For the first time, Metrolink, our Southern California commuter train operator, decided to operate six round trips from Riverside to Irvine so the public would not have to do battle on the Riverside Freeway through Santa Ana Canyon, a major traffic gridlock in the Los Angeles Basin. Following a round trip to Solana Beach on Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner and an excellent Thanksgiving meal, I went to Santa Ana station mid-afternoon to try this unique Metrolink service.
Metrolink 864The train arrived and eight passengers boarded. A passenger in a wheelchair had to wait for the train, running locomotive first, to be double-spotted as the cab car had the only ramp. We departed on time and after crossing Interstate 5, travelled along Lincoln Street and crossed 17th Street, entering my neighboyrhood. We then crossed Fairhaven Avenue and snaked our way across Santiago Creek and under the Garden Grove Freeway into the City of Orange. Just after Chapman Avenue, we arrived at Orange station, where four more passengers boarded, then continued through CP Maple and out onto Metrolink's Olive Subdivision. We crossed Katella Avenue then rolled along Orange-Olive Road before traversing the Santa Ana River and arriving at the Anaheim Canyon station on a beautiful clear day, where an additional four people climbed aboard.
I chatted with our conductor and received the ridership information for his trains on this holiday: Train 861 from Riverside to Irvine carried a little over 130 passengers, Train 860 from Irvine to Riverside carried a little over 105 and Train 865 from Riverside to Irvine had sixty passengers. Once we started rolling again and entered the BNSF tracks, I walked through the train and counted 43 passengers as we proceeded east into Santa Ana Canyon, passing Milepost 38 hobby shop, which specialized in trains, before meeting fellow Orange County Railway Historical Society member Dan Dalke, who boarded at Orange.
We started into the Horseshoe Bend and met a westbound BNSF freight halfway through the curve. Traffic on the eastbound California Highway 91 looked as though it was moving about 20 miles an hour, while we flew along without a care in the world. We crossed the Santa Ana River again, this time on the BNSF mainline at the Green River golf course, before ducking under the Riverside Freeway twice within two miles, prior to our next station stop at West Corona. We passed the other Metrolink Inland Empie-Orange County Train 867 just short of the North Main Corona station then went underneath both the Riverside Freeway and Interstate 15 before crossing Magnolia Avenue on our way to La Sierra station. Just east there, we crossed over to the north track before making our way across Van Buren Boulevard, then travelling through Casa Blanca and rounded the large "S" curve past the cemetery to enter the Riverside station at 4:14 PM, one minute early.
Dan and I detrained and visited the refreshment machines before looking at the timetable rack then walked back to near the front of our train and found a bench to enjoy the passing of three Union Pacific and two BNSF doublestack trains.
Metrolink 869We boarded Metrolink 869 just as it was growing dark and left on time with fourteen passengers boarding. Dan and I passed the time talking about many rail subjects, including which railroad had the worst paint scheme. We passed the eastbound Metrolink 866 near the location of the old Prado Dam siding the continued on time to Orange, where Dan detrained and I learned that this train had 33 passengers. We waited in Orange for a late-running Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 785 before proceeding to Santa Ana, where I detrained on time from my first Metrolink Thanksgiving Day round trip to Riverside.
| RETURN TO THE MAIN PAGE |
