Passenger Trains > Metrolink hodgepodge from Sunday morning

It's been a while since I've bothered photographing any Metrolink trains but todays UP and BNSF freights were so ordinary and so few, I welcomed the opportunity. Metrolink continues to operate their mismatch of equipment, here's a trio of examples from this fairly clear Southern California Sunday morning.

1) SCAX F59PHI 876 on train # 753 heads for downtown LA near the Cridge St grade crossing in Riverside at 9:02AM.

2) 20 minutes later, Oceanside bound train # 859 passes with veteran F59PH 870 shoving in push-mode at the same location.

3) Lastly at 9:56AM, Metrolink test train 501X leaves the maintenance facility at Rana (San Bernardino) behind F125 911. The train spent the afternoon testing newly installed communications equipment at several crossings in the Pomona / Claremont area on the former AT&SF 2nd District.

That does it and thanks for looking. At least when nothing else is running, there's always Metrolink.

OYW

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Thanks - yes scheduled passenger trains ensure you'll see something when you go trackside.  Like those target signals in image 1; they are getting more scarce everyday.

casco17 Wrote:
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> Thanks - yes scheduled passenger trains ensure
> you'll see something when you go trackside.

That's my way of thinking, better than nothing. Thanks

casco17 Wrote:
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> Thanks - yes scheduled passenger trains ensure
> you'll see something when you go trackside.  Like
> those target signals in image 1; they are getting
> more scarce everyday.

Those signals at Cridge St, aka West Riverside, have been there for about 15 years with no replacement in sight so far.

I still find it interesting the that the Bomdardier cars are still in use all over the country, but Metrolink felt the need to replace them with the Hyundai/Rotem cars---which still needed modifcation when they got here. I also noticed the Bombardier cars that went up north to the bay area are doing quite well!

I guess after a couple of nasty wrecks, they had to show they did do something about the potential  for extent of structural damage. Their lozenge shaped cars must be required to be bellied in a consist, like WMATA's 1K cars were.

Hyundai/Rotem cars are not sufficient to meet the consist needs.  The bombs are required on a daily basis, at least one to a set. The one car has bike racks on the lower level.

The bombs are going to start a re-hab, including some out of service cars.  At the present time serviceable equipment does not allow any additional trains, unless the existing sets can be utilized.  Next years budget shows an additional train on the Perris Valley line, to Los Angeles, so this may require some adjustments to existing sets or cars taken out of storage.

Also the budget shows the weekend schedules starting in South Perris in place of Riverside, using the present weekend schedule.  No train yet from LA in the morning to make a trip to Perris and return in the same day.