Thanks for the trip report.
OK so today I decide to take a metrolink train to Los Angeles from San Juan Capistrano and well it was incredible trip. It took about an hour and half and costed less then driving and costed less to the the taxpayers than driving. What is also cool is that you find a lot of artifacts from the time when ATSF still passenger trains on the stations such as ATSF warning signs and ATSF branding, plus you see a lot of BNSF Freight trains in either the newer Orange colors and Warbonnet red/Silver and Yellow/blue which or course adds color and variety to the Freight yards, plus the occasional Union pacific Locomotive. Another thing I noticed was you saw a lot former BN and SF cars before the merger they were arranged almost in a pattern BN-SF-BN-SF. Not mention all of the former ATSF cabooses. Before you enter Union Station you see the passenger yards where they store all the MTA Buses and subway equipment plus the Fueling yards for the passenger trains and cleaning areas for passenger cars. There was also a turntable where amtrak kept there locomotives and serviced them. The last equipment of note was the large collection of vintage single decker cars from the early amtrak era and vintage passenger cars from the pullman and pre-amtrak era when the big railroads still did passenger trains (I think those are privately owned by collectors, not sure though). OF course Union Station itself is like something from the movies and everything down to the architecture and the scenes of large amounts of people. In short if you are a railfan there is a lot to see if you are a non-railfan well the metrolink is affordable and gets you there about as quickly as a car trip would without the stress of the LA freeways. I would also note that the red line subway gets you to Angel's Flight pretty easily and that the subway out of the many I have used around the world is one of the cleanest and it is easy to use the signs are very clearly visible.
Some media from the trip
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA84E63310995E9CB&feature=view_all
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4294509724906.176865.1351456150&type=3
Railroad to Freedom
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