Before anybody starts getting their panties in a bunch, let us stipulate that just as yes, we have no bananas, yes, there are no sleeping cars on Amtrak Pacific Surfliners.
Usually.
A notable exception occurred over Thanksgiving weekend, 2011, and Team Whooz was aboard to enjoy the experience. The privately owned former Union Pacific sleeper Pacific Sands was coupled to an Amtrak Pacific Surfliner at Los Angeles Union Station, hauled to San Diego, uncoupled there, parked in front of the handsome and historic old Santa Fe depot to serve as a hotel on wheels for one night, then coupled to another Pacific Surfliner the following evening for the return trip to Los Angeles. And so: Pacific Surfliner sleeper to San Diego!
The genesis of this trip was an e-mail from Team Whooz Executive Assistant Alice. She's on the mailing list of L.A. Rail.com, a group of vintage railcar owners (EDIT: It's the railcars that are vintage; can't say about the owners.) whooz streamliners - "private varnish" - are available for charter and public trips. An upcoming public trip aboard the Pacific Sands was the topic of the e-mail from Alice.
Alice's stated purpose for the e-mail was merely to let me know about the existence of the trip, with the suggestion that Team Whooz might consider doing a similar jaunt sometime in the future. It arrived, however, at a time when I was kinda casting about for a rail adventure of some sort anyway, and I think Alice was somewhat taken aback when I replied, "Let's GO!"
Pacific Sands' itinerary was simple and straightforward: depart L.A., Fullerton, Santa Ana, or Irvine on the Saturday morning of Thanksgiving weekend; ride to San Diego, stay the night aboard the sleeper; depart San Diego Sunday evenng for return run to boarding location. Between arrival and departure our time in town would be our own, with Pacific Sands as our hotel and base of operations.
And the price, we decided, was quite reasonable for a weekend getaway, considering that it included railfare (aboard a private varnish sleeper, no less!), lodging, and a food and beverage component as well in the form of continental breakfasts, plus (as we would find) other snack and dessert type stuff. The all-inclusive price for our double bedroom (upper and lower bunks, with private bathroom) was $338.
Of course that's just figuring the nuts and bolts cost of the trip, and I'd be hard pressed to assign a dollar value to the entire private varnish weekend experience. I think a lot has to do with what you bring to such a trip in the way of hopes and expectations, and on that level Team Whooz came away very satisfied customers who felt the adventure was an excellent value.
And talk about FUN...
Because FUL was a better place than LAX to park the MayhemMobile for the duration we boarded at Fullerton after overnighting at a nearby hotel. Our Pacific Surfliner sleeper was coupled to the trailing end of train 566, which was led by an F59. Nothing unusual about that. A bit surprising, though, was the P42 on the tail, with Pacific Sands' vestibule end coupled to that, so that our view forward was dominated by a panoramic, up close and personal, view of Amtrak No. 49's twin headlights. It occurred to me that what my life up to then had been sorely lacking was the intimate proximity of a P42 nose, and I immediately felt so much better. We weren't even underway yet, and already my worldview had been improved!
Boarding was quick, easy and assisted by Pacific Sands' owner and his assistant/car attendant, our gracious and helpful hosts for the trip. Alice's wheelchair was stowed in a disused bedroom-turned-closet, our small overnight bags stashed in our bedroom (Compartment D), and continental breakfast was served as we got underway and accelerated south. Our room was in day configuration, and though I neglected to get pics of this it's worth noting that day seating consisted of a comfortably stuffed, loveseat-size bench facing the rear of the train, and an easy chair that was not attached or tied down and could thus be placed where we liked within the small room. Nice.
I spent little time appraising the room, though, and didn't bother with food, preferring instead to walk the car to see just what was what. First thing found was no vestibule facing back; just a door with a window too dirty to try shooting photos through. So the vestibule it would be for photo purposes, with No. 49's big blue schnozz directly forward dictating that carefully leaning out the tops of the Dutch doors on both sides would be my only shooting options.
It wasn't a particularly warm morning, and naturally as we gathered speed the wind chill factor increased out there in the open vestibule. While I'm essentially a warm weather kinda guy, and not really the outdoors type, something about being aboard speeding private varnish, riding out in the old-style vestibule, made the rushing air seem bracing, even exhilarating. And let me tell you, nothing improves scenery like not having a window between it and you. Okay, for safety's sake I had SORT OF a window: Amtrak safety glasses (over my usual ones), received along with everyone else who toured Amtrak's L.A. maintenance facility ("the shops") during Amtrak Unlimited's Second Annual Gathering (2008).
As our Surfliner proceeded south I used every ensuing stop - Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana, etc. - to run back and try to persuade Alice to join me and revel in the hellacious ride I was getting up front and outside in the vestibule, but she insisted that she was enjoying the ride just fine from our room, thank you, and would be out later. Something in her tone of voice and cool gaze conveyed that she believed she was dealing with some kinda crazed maniac, which in retrospect may well have been the case. I was having too much fun to give it any thought at the time.
A few more Pacific Sands passengers came aboard at Irvine, and I began to sweat out the possibility of the vestibule getting crowded, putting an end to my clear, unobstructed views (not to mention photo angles). As things developed I needn't have worried. Sure, people came out to stand in the vestibule too, and they took a few photos as well. But they never stayed for more than a few short minutes before heading back indoors to their compartments. Which was fine by me you understand.
Alice finally came out after San Juan Capistrano to enjoy our run down the coast, and while she stayed longer than most didn't spend a whole lot of time outdoors in the brisk slipstream before also retiring again to the interior, mumbling about ruined hair or something...
Now as far as the Pacific Sands itself goes as a railcar, it's not a private varnish palace on wheels. It's a vintage sleeper well maintained to current Amtrak standards. We knew that going in, so were not in the least disappointed upon boarding to find that there was no opulent lounge area like Tequila Express; no large formal dining area like Tioga Pass (another of L.A. Rail's cars); no private chef or full kitchen for cooking up elaborate feasts; no open observation deck or rounded observation lounge. And a glance at Pacific Sands tells you it's not a dome car.
The absence of all those features was no deterrent to us, and in fact the prices for charters and trips aboard private varnish cars that DO have such perks are themselves deterrents, in my view, to many who would like to try the vintage railcar experience. We felt our San Diego weekend run with Pacific Sands was a comfortable compromise of price and amenities that allowed us to do the private varnish thing in affordable fine style.
With the day warming nicely as we progressed it was fun to wave at people trackside here and there, particularly on beaches around and south of San Clemente. It wasn't like waving at the trackside throngs from the open baggage car behind Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 3751 in May of '10, but hey, we weren't riding a highly publicized steam excursion this time around; just your everyday regularly scheduled passenger train!
On arrival at San Diego - late, but not outrageously so - we were advised that we could detrain immediately, but that if we chose to remain aboard we'd have to stay there for awhile during switching. Needless to say, Team Whooz hit the ground immediately to watch the switching show, but most other Pacific Sands passengers sat tight.
Once all normal passengers were off the normal Pacific Surfliner, the San Diego Saturday Shunting & Switching Show could commence, with the consist creeping forward from the usual boarding platform to block Broadway, a major thoroughfare to the harbor, cruise ship docks, USS Midway museum, and other attractions. It took some time - and several Amtrak folks milling to and fro while appearing to puzzle over some unknown difficulty - to uncouple Pacific Sands from the Surfliner proper once the sleeper was spotted in front of the old Santa Fe depot at downtown San Diego.
Spotted and detached, Pacific Sands was connected to ground electrical power, its handbrake was set, blue lights and signs were placed, and the sleeper was set to be our lodging and base of operations for the duration of our San Diego visit. Most of the Pacific Sands passengers not already off (which was most of 'em) began trickling to the ground as the switching action of the now-separate Surfliner continued.
After uncoupling, the Surfliner consist moved further down the line to clear and reline a switch, briefly opening Broadway to street traffic, before it returned on the track farthest from the depot to be boarded for resumption of its usual Pacific Surfliner duties with P42 No. 49 now the lead locomotive for the run back north.
Completion of the spotting and switching evolution also marked the finish of the first phase of our Surfliner Sleeper weekend. We reboarded Pacific Sands briefly, Alice to gather her touristing paraphernalia, me to gather my wits, then headed out into the city for the afternoon and evening, knowing that when we returned for the night our compartment aboard would be turned out in sleeping configuration for a night on the rails, albeit not in motion.
And with that, Valued Reader, we've also concluded the first phase of this trip report/travelogue!
Photos:
Surfliner Sleeper To San Diego - Fullerton to San Diego aboard privately owned vintage sleeping car Pacific Sands, coupled to the end of Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 566 on November 26, 2011, and headed for a Thanksgiving weekend rail getaway.
Video:
Uncoupling Pacific Sands @ SAN - Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 566 disengages from private sleeper Pacific Sands in front of the Old Santa Fe depot at downtown San Diego on Saturday, 11-26-11.
San Diego Switching, Heavy On The Horn - After parking private sleeper Pacific Sands (which had been coupled to the nose of what is now the lead P42), this Pacific Surfliner consist returns back across Broadway in downtown San Diego, switching tracks to take up position for boarding prior to its run back north on Saturday, 11-26-11.
Below: Beautiful scenery on the run to San Diego - Amtrak P42 locomotive No. 49 as seen from the forward vestibule of Pacific Sands; Meeting a northbound Coaster commuter train at Carlsbad Poinsettia - not an Amtrak stop; Pacific Sands on arrival at San Diego, waiting to be detached from Surfliner 566 for service as a hotel on wheels:
Usually.
A notable exception occurred over Thanksgiving weekend, 2011, and Team Whooz was aboard to enjoy the experience. The privately owned former Union Pacific sleeper Pacific Sands was coupled to an Amtrak Pacific Surfliner at Los Angeles Union Station, hauled to San Diego, uncoupled there, parked in front of the handsome and historic old Santa Fe depot to serve as a hotel on wheels for one night, then coupled to another Pacific Surfliner the following evening for the return trip to Los Angeles. And so: Pacific Surfliner sleeper to San Diego!
The genesis of this trip was an e-mail from Team Whooz Executive Assistant Alice. She's on the mailing list of L.A. Rail.com, a group of vintage railcar owners (EDIT: It's the railcars that are vintage; can't say about the owners.) whooz streamliners - "private varnish" - are available for charter and public trips. An upcoming public trip aboard the Pacific Sands was the topic of the e-mail from Alice.
Alice's stated purpose for the e-mail was merely to let me know about the existence of the trip, with the suggestion that Team Whooz might consider doing a similar jaunt sometime in the future. It arrived, however, at a time when I was kinda casting about for a rail adventure of some sort anyway, and I think Alice was somewhat taken aback when I replied, "Let's GO!"
Pacific Sands' itinerary was simple and straightforward: depart L.A., Fullerton, Santa Ana, or Irvine on the Saturday morning of Thanksgiving weekend; ride to San Diego, stay the night aboard the sleeper; depart San Diego Sunday evenng for return run to boarding location. Between arrival and departure our time in town would be our own, with Pacific Sands as our hotel and base of operations.
And the price, we decided, was quite reasonable for a weekend getaway, considering that it included railfare (aboard a private varnish sleeper, no less!), lodging, and a food and beverage component as well in the form of continental breakfasts, plus (as we would find) other snack and dessert type stuff. The all-inclusive price for our double bedroom (upper and lower bunks, with private bathroom) was $338.
Of course that's just figuring the nuts and bolts cost of the trip, and I'd be hard pressed to assign a dollar value to the entire private varnish weekend experience. I think a lot has to do with what you bring to such a trip in the way of hopes and expectations, and on that level Team Whooz came away very satisfied customers who felt the adventure was an excellent value.
And talk about FUN...
Because FUL was a better place than LAX to park the MayhemMobile for the duration we boarded at Fullerton after overnighting at a nearby hotel. Our Pacific Surfliner sleeper was coupled to the trailing end of train 566, which was led by an F59. Nothing unusual about that. A bit surprising, though, was the P42 on the tail, with Pacific Sands' vestibule end coupled to that, so that our view forward was dominated by a panoramic, up close and personal, view of Amtrak No. 49's twin headlights. It occurred to me that what my life up to then had been sorely lacking was the intimate proximity of a P42 nose, and I immediately felt so much better. We weren't even underway yet, and already my worldview had been improved!
Boarding was quick, easy and assisted by Pacific Sands' owner and his assistant/car attendant, our gracious and helpful hosts for the trip. Alice's wheelchair was stowed in a disused bedroom-turned-closet, our small overnight bags stashed in our bedroom (Compartment D), and continental breakfast was served as we got underway and accelerated south. Our room was in day configuration, and though I neglected to get pics of this it's worth noting that day seating consisted of a comfortably stuffed, loveseat-size bench facing the rear of the train, and an easy chair that was not attached or tied down and could thus be placed where we liked within the small room. Nice.
I spent little time appraising the room, though, and didn't bother with food, preferring instead to walk the car to see just what was what. First thing found was no vestibule facing back; just a door with a window too dirty to try shooting photos through. So the vestibule it would be for photo purposes, with No. 49's big blue schnozz directly forward dictating that carefully leaning out the tops of the Dutch doors on both sides would be my only shooting options.
It wasn't a particularly warm morning, and naturally as we gathered speed the wind chill factor increased out there in the open vestibule. While I'm essentially a warm weather kinda guy, and not really the outdoors type, something about being aboard speeding private varnish, riding out in the old-style vestibule, made the rushing air seem bracing, even exhilarating. And let me tell you, nothing improves scenery like not having a window between it and you. Okay, for safety's sake I had SORT OF a window: Amtrak safety glasses (over my usual ones), received along with everyone else who toured Amtrak's L.A. maintenance facility ("the shops") during Amtrak Unlimited's Second Annual Gathering (2008).
As our Surfliner proceeded south I used every ensuing stop - Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana, etc. - to run back and try to persuade Alice to join me and revel in the hellacious ride I was getting up front and outside in the vestibule, but she insisted that she was enjoying the ride just fine from our room, thank you, and would be out later. Something in her tone of voice and cool gaze conveyed that she believed she was dealing with some kinda crazed maniac, which in retrospect may well have been the case. I was having too much fun to give it any thought at the time.
A few more Pacific Sands passengers came aboard at Irvine, and I began to sweat out the possibility of the vestibule getting crowded, putting an end to my clear, unobstructed views (not to mention photo angles). As things developed I needn't have worried. Sure, people came out to stand in the vestibule too, and they took a few photos as well. But they never stayed for more than a few short minutes before heading back indoors to their compartments. Which was fine by me you understand.
Alice finally came out after San Juan Capistrano to enjoy our run down the coast, and while she stayed longer than most didn't spend a whole lot of time outdoors in the brisk slipstream before also retiring again to the interior, mumbling about ruined hair or something...
Now as far as the Pacific Sands itself goes as a railcar, it's not a private varnish palace on wheels. It's a vintage sleeper well maintained to current Amtrak standards. We knew that going in, so were not in the least disappointed upon boarding to find that there was no opulent lounge area like Tequila Express; no large formal dining area like Tioga Pass (another of L.A. Rail's cars); no private chef or full kitchen for cooking up elaborate feasts; no open observation deck or rounded observation lounge. And a glance at Pacific Sands tells you it's not a dome car.
The absence of all those features was no deterrent to us, and in fact the prices for charters and trips aboard private varnish cars that DO have such perks are themselves deterrents, in my view, to many who would like to try the vintage railcar experience. We felt our San Diego weekend run with Pacific Sands was a comfortable compromise of price and amenities that allowed us to do the private varnish thing in affordable fine style.
With the day warming nicely as we progressed it was fun to wave at people trackside here and there, particularly on beaches around and south of San Clemente. It wasn't like waving at the trackside throngs from the open baggage car behind Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 3751 in May of '10, but hey, we weren't riding a highly publicized steam excursion this time around; just your everyday regularly scheduled passenger train!
On arrival at San Diego - late, but not outrageously so - we were advised that we could detrain immediately, but that if we chose to remain aboard we'd have to stay there for awhile during switching. Needless to say, Team Whooz hit the ground immediately to watch the switching show, but most other Pacific Sands passengers sat tight.
Once all normal passengers were off the normal Pacific Surfliner, the San Diego Saturday Shunting & Switching Show could commence, with the consist creeping forward from the usual boarding platform to block Broadway, a major thoroughfare to the harbor, cruise ship docks, USS Midway museum, and other attractions. It took some time - and several Amtrak folks milling to and fro while appearing to puzzle over some unknown difficulty - to uncouple Pacific Sands from the Surfliner proper once the sleeper was spotted in front of the old Santa Fe depot at downtown San Diego.
Spotted and detached, Pacific Sands was connected to ground electrical power, its handbrake was set, blue lights and signs were placed, and the sleeper was set to be our lodging and base of operations for the duration of our San Diego visit. Most of the Pacific Sands passengers not already off (which was most of 'em) began trickling to the ground as the switching action of the now-separate Surfliner continued.
After uncoupling, the Surfliner consist moved further down the line to clear and reline a switch, briefly opening Broadway to street traffic, before it returned on the track farthest from the depot to be boarded for resumption of its usual Pacific Surfliner duties with P42 No. 49 now the lead locomotive for the run back north.
Completion of the spotting and switching evolution also marked the finish of the first phase of our Surfliner Sleeper weekend. We reboarded Pacific Sands briefly, Alice to gather her touristing paraphernalia, me to gather my wits, then headed out into the city for the afternoon and evening, knowing that when we returned for the night our compartment aboard would be turned out in sleeping configuration for a night on the rails, albeit not in motion.
And with that, Valued Reader, we've also concluded the first phase of this trip report/travelogue!
Photos:
Surfliner Sleeper To San Diego - Fullerton to San Diego aboard privately owned vintage sleeping car Pacific Sands, coupled to the end of Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 566 on November 26, 2011, and headed for a Thanksgiving weekend rail getaway.
Video:
Uncoupling Pacific Sands @ SAN - Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 566 disengages from private sleeper Pacific Sands in front of the Old Santa Fe depot at downtown San Diego on Saturday, 11-26-11.
San Diego Switching, Heavy On The Horn - After parking private sleeper Pacific Sands (which had been coupled to the nose of what is now the lead P42), this Pacific Surfliner consist returns back across Broadway in downtown San Diego, switching tracks to take up position for boarding prior to its run back north on Saturday, 11-26-11.
Below: Beautiful scenery on the run to San Diego - Amtrak P42 locomotive No. 49 as seen from the forward vestibule of Pacific Sands; Meeting a northbound Coaster commuter train at Carlsbad Poinsettia - not an Amtrak stop; Pacific Sands on arrival at San Diego, waiting to be detached from Surfliner 566 for service as a hotel on wheels:
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