brand new, but the computerised engine management did not impress our driver, when it frequently warned of non-existent malfunctions.
Our first stop was in Santa Fe, capital of New Mexico, and well known for its pueblo style of architecture. Santa Fe contains some of the oldest buildings in the USA, the Governor's palace dates from 1610. It was here that some of our party made the earth-shattering discovery that the FW Woolworth chain was closing down, and that bargains were to be had at tremendous discounts of 40% and more. They also discovered that prices of shoes in America were considerably less than at home. From this point on, our luggage got heavier and heavier.
In the afternoon, we travelled on through some very scenic red rock country to Chama, terminus of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. We explored the depot area, and were fortunate to encounter a steam loco shunting cars and other locos, and saw the afternoon train come in.
We then went on to Durango, about two hours further along the road for our accommodation for the next two nights. During this time, around Pagosa Springs, we encountered some very poor driving skills by the locals - they must have had a special offer on licences on the back of their crunchy granola packs.
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