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We just got back from a trip to San Diego. It wasn't on a train. We drove. But we had some interesting railfanning experiences that we sort of stumbled across.
On Tuesday Sept 6, on our drive down "raced" Amtrak #11 by the oil fields at San Ardo in southern Monterey County. We were doing 70 on highway 101, and even though the train had more curves than we did, it stayed right with us for several minutes before we finally got ahead of it. It seemed to be not too late, as this was about 2:30pm. The Amtrak website said it was about an hour and a half late into Paso Robles that day, about 30 minutes from where we saw it.
On Wednesday we saw a Coaster go by while watching horseraces at Del Mar.
On Friday we drove down a random street in San Diego and stumbled on the Amtrak/Santa Fe depot. What a beautiful building that was. And there happened to be a Surfliner there at the time. To make it even better, there was one, and only one, parking place right in front just for us to stop in for a few photos.
Later that same day, while looking for food in Balboa Park we stumbled on the model railroad museum. Biggest darn layouts we've ever seen, and lots of 'em!
And on the drive home we saw a BNSF train heading towards San Diego with empty auto carriers.
So we got in a full week of railfanning without even trying.
Posts: 2649 | From: California's Monterey Peninsula | Registered: Dec 2000
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I remember two interesting things about the San Diego Santa Fe depot. One is the tile work around the inside of the station. If I remember correctly, the Santa Fe logo is done several times in tile, and each is just a little different from the others. The other interesting thing is womens' waiting room, probably a necessity in a Navy town like San Diego.
-------------------- Kiernan Posts: 155 | From: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Registered: Apr 2005
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I believe most stations of the early 20th century had separate (but equal or more so?) "Ladies Waiting Rooms". Our 1905 Santa Barbara Southern Pacific station has one that still retains the circular settee in the middle and one of two faux fireplaces.
I love the San Diego Station, too, and it is certainly well used with the Surfliners, Coasters and the trolley stop right next door.
Frank in Sunny (no morning marine layer!) SBA
Posts: 2160 | From: Santa Barbara, CA, USA | Registered: Oct 2003
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San Diego is near the top of a very short-list of my most favorite US Cities. Such natural beauty and amazing weather. I was stationed there while I was in the US Navy and it will always hold a special place in my heart. The last time I was there was on a detour from LA on the Surfliner. I spent a few days and did the 'tourist thing' to bring back old memories and make some new ones.
The Amtrak Station inside had a huge model of the USS MIDWAY aircraft carrier, now a museum docked just steps away from the station. The waterfront area with the Maritime Museum and Star of India is great fun to stroll on a lazy Sunday. The trolley takes you as far as the US border if you are brave enough to venture into Tijuana for a day visit, and harbor tours take you past the huge Navy and Sub Bases and out towards Point Loma, in itself an amazing place to visit with stunning high panoramic vistas of San Diego and the Pacific Ocean.
Horton Plaza and the nearby historic Gaslamp District with its boutique shops, clubs, and restaurants is great fun at night, to eat, drink, and people watch. Go to the new Petco Park for a great ball game, spend the entire day at huge Balboa Park for the zoo, or get wet at Seaworld!
San Diego is indeed a great city to spend a few days in!
Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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quote:Originally posted by dmwnc1959: San Diego is near the top of a very short-list of my most favorite US Cities. Such natural beauty and amazing weather. I was stationed there while I was in the US Navy and it will always hold a special place in my heart. The last time I was there was on a detour from LA on the Surfliner. I spent a few days and did the 'tourist thing' to bring back old memories and make some new ones.
The Amtrak Station inside had a huge model of the USS MIDWAY aircraft carrier, now a museum docked just steps away from the station. The waterfront area with the Maritime Museum and Star of India is great fun to stroll on a lazy Sunday. The trolley takes you as far as the US border if you are brave enough to venture into Tijuana for a day visit, and harbor tours take you past the huge Navy and Sub Bases and out towards Point Loma, in itself an amazing place to visit with stunning high panoramic vistas of San Diego and the Pacific Ocean.
Horton Plaza and the nearby historic Gaslamp District with its boutique shops, clubs, and restaurants is great fun at night, to eat, drink, and people watch. Go to the new Petco Park for a great ball game, spend the entire day at huge Balboa Park for the zoo, or get wet at Seaworld!
San Diego is indeed a great city to spend a few days in!
So you liked the Midway?- did you take th tour, I think its about 15$ a person, that nodel they got not to long ago is big, Theres some info about the Info both next to the Display, about the old San Diego Station, it show the part of the out-door Waiting room, its not there any more, but it looks great in the Picture
quote:So you liked the Midway?- did you take the tour, I think its about 15$ a person, that nodel they got not to long ago is big, Theres some info about the Info both next to the Display, about the old San Diego Station, it show the part of the out-door Waiting room, its not there any more, but it looks great in the Picture
When I was in San Diego last time the USS MIDWAY museum was set to open in less than 2 months, so I missed that part. However I have been on the MIDWAY when she was homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. As you can tell I really like San Diego. I was stationed in San Diego while one of my ships (USS SHASTA AE-33) was there during a very long overhaul.
Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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We really enjoyed San Diego. It reminded us a lot of Portland, but with sunnier skies and palm trees, with a splash of San Francisco thrown in.
We noticed the Midway model in the depot. Pretty impressive. I wish we'd had more time to look around, but we were getting pretty hungry and needed to find lunch.
We stayed at the Hotel del Coronado 3 nights. That was a beautiful and quirky place. Sorta like spending the night in the Winchester Mystery House. The best part was my employer paid for it as an incentive reward for a job well done. We then spent a fourth night in Del Mar at a hotel where a friend works. This was our first trip to San Diego, but it won't be our last. We didn't have time to see half of what we wanted to.
If the schedules were more convenient and more reliable, I'd take the train, but the drive wasn't too bad. Personally, I find the train is best as an alternative to longer ground trips that involve two or more days of driving. In those cases the train is usually faster. Any place I can drive to in a day seems to work better by car than by train. Flying from Monterey to San Diego isn't much faster, and its pretty expensive. The shortest flights involve connections that take almost four hours to complete. I can drive half way there in that time.
Posts: 2649 | From: California's Monterey Peninsula | Registered: Dec 2000
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