# Here's one for Swadian......



## NS VIA Fan (Feb 6, 2013)

Back in October 1975, arriving in San Diego on Amtrak this was your connection to Tijuana.........and look in the left of the photo........a United DC-10 on final approach into SAN.


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## leemell (Feb 6, 2013)

I remember that. I was there then and did that.


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## lo2e (Feb 6, 2013)

Am I the only one that finds it ironic that the bus has "Sultana" on the front, which is the name of a Mississippi River boat that blew up and sank after the civil war?


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## Blackwolf (Feb 7, 2013)

Two locomotives for a 4 car consist? Call me fascinated!

And not just a United DC-10, but one in a United livery that is hard to find pictures of these days.


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## railiner (Feb 7, 2013)

Blackwolf said:


> Two locomotives for a 4 car consist? Call me fascinated!
> And not just a United DC-10, but one in a United livery that is hard to find pictures of these days.


Yeah....I thought that was a lot of locomotive power for that train, is the trailing unit an F9B? It looks too short to be an E9B next to that big SDP40F.....

That 'Friendship DC-10' sure brings back memories of 'The Friendly Skies'.....


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## NS VIA Fan (Feb 7, 2013)

And as they say…….Now the rest of the story:

Here’s 514 a couple of hours after the photo above was taken.

Rolling up the coast at dusk……all of a sudden there was a jolt and the train came to a quick stop……we had hit something! After a few minutes we were allowed to get off (and this was just along the track…..no station/no platform……I can imagine this being permitted now!) Wrapped around the front of our SDP40F was a Triple A Tow Truck. No injuries…..the driver had been out when we hit.






Something to remember on a trip which had taken me all around North America:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/41466-circling-north-america-in-75


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## trainman74 (Feb 7, 2013)

Blackwolf said:


> And not just a United DC-10, but one in a United livery that is hard to find pictures of these days.


Can't quite tell from the photo -- is it the original version of this livery?


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## Blackwolf (Feb 7, 2013)

trainman74 said:


> Blackwolf said:
> 
> 
> > And not just a United DC-10, but one in a United livery that is hard to find pictures of these days.
> ...


That would be the one!


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## railiner (Feb 7, 2013)

trainman74 said:


> Blackwolf said:
> 
> 
> > And not just a United DC-10, but one in a United livery that is hard to find pictures of these days.
> ...


Wow! I didn't realize UAL was into 'retro' paint schemes....An Airbus masquerading as what....a Caravelle?


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## Swadian Hardcore (Feb 7, 2013)

As always, nice pics NS VIA Fan! I actually don't know that bus but that SDP40F sure looks huge compared to that demolished truck.



Blackwolf said:


> Two locomotives for a 4 car consist? Call me fascinated!
> And not just a United DC-10, but one in a United livery that is hard to find pictures of these days.


You can easily find pictures of the United DC-10-10s in the original livery on www.airlners.net Remember to put "Year (oldest first)". Those were cool planes but they seemed too big for their short range, and were often used on domestic flights. Oversized as they were, DC-10s were sure comfortable compared to today's worse-than-Greyhound 757s/737s/A320s.


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## trainman74 (Feb 8, 2013)

railiner said:


> Wow! I didn't realize UAL was into 'retro' paint schemes....An Airbus masquerading as what....a Caravelle?


Ha! As far as I know, they only have two aircraft in _intentionally_ retro paint schemes, and the other one is a Boeing 737-900:


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## railiner (Feb 8, 2013)

trainman74 said:


> railiner said:
> 
> 
> > Wow! I didn't realize UAL was into 'retro' paint schemes....An Airbus masquerading as what....a Caravelle?
> ...


Nice shot......Robert Six would be proud......


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## Devil's Advocate (Feb 8, 2013)

NS VIA Fan said:


> Rolling up the coast at dusk……all of a sudden there was a jolt and the train came to a quick stop……we had hit something! After a few minutes we were allowed to get off (and this was just along the track…..no station/no platform……I can imagine this being permitted now!) Wrapped around the front of our SDP40F was a Triple A Tow Truck. No injuries…..the driver had been out when we hit.


1975 was at the early stages of our eventual transition to today's nanny state era. Some of the changes came with the protections I agreed with, such as trying to prevent a few greedy and careless people at the top of the food chain from permanently polluting the air and water for everyone else. Other protections I still find annoying to this very day, such as treating *all* rail passengers like clueless babies in order to protect one or two idiots who should never have made it to adulthood in the first place.



Swadian Hardcore said:


> You can easily find pictures of the United DC-10-10s in the original livery on www.airlners.net Remember to put "Year (oldest first)". Those were cool planes but they seemed too big for their short range, and were often used on domestic flights. Oversized as they were, DC-10s were sure comfortable compared to today's worse-than-Greyhound 757s/737s/A320s.


Usually people who don't like to fly complain about regional jets. Compared to a regional jet an A320, B737, or B757 is a large and spacious aircraft. I don't ever ride Greyhound, so far all I know maybe it's the lap of ultimate luxury, but in my view the time you save on the plane means that a cramped seat just isn't that important compared to days worth of sitting on even the most luxurious bus. In the past I tried to avoid regional jets, but these days it's not easy. You can carefully ticket a series of mainline flights only to end up on a regional jet anyway when the next capacity change comes through the scheduling system. This happened to me not that long ago. I managed to win the regional jet roulette for nine flights in a row only to end up nothing but regional jets working the last few flights of the day into my home airport. That left me with the option of a tiny zero-frills regional jet in a cramped seat for all of a half hour or a bus ride that was six or seven times longer. No matter how nice the bus was I would rather get home as quickly as possible so I could be refreshed and back at work the following morning.

Are bus companies really competing with airlines?

I honestly can't remember a time when I was comparing flight routings and bus schedules on the same route.


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## Swadian Hardcore (Feb 8, 2013)

Devil's Advocate said:


> NS VIA Fan said:
> 
> 
> > Rolling up the coast at dusk……all of a sudden there was a jolt and the train came to a quick stop……we had hit something! After a few minutes we were allowed to get off (and this was just along the track…..no station/no platform……I can imagine this being permitted now!) Wrapped around the front of our SDP40F was a Triple A Tow Truck. No injuries…..the driver had been out when we hit.
> ...


They rarely do, but I ride buses for such long distances that most people would fly. And yes, it is a through bus with no transfer, so I guess they do compete a little.


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## trainman74 (Feb 9, 2013)

railiner said:


> Nice shot......


Just to clarify, since I don't want to give the wrong impression: neither of the photos I posted in this thread were taken by me, I just found them elsewhere (specifically, on Flickr).


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## railiner (Feb 10, 2013)

trainman74 said:


> railiner said:
> 
> 
> > Nice shot......
> ...


Makes no difference to me. They are nice shots, regardless. So even if you didn't shoot them, thanks for finding them and providing the link....


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