SoCal turns out en masse for 27th annual Amtrak 'salute' (PG)

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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First-time mooner Carol Wichenheisser, 72, left, joins the fun Saturday morning in Laguna Niguel to celebrate the 27th annual mooning of Amtrak, an event that attracted thousands and lasted all day.

PHOTO BY CHRISTINA EILER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Amtrak riders given annual, uh, thrill
Hundreds of people bare their behinds to them in the 27th mooning of trains [July 14].

By TOM BERG
The Orange County Register

LAGUNA NIGUEL - Dismiss them if you like, but these people baring their behinds to passing trains are your neighbors, your children’s teachers, your attorneys, your policemen, your World War II veterans and yes, even your mothers!

Once they were a bunch – a small bunch – of crazies. Now they are a nation.

You had ladies from the Red Hat Society standing next to members of the Hessians motorcycle gang, standing next to a group of nudists, standing next to a 70-year-old (normally sedate) mom standing next to an avowed libertarian.

All laughing, chatting and waving. With their pants down. And their behinds up against a chain-link fence every time an Amtrak train passed.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” said Robin Felton, 52, of Anaheim, a manager for ICC in Cerritos. "I pay my taxes. I follow the laws. I pay the hi

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Speaking of insanity . . .

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I have a goofy-in-a-good-way friend out there who first alerted me to this event five years ago. He says everyone involved has a great time, the cops even come out to watch and chuckle, and that local clinics treat many people suffering from “laugh face” all the following day. The mood is that of a summer festival.

Surprisingly, Amtrak even takes it in good humor – the trains (there may be 24 or so throughout the course of the day) always come close to selling out even though extra cars are added to handle the anticipated ridership jump. And the locomotive engineers slow down while going past the “shooters” so the passengers can get maximumly “exposed.”

I don’t want to be too much of an enabler, but suffice to say there are more pictures and videos (some shot from the trains) available if you Google “mooning Amtrak.” You’ll laugh your fanny off if you’re not a total prude.

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Amtrak actually SLOWS the trains down thru here so everyone on board can enjoy the “Moonbeams of Love”

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Great smiley!

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I feel sorry for any unsuspecting people (more than likely tourists) that didn’t know what was coming and didn’t really want to see it…

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I love this sort of thing! When do we give CSX what it deserves?[:o)][yeah][soapbox][:-,]

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Isn’t the expression en masse?

I’ve heard about this event as long as I’ve been on the Internet. A trip to California is in our future (daughter lives there), and there’s a one-in-twelve chance that it would be in July. I don’t know which would be more fun–to ride or to participate. My wife says neither, so I’ll ask the daughter and son-in-law.