The Barstow Flyer waited for the late afternoon departure time of 5:30 PM. For the return trip, I would ride the dome of "Silver Splendor", nee Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 4735 "Silver Buckle" which ran on the Denver Zephyr. It became Burlington Northern 4687 and was sold to Amtrak, becoming their 9457. It was then sold to Illinois Transit Assembly, who a few years later sold it to John Caestecker, who renamed it "Silver Splendor" and converted into a dome- iner-Lounge format. The car was moved to Fullerton where the final restoration of this unique car performed.
The interior of the dome.
The dining area.
The buffet table.
The brochure rack.
The kitchen.
The lounge area.
The Barstow station platform.
The author enjoying the "Silver Splendor" dome.
Our train crew going over their trainorders before we could start our trip back to Los Angeles. Once they were finished, they reboarded and we departed but only reached the next signal, which was red and waited for it to turn green. Once that happened, we left Barstow and headed out onto the BNSF mainline.
We were now a late afternoon train.
The "Silver Splendor" rode very smoothly and was a joy to ride.
Our train passed through the Lower Narrows of the Mojave River.
Passing through Victorville on the way to the Upper Narrows of the Mojave River.
A brief pause while our engineer copied an order to protect a grade crossing west of Hesperia.
The Upper Narrows of the Mojave River.
Crossing the Frost Flyover.
Sunset occurred after Hesperia.
The train climbed the Summit Valley.
Curving into Summit.
Starting down Cajon Pass as we were now an evening train. It is always fun to sit in the front seat of a dome car and watch the signals as we made our way down to San Bernardino, running through Colton and then climbing to Riverside.
Did I say Riverside? The sign says "rside". We paused briefly there and had slow orders for trackwork on BNSF's San Bernardino Subdivision after that. A few minutes later, the eastbound Southwest Chief sailed by our special train on its way east to Chicago. Later, we stopped at Fullerton and were greeted by many railfans then made the final sprint to Los Angeles Union Passenger Station. The "Silver Splendor" gave me an excellent smooth ride and the views were incredible.
The Barstow Flyer was an excellent trip and I detrained a happy train rider then drove home to Santa Ana, where I called it a night.
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