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Old Posted Jul 29, 2015, 6:12 AM
CityBoyDoug CityBoyDoug is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 2,868
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wig-Wag View Post
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
Thanks Jack for your astute report. The worst part of that old train to San Diego in 1954? was the Men's restroom. OMG, that was a trip into a nether world somewhere deep below Hades..... "Long past its prime"...is putting it mildly!

But in 2014 I took the Surfliner to San Diego. The train was super clean and the trip was a pleasure. I went ''Business Class'' which was fun...sort of. Overall...I'd do it again.

Cheers, ....Doug
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