Metrolink, southern California’s commuter rail operation, began operating on October 26, 1992. It didn’t take long for this operation to expand, and on March 28, 1994, the “Orange Line” connecting Los Angeles with Oceanside began operations with three northbound trains to L.A. in the morning, and three southbound trains out of L.A. each afternoon. On spectacularly clear March 15, 1995, train #602, one of these afternoon trains heading to Oceanside, approaches the station in Orange, California. This train is pulled by the highest numbered F59PH owned by the carrier – Number 873 was the last of a four-engine order built in April 1993. Even though trains were stopping in Orange, the station was not yet complete. Note that the south main, on the left in this photo, ends just beyond the platforms (so the line was still single-track through here), the new signals are not yet working (and are turned to the side so as not to confuse engine crews) and the old Santa Fe cantilever signal bridge is still in place. Eventually, the old Olive District would be upgraded for passenger operations, and the junction behind this train (where the two new signals are, back by the freight cars) will allow Orange to become a very busy station. In 2017, there are twenty-eight Metrolink trains each weekday on the Orange Line (Los Angeles to Oceanside, although many trains terminate before then, at Irvine and Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo) and sixteen trains each weekday on the Inland Empire-Orange County Line (San Bernardino or Riverside to Oceanside, or Irvine or LN/MV). Twenty-two daily Amtrak Pacific Surfliners pass through as well, but don’t stop here. That's a total of sixty-six passenger trains per day!
