I know that the skylights not only at New York's "Old Penn" but also at Chicago Union Station were painted over; come now, did the Germans have A BOMBER with that kind of range (a piece on History Channel suggestes they were developing one along with nukes and ICBM's)?

No question whatever, Japanese submarines could have made it to the West Coast, and could well have landed sabeturs such as the Germans DID on the East. Lighted rail passenger cars could easily make the landing of "bad boys" easier.

I will fish out some TRAINS from that era and see if I "stumble" on to any pertinent info. If I do, I will share same here at the Forum.

The Japanese did indeed have submarines that made it to the west coast. They were able to lob a couple of shells at the Elwood Oil Field just north of Goleta. They did little real damage but it was a psychological scare. Some of the wood from the old Elwood Pier that has shell damage is in The Timbers Restaurant building at Winchester Canyon Road just off of 101.

The SP (Now UP) line runs very close to this spot.

There is, by the way, still an SP sign on the overcross at Hollister Avenue in Santa Barbara. it's pretty weathered and has had some graffitti damage but it survives!

On another note, I drove through Gaviota yesterday and saw firsthand the devastation that the fire caused. You'll remember that this closed down both north and south bound Amtrak and UP traffic for several days.