Operation
Lifesaver held a 3 day event in late March 2004 which took place in
Camarillo, Santa Barbara and Moorpark, Califonia. (Just spell
Moorpark
bacakwards, LOL) Getting to work at 6 AM is hard enough and I
have about 20 years practice. This train was set to leave at 5 AM
or something like that. Info was that it was to leave out of
Amtrak Los Angeles yard. So, I went there. Then, I get a
cell phone call and the person tells me, no, go to Union Station.
OK, I go there and park inside the Garden Track locked gate and take my
stuff and run through Union Station and through the tunnel. I get
to the proper track and run up the stairs. To my disbelief, it is
rolling away from me, with a crew in the BNSF unit. I was close
enough to throw my boots at it, but just collapsed on a bench and
started calling Operation Lifesaver contacts. I was so out of
breath during the first message to someone on the train, that the
message began with heavy breathing. That person kept the message
and played it over and over again. Yes, it was funny. I finally got a return
call from someone at Metrolink who hooked me up with Jim MacInerney
from the California Public Utilities Commission. Jim picked me up
about half an hour later in front of Union Station and drove us to the
event in Camarillo. For some interesting reason, the train only
beat us there by 10
minutes. It turned
out to be a successful 3 day event teaching the public to stay off the
railroad. Scroll down for second
photo.
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