There is a lot going on here, so stay with me: For four days in late December (the 26th through the 29th), Metrolink had their entire commuter train system shut down. Much of this was because Los Angeles Union Station was in need of some serious track work and signal maintenance, making Union Station inaccessible to all Amtrak and Metrolink trains to downtown Los Angeles. (The Metra light rail and subway lines were open, however, as they do not connect to any of Metrolink's trackage.) Thus, for four days, Amtrak was in a bit of a bind. Long distance trains originated and terminated elsewhere (such as Colton for the Sunset Limited, Fullerton for the Southwest Chief and Van Nuys for the Coast Starlight) for the duration. Most of the carrier's many Pacific Surfliner trains kept running, but they bypassed downtown Los Angeles' Union Station as a stop, instead bussing passengers to either Glendale or Fullerton, and the 700-series trains that reached Goleta or San Luis Obispo bypassed Union Station by running on Metrolink's East Bank Line (rather than their usual West Bank Line) along the Los Angeles River.
Whew! Now that the background is out of the way, back to this photo? Here we see Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 769, heading from San Diego to Goleta (near Santa Barbara) in unfamiliar territory. The train traveled a short distance on the (normally) freight-only Alameda Corridor, and then reversed direction to get off the Alameda Corridor and onto Metrolink's River Subdivision's East Bank Line to bypass Union Station and follow the "scenic" River to Glendale and beyond. The train is mere feet from rolling off Alameda Corridor trackage and onto Metrolink trackage, as can be ascertained by the signs on the left marked "CP E Redondo" and "AC000," indicating the 16-mile-long Alameda Corridor's "Mile Zero." (For those unfamiliar with the Alameda Corridor, it is freight rail "expressway" owned by the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, reporting mark ATAX, that connects the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with the transcontinental mainlines of the BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad that terminate near downtown Los Angeles, running largely in a trench below Alameda Street to eliminate grade crossings, and was constructed in the 1990s and early 2000s.)
So, back to this photo … (You almost forgot, didn't you?) ... California Department of Transportation (CDTX) Siemens SC-44 "Charger" 2112 is pulling six passenger cars around a tight curve on freight-only trackage (rare mileage!) and giving passengers a fantastic view of spray-painted tagging that they have not seen on the normal West Bank Line’s route, which has slightly different tagging! "Tinsel Town" at its finest! And, look, in case you didn’t believe Metrolink, there is work being done on the flyover that carries passenger trains over the Alameda Corridor and to Union Station. How dare you not believe them! (Los Angeles, California – December 29, 2023)
