Some time in August or September of this year I will be stopping over in Los Angels and I’ll have seven hours to fill in untill I fly out of there to JFK and beyond. Normally my stop-overs are of a much shorter duration or, are much longer.
I haven’t done this before in LA, but I would like to take in some railway action this time. Normally I’ve hung out at Venice Beach, people watched on Santa Monica, eaten some great Mexican food on Manchester and generally tried to stay out of trouble. This time I need to see some trains. Starting from LAX, and remember I’m taking buses, where would be a good place to look at some trains and locomotives. I was thinking perhaps Union Station as one place to call in at - but, that is just a thought at this time.
I can give the LHS’s a miss this time, but train/locomotive museums would be great to take a look at.
I’d suggest LAUPT (LA Union Passenger Terminal) as it’s probably the easiest to get to and something that would provide some action. A lot depends on your arrival time relative to morning or evening rush hours as to how long it would take to get there. Mapquest from LAX:
The nearest rail museum would be Travel Town in Griffith Park, but it’s twice the distance and it’s just static displays.
NOTE: I don’t live in LA, but I have driven in LA during rush hour. Trust me on this, you don’t want to face that mess, not even if you were a foreign reporter making a documentary on it. I’d like to describe what you’d be up against, but it would involve revolving doors and having delicate parts of your anatomy being unceremoniously crushed without benefit of anesthesia.
NOTE 2: I’ve driven in Madrid, Spain, during their rush hour. Given the choice, I’d take Madrid over LA.
Trust me I know the answer to this one with no doubt. It’s not too far away and in my opinion, and I have watched trains the world over for 35 years, this must be about as good as anywhere is possible to be. There was a seemingly endless supply of the biggest baddest engines in the world going flat out. Amazing. I was there for about an hour and saw a dozen or so trains.
Thank you both very much for your ideas. I will probably just head down to the Union Station and if the coffee and train watching a satisfying experience I think I will stay put there. A two hour return trip out of town to what looks like superb railroading may stretch my allocated time too much.
Perhaps next time I can organise a longer stop-over in Los Angeles- I hope so.
And I believe there is a garden railroad in the same area. I’ve been to Travel Town a few times, haven’t done the other stuff yet. It’s an (mostly) outdoor exhibit of a handful of engines, coaches, cabooses, etc. The link has a list of everything they have. It’s a donations are welcome kind of place, so if you don’t want to spend money, you can still look around.
I’ve never tried to get there by bus, so I don’t know if that will work. If you do try it, make sure the bus is going to the proper side of Griffith Park, the side near Warner Bros., and the cemetary, not the side near the Hollywood Sign or the Observatory. Also, if you do head to Union Station, I’m pretty sure a subway line can get you there from LAX, maybe the green line?
First off Griffith Park isn’t all that special anymore. The Live Steamers is great but it’s only open on Sundays.
It’s really hard to say since you are traveling by bus. So I guess going to Union Station would be a good bet. Heck, if you have time I’d jump on a Metrolink and take it to the end of the line at San Bernardino Station. Plenty of trains to see there, but that is going way out and i’m sure time in not in your favor.
Pomona Fairplex has a great collection of some steam engines far better than Griffith Park but I don’t know when they are open. That is too far for you though.
Jump on the socalrailfan.com website and talk to those guys. They are locals that can give you some great ideas I’m sure.
You might try some rail fanning along the Alameda Corridor. This is the route from the harbor to the freight yards in downtown L.A, for both BNSF and UP. It isn’t too far from LAX. Although most of it is below street level in a 33’ trench, there are vairous places along the route to see action including switching yards. More details here: Wikipedia Enty.
If you go to Union Station, I suggest lunch or dinner across the street at Phillipes. It gets very crowded there at lunchtime so if you can go there after 1:30pm you’ll avoid the lines. Olivera Street is also across the street from Union Station. Good place for mexican food and cheap souveniers. This is the original settlement that spawned the modern day City of Los Angeles.
The Metrolink yard is about a mile north of Union Station near the intersection of I-5 and the Harbor/Pasadena (State Route 110) freeways. I’m not sure about access there.
