I was in Southern California over the weekend and made a few interesting observations.
The first rail related thing was a stop at Dolores yard in Carson (not LA or Long Beach). There were not many cars there. There were a couple of powerless stack trains sitting around. The only activity I saw was a yard switcher coupling onto some road units. I did not see much going on at the ITCF either (in a very narrow strip of LA sandwiched between Carson and Long Beach).
I saw several PCF and Evans built RBLs parked on a track next to a warehouse along side Interstate 605 a bit north of Interstate 405 in Carson (click here for an aerial photograph). What is unusual about these cars is that they were painted light gray with no reporting marks, numbers, or any other information on them. The paint has been patched many times, presumably to cover graffiti. I would guess these cars are used for storage.
Up the freeway a bit I saw an SP 329500 series gondola type coil car. I wish I had my camera ready (I was a passenger in the vehicle). Near Interstate 5 the 605 goes over BNSF and UP intermodal yards, which allows some good, but brief (why was there no congestion there?) views. There were a couple of impressive looking steel industries by 605, however neither had rail service, unfortunately.
A bit further north (in LA-LA land), I saw an Amtrak of California bus with Wyoming plates. Obviously owned and operated by another company. Unfortunately I did not think to look at the information on the left front of it until I was past it. I did see some Coach USA buses with Wyoming plates, I wonder if that is the owner/operator.
Finally, SJVR was doing maintenance on its Buttonwillow branch in Bakersfield. There were quite a bit of MOW equipment there. They must have brought in a contractor.