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A Trip to Los Angeles to Hear Michael Dukakis Speak

Ken Ruben, a long time member of the Southern California Transit Advocates, official caller of the Internet Radio Show called Lets Talk Trains and a friend of mine arranged for Michael Dukakis to speak at their February Meeting. I have admired Mr. Dukakis for years as a pro rail supporter. He was once the Governor of Massachusetts and a Democratic candidate for President of the United States in 1988. So when Ken invited me to the SOCTA Meeting to hear him speak I couldn't wait for that day to come. Knowing I had a morning to kill I had to come up with a plan and thought about doing some train riding before going to LA for the meeting.

I was up early then drove to Santa Ana and got a Business Class ticket for my northbound trip to Los Angeles from Solana Beach. I watched 763 come in and leave on time and about nine minutes later 564 pulled in. I enjoyed my southbound journey along the coast this morning and came out into full sunshine south of Oceanside. We arrived into Solana Beach a few minutes early. I went up into the station then had an idea for a picture. I quickly walked over to the Loomas Santa Fe Drive Bridge hoping to get there before the train left Solana Beach.

My Surfliner 564 I had detrained from now ready to depart Solana Beach. I walked over to a favorite Donut Shop before returning to the northbound platform. Coaster 642 arrived and went into the Del Mar Siding before my northbound train arrived.

The train pulled into Solona Beach a few minutes late and I boarded the Pacific Business Class Car which was almost full. I took the rear seat and read the USA Today while listening to music on my headphones. I enjoy sitting on the land side of the train every so often just to notice all the changes that have occurred over the last few years. The train made up some time and by Santa Ana we were back on time. Here I switched to the other side of the train as I was wondering if the Santa Fe 3751 would be back at Redondo Junction.

The Santa Fe 3751 returned from Los Angeles Union Station last night to its outdoor home at the former Santa Fe turntable. The roundhouse was torn down a few years ago.

I met Eugene who Ken arranged to take me to the SOCTA meeting. I wanted to stop by and see Stan Garner who owns the Pony Express that was waiting to go to San Diego on a Surfliner 578/591 roundtrip today. I asked if Stan was there but he was off getting some ice. The bartenders told me to come up and I asked to take some pictures with a "Yes" answer.

Here is a view of one of my all time favorite private cars, the Pony Express.

Views of the interior of the Pony Express.

Another view of the Pony Express. Here is some information on the Pony Express.

Private Party Car Pony Express - is comfortably appointed to provide a warm and sociable environment for group events such as birthdays. anniversary celebrations, wedding receptions, holiday parties and other social gatherings. It has an antique bar, comfortable lounge area and parquet dance floor. The car has been set up to function as meeting space, a classroom/conference room and as a film/ event production office. It has numerous power outlets for computers, projectors, copiers, etc;.and, is equipped with a TV, VCR, Stereo and projection screen.

It is fully approved for service on Amtrak trains operating throughout the United States. The "Pony" is based at Los Angeles Union Station. Accommodations - The car can comfortably accommodate 36 people for group events and has sleeping accommodations for 2. The bunkroom has a bathroom with retention toilet and full sized shower.

Companion Car - The Pony Express is ideally suited for use as a companion to other private cars operating either on a regularly scheduled Amtrak train or as part of a private train.

Special Use Car - The Pony is uniquely suited for special use as a support car for special events and film production. It is equipped with full-open end doors on the lounge end and the floor and walls can be protected so the car can be used for storage of bulky items up to and including an automobile.

Charter and Lease Costs - The Train Source, Inc. is prepared to provide charter and lease cost information. Feel free to contact Stan Garner for more information.

I highly recommend you take a trip in the wonderful car, the Pony Express.

Eugene and I then headed to the Red Line Station beneath Union Station where I got a Day Pass for my day in LA.

We went down the stairs and found our waiting train ready to take us to the Pershing Square Station.

We detrained at Pershing Square and I took another picture before we went back up into daylight.

As we walked north we approached the non operating Angel Flight that will be restored hopefully soon.

The tracks I always enjoyed riding up and down on. We soon walked over to the Angelus Plaza and took the elevator up to the 4th Floor and Room 422. Ken Ruben found me and thanked me for coming to write for Trainweb.com. I talked with several people before I decided where to sit for the SOCTA Meeting.

I sat at a table with good friend and train riding buddy Chris Parker who was there to video tape the meeting. Everyone introduced themselves and then the meeting was started. Since I was a guest, I just sat back, listened and kept my mouth shut.

I got up to take a few pictures of the meeting and after about thirty minutes Ken came over and told me it was time to go and find Governor Dukakis.

Ken Ruben, Nate Zablen and I then we to meet Governor Dukakis who was coming into downtown Los Angeles today by the Rapid Bus and Red Line from near UCLA. We all went back up the elevator to the meeting that was still going on.

Ken and Governor Dukakis observing the end of the SOCATA Meeting. The meeting ended and refreshments were on a table for everyone. The Governor and I went into the speaking room and had a few moments to talk. Soon we were joined by a few others who wanted to meet the Governor. A few minutes later, everyone took their chairs for the start of the speaker portion of the meeting.

Mark Strickert welcomed everyone to the speaking part of this SOCTA Meeting.

Ken Ruben then introduced Governor Michael Dukakis.

Governor Dukakis started off telling us about him teaching a Master Course at UCLA and his family. He then stated that California could be at the verge of something exciting in rail transportation. He proceeded to tell us that he finished Law School in 1960 and was in the hotel next to the building where Jack Kennedy got his presidential nomination. The air be breathed in Los Angeles back in those days was a toxic soup. The newly constructed freeway system wasn't working then and they were still building it. In fact all over the nation the craze was to build eight lanes of freeways into cities with a belt way around the civic center. This was 1963. Intercity rail was dying, the MTBA was horrible and questions were being raised about our transportation needs. Build these freeway into the city and it would have been the death of downtowns. Jack Sherry and the Mayor of San Francisco stopped the Embarcadero Highway. President Kennedy stopped the building of this kind of a freeway system in Washington, DC. Michael Dukakis went back to Boston and it took ten years of fighting but Governor Sargent stopped the Master Highway. Thomas P. O'Neil then had Massachusetts become the first state to use their Highway Trust Funds for rail transit in Boston. That 3 Billion Fund was used to expand the T and Commuter Rail. He was concerned that Boston still doesn't have a rail connection between North and South Stations. Also that there is no rail service to Cape Cod even though the highways are extremely congested. New rail lines have transformed towns as community development investment takes place allowing growth and revitalization.

Remember public transit is for everyone including the rich and the poor along with everyone in between. In the last eleven years he has used rapid transit in Los Angeles. California is at the tipping point that highways no longer work. Every new foot of new highway is already filled up when completed. To be successful you must have a first class system. During the 1984 Olympics the 3% to 4% reduction in highway traffic restored the freeways to workable. San Diego and San Francisco highways are already congested. The Inland Empire is a disaster happening because they have no master transportation plan. Our Governor Schwarzenegger proposed 107 Billion over 10 years to meet California Transportation needs. 96% of this money is for highways including 700 miles of new highways and 4% for Intercity Rail. No money is set for local rapid transit. Our state and local leaders have been silent about his plan. There is a major problem about doing the same thing over and over again when it comes to building highways with the same results. The mayors and legislators of California must do something now. The State of California needs a High Speed Rail system. Two thirds of the state population now lives in Southern California. We must connect our cities with a High Speed Rail System. Europe and Japan has had these systems for years, Korea is building one and now Mexico is about to build one. It should be able to be built with 80/20 Federal Funding. LAX and SFO airports can't expand but wouldn't have to be if our state had a High Speed Rail system. If a 250 mile per hour rail system could be built there would be no need for all those local flights in our state. One out of every three Domestic Airline Flights are less than 300 miles. There is a 15 Billion Dollar expansion of O'Hare Airport in Chicago that wouldn't be needed if there was the 10 State Midwest High Speed Rail. Getting rid of all those local airline flights would mean O'Hare would not need any expansion. He next discussed David Gunn who he called the best CEO Amtrak ever had. He was doing such a good job that the best Amtrak Bill ever was passed by a vote of 93-6. Five days later he was fired by a 4 member Amtrak Board that by law is suppose to have seven. 70 % of Americans want Amtrak. A politician who would make rail work would be very successful. The old ways of doing things just don't work anymore. Just think if we went from 11 to 16 Surfliner trains a day ridership would jump from over 2 million to almost 6 million passengers. If California would change from highways to rail the rest of our nation would follow our lead.

The Governor then answered questions from the audience. When he finished he then took time to greet and meet the audience. He also took time to take pictures with guests.

Governor Michael Dukakis and me.

Governor Michael Dukakis, Ken Ruben and me. After the Governor greeted everyone who wanted to meet him, Eugene and I walked the Governor back to the Pershing Square Red Line station where he bought his ticket and we walked down to track level.

The Governor and Eugene boarded this westbound train leaving me to wait for mine.

A few minutes later, my eastbound train for Los Angeles Union Station.

The interior of a Los Angeles Subway Car.

My train at the Los Angeles Union Station stop now ready to head west to Wilshire and Western.

A minute later, a train for North Hollywood came in. I then headed up to track level to find my southbound train.

I boarded Surfliner 582 with the idea of taking it to San Juan Capistrano and then taking Surfliner 785 home to Santa Ana. Knowing the train schedule since the last timetable change that my southbound train arrives San Juan before my northbound train. We headed south running on time with all going well until we got a flashing yellow two signals north of Avery. The next signal was a hard yellow and I knew I was in trouble of not making my connection. The train crew was as surprised as I was and couldn't believe we would be stopping for at least fifteen minutes.

After we sat for a few minutes at Laguna Niguel, our crew decided to make this a smoking stop since the station had a platform. I took this picture as we waited fourteen minutes for Surfliner 785 to speed north. Once we got a green signal, Surfliner 582 went to San Juan Capistrano and I detrained to wait for my next northbound train. Since I had the digital camera I got an idea for a picture that I had never shot.

The dome is part of the San Juan Capistrano Santa Fe Station that has been modified over the years to go from being a station to a restaurant. I then waited for a thirty minute late Surfliner 587.

I was glad to be back aboard this nice warm train as the temperature dropped after the sun had set. I talked to a pair of couples from Canada and that killed the time before the train came in San Juan Capistrano. I used my time aboard to recharge the camera batteries as the train made its way to Irvine then Santa Ana where this day came to an end. What a great day it had been meeting the wonderful former Governor Dukakis.

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