On my last free day of the summer, I decided to get more pictures of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Blue Unit Circus Train at the Santa Ana River bridge in Orange. On Trainorders.com, I asked the Circus Train's location and learned it left Barstow at 4:45 AM, so at 7:15 AM I drove to the Santa Ana River bridge where parking had been changed so I had to park along Riverdale Avenue.
That move cost me a picture of Metrolink 815 as it came while I was walking towards the grade crossing but would not have long to wait for the next Metrolink train. I sat in the shade under a tree on a sand bag and waited.
Metrolink 809 for Laguna Niguel was my first train of the morning. Not wanting all my pictures to look the same here, I moved up the river.
Metrolink 850 for Riverside. I relocated for the next train as I waited staying in the shade with a very nice cool breeze blowing this morning and started to see things in nature to watch.
A squirrel was looking for food among the rocks along the bank of the Santa Ana River.
The ducks made for interesting watching as they looked for food. There were also plenty of other birds to watch. Over at the old Adams Steel Plant, one could hear the switcher chugging hard at work which helped break up the wait as did my two Coca-Colas I had brought with me.
Next came Metrolink 800 bound for San Bernardino. After that I was joined by Richard Elgenson and we had a nice talk about railroading as we continued the wait. We knew they had re-crewed and watered the animals at Ono just above San Bernardino. Three friends kept me updated on the train's location and Richard had the ATCS from Arlington just west of Riverside on his smartphone.
Metrolink 851 passed by on time on its way to Oceanside. Next Allen arrived to wait with us then Richard left to get some lunch so Allen and I chatted about trains and famous people we had met in our lives. Richard returned with a large Coca-Cola for me from Carl's Junior and we continued the wait. At 11:45 AM, the train finally departed Ono but only made it as far as Rana to set up going down the Olive Line.
Metrolink 811 for San Juan Capistrano came by us next. At 1:53 PM, we learned that the train had run through La Sierra and would meet Metrolink 802 just east of Atwood. We then moved to the west side of the bridge and later, had the better sun angle.
Metrolink 802 for Riverside went by us and stopped at Anaheim Canyon before reaching the BNSF mainline. Our wait was almost over as we saw a headlight approaching and set up for our pictures.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Blue Unit Train Consist
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Blue Unit Circus Train finally started to cross the Santa Ana River bridge.
There you have it, the Blue Train had crossed the Santa Ana River and was on its way to Bake Siding to wait for the Metrolink evening commuter rush then proceeded to San Diego. I went home before driving over to the Santa Ana Unified School District office to get my new parking pass and identification card since I took a job at Saddleback High School on a long-term substituing position and would start working tomorrow.
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