Amtrak Pacific Surfliners make the trip from San Diego to Los Angeles in 3 hours, and this train (BNSF train F-T216-2-24T, a "Foreign Train operating on BNSF Track", comprised of BNSF Dash 9-44CW 5159 and ES44C4 6743 pulling a single car – Department of Transportation test car DOTX 216), also operating from SD to LA. sat in Fullerton, 26 miles from LA, for 2½ hours. But it wasn't for lack of trying, as an axle on 6743 seized and, while the BNSF and DOT crews did their best, they just could not get the locomotive operable. As a result, 6743 was finally set out on the short spur ½-mile west of the Fullerton Transportation Center and the train, now down to just a single locomotive and a single car, got underway once again. And that car, DOTX 216, is a High Speed Research Vehicle, created from an old Budd Metroliner coach, and a part of the agency's Automated Track Inspection Program (ATIP). (Fullerton, California – March 25, 2025)
