Friday, May 27, 2011

Sacramento to Los Angeles - West Coast Railfanning - Part 2

Thanks for stopping by the Island. If you enjoyed the pictures in the last post, I think you'll also like the final part of the train trip from Sacrament to Los Angeles.  We're aboard AMTRAK's Coast Starlight and spent the night sleeping in the lower bunk in our compartment with just enough room for two. In part 1, we left Seattle yesterday morning and reached Eugene, Oregon, about dinner time. Overnight we covered about 500 miles and have arrived at the station in Sacramento, California, just as the sun is rising.




I'm taking advantage of the complimentary coffee and sitting off the train during our station stop. It is a beautiful sunny California morning.


As we depart, we cross the (of all things) the Sacramento River. Reminder: All pics are taken with the phone camera and often through thick car windows. Also, if you're short on time, the really beautiful scenery along the Pacific is a must see ... scroll way down for that.


Going to be first in line for breakfast ...


Getting closer to the coast ...



Emeryville is the connection point for San Francisco.



Like the patterns on sidewalk caused by sun reflecting off car's windows ...


These trees tell me I'm in SOUTHERN Cal.


Old Western Pacific caboose on display ...


Walls become canvas ...



Plenty of station stops allow time to step off the train and walk a bit ...



Fascinated by double fencing ...


Getting into the famous farming country ... 










We don't often get into curves sharp enough to get a good view of the front of the train ...


More pretty scenery as we near San Luis Obispo ...





Along one of the sharpest curves along the entire line allows a good look back at the cars behind us ...


In San Luis Obispo ...






Grape growing country ...



More power to ya!




Finally, along the Pacific Ocean ...






Really beautiful scenery ...




Beauty of an old station in Santa Barbara ...





Some folks know a great spot for RVing ...



I recently read that lifeguards may make about $100K a year. Sweet job ...



The shadows are getting long and we're getting close to LA. 



We arrived a few minutes early (about 8:40 PM) in Los Angeles' Union Station.

As always, thanks for looking and your comments are welcome and appreciated! Hope all of you have a great Memorial Day Weekend. 



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