Hello my name is David and i live in England. Iam taveling to California in Feb 2002 for a few days of railfaning and i was looking for a few good places where i can take Photos of trains. I hope to be based in the LA Area, if any one could help me i would be most greatful. Many Thanks
Posted by cajon (Member # 40) on :
Check w/ Altamont Press for their timetables. They have one for Calif. It has a wealth of info for railfans. It is MUCH more than a typical RR timetable. Their URL is: http://altamontpress.com/ Next get road maps that show RRs like Thomas Brothers &/or Delorme http://www.delorme.com. Also check The U.S. Geological Survey for topograhic maps for puchase on the internet. Just do a search for USGS on your browser. AS for places to go for pix in the LA area they are everywhere. So it depends on if you have seen anyplaces on this & other boards that are of interest to you. You might also want to ride some Amtrak &/or Metrolink trains to see LA & surounding areas. Good luck.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
I will heartily recommend the ex-Southern Pacific (now UP) Coast Line, especially around Santa Barbara station, and then again, north of Santa Barbara around Refugio State Beach or at Gaviota State Beach.
At Refugio, there is a road behind the ranger quarters that goes up the coastal bluffs. I have some epic shots of the Coast Daylight in my personal folio from there.
Gaviota has a fishing pier. From there you can look up and back to a fantastic trestle spanning a chasm in the coastal bluff.
Just my $0.02. Other folks mileage may vary.
John
------------------ The City of Saint Louis (UP, 1967) is still my standard for passenger operations
Posted by MPALMER (Member # 125) on :
If you are interested in the "downtown" Los Angeles area, you might want to buy a Rail Guide from Sam Pottinger's Steel Rails West. He publishes a guide based on local topo maps; he has a link on the trainweb site. Sam also gives 'safety advisories' about the local neighborhoods; some local rail lines pass through some rather depressed and dangerous areas.
Unfortunately many of the "city" areas are marred by graffiti, both on trackside structures and the freight cars (wagons). Local UP (SP) switch engines are also tagged, but the road engines for both UP and BNSF are usually 'clean'. Once you get out of town, the graffiti problem is not as severe.
As suggested above, ride Metrolink or Amtrak in the area. Most Metrolink service is on Monday-Friday, but there is some weekend service on lines that are not served by Amtrak.
Santa Barbara is reached by Amtrak, but for Refugio or Gaviota you would need a car, as there are no nearby stations. Those places are north/west of Santa Barbara. I agree with the post from PullmanCo---it is very scenic there, though it can be foggy at times.