Santa Fe 3751 Brings Fans to Trackside
"What's going on?" That was the question most asked by passers-by as photographers, news crews and railfans lined up at stations and scenic locations from Los Angeles to San Diego on Sunday as a restored Santa Fe steam locomotive hauled a special passenger train, recalling the bygone era of rail travel.
The sold-out 10-car excursion train ran with the help of Amtrak, which benefited enormously from the positive public relations value of the event. Amtrak police kept watch on the crowds but were not intrusive, while Amtrak crews and personnel ensured a safe journey.
The train was brought up from the Amtrak yard just south of Union Station shortly before 7:00 am as passengers lined up and spectators took turns having their photos taken in front of the massive steam locomotive. At spots from Fullerton to Irvine to San Clemente and San Diego, shutters clicked and video cameras whirred as the train passed by. It had been more than half a century since such a sight had been seen along the Southern California coast.
At San Clemente State Beach, I met a 58-year-old enthusiast from Australia on a five-week railfan tour of the United States. Fondling his Pentax and hunting up quarters for the parking meter, he talked trains while we waited. Later, at the San Clemente Pier, I met others who had been following the train's progress throughout the day.
Seeing a group of photographers with tripods, locals out for a day at the beach would approach us to ask what was happening. When told, "A steam train is coming," the common reaction was one of excitement. Many stayed to wait and watch for the train.
At the Santa Fe depot in downtown San Diego, hundreds of eager spectators were lined up hours before the special's arrival at 1:15. The train was soon surrounded, paparazzi-style, its 1927 locomotive gleaming black under the midday sun.
The train's return trip was delayed, and it didn't pass the Pier where I waited along with a few other diehard fans until 8:32 pm. I stood on the station platform as the 437-ton locomotive blasted by in the dark at 40 miles per hour just a few feet from me. Dark smoke belched from its stack. Only the headlamp and traces of light from the cab and firebox lit the eerie scene. The air reverberated from the pounding and energy of the steam locomotive, which one San Clemente resident later described as "like an animal." My nerve endings are still vibrating from this wildlife encounter.
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