What about Los Angeles???
It’s the 2nd biggest city in the U.S.; why doesn’t it have a Trackside Guide???
Are their plans for a L.A. Trackside Guide???
ALSO:
Minneapolis- St. Paul was EXCELLENT!
jweber33,
I sure could do this, if I new what kind of Info was needed. I rode on U.P’s South Central District-Las Vegas Nev-Yermo -Los Angeles for 10 yrs. Was able to ride the - U50-C’s…DD35’s-A40X’s, the mountains were cakework to these caddilac’s. 40 mph cruise up Cima hill, Cajon Pass lots of times. Anyway, I know where every train watching site is along the way…Bat21
i am from LA mostly San Fernando Valley. I have just got introduced by my grandfather to freight trains, and i love them. i dont know anywhere i can take photos of these steel monsters but if anyoine knows, let me in.
[8D] Los Angeles should have a track side guide but should come with free bullet proof jacket[xx(]
if your in the SanBernadino area check colton yd ex SP now UP biggest yd in C.A.[:D]
that sounds great slic! one more question is how should i get there? what does SP and UP stand for? thank you very much for all you help [:D]
SP stands for Suffering Pathetic,and UP(alais"The Borg",)stands for Ultimate Parking.[:D].Seriously,though.SP=Southern Pacific.UP=Union Pacific.
Espeefoamer You are 100% right with those nick names for UP and SP the Ultimate Parking can be said for ex-C&NW line from Chicago to Omaha That is a big time parking lot witth the Mississippi River in Clinton also with trains for the new Ramp in Rochelle and with only 2 main Tracks thru Clinton and the Number of trains it has on it it’s a big Parking lot.[:D]
If your In the La area walk eastward down the tracks when you get to A
bunch of railcars sitting there and theres a bunch of tracks start filming
Oh by the way dont walk between the tracks If A train comes simply hold your hand out
to the stop position And the train will stop (About A mile or so after It hits you)
but it will stop well maybe AMTRAK brakes for no one .
seriously dont walk down the tracks Its illeagel
besides the creosote in the ties contains chemicals known to the state
of California that can cause cancer and other harmful birth defects[:p][xx(]
i usually go down to the glendale train station or if i am in burbank i usually go to the mall were target is at and hang out at krispy kreme
The Los Angeles area isn’t that complicated but it would be great to get a track side guide. Don’t need a bullet-proof vest in most areas.
Ride the Surfliner down to Fullerton/O.C. for a good trainwatching area.
also you might want to give tehachapi a try. it is only 2 hours 30 minutes from the valley
I live only a few miles from the Fullerton station, an old Santa Fe depot that has been restored and houses the Amtrak station, the Santa Fe Express Cafe, and, on the 2nd floor, the ofices of Trainweb.com. The Cafe has patio seating on the track side and some decent food. They sell takeout packages to eat on the train.
About 90 trains a day go through Fullerton: Surfliners from LA to SanDiego, two different Metrolink commuter lines, the Chief both ways, and lots of BNSF Transcon freights roaring up from LA and Long Beach harbors and headed for the Cajon pass.
And at least one funky little intermittent local train of mixed freight with an honest-to-God CABOOSE! I think it picks up some local freight in in Anaheim via street running.
On Friday & Saturday nights the Cafe has local rock bands play on the patio. Some are not bad, but most sound like an accident in a hotel kitchen. Then a mile-long BNSF high-speed freight will zip by and drown them out.
Wow you are so lucky to live so near such hotspots as Dagget, Barstow, Colton, Cajon Pass & Riverside. If I live where you live I doubt if anybody would ever see me nor would I earn any $$$$$ working as I would be trainwatching EVERY day.
Wow, where did this thread get resurrected from, Nov 2003?
Anyway, Yeah, I’d love a trackside guide for LA, all the best places I know for trainwatching are places you DONT want to hang around, unless you want someone to "bust a cap in your a**!
I believe that Sam Pottlinger’s STEEL RAILS WEST PRESENTS; has a Los Angeles area rail map and guide. Unfortunately I don’t have a web site for this.
I’m in the San Fernando Valley part of Los Angeles and for photo ops I would suggest Gemco yard. They do have an Amtrak Station on the Van Nuys Blvd., side, however a lot of the traffic that enters Gemco Yard enters on the Woodman Avenue side of the yard.
In the morning the QRVDO
Sorry, I hit the wrong key. Anyway the QRVDO (quality manifest from Roseville to Dolores train) has a set out at Gemco usually around 9:00-10:00am.
As at Pepper Avenue (east end of West Colton yard) is a hot railfan area for the West Colton Yard. To the west is the yard itself leading toward the old SP Saugas Line, Coastline and south towards Long Beach. To the north is the Palmdale-Colton cutoff and to the east is Beaumont Hill. Lots of traffic there. On the Beaumont Hill side there can be 6,000 ton hot shots as well as 14,000 drag frieghts.
I hope this plus my last post helps.
OK good places…
Pomona Anitque Mall parking lot, near Garey Ave and the Pomona Metrolink station, alongside UP/SP mainline from LA to San Berdue.
Fullerton Amtrack Station, next to BNSF mainline to the east and south.
Glendale Amtrack Station, next to the SP/UP mainlines to the north.
Commerce Metrolink station, next to UP’s main yard, and across from the deisel repair faciltiy.
In Fontana off the interstate10 there is a huge switch yard & surprisingly The first
diesel I saw was a conrail SD-80. San bernidino, tehachapi, downtown LA.
There is this really great pass above San B. that always has traffic heading up to the
techachapi area. You should find out the scedule for the EX-SF 4-8-4 no 3751.