National Train Day is a national celebration, started in 2008, of the importance of railroads in America, and an opportunity for Amtrak and others to remind Americans that passenger trains, whether intercity, regional, commuter, or otherwise, are still very much a viable travel option for Americans. The festivities are generally celebrated at the larger railroad stations, including the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, as well as railroad museums, and are held on the Saturday closest to the anniversary (May 10th) of the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Here are some pictures from the Los Angeles festivities of 2011.
Although the Los Angeles festivities include stage performances, cooking demonstrations, a modular model railroad layout presented by a local modular club, and a variety of exhibitor booths, the real center piece consists of the Platform Exhibits, and in 2011, those exhibits were so popular that a timed ticket system was instituted for them. The exhibits were divided between two tracks on either side of one of the platforms, with the current Amtrak exhibits on one side, and various Private Cars, most available for charter service, on the other side. Here, we see three views of the Private Car track, and a view through the lower level windows of an Amtrak Lounge Car, looking at passenger trains a few tracks over.
The tour route begins aboard an Amtrak Superliner Dining Car, with the tables set with typical Amtrak dining car cuisine. (Assuming the food is even real, though, it has been sitting out on display far too long for sampling to be a good idea.)
Below, two views inside the Coast Starlight's exclusive first class lounge car, the Pacific Parlour, a restored Sky Lounge car from the old Santa Fe El Capitan high-level trains on which Amtrak's Superliners are patterned.
After passing through the Diner, Pacific Parlour, and various coaches and sleepers, we return to the platform near one of Metrolink's newest locomotives, and a number of the latest hybrid diesel/battery locomotives like this one.
Also on exhibit at this end of the platform is Santa Fe 3751, a 4-8-4 steam locomotive (4-wheel lead truck, 8 drivers, and 4-wheel trailing truck) owned by the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society, which had restored it in the late 1980s, and has been operating it in "fan trip" service since 1991. But more on 3751 below.
Some of the Private Cars on display were once the private cars of the wealthy. Some were undoubtedly business cars used by railroad executives. Others were originally ordinary coaches and sleepers. But all have been restored by various private owners, and most are available for charter, and they show the opulence of a day when a private railroad car was the equivalent of today's corporate jets.
Private cars have complete, if extremely compact, kitchens, and frequently have very opulent dining rooms. The domed observation car (above right, we look from one dome to another, over the car roofs, while at left, we look down from the dome into the observation room) is the Silver Solarium, built in 1948 for the original California Zephyr, and is now owned and operated by California Zephyr Railcar Charters, in Costa Mesa, California.
Here is another view of Santa Fe 3751, this time from an out-of-service platform on the west side of the Station. The engine is under steam, and is less than an hour away from departure.
For the movies (hosted on Flickr), I climbed up on a covered-over stairwell on the abandoned platform, giving me a better view, while keeping me at a safe distance.
Watch Santa Fe 3751 couple on to the Private Cars:
Watch 3751 and the Private Cars depart:
As you see clouds of steam venting from the cylinder cocks momentarily block the view, be assured that I was at a safe distance, and all it did was leave a bit of condensation on my lens for a moment.
The tour route begins aboard an Amtrak Superliner Dining Car, with the tables set with typical Amtrak dining car cuisine. (Assuming the food is even real, though, it has been sitting out on display far too long for sampling to be a good idea.)
