Recent content by Eric in East County

In the past, we've never really paid much attention as to whether we were in a Superliner I or a Superliner II. The missing shower curtain should have tipped us off that we were in the older Superliner I. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Thank you for your kind comments. Again, we enjoy reading the trip reports submitted by others and this is our way of being able to contribute something in return. As rail history buffs, we enjoy reading about the histories of the famous passenger trains whose former routes we are traveling...

Now we understand. (It seemed like quite a stretch for the Pacific Surfliner to have originated in Oakland. We have revised our trip report accordingly.) If the bus arrives late, would the PSL be held up until it arrives?

Apparently there is some sort of project going on to save the eroding beaches in the San Clemente area: https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2024-02-28/san-clemente-beach-nourishment

We're already starting to revise our packing lists in preparation for our trip next September E & P

Here's the Pacific Surfliner timetable as of 3-25-24 and some of the southbound PSL trains do originate in Oakland. https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/globalassets/pdfs/schedules/1337711547_pacific-surfliner-timetable_3-25-24_padres_a.pdf We were surprised too, since we never knew that it went...

I did some on-line research and many rail fans consider this to be the best general purpose antenna for monitoring railroad radio traffic. I just ordered one and am looking forward to using it on our next trip.

Based on what I’ve read, the preferred antenna for monitoring railroad radio communications appears to be an adjustable whip that can be “tuned” to a specific frequency by altering its length according to the following formula: Correct length (in inches) = 2,800 divided by the frequencies in...

Thank you so much!

Good points raised here. We don’t have a smart phone, but we do travel with a GPS device. We use a Garmin nuvi 2797 GPS device intended for use in a car or truck. We’ve rigged up a stand for it to sit in so it can be set up on a fold down tray table or the little foldout table in a sleeping car...

We use a little Uniden SC230 racing scanner that we bought on eBay for only a few dollars. Here are a few features to look for when shopping for a radio that will scan railroad frequencies: The capacity to receive frequencies of from 160.215 to 161.565 MHz. (This is where most railroads operate...

Stage 3: Los Angeles to San Diego (May 23rd) The day being overcast and chilly, we decided to wait for Pacific Surfliner 770 in the Metropolitan Lounge rather than standing on the platform for almost ninety minutes. A Red Cap with a cart was outside our sleeper when we detrained, and we rode...

(Day 3: May 23rd) We had our GPS device powered up and on-line by 4:30 a.m., just as we were arriving in Barstow. When we departed, we were running about one hour behind schedule. The ascent up Cajon Pass was made in fairly thick fog. Once the fog lifted, the sky was completely covered with...

(Day 2: May 22nd) I was up a little after 6:15 a.m. (It was just two weeks ago today that we’d begun our May rail adventure.) After showering and dressing, I set up the GPS device to find out where we were. It came on-line just as we were arriving in Garden City. When we departed at 6:56 a.m...

Stage 2: Chicago to Los Angeles (Day 1: May 21st) When we’d arrived at Chicago Union Station on Southwest Chief No. 4 eleven days earlier, a Red Cap had driven us to the Metropolitan Lounge using a circuitous route through the construction zone that we doubted we could have retraced had we had...