The morning's "May Gray" overcast has just burned off and it is a pleasant 73ºF (23ºC) as BNSF Railway's freight to San Diego, the H-BARSDG1-17A, passes through the Metrolink station (and former Santa Fe passenger station) in Orange. This 4,906-ton train is powered by 17,600 horsepower (or, put another way, 3.5 hp/ton) in the form of BNSF ES44DC 7912, ET44C4 3826 and Dash 9-44CW 4107 up front, and ES44C4 6886 as the rear DPU. It is 12:40, but the train, which originated in Barstow, is already 21 hours 33 minutes late, giving one a reason to doubt that the merchandise onboard is really "high priority" (which is denoted by the "H" in the train's symbol). There is not much Amtrak, Metrolink or Coaster traffic on this line mid-day, so the freight should make good time to San Diego, some 2 hours to the south. The train is running south on Track 1 which is normally for northbound traffic, but Track 2 is already lined up for Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 774, running 3 minutes late, to pass through here in a few more minutes, and the freight will cross over once the passenger train gets a little farther ahead, since there is no opposing traffic this time of day. (Orange, California – May 18, 2022)
