Getting From Los Angeles To San Diego

Getting From Los Angeles To San Diego – I’m an airplane guy through and through, but I was looking forward to this trip to Los Angeles on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner. For those unfamiliar with railroads and Southern California, the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner gets its name because it follows the ocean on its journey from San Diego to Los Angeles (and beyond, to San Luis Obispo). In some areas, the road is right on the beach, and the view is better than anything you’ll see driving on Interstate 5 between the two cities.
The Pacific Surfliner is arguably one of the best rides on any of the North American railways, so I was delighted to get off the train that morning and experience what it’s like to be a great railway (I’m sure “railroad fan” is the right word). I ended up very happy Good read on AvGeek stuff, so adding the train experience to my repertoire sounds like a great plan.
Getting From Los Angeles To San Diego
Amtrak California California Surfliner No. 579 San Diego, CA (Santa Fe Depot) – Los Angeles, CA (Union Station) Friday, June 23, 2017 Locomotive: EMD F59PHI Locomotive: 464 Duration: 2 hours 45 Seats: 72 (Business cabin)
Lonely Planet Los Angeles, San Diego & Southern California 6 6th Ed.: Lonely Planet: 9781787017085: Books
Note: Although Pacific Ocean provides direct service from San Diego to Los Angeles, there are actually 13 stops along the way:
While all the stops are short, it’s still much better than driving 5 countries.
The San Diego Railroad’s Santa Fe Depot is one of the most interesting (and beautiful) buildings in the city. In fact, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’ve never been there, even though I’ve lived within a half mile of it for the past ten years.
I’m sure that’s why my mind was blown when I saw the interior in person. I don’t know much about railroads, but I’ve always thought of them as large buildings with a lot of interesting history, and Santa Fe Station doesn’t disappoint.
San Diego Vs. Los Angeles [2023]
Standing at the entrance took me back to 1920. This is a beautiful building!
The downside of getting on the train that morning as a novice was that I didn’t know what to do. I had the plane ticket in my hand, but we had a big suitcase and we didn’t know what to do with it. Do we control it or do we carry it with us?
I’ve been told that it’s perfectly legal to take a large suitcase on the train, but as a seasoned air traveler, this seemed odd to me. We decided to check it out to avoid any problems.
Check-in tickets and check-in counters. Pro tip: If you really don’t want to check your bags, you don’t need to check them. Take it on the train, in a big overhead suitcase!
Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner Expanding Socal Service
Check in was smooth, friendly staff confirmed no, we didn’t really need to check bags if we didn’t want to. Hmm, good to know. We’ll check it out now, but we’ll take it on the train tomorrow on the way back to San Diego. Man, I feel so fresh and really out of it!
Once checked in and ready to go, I immediately discovered the simple joys of train travel. The scheduled departure time was not another 30 minutes, but still plenty of time to get out of the terminal and cross the street to the bag shop to grab a bag and a Starbucks coffee. By the time we got back, the flight had already started to line up, and we lined up to board the plane. No security checks, no long lines, no shenanigans. Traveling is simple and easy – just like it used to be.
Two lines are set up to enter the train. Business class passengers on the left and economy class passengers on the right.
Sitting on a big locomotive and standing next to it for a while is a very intense experience. I didn’t even want to get on the train at first – the train was so much fun that I could have spent hours walking around it looking and taking pictures. But there’s no time, especially since my wife is with me, and she’s always good enough to keep me entertained and not get distracted by geeky stuff.
Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner Expanding Its Socal Service
At this point, I really felt like an eight year old boy, intrigued by the experience and excited to be on the train.
As a new train, I was thinking about how big these things are when they stand side by side. This is a great machine!
I don’t know his name, but today’s business class attendee is a worldly man. He took care of us all the way to Los Angeles.
Another bonus of my wife being with us was that while I was an absent-minded 8-year-old boy on his first train, he was preoccupied with finding us a seat in the top row of the business class. That’s on the left (seaside is the right way). He was impressively successful, taking up two positions about 3/4 of the setback on the left side of the upper deck. Fraction!
Pacific Surfliner Train
The first two cars behind the locomotive are business class. However, the first car was a little newer and had better seats. This photo is looking back at the second car, which is the front.
Seats on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner are first come, first served and my wife selected seats 71 and 72 for us. They have good seats. As mentioned, that green grass represents the leaders who run Los Angeles today. Other purposeful passengers have tags of other colors.
The seating arrangement has a wide-angle view. By the way, this guy is handsome – he looks like a familiar train passenger, bow tie or something.
We’ve sat for the full 15 seconds and are already enjoying the experience. The seats are large and comfortable with lots of legroom, we had a large window with a view and the staff at the business school are some of the nicest and most helpful people we have ever met. We’re not gone yet, things are looking up.
Encounter Los Angeles And San Diego, Los Angeles, California
Have a good rest. It works for me but my wife is too short for comfort.
The loft is spacious and has air conditioning and reading lights. Just like on an airplane, your luggage is carried overhead. Although that’s a lot.
Before returning to – hey, I guess you could call it “support” since the locomotive is ahead and we’re going to be pushed to LA – escort the crew through the route that provides the best gear/equipment. The box was full of food, and the portions were large enough to be a full meal. It even has the Pacific Surfliner logo, which I think is pretty cool. I soon began to feel the fascination many people have with train travel.
As you can see, the snack box is exclusive to the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner. I really wish airlines would do something like this.
Map Of Los Angeles & San Diego
We didn’t move for 30 seconds, and we started seeing San Diego from a perspective we hadn’t seen before.
One of the things my wife and I look forward to most about taking the train is getting around our home. We live on the edge of a canyon that has railroad tracks running through it and we see the trains go by every day. Hey – nice to see our house from the train station that we always see from our bedroom windows.
A staff member offered free alcohol in the form of bottled wine and beer, an offer we took because, hey – this is a business school after all, we shouldn’t disagree. right?
Our eyes were glued to the windows heading north through San Diego, and we dreaded after crossing Oceanside as the train slid for miles. i mean something like
Amtrak Train Service Suspended Over Shifting Coastal Ground
Hard to believe this is the train scene, isn’t it? Pacific Surfliner has a nice name.
I’m sure you’d love to see pictures of bathrooms instead of beaches. here you go!
The beauty of the sea gradually entered the city as we pushed north, and as we crossed
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