A train leaving the station
Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center from the walkway
The inside of the station
A library vending machine. It’s empty
Made it to Anaheim. We’re done. #coastbunny
Deboarding with the Texas Eagle across from us
Inside Union Station
An idle Metrolink train
The train that will become our train, an Oceanside train, arrives
We detrain and head into the station, and find our next platform. Our Metrolink train arrives, and we board. #coastbunny
Our trip isn’t done. We’re connecting to the Metrolink Orange County line to head on to Anaheim. We made it to Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal on time, passing Metro Rail maintenance on the way in. #coastbunny
We also did a California Zephyr to Lake Shore Limited when we vacated our Oakland apartment after pandemic changed our work and home situations and we stopped living bicoastally. I imported the tweets which are tagged #bunnigration so you can check those too. #coastbunny
We passed Santa Barbara a bit ago, and now it's just a ride in the dark to LAUPT, before changing to Metrolink. So not much to see. If you want to check out prior train travelogues I did, we did the Empire Builder a couple months ago as #bunnybuilder so you can check that out. #coastbunny
An inlet off the ocean
A beach below the tracks
Surf crashes
Work in a canyon below the train
Sun’s long gone now but I enjoyed the last of the light. #coastbunny
A tower at Vandenburg AFB
Space launch site 10, supposedly
The ocean from the train
Ocean view at sunset
We’re between the base and the ocean. #coastbunny
A view toward the ocean
Zoomed in on ocean mist
Dunes between us and the water
Made it to the ocean before sunset! #coastbunny
Hills with cattle grazing
Looking across the valley
Not yet. Almost to Vandenburg Air Force Base. (I refuse to call it the other thing) #coastbunny
The sun over a neighborhood by the ocean
Pismo Beach. We made it to the ocean and now will… fall off the net. #coastbunny
Two trains on adjacent tracks
Crew change on our train
Surfliner set idling across the tracks
Railroad museum with vintage equipment
We arrive at San Luis Obispo, and watch our northbound counterpart 14(22) leave. There’s a Surfliner set idling across the tracks, and a museum just down the way. Crew change while we wait! #coastbunny
Stenner Creek trestle below us
Our locomotives ahead
Looking out at the valley
At Chorro we nearly cross ourselves in another tight horseshoe, then again turn south to cross Stenner Creek Trestle, which we saw from above. Almost to San Luis Obispo. #coastbunny
Train curving to the right ahead
Train curving to the left ahead
Broken telephone pole supported by wires
A tight horseshoe near Miossi takes us north as we begin slowly skirting the edges of the mountains to descend, unable to do so as readily as highway traffic. A mountain biker using the trackside access as single track passes outside. #coastbunny
Looking ahead at the train entering a tunnel
Looking across at 101 descending
101 and local roads far below
Tunnels by Cuesta Grade, then we look across the valley at 101, old 101, and the old stage coach road. #coastbunny
Approaching Paso Robles, interesting architecture
Paso Robles old station, now an attraction
Paso Robles, 5 minutes late. We were on time the rest of the way so far. #coastbunny
Old Route 101, a two lane road in the desert
Older style concrete bridge crossing a dry river: tire tracks can be seen in the bed of the river
As we cross the Salinas River near Nacimiento, we parallel old route 101. Current 101 is already on the other side of the river. #coastbunny
Oil tank and equipment
Oil wells and tanks
A field of oil wells
San Ardo oil field. Complete with exactly the sort of oil well you think of when you think of Southern California. #coastbunny
Farms, with mountains behind
More farms, more mountains
Mountains off to one side; mountains off to the other. Farms and route 101 in between, as are we. #coastbunny
Loading baggage behind the old freight house
The connecting thruway bus
Looking at the head of the train
Old passenger cars alongside
Soon we head on. At Spreckels Junction we pass some stored vintage passenger cars. #coastbunny
Southern pacific 1237
The tank behind 1237
Looking at the museum
The sign on the station saying we’re at MP115 and there’s a train club
There’s a small museum, the Monterey and Salinas Valley, in the old freight house. They have a small set of equipment outside. #coastbunny
Salinas Southern Pacific station with an Amtrak sign
Looking back our train
Inside the station at the ticket window
The departure board
We can step onto the platform at Salinas while they service the train, so I do. #coastbunny
More marshy land
Coming along a river
Harvest related businesses
Farm workers picking in a field
Past Castroville. Farm workers are busy keeping you fed. #coastbunny
Rail cars in a yard
Rail cars parked beside us
Union Pacific power
Marshy area near the tracks
Past a rail yard near Watsonville as we continue into the land of farms #coastbunny
Railroad hoppers loaded with gravel
Loading facilities at a quarry
Looking into the quarry operations from the train
As we continue south and turn west toward the coast, a quarry at River Oaks #coastbunny
Site of a probable former rail yard
Industry with disused rail spur
A wye at the south end of Gilroy
Gilroy comes and goes, with some current and former industrial trackage. Station flicked by behind me as I took these. #coastbunny
Mountains behind a suburban scene
The mountains to our east form an endless backdrop against the similarly endless strip development. #coastbunny
Route 87 freeway
Landscaping by the river
Encampments by the trail
Altamont Commuter Express yard
Over another freeway then alongside the light rail, we pass sadly ubiquitous encampments and then the Altamont Commuter Express yard by Tamien. #coastbunny
An Amtrak California loco
Interstate 280
Underway a couple minutes late because Caltrain was blocking our route, but we’re headed out. #coastbunny
Walking through Diridon Station to the platforms
Inside the the sleeping car
Looking out at the platform at Diridon
Today @marie.tech and I will be aboard Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, train 11(21) to Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal from San Jose Diridon.
You can hide this skeet or the hash tag #coastbunny if you don’t want to see our travelogue!
