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California Coast
A great place to hang out and watch trains is on the Santa Barbara pier, actually known as Sterns Wharf. You can see Amtrak trains approach, hear the horns, see them at the station, and watch them depart! All the while, people and ocean watching on the pier. One should also look for the “garden track” just West (North) of the station under the huge tree.
Also, although there are many, many fine places to eat in Santa Barbara, I can recommend the Enterprise Fish Company, on State Street, about 2 blocks up from the station, just before the 101 underpass.
And, if you have time, a trip up the hill to Mission Santa Barbara is worth it, as it is one of the nicest and best preserved of the missions.
It would be great if visitors to Gaviota State Park could “walk out on the pier to catch a train,” but they can’t. The pier has been closed since March 2014, when a weekend storm clobbered the coast and destroyed a portion of the venerable structure.
Back in 1978 I attended missile launch officer training at Vandenberg AFB (near Lompoc) and when I had the chance, I’d park out on the northern part of the base and shoot mostly SP freights and the rare (for the time I had free) Amtrak runs. Stunning locale and always a good show. The Security Police only stopped to check my I.D. once. I guess I wasn’t the only rail fan who’d photographed the coast line.