AMTRAK-P42
Conductor
Coast Starlight Trip Report-Better LATE than never
July 30, 2005
Amtrak #11 South. Standard Bedroom.
Consist: (In order)
AMTK P42 184
P42 175
F59 –
F59
Baggage
Transition sleeper
3 Sleepers
2 Lounge (one subbing for parlor)
1 Diner
4 Coaches
(Keep in mind my motto while reading this guys, late trains=more time on trains=the best trains!)
--Well I awoke after a somewhat restless night of sleep. I had been tracking #11 throughout the night on her way down from SEA and things were looking good for me. She left SEA 1 ½ hours late and had lost another hour by 11pm. When I awoke the next morning, I immediately called “Julie” of course, and found out #11 was just shy of 4 hours at this point. This determined a couple of things. First off, this was going to be a good day of rail-riding, and 2nd, I would be to elated to get any more sleep. After trying to get a few more minutes of shut eye, I gave up and took a shower.
Not wanting to miss any action at EMY that day, I got to the station around 915am, just in time to get a photo of #6 heading out for Chicago. While I was on the platform for the next 4 ½ hours, I saw quite a bit of action. 8-9 Capitals/San Joaquins, 2 freights; the usual. As I continued to call Julie, my train continued to loose time. By Sacramento she was over 5 ½ hours late. After being out in the sun for such a long time, I decided to get some lunch around 12. I walked right across the street to the Subway. I highly recommend this place to anyone. Its clean, the staff is friendly, and how can you go wrong with a sub? My only complaint, which is a rather humorous one, is that they played some sort of Indian (as in the country)-sounding music so loudly that I couldn’t hear myself think. That was pretty much ok with me though, having just had the horn blown at me excessively by a nervous engineer on a northbound UP freight. I returned to the station where I ate my 12 inch turkey sub on the platform side benches as another Capital came and went. As I was finishing lunch (around 145) I heard the faint sound of a horn. I as I peered out from around the station looking north, I caught a glimpse of that tell-tale blue nose and knew #11 would be arriving shortly.
After taking the “restricting” signal for the cross-over onto the inner track, #11 snaked her way into the station. After noting the consist, I headed for my sleeper, which was the third car in line (not including the baggage car). I headed upstairs to my room, which I had made sure to get on the west side of the train (you can see the ocean!). We sat in EMY for a few minutes before the highball was given and #11 departed 5 hours 38 minutes late for points south.
The trip to OAK was fairly uneventful, and we departed OAK 5 hours 48 minutes due to an extra long stop for re-stocking (very important for a train that was this late…and getting later). We headed down the Niles subdivision today, and as we made the hard left to Join the main near Hayward, we suddenly came to a stop. I looked outside and noticed an all red block, but was surprised that no heads up had been given by the dispatcher. I also noticed a UP freight waiting on the Hayward sub pointing in our direction. After 6 minutes, the dispatcher came on and told us the news. Apparently, every single signal between this interlocking and Santa Clara was dead. I knew this meant we would have to proceed at around 15mph until reaching the proceeding signal. Then, upon reaching the next signal, we would have to get verbal permission (a track warrant) to continue proceeding at this speed until the next signal. The same thing would repeat itself many times. Things were going ALRIGHT, as UP seemed to be doing an ok Job of dispatching us through this mess. Unfortunately, this was short lived. It seemed it was a very busy day on the UP coast sub today, and many freights needed to get through as well. As we came up on one of them, we were told they occupied a siding which was too small for their train. We would have to pull up until we cleared our rear switch (their forward switch) which would allow the freight to come out of the siding behind us and clear the track in front. Unfortunately, it was not to be. This freight could not move because of a capital we had stuck behind us. What took place over the next 40 minutes was a series of small movements by the UP freight and the capital to our rear. FINALLY, the forward switch was clear, and we headed out for San Jose. A few miles later, we reached the first operating signal, and we took full advantage of the speed limit as #11 sped past Santa Clara.
San Jose, CA came and went without a hitch, and we depart 7 hours and 2 minutes late. Nothing of real interest happened over the next 2 hours. #11 sped along a pretty good clip, only stopping hear and there to copy the occasional track warrant. After a 2 minutes stop at Salinas, CA, we departed 7 hours and 3 minutes late. We continued to move along at a good pace, but all things do have to come to an end. First, the dispatcher came on the radio to let us know of a level 2 heat restriction (45mph instead of 70mph) for the next 60 miles. This would not have been to bad…if this was all that happened. About 30 minutes later I heard some talk over the radio about the crew that should be on its way from SLO to meet us somewhere near the siding at San Ardo. Apparently however, the van that the relief crew was waiting for had yet to arrive. I knew this was going to be a long night. 5 minutes later our Conductor called the dispatcher to let him know about the situation and to let him know we would not make San Ardo on current work hours. We would have to take the siding at King City. The dispatcher voided the previous warrant which had us meeting #14 in the siding at San Ardo, and changed it for #14 to meet us in the siding at King City. After throwing the manual switch, we proceeded into the siding at King City. Where we waited……and waited…….and waited. While we were waiting, I took the liberty of getting some dinner, watching the sunset to almost complete darkness, and spending a good amount of time talking with the AC. FINALLY, 1 hour 35 minutes later (and with very little warning), #14 blew past us doing 70 on its way north. 10 minutes later, our relief crew arrived and we finally began moving. However, we only made it about 2500 feet when we had to stop again. UP dispatching was at its best this time. They had not responded to our continuous calls in which our conductor was attempting to get permission to proceed from King City. Our conductor even came over the radio stating “did he (the dispatcher) forget us?”. About 20 minutes later we got the warrant we needed and finally left the siding at King City.
We managed to arrive in Paso Robles 8 hours and 49 minutes late. We then headed for the sea. I will get back to the technical aspect of the trip later, but its important for me to note what took place over the next 6 hours.
As the train winded its way down the foggy coast from SLO, high above the ocean on the rocky cliffs, the fog, in a rare gesture, decided to clear. What lay beneath this blanket of night was incredible. As the fog drifted out to sea, the full moon came out and lit up the ocean to the dark horizon. The moon reflected off the waves as they crashed on the beach below. It was one of the most magnificent things I have ever seen. What was otherwise a dark and desolate night was given so much character by the calming light of the moon. Every detail of the landscape became vivid. I could look out my window and spot each wave as it crashed against the rocks below. The train was given a shadow as it twisted and turned its way south. I then directed my attention to the sky, and almost immediately my gaze was met by a shooting star. Seconds later, another. For the entire time we spent along the ocean, I saw more shooting stars then I have ever seen my whole life. The whole situation was surreal. The only noises I could here was the calming “clickity-clack” of steel on steel, and the occasional deep harmony from the engines horn. I felt such a feeling of awe that I don’t even think these words could do justice to what I experienced that night. It’s moments like these that humble you. Just sitting and wondering how you were lucky enough to experience such a perfect scene, one that you will never forget. This is just one reason why I love a train running late, you can see things you don’t normally see. Had the train been on time, I never would have experienced something like this.
Anyways, back to the trip itself. We made it in out of SLO without a hitch, even making up a little time departing 8 hours and 36 minutes late. We skirted the coast without any problem until just north of Santa Barbara right near the Goleta trestle. Our engineer had notified the dispatcher a while back that he would die on the law at exactly 3am and needed a relief crew. Just before the trestle, at 258am the engineer called the relief crew, who was not yet even close to the train. However, it is important to note that when the relief crew did finally arrive at the trestle, it would be VERY difficult for them to reach the train. They would have to walk a mile down from the nearest location with road access. Being on the other side of the trestle (the north end) would make this especially difficult because it would require the crew to have to walk across the trestle to reach the train. So at 3am I got ready to hear the brakes….but nothing. A big devious smile came to face as I knew exactly what the engineer was doing. He was going to break the law in order to get that train over the trestle, it was not till 302am that we finally came out over the bridge. Just then, the relief crew called asking where we were. When the engineer replied “Just made it to the south end of Goleta” the voice on the other end was irate. He screamed “I TOLD YOU TO STOP, DO NOT MOVE THAT TRAIN. YOU GONNA PAY YOUR FINE!?”, and that was it. Almost instantaneously the train came to a halt, with the majority of the cars still out on the bridge. 45 minutes later the relief engineer arrived and nothing more was said about the incident (at least over the radio). #11 pulled up a mile, picked up the rest of the crew and continued south. We finally made it to Santa Barbara, CA 9 hours 59 minutes, painfully close to that double-digit reading I was going for. I knew that now it would take something other then freight traffic and crew work hours to get us over that 10 hour plateau. (I should mention the latest I had been previous to this was 6 ½ hours, on the sunset in 04’, which we had passed a LONG time ago). As I was crossing my fingers for a defect box to trip, or something of that nature, first light began to push its way over the horizon. Slowly, but surely, the blackness of the night gave way to that early morning blue of dawn. Oxnard, CA came and went 9 hours 56 minutes late, and with it my hope of gaining 10 hours. Just when I was about to give up, a detector box gave #11 those magic words “Stop your train, integrity failure”. Much to my delight, we came to a stop and the conductor was outside walking the train. When we finally got going again I knew #11 had done it. Sure enough, we arrived 10 hours 11 minutes late into Simi Valley, CA.
At this point the sun was beginning to rise. #11 raced the final miles into LA, as full blow daylight greeted the train. Thanks to the padding into LAUPT we arrived at 6:42am, 9 hours and 42 minutes late, completing another good, and adventurous trip on Amtrak.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my very LENGHTY trip report. If nothing else, I hope you too find something you enjoy as much as I enjoy riding the rails!
July 30, 2005
Amtrak #11 South. Standard Bedroom.
Consist: (In order)
AMTK P42 184
P42 175
F59 –
F59
Baggage
Transition sleeper
3 Sleepers
2 Lounge (one subbing for parlor)
1 Diner
4 Coaches
(Keep in mind my motto while reading this guys, late trains=more time on trains=the best trains!)
--Well I awoke after a somewhat restless night of sleep. I had been tracking #11 throughout the night on her way down from SEA and things were looking good for me. She left SEA 1 ½ hours late and had lost another hour by 11pm. When I awoke the next morning, I immediately called “Julie” of course, and found out #11 was just shy of 4 hours at this point. This determined a couple of things. First off, this was going to be a good day of rail-riding, and 2nd, I would be to elated to get any more sleep. After trying to get a few more minutes of shut eye, I gave up and took a shower.
Not wanting to miss any action at EMY that day, I got to the station around 915am, just in time to get a photo of #6 heading out for Chicago. While I was on the platform for the next 4 ½ hours, I saw quite a bit of action. 8-9 Capitals/San Joaquins, 2 freights; the usual. As I continued to call Julie, my train continued to loose time. By Sacramento she was over 5 ½ hours late. After being out in the sun for such a long time, I decided to get some lunch around 12. I walked right across the street to the Subway. I highly recommend this place to anyone. Its clean, the staff is friendly, and how can you go wrong with a sub? My only complaint, which is a rather humorous one, is that they played some sort of Indian (as in the country)-sounding music so loudly that I couldn’t hear myself think. That was pretty much ok with me though, having just had the horn blown at me excessively by a nervous engineer on a northbound UP freight. I returned to the station where I ate my 12 inch turkey sub on the platform side benches as another Capital came and went. As I was finishing lunch (around 145) I heard the faint sound of a horn. I as I peered out from around the station looking north, I caught a glimpse of that tell-tale blue nose and knew #11 would be arriving shortly.
After taking the “restricting” signal for the cross-over onto the inner track, #11 snaked her way into the station. After noting the consist, I headed for my sleeper, which was the third car in line (not including the baggage car). I headed upstairs to my room, which I had made sure to get on the west side of the train (you can see the ocean!). We sat in EMY for a few minutes before the highball was given and #11 departed 5 hours 38 minutes late for points south.
The trip to OAK was fairly uneventful, and we departed OAK 5 hours 48 minutes due to an extra long stop for re-stocking (very important for a train that was this late…and getting later). We headed down the Niles subdivision today, and as we made the hard left to Join the main near Hayward, we suddenly came to a stop. I looked outside and noticed an all red block, but was surprised that no heads up had been given by the dispatcher. I also noticed a UP freight waiting on the Hayward sub pointing in our direction. After 6 minutes, the dispatcher came on and told us the news. Apparently, every single signal between this interlocking and Santa Clara was dead. I knew this meant we would have to proceed at around 15mph until reaching the proceeding signal. Then, upon reaching the next signal, we would have to get verbal permission (a track warrant) to continue proceeding at this speed until the next signal. The same thing would repeat itself many times. Things were going ALRIGHT, as UP seemed to be doing an ok Job of dispatching us through this mess. Unfortunately, this was short lived. It seemed it was a very busy day on the UP coast sub today, and many freights needed to get through as well. As we came up on one of them, we were told they occupied a siding which was too small for their train. We would have to pull up until we cleared our rear switch (their forward switch) which would allow the freight to come out of the siding behind us and clear the track in front. Unfortunately, it was not to be. This freight could not move because of a capital we had stuck behind us. What took place over the next 40 minutes was a series of small movements by the UP freight and the capital to our rear. FINALLY, the forward switch was clear, and we headed out for San Jose. A few miles later, we reached the first operating signal, and we took full advantage of the speed limit as #11 sped past Santa Clara.
San Jose, CA came and went without a hitch, and we depart 7 hours and 2 minutes late. Nothing of real interest happened over the next 2 hours. #11 sped along a pretty good clip, only stopping hear and there to copy the occasional track warrant. After a 2 minutes stop at Salinas, CA, we departed 7 hours and 3 minutes late. We continued to move along at a good pace, but all things do have to come to an end. First, the dispatcher came on the radio to let us know of a level 2 heat restriction (45mph instead of 70mph) for the next 60 miles. This would not have been to bad…if this was all that happened. About 30 minutes later I heard some talk over the radio about the crew that should be on its way from SLO to meet us somewhere near the siding at San Ardo. Apparently however, the van that the relief crew was waiting for had yet to arrive. I knew this was going to be a long night. 5 minutes later our Conductor called the dispatcher to let him know about the situation and to let him know we would not make San Ardo on current work hours. We would have to take the siding at King City. The dispatcher voided the previous warrant which had us meeting #14 in the siding at San Ardo, and changed it for #14 to meet us in the siding at King City. After throwing the manual switch, we proceeded into the siding at King City. Where we waited……and waited…….and waited. While we were waiting, I took the liberty of getting some dinner, watching the sunset to almost complete darkness, and spending a good amount of time talking with the AC. FINALLY, 1 hour 35 minutes later (and with very little warning), #14 blew past us doing 70 on its way north. 10 minutes later, our relief crew arrived and we finally began moving. However, we only made it about 2500 feet when we had to stop again. UP dispatching was at its best this time. They had not responded to our continuous calls in which our conductor was attempting to get permission to proceed from King City. Our conductor even came over the radio stating “did he (the dispatcher) forget us?”. About 20 minutes later we got the warrant we needed and finally left the siding at King City.
We managed to arrive in Paso Robles 8 hours and 49 minutes late. We then headed for the sea. I will get back to the technical aspect of the trip later, but its important for me to note what took place over the next 6 hours.
As the train winded its way down the foggy coast from SLO, high above the ocean on the rocky cliffs, the fog, in a rare gesture, decided to clear. What lay beneath this blanket of night was incredible. As the fog drifted out to sea, the full moon came out and lit up the ocean to the dark horizon. The moon reflected off the waves as they crashed on the beach below. It was one of the most magnificent things I have ever seen. What was otherwise a dark and desolate night was given so much character by the calming light of the moon. Every detail of the landscape became vivid. I could look out my window and spot each wave as it crashed against the rocks below. The train was given a shadow as it twisted and turned its way south. I then directed my attention to the sky, and almost immediately my gaze was met by a shooting star. Seconds later, another. For the entire time we spent along the ocean, I saw more shooting stars then I have ever seen my whole life. The whole situation was surreal. The only noises I could here was the calming “clickity-clack” of steel on steel, and the occasional deep harmony from the engines horn. I felt such a feeling of awe that I don’t even think these words could do justice to what I experienced that night. It’s moments like these that humble you. Just sitting and wondering how you were lucky enough to experience such a perfect scene, one that you will never forget. This is just one reason why I love a train running late, you can see things you don’t normally see. Had the train been on time, I never would have experienced something like this.
Anyways, back to the trip itself. We made it in out of SLO without a hitch, even making up a little time departing 8 hours and 36 minutes late. We skirted the coast without any problem until just north of Santa Barbara right near the Goleta trestle. Our engineer had notified the dispatcher a while back that he would die on the law at exactly 3am and needed a relief crew. Just before the trestle, at 258am the engineer called the relief crew, who was not yet even close to the train. However, it is important to note that when the relief crew did finally arrive at the trestle, it would be VERY difficult for them to reach the train. They would have to walk a mile down from the nearest location with road access. Being on the other side of the trestle (the north end) would make this especially difficult because it would require the crew to have to walk across the trestle to reach the train. So at 3am I got ready to hear the brakes….but nothing. A big devious smile came to face as I knew exactly what the engineer was doing. He was going to break the law in order to get that train over the trestle, it was not till 302am that we finally came out over the bridge. Just then, the relief crew called asking where we were. When the engineer replied “Just made it to the south end of Goleta” the voice on the other end was irate. He screamed “I TOLD YOU TO STOP, DO NOT MOVE THAT TRAIN. YOU GONNA PAY YOUR FINE!?”, and that was it. Almost instantaneously the train came to a halt, with the majority of the cars still out on the bridge. 45 minutes later the relief engineer arrived and nothing more was said about the incident (at least over the radio). #11 pulled up a mile, picked up the rest of the crew and continued south. We finally made it to Santa Barbara, CA 9 hours 59 minutes, painfully close to that double-digit reading I was going for. I knew that now it would take something other then freight traffic and crew work hours to get us over that 10 hour plateau. (I should mention the latest I had been previous to this was 6 ½ hours, on the sunset in 04’, which we had passed a LONG time ago). As I was crossing my fingers for a defect box to trip, or something of that nature, first light began to push its way over the horizon. Slowly, but surely, the blackness of the night gave way to that early morning blue of dawn. Oxnard, CA came and went 9 hours 56 minutes late, and with it my hope of gaining 10 hours. Just when I was about to give up, a detector box gave #11 those magic words “Stop your train, integrity failure”. Much to my delight, we came to a stop and the conductor was outside walking the train. When we finally got going again I knew #11 had done it. Sure enough, we arrived 10 hours 11 minutes late into Simi Valley, CA.
At this point the sun was beginning to rise. #11 raced the final miles into LA, as full blow daylight greeted the train. Thanks to the padding into LAUPT we arrived at 6:42am, 9 hours and 42 minutes late, completing another good, and adventurous trip on Amtrak.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my very LENGHTY trip report. If nothing else, I hope you too find something you enjoy as much as I enjoy riding the rails!
