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A Metrolink Trip to Montalvo 5/16/2005



by Chris Guenzler



On the way back from the Fullerton Train Travel Meetup Group excursion to San Luis Obispo last month, we were running over an hour late and came to a red signal at CP Montalvo and sat for a few minutes. What we then saw was a Metrolink train leaving Union Pacific's Coast Line for the Metrolink station at Montalvo. There were passengers aboard that train and it made me think since I thought I had ridden the entire Metrolink system, but when I saw that train leave the Coast Line, it struck me that I had not. I told Steve Grande about it and he realized that he had not either and said that I could take a train out here, spend a night at a hotel and ride Metrolink back to Los Angeles and home. After thinking for a minute, he went one step further by suggesting "We could take the Metrolink train out to Montalvo, taxi back to Oxnard and take Pacific Surfliner 796 home." A quick check of the Metrolink schedule showed we could take the first evening train from LAUPT to Montalvo, then taxi to A Burger for dinner and Pacific Surfliner 796 home.

We chose May 16th as the date of our trip.

Pacific Surfliner 579



I met Winston Walker at the Santa Ana station after I bought my Metrolink ticket from LAUPT to Montalvo, so I would not have to worry about it in Los Angeles, then visited with Marty, my wonderful night-time station agent. Pacific Surfliner 579 arrived and we boarded with the consist of cab car 6907, Superliner coaches 31020 and 31004, Surfliner coach 6400, coach/café 6302, Pacific Business Class 6805 with F59PHi 460 pushing the train to LAUPT. We made our way to Anaheim and then Fullerton, where Steve Grande and Jack Searchlight boarded, then ran at restricted speed to La Mirada before we returned to track speed for the rest of the journey, arriving at LAUPT at at 4:18 PM. I walked forward before we arrived as I needed to get Winston a ticket from the machine on the south end of the platforms and had asked Ken Ruben to meet me at this machine. I then walked over to Track 5B where the train to Montalvo was loading and found our party, including now Ken, who did not buy a ticket with three minutes before departure.

Metrolink 113

We boarded a very crowded Metrolink 113 whose consist was MP36PH-3C 889, coaches 120, 179 and cab car 626. We departed on time and minutes later, passed the Pasadena Gold Line shops followed by the Metrolink shops at the former Southern Pacific Taylor Yard before proceeding to Glendale. We then went by blue tarpaulin-covered wreck-damaged Metrolink cars prior to the Downtown Burbank station then turned west onto the former Southern Pacific Coast Line to the Bob Hope Airport Station, Van Nuys and Northridge, having an excellent view of the hills on this mostly cloudy late afternoon as we made our way to Chatsworth.

The train passed through the Chatsworth Tunnels and at CP Hasson, we met Metrolink 118 before running to Simi Valley then at Strathearn, we passed a westbound four unit all Southern Pacific-led Union Pacific freight on our way to Moorpark, where our group was finally able to sit together. We made our way to Camarillo, but sat for over twenty minutes waiting for the late running Pacific Surfliner 798, which had P42DC 121, Horizon coaches 54552 and 54516, café/business 58108, baggage 1204 with P42DC 122 bringing up the rear markers. To leave Camarillo, we had a flashing red signal and proceeded at restricted speed until reaching the next green signal and sprinted to Oxnard.

We then continued west through North Oxnard before crossing the Clara River, came to the junction and swung off the mainline to begin our new rail mileage. We turned north and under Highway 101, crossed a street between storage units and light industries then came off the Montalvo wye onto the Santa Paula Branch. Once we cleared the switch, we stopped before reversing into the Montalvo Metrolink station and once there, Steve, Winston and I had now ridden the entire Metrolink system.





Our train in Montalvo.





Winston walking away from our train. Ken bought his Metrolink ticket here to be honest.





The train reversed from the station to go to the overnight layover area. Amadeus Taxi and Shuttle had a van waiting to take us back to A Burger in Oxnard and the driver took us on a route which provided a better feel for the city and we split the cost of the shuttle van when we arrived.

Oxnard

A Burger is across the street from the Coast Line and the west end of the Oxnard Transportation Center and I ordered a burger, fries and a chocolate shake. That train with the all-Southern Pacific power arrived and started switching his train out so once I finished my meal, I walked across the street to watch.





From the Oxnard station platform, the Southern Pacific locomotives pulled their consist by me, led by SD45 2658:1, nee Southern Pacific SD40M-2 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1969.





I ventured up on the street bridge for a picture overlooking the station area and the west end of the Oxnard Yard. Once back on the platform, I went inside the depot to find out the status of the Coast Starlight which was due in at 7:25 PM. I met Steve on the platform and we watched the freight pull back and forth as we waited. The Coast Starlight arrived just thirty minutes late and Steve realized that this train was the same one he took to Sacramento on Friday. Ken purchased his ticket back to Los Angeles before our group waited for Pacific Surfliner 796.

Pacific Surfliner 796

The train arrived in push mode with cab car 6900, coach 6414, Pacific Business Class 6852 (used as a coach), coach/café 6300, Pacific Business Class 6806 and F59PHI 463. We all boarded 6414 and once underway, the excellent and always-smiling Conductor Rosie collected tickets. We ran to the west end of the siding at Camarillo to let Metrolink 119 do its station work there and once we were back on the mainline, we did our station work at Camarillo before running to Simi Valley. We went to Hasson to wait for a westbound Unioni Pacific freight before rolling through the Chatsworth Tunnels and out into the San Fernando Valley.

The stops of Chatsworth, Van Nuys, Bob Hope Airport and Glendale were made before we arrived at LAUPT three minutes early and Ken left our group there. The three of us waited for our 10:10 PM departure as the train filled with new passengers then departed on time and made a quick run to Fullerton, where Steve and Jack detrained. At Anaheim, the halo on the "Big A" was lit up, meaning the Anaheim Angels had won their baseball game tonight in Cleveland. We arrived at Santa Ana a few minutes early and Winston and I said our goodbyes then I drove home, ending another Amtrak and Metrolink trip, now having ridden every mile of the Metrolink system.



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