Passenger Trains > Metrolink AV Line to Lancaster - do people ride there?

If one includes random people in a pic, does that add or detract from the photo?

I have posted several brief 'photo stories' on TO, and when I post trips on passenger trains, I often post pics that show only the train.
I wait until the passengers have moved off the platform to get a 'clean' pic of the train, kind of like a roster shot.  That can (understandably) lead some to think that the trains are virtually empty.
(I also send different photos to a rail advocacy group and often include passengers in those frames).

Yesterday (Feb. 17) I rode the Metrolink Antelope Valley Line round-trip from LAUS to Lancaster.  Enclosed are pics from the trip; all with people.  I don't know any of these people, and I wasn't trying to catch anything 'special', just people riding trains.

1. People waiting at LAUS for train 263.
2. A view of the power, with passengers in the background
3. Metrolink passengers on another platform; this is a San Bernardino line train.

Continued...

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4. Arrival at Lancaster in the rain.  There were more passengers than this, but they had dispersed before I could get a pic with the station sign in the frame.  Many people also detrained at the previous stop - Palmdale.
5. Arrival of train 268 back at LAUS
6. A random pic of passengers gathered in the pedestrian tunnel at LAUS

So, to answer the question, people do ride to Lancaster.  And San Bernardino.  And other destinations. While there were no passengers at certain stops (such as Vincent Grade/Acton). there were several at other stops, especially Burbank Downtown and Glendale.

Enjoy (and be prepared for company if/when you ride the train)

 

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Thanks for the photos. I enjoy seeing the human element of railroading as well, especially in regards to passenger trains. Well done!

Posted from Android

Is there enough layover time in Lancaster to eat lunch?  Also where is the nearest restaurant?  I did a rountrip once on this train when they first put it on but the closest restaurant was a Chinese restaurant seems like half a mile away.
 

Adds. Unless they are other railfans taking photos!

CR3 Wrote:
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> Is there enough layover time in Lancaster to eat
> lunch?  Also where is the nearest restaurant?  I
> did a rountrip once on this train when they first
> put it on but the closest restaurant was a Chinese
> restaurant seems like half a mile away.
>   Got a Carl's Jr.on the corner f Sierra HWY and Ave. J and a Weinersznitel on Ave J!

CR3 Wrote:
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> Is there enough layover time in Lancaster to eat
> lunch?  Also where is the nearest restaurant? 

Barely.  I walked down Lancaster Ave. a couple blocks west to a bakery called Caramel.  They have sandwiches, cookies and pastries.  They layover is a little over 30 minutes, so one needs to walk there, grab lunch then head back.
This was a Sunday trip, so the station was closed.
Last time I rode on a weekday, I ate at a fast food place set up inside the station; they had fast-food fare (burgers, hot dogs, burritos).  There are other choices, but they would require a longer walk and you likely would need to wait a few hours for the next train.  That could work if you are also interested in checking out the UP; a southbound train came roaring by about 5 minutes before the Metrolink departure.  But this is not always the case; I once stayed there for an extended layover and not a freight train in sight...

It probably depends on how far as well as the time of day. The trip from Downtown LA to Lancaster is painfully long but worth it if you want to ride for the sake of scenery or railfanning purposes. I rode the whole route back in 2007 and rode as far as Santa Clarita-Newhall in 2017. To view the best scenery, you have to ride all the way to Lancaster; if not, then as far as Palmdale. Even when you drive to Lancaster from Downtown LA or anywhere along the Antelope Valley Line, it takes a long time and in little or no traffic, it beats the train. There are no direct roads from Downtown LA to Lancaster. Riding the train from LA to Lancaster is a little like traveling from Hoboken to Pt. Jervis. The Pt. Jervis Line doesn't travel as the crow flies presently. Up to Salisbury Mills-Cornwall, it is almost a straight shot but then it heads southwest to Middletown-Town of Walkill before heading southwest down the mountain serving Otisville and then Pt. Jervis.

 

Three years ago, I rode the Antalope Valley line from Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal to Lancaster.  It is one of the scenic commuter rail lines I've ever traveled.  I highly recommend it for anyone traveling to Los Angeles who is looking for an interesting train ride.

This route's train is nicknamed The Felony Flyer due to the number of friends and family visiting inmates at the California State Prison, Los Angeles County.  SCRRA crew have been known to be attacked by passengers and this is not a preferred run.  The Lancaster State prison name is unofficial and was not chosen so that Lancaster would not have the "stigma" of a state prison.

This trip was relatively quiet.  I agree with the comments above - it is scenic, and travels through some rather remote areas in Soledad Canyon.  The few scattered homes may not be 'off the grid' but they are definitely away from the major highways, on unpaved roads.
I was speaking with another person who was just checking it out.  He was riding in part to get an idea of where the HSR would run, if it gets to this area.  

OK, I'll bite.  What's the scenery like towards the end of the line out there in the desert?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/19 07:56 by utwazoo.

With all of the rain so far, this route will be great in April with the wildflowers. To bad the Vincent stop is to far of a walk to the Vincent Hill Restaurant.

As for the desert views, not a lot as development is along the route to Lancaster.

If Metrostink had chosen tilt trains, this route would be faster. Also I could think of places they could have straightened out curves. Electric traction would speed it up better.

Posted from iPhone

utwazoo Wrote:
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> OK, I'll bite.  What's the scenery like towards
> the end of the line out there in the desert?


Google Street View works well.
Avenue L overpass looking south- between Lancaster & Palmdale:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6604122,-118.1298426,3a,75y,175.5h,83.76t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sz5tX5mQna_LC4RiX-Zw-fg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dz5tX5mQna_LC4RiX-Zw-fg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D185.09407%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Lancaster is low-density, low-income, overally dirty & depressed. The desert is...Mojave desert. The spring landscape is often nice, especially after rains.

Duna Wrote:
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> Lancaster is low-density, low-income, overally
> dirty & depressed.

Is that your lowely opinion? While that "opinion" can be stated for most rural high desert areas, the main central part of Lancaster can hardly be described that way. Is there a reason why you are posting such a negitive opinion of a well developed city?

jst3751 Wrote:
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> Duna Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Lancaster is low-density, low-income, overall
> > dirty & depressed.
>
> Is that your lowely opinion? While that "opinion"
> can be stated for most rural high desert areas,
> the main central part of Lancaster can hardly be
> described that way. Is there a reason why you are
> posting such a negitive opinion of a well
> developed city?


Not my opinion. Land use planning and transportation planning & ops are my life-long vocations, and avocations.

Low density? Definitely. (Simply look at airphotos)
Low income? Yep. Plenty of data out there.
Overall dirty & depressed? Indeed. Take a visit. Sure, there are nicer areas of the city, but, most pepole do not aspire to move to Lancaster.  It's attraction is being "affordable" by SoCal standards. The city (and Palmdale) once held much promise, like when a new international airport was being considered. Alas, now it is a 3rd-rate SoCal city. It does have a large prison/jail industry.

Look at all those assults in one week- and so close to the Metrolink station.
https://www.crimemapping.com/map/location/Lancaster,%20CA,%20USA?id=dHA9MCNsb2M9NTkyMTY3NCNsbmc9MzMjcGw9MjAwNTg4MSNsYnM9MTQ6MTY2MDYyMTk7Mjo2NjIxNTgy

 

Duna is spot on.  People moved to the Antelope Valley because it had / has affordable housing.  A lot of people rent there because rents are cheaper.  As people moved out of the LA basin to the AV, they brought a lot of their urban ills with them.    

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
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> Duna is spot on.  People moved to the Antelope
> Valley because it had / has affordable housing. 
> A lot of people rent there because rents are
> cheaper.  As people moved out of the LA basin to
> the AV, they brought a lot of their urban ills
> with them. 


The line beyond past Santa Clarita to Palmdale & Lancaster was built after the 1994 Northridge earthquake because of damage to some key freeway bridges. The Ventura line was also upgraded. At that time money was easier and faster to obtain. Earthquake & traffic relief... And local politics/mutual back-scratching.

And the Antelope Valley (Palmdale/Lancaster) still had a nice bloom, well-paying tech jobs and housing were supposed to come, the future looked great.  They were both supposed to be origin and destination stations. Today very few people take ML to either to get to work. And note how Palmdale/Lancaster are separated from Santa Clarita, almost no development in between. There probably won't be for 200 years. Thus "scenic" ride thru the hills vs. "look at all those big apartments and offices and people".

In hindsight, it probably would have been better if commuter rail funds were spent on more productive lines.  Like San Bernardino or?  But that would not have been pollitically feasible.

My comments on the economics & demographics of Lancaster & Palmdale are relative to other cities Metrolink serves.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/19 14:15 by Duna.

Duna Wrote:
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> The line beyond past Santa Clarita to Palmdale & Lancaster was built after the 1994 Northridge earthquake because of damage to some key freeway bridges. 

I could be wrong but I seem to remember that when Metrolink first began operations it only ran trains as far as Santa Clarita and I'm not sure if they purchased the track from SP between there and L.A. or just negotiated rights to run on it.  After the Northridge earthquake and the freeway bridges were damaged, the San Fernando tunnel was not damaged and the value of the rail line went way up due to the freeway damage.  I believe it was at this time that SP, in need of cash, decided to sell the line to Metrolink up to Palmdale Jct.  Metrolink scrambled to begin service to Palmdale and Lancaster as there was huge demand, and they even had Navy seabees doing quick construction of the stations.