Metrolink train 624, heading to Oceanside from Los Angeles; approaches the station in the city of Orange, with F125 910 for power. (Orange, California – April 7, 2025)

After sitting on Track 1 at the Metrolink station for an hour, BNSF train F-T216-1-07T, consisting of a pair of locomotives (BNSF 5159 up front, and ET44C4 3740 on the rear) with just one car betw... (more)

San Diego-bound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 566 has P42DC 198 on the point (rather than the usual SC-44), and its six cars are also a bit unusual, as only half are technically Surfliner... (more)

On March 24, BNSF and the US Department of Transportation operated a train from Los Angeles to San Diego, returning on March 25, to evaluate the trackage. Nearly two weeks later, that train made ... (more)

Union Pacific's 8-car Costa Mesa Local, which hasn't served Costa Mesa in decades, heads south on Metrolink's Orange Sub, on which it has trackage rights from Control Point (CP) College (na... (more)

Metrolink Orange County Line train 625 (Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo to Los Angeles) departs the station in Orange under a vivid sunset with Hyundai-Rotem-built cab car 660 leading, and MP36PH-3C 8... (more)

Not Your Typical Surfliner!

Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 572, making its way from San Diego to Los Angeles, is radically different than the usual Surfliners: (A... (more)

Winter Solstice: Worst Day to Railfan?

The winter solstice, or hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This yea... (more)

About 124 miles into its 216-mile trip from Barstow to San Diego, BNSF train H-BARSDG1-13A is already 16 hours behind schedule. Sadly, that's no longer an aberration on today's railroads. And wi... (more)

Passing through the campus of Chapman University is BNSF Railway freight train H-BARSDG1-22A, with the first half of the train having just transitioned to Metrolink's Orange Sub after traveling do... (more)

Metrolink train 608 used to arrive in Orange at 19:20 (7:20 pm), but starting three days earlier, on October 21, it now arrives there at 9:30, essentially ten hours earlier, thanks to radically ne... (more)

THIS is a Pacific Surfliner"?!?

Leading Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 765 (San Diego to Goleta) is a visitor from northern California: California Dep... (more)

Making its way from San Diego to the Santa Barbara suburb of Goleta is Amtrak train 765. This six-car train has a pair of California Department of Transportation (CDTX) Siemens "Chargers&quo... (more)

On a hot afternoon (92º F / 33.333ºC, with 58% humidity) storm clouds have built up over the San Gabriel Mountains. The problem, of course, is lightning, which could possibly start new fires in... (more)

North Meets South … Train 800 Meets Train 600 … 907 Meets 935 … (OK, that last one is more than a bit lame … Sorry about that …)

Meeting at the Metrolink station... (more)