# Surfliner Sleeper To San Diego



## WhoozOn1st (May 10, 2012)

Before anybody starts getting their panties in a bunch, let us stipulate that just as yes, we have no bananas, yes, there are no sleeping cars on Amtrak Pacific Surfliners.

_Usually._

A notable exception occurred over Thanksgiving weekend, 2011, and Team Whooz was aboard to enjoy the experience. The privately owned former Union Pacific sleeper Pacific Sands was coupled to an Amtrak Pacific Surfliner at Los Angeles Union Station, hauled to San Diego, uncoupled there, parked in front of the handsome and historic old Santa Fe depot to serve as a hotel on wheels for one night, then coupled to another Pacific Surfliner the following evening for the return trip to Los Angeles. And so: Pacific Surfliner sleeper to San Diego!

The genesis of this trip was an e-mail from Team Whooz Executive Assistant Alice. She's on the mailing list of L.A. Rail.com, a group of vintage railcar owners (EDIT: It's the railcars that are vintage; can't say about the owners.) whooz streamliners - "private varnish" - are available for charter and public trips. An upcoming public trip aboard the Pacific Sands was the topic of the e-mail from Alice.

Alice's stated purpose for the e-mail was merely to let me know about the existence of the trip, with the suggestion that Team Whooz might consider doing a similar jaunt sometime in the future. It arrived, however, at a time when I was kinda casting about for a rail adventure of some sort anyway, and I think Alice was somewhat taken aback when I replied, "Let's GO!"

Pacific Sands' itinerary was simple and straightforward: depart L.A., Fullerton, Santa Ana, or Irvine on the Saturday morning of Thanksgiving weekend; ride to San Diego, stay the night aboard the sleeper; depart San Diego Sunday evenng for return run to boarding location. Between arrival and departure our time in town would be our own, with Pacific Sands as our hotel and base of operations.

And the price, we decided, was quite reasonable for a weekend getaway, considering that it included railfare (aboard a private varnish sleeper, no less!), lodging, and a food and beverage component as well in the form of continental breakfasts, plus (as we would find) other snack and dessert type stuff. The all-inclusive price for our double bedroom (upper and lower bunks, with private bathroom) was $338.

Of course that's just figuring the nuts and bolts cost of the trip, and I'd be hard pressed to assign a dollar value to the entire private varnish weekend experience. I think a lot has to do with what you bring to such a trip in the way of hopes and expectations, and on that level Team Whooz came away very satisfied customers who felt the adventure was an excellent value.

And talk about FUN...

Because FUL was a better place than LAX to park the MayhemMobile for the duration we boarded at Fullerton after overnighting at a nearby hotel. Our Pacific Surfliner sleeper was coupled to the trailing end of train 566, which was led by an F59. Nothing unusual about that. A bit surprising, though, was the P42 on the tail, with Pacific Sands' vestibule end coupled to that, so that our view forward was dominated by a panoramic, up close and personal, view of Amtrak No. 49's twin headlights. It occurred to me that what my life up to then had been sorely lacking was the intimate proximity of a P42 nose, and I immediately felt so much better. We weren't even underway yet, and already my worldview had been improved!

Boarding was quick, easy and assisted by Pacific Sands' owner and his assistant/car attendant, our gracious and helpful hosts for the trip. Alice's wheelchair was stowed in a disused bedroom-turned-closet, our small overnight bags stashed in our bedroom (Compartment D), and continental breakfast was served as we got underway and accelerated south. Our room was in day configuration, and though I neglected to get pics of this it's worth noting that day seating consisted of a comfortably stuffed, loveseat-size bench facing the rear of the train, and an easy chair that was not attached or tied down and could thus be placed where we liked within the small room. Nice.

I spent little time appraising the room, though, and didn't bother with food, preferring instead to walk the car to see just what was what. First thing found was no vestibule facing back; just a door with a window too dirty to try shooting photos through. So the vestibule it would be for photo purposes, with No. 49's big blue schnozz directly forward dictating that carefully leaning out the tops of the Dutch doors on both sides would be my only shooting options.

It wasn't a particularly warm morning, and naturally as we gathered speed the wind chill factor increased out there in the open vestibule. While I'm essentially a warm weather kinda guy, and not really the outdoors type, something about being aboard speeding private varnish, riding out in the old-style vestibule, made the rushing air seem bracing, even exhilarating. And let me tell you, nothing improves scenery like not having a window between it and you. Okay, for safety's sake I had SORT OF a window: Amtrak safety glasses (over my usual ones), received along with everyone else who toured Amtrak's L.A. maintenance facility ("the shops") during Amtrak Unlimited's Second Annual Gathering (2008).

As our Surfliner proceeded south I used every ensuing stop - Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana, etc. - to run back and try to persuade Alice to join me and revel in the hellacious ride I was getting up front and outside in the vestibule, but she insisted that she was enjoying the ride just fine from our room, thank you, and would be out later. Something in her tone of voice and cool gaze conveyed that she believed she was dealing with some kinda crazed maniac, which in retrospect may well have been the case. I was having too much fun to give it any thought at the time.

A few more Pacific Sands passengers came aboard at Irvine, and I began to sweat out the possibility of the vestibule getting crowded, putting an end to my clear, unobstructed views (not to mention photo angles). As things developed I needn't have worried. Sure, people came out to stand in the vestibule too, and they took a few photos as well. But they never stayed for more than a few short minutes before heading back indoors to their compartments. Which was fine by me you understand.

Alice finally came out after San Juan Capistrano to enjoy our run down the coast, and while she stayed longer than most didn't spend a whole lot of time outdoors in the brisk slipstream before also retiring again to the interior, mumbling about ruined hair or something...

Now as far as the Pacific Sands itself goes as a railcar, it's not a private varnish palace on wheels. It's a vintage sleeper well maintained to current Amtrak standards. We knew that going in, so were not in the least disappointed upon boarding to find that there was no opulent lounge area like Tequila Express; no large formal dining area like Tioga Pass (another of L.A. Rail's cars); no private chef or full kitchen for cooking up elaborate feasts; no open observation deck or rounded observation lounge. And a glance at Pacific Sands tells you it's not a dome car.

The absence of all those features was no deterrent to us, and in fact the prices for charters and trips aboard private varnish cars that DO have such perks are themselves deterrents, in my view, to many who would like to try the vintage railcar experience. We felt our San Diego weekend run with Pacific Sands was a comfortable compromise of price and amenities that allowed us to do the private varnish thing in affordable fine style.

With the day warming nicely as we progressed it was fun to wave at people trackside here and there, particularly on beaches around and south of San Clemente. It wasn't like waving at the trackside throngs from the open baggage car behind Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 3751 in May of '10, but hey, we weren't riding a highly publicized steam excursion this time around; just your everyday regularly scheduled passenger train!

On arrival at San Diego - late, but not outrageously so - we were advised that we could detrain immediately, but that if we chose to remain aboard we'd have to stay there for awhile during switching. Needless to say, Team Whooz hit the ground immediately to watch the switching show, but most other Pacific Sands passengers sat tight.

Once all normal passengers were off the normal Pacific Surfliner, the San Diego Saturday Shunting & Switching Show could commence, with the consist creeping forward from the usual boarding platform to block Broadway, a major thoroughfare to the harbor, cruise ship docks, USS Midway museum, and other attractions. It took some time - and several Amtrak folks milling to and fro while appearing to puzzle over some unknown difficulty - to uncouple Pacific Sands from the Surfliner proper once the sleeper was spotted in front of the old Santa Fe depot at downtown San Diego.

Spotted and detached, Pacific Sands was connected to ground electrical power, its handbrake was set, blue lights and signs were placed, and the sleeper was set to be our lodging and base of operations for the duration of our San Diego visit. Most of the Pacific Sands passengers not already off (which was most of 'em) began trickling to the ground as the switching action of the now-separate Surfliner continued.

After uncoupling, the Surfliner consist moved further down the line to clear and reline a switch, briefly opening Broadway to street traffic, before it returned on the track farthest from the depot to be boarded for resumption of its usual Pacific Surfliner duties with P42 No. 49 now the lead locomotive for the run back north.

Completion of the spotting and switching evolution also marked the finish of the first phase of our Surfliner Sleeper weekend. We reboarded Pacific Sands briefly, Alice to gather her touristing paraphernalia, me to gather my wits, then headed out into the city for the afternoon and evening, knowing that when we returned for the night our compartment aboard would be turned out in sleeping configuration for a night on the rails, albeit not in motion.

And with that, Valued Reader, we've also concluded the first phase of this trip report/travelogue!

Photos:

Surfliner Sleeper To San Diego - Fullerton to San Diego aboard privately owned vintage sleeping car Pacific Sands, coupled to the end of Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 566 on November 26, 2011, and headed for a Thanksgiving weekend rail getaway.

Video:

Uncoupling Pacific Sands @ SAN - Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 566 disengages from private sleeper Pacific Sands in front of the Old Santa Fe depot at downtown San Diego on Saturday, 11-26-11.

San Diego Switching, Heavy On The Horn - After parking private sleeper Pacific Sands (which had been coupled to the nose of what is now the lead P42), this Pacific Surfliner consist returns back across Broadway in downtown San Diego, switching tracks to take up position for boarding prior to its run back north on Saturday, 11-26-11.

Below: Beautiful scenery on the run to San Diego - Amtrak P42 locomotive No. 49 as seen from the forward vestibule of Pacific Sands; Meeting a northbound Coaster commuter train at Carlsbad Poinsettia - not an Amtrak stop; Pacific Sands on arrival at San Diego, waiting to be detached from Surfliner 566 for service as a hotel on wheels:


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## the_traveler (May 10, 2012)

$338 and 3X AGR adds up to = ?????? (I don't have that many fingers!)


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## WhoozOn1st (May 10, 2012)

Because it was still early in the day when we arrived at San Diego aboard Pacific Sands there was plenty of time do a few things we had in mind. The most efficient way to get around to those widely separated activities was a day pass on San Diego's light rail system. We bought passes from a machine at the depot, then walked up to the America Plaza station to board an Orange Line train that would take us to a stop near the baseball park, where there's a new pedestrian bridge we wanted to check out for its railyard views. Yeah, doing the railfan thing, as usual, instead of the usual tourist trap crap.

Problem was, America Plaza station was closed and torn up for renovation, so we had to trudge several blocks further uphill from the depot to a temporary replacement stop to catch a train. Not TOO bad, as while we were walking we caught sight of San Diego's vintage PCC streetcar in operation. Though we were out of position for boarding we did catch some pictures. When we finally boarded a train we rode to the transit plaza at 12th & Imperial, then hoofed it from there to near the ballpark and gaslamp quarter, where the new cable stay pedestrian bridge afforded excellent views of the railyards (light rail and freight) and the wide green belt and thoroughfare between the ballpark, gaslamp quarter, and downtown on the one side, and the convention center, marina hotels and tourist areas on the other - with a major street, light rail, and freight tracks running down the middle.

Done with that little activity, we doubled back to the transit plaza and boarded a Blue Line train for a ride back to the depot and a pit stop before taking yet another train the rest of the way out to Old Town. Okay, okay, yes: we did that particular bit of tourist trap crap. And had fun! So sue me. On the return from Old Town we caught the stop of a northbound Surfliner while waiting for a light rail train back toward the depot and our evening walk along the waterfront down by the USS Midway.

After that full afternoon and evening we repaired to our lair aboard Pacific Sands, which was - as expected - beautifully turned out for overnight use. We performed our evening electronics chores while enjoying some snacks and a beverage or three, then enjoyed startling passers-by from our window before tucking ourselves in for a snug and comfortable night on the rails of an active train depot. Alice slept through it, but in the middle of the night the Surfliner locomotive that had been parked by itself on an adjacent track was cranked up, idled for awhile, then moved. How she didn't get rousted by that racket is beyond me, but I wasn't about to disturb her slumber by poking her and going "Hey, hear that!?"

It was a fairly brief interruption of an otherwise fine night's sleep in preparation for another fully active day ahead.

Photos:

Pacific Sands SAN Weekend - Railcentric (mostly) sights and activities around San Diego during Team Whooz' post-Thanksgiving private varnish hotel on wheels weekend getaway.

Pacific Sands Interior, Setup For Sleeping - A few shots of the Team Whooz hotel on wheels private varnish bedroom, including private bathroom, rigged for sleeping.

Video:

Pacific Surfliner & Light Rail San Diego Arrival - Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 572 and a San Diego light rail train are running neck-and-neck as as they rumble across a ringing grade crossing finish line and into the old Santa Fe depot at downtown on 11-26-11.

Surfliner Old Town Arrival & Announcements - This Amtrak Pacific Surfliner conductor doesn't waste any time, getting started on boarding instructions even before the arriving train comes to a halt at San Diego Old Town station, first stop of a late Saturday afternoon northbound run, 11-26-11. Surfliner coaches have external speakers that allow such announcements to be heard at unmanned stations like Old Town.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSukFIMRAp0​


Below, Santa Fe power lineup near the baseball park and gaslamp quarter, viewed from cable stay pedestrian bridge; Even Pacific Sands passengers couldn't come and go while this fueling truck was at the station:


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## WhoozOn1st (May 12, 2012)

Following a good night's sleep aboard the Pacific Sands (that little Surfliner engine racket episode aside) and a fine continental breakfast in our compartment, we embarked once more on a day of railfan and other San Diego stuff before riding our private varnish carriage back north.

The late morning and early afternoon were passed with San Diego's light rail system, primarily watching and riding the vintage PCC streetcar, which operates weekends on a loop around and through downtown. The PCC maintains a trolley on its roof - its original source of power - but for operation over San Diego's modern system has been retrofitted with a huge and ungainly pantograph for power collection. A trolley just wouldn't cut it, as the catenary lacks certain features - like overhead line switches similar to rail switches - necessary for trolley operation. It's still a way fun ride around the loop on the classic equipment, and our motorman enhanced the experience with his depth of knowledge and friendly, outgoing demeanor.

Later in the afternoon we reprised our waterfront walk of the previous evening, enjoying the warm weather and harbor sights the day had to offer as we strolled in one direction past the maritime museum, then down almost to the marina in the other.

As the sun began sinking it was time to head back to the depot and Pacific Sands for the northbound run. Under most circumstance it mighta seemed a shame to have such a fine weekend come to an end, but we weren't done just yet, and were heavily looking forward to the ride returning us to Fullerton.

I settled once again in the vestibule, which this time was on the true end of the train, and thankfully lacking the presence of a P42 nose in my face to block the view. Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more, far beyond our scheduled departure time. Finally Pacific Sands' owner came around and told us what the delay was, and it seemed pretty ludicrous. Apparently somebody had dropped the ball bigtime at some point, and our Pacific Surfliner's locomotive did not have enough fuel for the run to Los Angeles. That was the story. Something made us late, but in all honesty we didn't care all that much. No hurry.

When we did at last get underway I took a video of our departure from the vestibule as we ran through downtown San Diego, gathering speed between building and through grade crossings as we got outta town. It was a warmer that evening than it had been the previous morning on the ride down, and it was a pleasure to remain out in the vestibule until we reached the coast at the bottom of Miramar Hill, where the temperature dropped rapidly running near the ocean. From there until Fullerton we preferred the warmth of our compartment - in day configuration again - as we munched on the offered cake and ice cream while riding the rails northbound in style.

Approaching FUL we gathered our belongings - as you would do on any train - and I manhandled Alice's wheelchair to be in position for rapid egress upon stopping. Once back on the ground we stepped back and waved to our Pacific Sands hosts as they, the railcar, and our great weekend receded into the night and into memory.

Photos:

San Diego's Vintage PCC Streetcar -Restored and modified for use on San Diego's modern light rail system, a PCC streetcar from the city's transit past rides local rails again. Though it retains an original trolley, power collection is accomplished by a pantograph that looks out of scale and out of place atop No. 529, but there was really no other way for it to run over a system designed for pantographs and lacking features that trolley operation would require.

Video:

Private Car Platform View Of San Diego Departure - Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 591 gets underway from San Diego on a beautiful fall evening, and we're in the rear vestibule of private sleeping car Pacific Sands for the departure. Watch, listen, and enjoy as our train leaves the depot, gathering speed through downtown San Diego; over grade crossings, behind and between buildings, past light rail trains and stations, accelerating northbound into the night. Much higher quality version of YouTube embed below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTjrLX3hpoU​



Below, San Diego's vintage PCC streetcar, No. 529, approaches the transit plaza at 12th & Imperial. Note original trolley retained on roof at left, a stark contrast with huge and ungainly pantograph required to operate 529 over San Diego's modern light rail system. Photo by Alice; an evening view of Pacific Sands not long before heading back to Fullerton, 11-27-11.


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## GG-1 (May 12, 2012)

Nice!

Aloha


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## Michigan Mom (May 15, 2012)

Team Whooz,

Can't thank you enough for this post. Travelogues, photos and videos, too!

I read last night until my forehead hit the keyboard and then rushed the kids' breakfast, got them off to school and settled down with coffee to finish reading. I don't know when I've had this much fun reading anything online! Also, the color quality you get in your pics is something I will only dream about in this lifetime.

:lol:


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## WhoozOn1st (Jun 15, 2012)

Michigan Mom said:


> Team Whooz,
> Can't thank you enough for this post. Travelogues, photos and videos, too!
> 
> I read last night until my forehead hit the keyboard and then rushed the kids' breakfast, got them off to school and settled down with coffee to finish reading. I don't know when I've had this much fun reading anything online! Also, the color quality you get in your pics is something I will only dream about in this lifetime.


Team Whooz enjoyed these kind words so much that after high-level meetings (literally: they took place in Sightseer Lounges on different Southwest Chiefs) it was decided to make Michigan Mom a Designated Honorary Acting Deputy Member of Team Whooz. This announcement of her appointment is somewhat tardy, as the decision was taken during our soon-to-be-reported adventure of following the Grand Canyon Limited excursion (powered by Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 3751 and a couple Amtrak P42 locomotives) from SoCal to its namesake big ditch, which was also when we saw Michigan Mom's post. Interestingly (or not), the private sleeper featured in "Surfliner Sleeper To San Diego" was also in the consist of the Grand Canyon Limited, so it was cool to see our old friend out on another adventure as well!






Private varnish sleeper Pacific Sands rides Arizona and California Railroad rails southbound from Parker, Arizona, on it's way to the Grand Canyon as part of the Grand Canyon Limited, 5-16-12, in this view taken through a side window of the Team Whooz MayhemMobile while pacing the train (about 30 mph) on route 95.
​


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