I wasn't sure where to post this to attract input from the historians onboard, but this seemed like as good a place as any. I'm currently in San Diego (via Amtrak of course) and after stepping off the train at the famous depot I got to wondering about what long-distance service might have existed from here pre-Amtrak. I'm aware of the San Diegans, which ran on the current route, but IIRC they had distances similar to the Surfliners today. Were there any routes out of here that went elsewhere? Having driven from SD to inland California, bypassing LA, I wondered if there were similar rail routes at any time. Some of it is rugged territory and even the highway drive reflects this, so maybe it was impractical and everything funnelled through the Los Angeles area? There's certainly not a lot of searchable data available, although the criteria may be too specific. I'm really interested to hear from the experts.