I woke up at 5:30 AM as the train was paralleling the Salton Sea in the dark. After getting dressed, I proceeded to the lounge car to wait for breakfast to be served. As we neared Thermal at 6:00 AM, I went into the dining car and discovered that there was no French toast or Bob Evans breakfast aboard this train. I can not eat eggs, so I had to settle for a modified continental breakfast of a bowl of Rice Krispies, sausage patties and a croissant. After breakfast, it was back to my car to be ready for the fresh air stop at Palm Springs.
Approaching our Palm Springs Station stop.
I photographed some windmills to the south of the Palm Springs station.
Views taken during the fresh air break at Palm Springs.
An eastbound UP freight went through Palm Springs.
After leaving Palm Springs, we passed through the windmill fields.
The train ran through the windmill fields.
Sunrise took place below Cabazon.
Our train came into Cabazon.
The train passed a westbound Union Pacific freight just as we went through Banning.
The Sunset Limited then descended through San Timiteo Canyon on a really clear morning.
It was possible to see the San Gabriel Mountains through the morning haze.
It became clearer as we dropped into the San Bernardino Valley.
The arrowhead on the San Bernardino Mountains was clearly visible.
Our train crossed the Santa Ana River and Lyle Creek after we passed under Interstate 215.
Our train passed another westbound UP train at Colton.
The train ran by former Southern Pacific Colton Station.
Our train went across the BNSF Crossing at Colton.
The Relco switcher was out just east of West Colton Yard.
The train ran by the departure track at the east end of West Colton Yard.
The train went by the bowl at West Colton Yard with some tank cars having been crested.
The Crest and Yard Tower at West Colton Yard.
There was a line of cars waiting to be crested at West Colton Yard.
We proceeded to Ontario and after we did our station work we departed this station.
We left Pomona on time and headed west towards our final stop at los Angeles Union Station.
Just as the crew was celebrating an early arrival into Los Angeles, we came to Basset where we were stopped by red signals. An eastbound UP freight was blocking our path to the west where there is a crossover to the Metrolink line we could take into LAUPT. The Sunset Limited was stopped at 8:47 AM by a red signal at Basset.
First, Metrolink 317 from San Bernardino to Union Station came by at 9:12 AM. We continued to sit and wait with everyone wondering why?
At 9:37 AM, Metrolink 302 from Union Station to San Bernardino came by.
At 9:43 AM, the Sunset Limited finally started moving west once more.
The train crossed over from the Sunset Route to the Metrolink San Bernardino line.
As we climbed over the San Gabriel Flyover, we passed that UP freight that was blocking our path.
We crossed over that UP freight below.
The end of that eastbound UP freight.
Next we detoured around a bridge under construction in El Monte.
The train curved away from the Sunset Route heading toward the middle of Interstate 10.
We were high in the air, we ran along the Rio Honda.
It was a beautiful morning as we headed toward the middle of the San Bernardino Freeway.
The Bus Express Lanes join our route.
The train curved through a tunnel to reach the middle of the freeway before we raced down it 60 MPH.
Another Bus Express Lane enters and exits the freeway.
The siding in the middle of the freeway.
The traffic slowed but we did not!
Our train curved off the middle of the freeway, but ran next to the busway by the Cal State Los Angeles station.
The train curved through the hills running along the north side of the San Bernardino Freeway.
We reached Yuma Junction where we crossed the Los Angeles River.
Our train ran by the south side of Mission Tower as we approached Los Angeles Union Station. The train arrived at 10:18 AM, twelve minutes early and I detrained, but I still had one more thing to do.
I took a paper towel and in large letters wrote "Wash Me!" on the dirtiest car I had ever ridden.
I took a picture of an early Sunset Limited and a slightly tardy Southwest Chief. After that, I walked around to Track 9 to wait for Surfliner 572.
Surfliner 572 1/3/2007
This train had engine 463, Pacific Business Class 6807, Coach/Cafe 6306 and Coaches 6412 and 6400 with Cab Car 6905. We loaded at 11:00 AM and departed on time at 11:10. The train stopped at Fullerton and Anaheim before we arrived at Santa Ana, ending another fantastic Amtrak adventure and a great trip to Texas.
