[Wig-Wag]

tovangar2, I'm glad you enjoyed "Because Mom Liked to Play the Ponies" but disappointed to hear of how Amtrak handled your trip. It will be of little consolation at this late date, but Amtrak’s race track specials are not high on the list of their crews. I have a friend who recently retired from Amtrak after a 37 year career. His last years were spent as a conductor on the Pacific Surfliners and he always tried, whenever possible, to avoid the specials to Del Mar and also events at Anaheim Stadium.

CityBoyDoug, sorry to hear that your trip was disappointing as well. There are possibly three contributing factors. The first “streamlined" San Diegan was delivered in 1938 and a second trainset in 1941. Each set could make two round trips a day. a third train, using heavy weight equipment from the discontinued Valley Flyer that ran from Oakland to Bakersfield allowed for five trains a day. Despite Santa Fe’s efforts to maintain first class service on all their passenger trains in the face of declining post-war passenger traffic, by the time of your trip the streamlined equipment probably getting a bit long in the tooth. If you per chance you rode the train with the Valley Flyer equipment, that consist was long past its prime and had been used to transport troops from LA to San Diego in WWII. Also, as we all know, everyone smoked in those days and it is virtually impossible to get the odor of smoke out of vehicles.

Great portrait of a good looking family!

Cheers,
Jack