# Thruway/Surfliners/SWC/Eagle



## Bob Dylan (Aug 5, 2010)

PART II: Some cool time in the West/Return to Texas

After a nice day trip to San Francisco,foggy and cold in the AM,nice and sunny in the PM,had lunch on Fishermans Wharf,saw the Baseball Park, trolleys,light rail,and a visit to the Ferry Building Amtrak Station), we headed back to Sonoma via the Bay Bridge and checked out the Emeryville Amtrak Station where we would catch the Thruway Bus on Friday morning for Santa Barbara.Had a nice dinner in a Chinese Resturant in Sonoma (mom and pop place), slept like babies, spent Thursday doing laundry, shopping for supplies etc. and early to bed/early to rise (3AM)to head out to Emeryville on a foggy/cool morning.No traffic, arrived @4:30AM as the station opened, the agent might as well have been a Cigar store Indian, he was standing there, wouldnt talk or help with info, threw bathroom tokens into the trough in front of the glass covered counter (must be a rough crowd in this area!)and vanished! Watched several Amtrak Cal busses load/unload, come and go, finally @ 5:30AM ours pulled in, nice clean new bus, friendly driver (Jose),loaded up (only three on the bus),rolled out into the fog, crossed the Bay Bridge to the Amtrak Ferry Station, loaded a few more folks and headed out down 101 on Thruway #4784, slept until San Jose, we had a brief load and eat/bathroom stop and headed down the coast!Stopping @ all the station stops where trains actually stop, breakfast stop @ McDonalds and then down to Santa Barbara, a nice,smooth hassle free ride, the traveler is correct, great ride!

Surliner #784 SBA-SAN (Business Class)

Pulled into Santa Barbara early even with traffic getting heavy on a beautiful sunny day in Southern Cal,had eyeballed the train in Goleta as we passed, the Great Dome was in the consist, YES!Checked out bags, they gave out boarding passes, we checked out the old SP Car and the Giant Fig Tree (Stacy left the Camera @ home, phone pics didnt turn out!  ) went over to the middle of the platform where we figured the Dome would be spooted and sure enough it rolled in and stopped about 10 feet away, we literally ran (the competition was fierce! :lol: )and hopped aboard, up the stairs to snag a table seat and rolled out on time down the coast along the beaiutiful beach and ocean, through the lush farms etc. I did snag out snack packs and drink from the TA in the Biz car, not really worth the extra money since the biz cars (there were 2) were just AmCans,not cafe cars with biz seating!Being Friday they said the train was extra long as we expected to have SRO from LAX-SAN due to the Races in DelMar and the beautiful weather along the coast clear to San Diego!All this proved to be true, through the LA sprawl,down the coast through the Suburban towns (San Juan Capistrano looks pretty nice for sure!)and into San Diego right on time @ 7:55PM.

Recognized the old santa Fe Station, the docks and that was about it, first time in Dago since BootCamp in the early 60s!Our hotel, the Sophia was 4 blocks up Broadway, we walked to stretch out the kinks, checked in and showered, changed and headed out to eat and walk around GasTown, check out the area! The Padres were playing and being Friday night everything was jumping! Lots of street people of course but no surprise or real hassle!Had a nice seafood dinner, recognized a few places (The Balboa Theater,a few joints etc) but mostly high rises, modern improvements and all the old sleezy sailor joints [email protected] Didnt see a single Sailor or Marine in Uniform, used to be wall to wall back in the day! Returned to the hotel about 1030PM, crashed and burned and slept the sleep of the just!

Awoke the next morning to a bright sunny, just right day, had a great breakfast in the hotel bistro/resturant, we checked out, left our luggage with the hotel and went to the docks to explore/sightsee! Huge crowds, recognized the piers, not any Navy ships around except for the old carrier Midway which is now part of a museum! Lots of sailboats and yachts in the bay, Coronado really looks built up with pricey houses and condos, could see the planes skimming in to the airport right over the high rises that have been built everywhere, looks dangerous but sure is convient! Toured the Star of India, a three master sailing ship thats part of a museum along with an WWII Sub and lots of museum stuff in the main building, interesting, you also get a quickie tour of the bay on a launch for $5 more but the line looked like Disneyland so we passed and rode the Tijuana Trolley down to the border, looked @ the huge backlog of cars @ the crossing (thought no-one would be going there, it is dangerous no?)and figured, well it's California, what the hey!Had a quickie burger lunch, rode back to town and checked in @ the Amtrak after getting our bags! The three o'clock Surfliner was cancelled,equipment problems, so our train the 4PM,will be combined! Huge crowd already, and the Agent told us that everyone catching the Chief would be getting off in Fullerton (we were going to do this anyway since AGR will only book the Sunset out of LAX for SAS) since the trains were running late! Watched alot of the trolleys,Coasters etc. come and go, lined up in the ropped off area @3:30PM as the lines were already forming!(there are coach and biz class lines)Our train rolled in @ 4PM, a little late, was a Regular Surfliner consist except thbere were 14 cars due to the combined train and the crowds! The agents loading the train told us it would be standing room only and that the connection in Fullerton would be tight!Forgot to mention that parked in the station overnight was the PV Silver Splendor, being used a a hotel, nice way to visit San Diego for a weekend! 

Surfliner#785 SAN-FUL (Coach)

We boarded, snagged seats downstairs, nice, lots more comfortable than a Superliner,clean and new cars!Of course there was no Great Dome but I had already been lucky once! We rolled up the line picking up/dropping pax, staying full all the way! Beautiful day, the beaches jammed all the way up the coast, could see the heavy traffic on the 5 and 101 along the way!

We were down 30 minutes when we got to San Juan Capistrano, had to do three spots due to the length of the train when we lost the computer and set, and set and set as the time ticked away!Finally @ 5:45 they got one engine going, we rolled out and they were announcing that the Chief was leaving LAX, that everyone had to get off in Fullerton that was connecting and that checked luggage for LAX would NOT be going on the train heading East! :help: Lots of upset folks that had LAX departures for sure!I knew not to check luggage on a connection this close having learned the hard way!  Made quick stops in Irvine,Santa Ana

and Anaheim(was surprised to see the Angel Stadium full, the parking lots jammed!  ), then into Fullerton @7:15PM,1 hour and 5 minutes down! Here the luck began for the others,  there was a freight holding up the Chief so the checked luggage was unloaded, all connections could be made, there was even time to visit the small but pretty station, use the restroom, walk around and even get a drink in the resturant next to the station! A large crowd was waiting on the train ,perhaps 100 people! We sat on the nice planters and watched various trains roll by including commuters, the freight and watched the sun go down on a cool and clear day in the LA suburbs! The Chief finally rolled in @ 8:00PM, thirty minutes down, we walked to the front of the long train to boardour chariot starting the trek East towards home!  Part III To Be Continued!


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## pennyk (Aug 5, 2010)

Great report Jim. Looking forward to part 3. I have a nephew living in San Diego - hopefully, I will get to visit before he graduates from grad school.


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## had8ley (Aug 5, 2010)

Some people have all the fun...


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## JayPea (Aug 5, 2010)

If the Angels stadium was packed, they couldn't have been playing the Marginals.  

Great report! I'm much looking forward to part III. Reading these reports makes me all the more excited for my next Amtrak adventure a week from today (Texas Eagle-Bloomington to LA; Coast Starlight LA to Seattle).


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## LA Resident (Aug 10, 2010)

jimhudson said:


> PART II: Some cool time in the West/Return to Texas
> 
> After a nice day trip to San Francisco,foggy and cold in the AM,nice and sunny in the PM,had lunch on Fishermans Wharf,saw the Baseball Park, trolleys,light rail,and a visit to the Ferry Building Amtrak Station), we headed back to Sonoma via the Bay Bridge and checked out the Emeryville Amtrak Station where we would catch the Thruway Bus on Friday morning for Santa Barbara.Had a nice dinner in a Chinese Resturant in Sonoma (mom and pop place), slept like babies, spent Thursday doing laundry, shopping for supplies etc. and early to bed/early to rise (3AM)to head out to Emeryville on a foggy/cool morning.No traffic, arrived @4:30AM as the station opened, the agent might as well have been a Cigar store Indian, he was standing there, wouldnt talk or help with info, threw bathroom tokens into the trough in front of the glass covered counter (must be a rough crowd in this area!)and vanished! Watched several Amtrak Cal busses load/unload, come and go, finally @ 5:30AM ours pulled in, nice clean new bus, friendly driver (Jose),loaded up (only three on the bus),rolled out into the fog, crossed the Bay Bridge to the Amtrak Ferry Station, loaded a few more folks and headed out down 101 on Thruway #4784, slept until San Jose, we had a brief load and eat/bathroom stop and headed down the coast!Stopping @ all the station stops where trains actually stop, breakfast stop @ McDonalds and then down to Santa Barbara, a nice,smooth hassle free ride, the traveler is correct, great ride!
> 
> ...


As a native San Diegan, I really enjoyed your travelogue.

The Sophia, you probably learned, was a dump for many years, with its existence above the Greyhound Bus Terminal. But it's been fixed up nicely and attracts a lot of Europeans--and Texans, too, I guess. :lol:

The Gaslamp Quarter used to be where all the military on leave hung out. That and lower Broadway near the Santa Fe Depot. (You might have wandered in vein for the old Tower Theater site which is now a fancy office building!) Also, the Navy shut the Naval Training Center in San Diego about a decade ago, so only advanced weapons and related facilities are in downtown San Diego these days. Most of the shipboard activities are in Coronado and there's no requirement to wear uniforms off base. Believe me, though, the planes landing at Coronado's Naval Air Station land over water, skimming by the high=rise condos and the century-old turret of the Hotel del Coronado. But the noise still drives people crazy. (The hotel admittedly was there first before the Navy but not the condos.)

Many Surfliner regulars circumvent the line-up to board because the entryway also services the Coaster commuter and the San Diego Trolley stations alongside the Amtrak platforms. So you just say you're boarding the trolley and pass by, allowing extra time to get on board the Surfliner when the doors first open before the crowds descend. You can also walk directly onto the platforms from the streets; I'm sure you noticed that the platforms are not exactly closed-off areas. Hey, that's San Diego!

And yes, San Juan Capistrano is a delightful little town to spend a day visiting the old Mission and the restaurants, all within a two=block radius of the depot, which itself is a fancy restaurant (two restaurants, actually). Many ride from San Diego or from LA for the day. The Metrolink also runs through San Juan Capistrano from LA all the way to Oceanside in San Diego's North County.

Come back and visit again soon! And bring the dome with you!!


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## Guest (Aug 11, 2010)

:hi: Thanks for the info, I found San Diego to be just as you said,  we did enjoy the Hotel, got a great rate on the web, it was full of upper scale older and young hipsters! Nice weather,

who can afford to live there however! And the Big Dome is going East soon, enjoy it while yall can!


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## Exiled in Express (Aug 20, 2010)

Great detail. I am going to follow your lead in May. How was the load on the Thruway bus?


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 20, 2010)

Exiled in Express said:


> Great detail. I am going to follow your lead in May. How was the load on the Thruway bus?


The bus was the best single bus trip I ever had! Great driver,new Amtrak bus, smooth trip with a couple of reststops, clean, air conditioned just right and onlky a few passengers, everyone could have had two seats to themselves if wanted! Go for it, you won't be sorry!


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## boxcar479 (Aug 22, 2010)

Boy Jim,I was going to wait till next year to do my big trip,after reading your report i sure am envious. think I'll start booking tomorrow lol. great report. can't wait for part III.


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