September 28th And We Are Off To San Diego With The Finch's
Did someone say "trains" and "airplances" to Brian and Paul??? That's all it took for the September Adventure to occur!
We got to Fullerton Station about 9:30 so we had an hour to wait and watch the freight trains go by. Brian and Paul were like two little boys in a toy store watching the freight trains whiz by at 80 miles and hour! Brian counted one train with over 200 cars on it.
Fullerton Station in 1955
...and 62 years later is looks much the same
Here it comes... Three engines strong in front and two pushers!
On its way to the Port of San Pedro or Long Beach
J B Hunt?
Did You Know? - J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. is a trucking and transportation company that was founded by Johnnie Bryan Hunt, and based in the Northwest Arkansas city of Lowell. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. was incorporated in Arkansas on August 10, 1961 and originally started with five trucks and seven refrigerated trailers to support the original rice hull business.
By 1983, J.B. Hunt had grown into the 80th largest trucking firm in the U.S. and earned $63 million in revenue. At that time J.B. Hunt was operating 550 tractors, 1,049 trailers, and had roughly 1,050 employees.
Today this company has grown into one of the largest transportation companies in the United States with annual revenues of over $10 billion.
J.B. Hunt primarily operates large semi-trailer trucks, and provides transportation services throughout the continental United States, Canada and Mexico.
The company currently employs over 16,000 employees and operates in excess of 12,000 trucks. Over 47,000 trailers and containers can be found in the company's fleet.
The trains were very long...
One was over 200 cars
and had five locomotives
Wonder where the containers will end up?
Something new at the station!
Did You Know? - The first train museum in Orange County displays a collection of five vintage railcars. It is open for free guided tours from 9 a.m. to noon on the first and third Saturdays of each month, at the east end of the Fullerton Train Station.
It is getting ready to open in just a few days
Anyone want to play the piano?
"Hey Brian... They are giggling at us!"
Just watching the trains go by!
Up and over we go on our way to Track #3
where the south bound Surliner will be stopping
The dates are on the same level as the top of the bridge
Did You Know? - The date palm is dioecious, having separate male and female plants. They can be easily grown from seed, but only 50% of seedlings will be female and hence fruit bearing, and dates from seedling plants are often smaller and of poorer quality. Most commercial plantations thus use cuttings of heavily cropping cultivars. Plants grown from cuttings will fruit 2–3 years earlier than seedling plants.
Dates are naturally wind pollinated, but in both traditional oasis horticulture and in the modern commercial orchards they are entirely pollinated manually. Natural pollination occurs with about an equal number of male and female plants. However, with assistance, one male can pollinate up to 100 females.
Since the males are of value only as pollinators, this allows the growers to use their resources for many more fruit-producing female plants. Some growers do not even maintain any male plants, as male flowers become available at local markets at pollination time.
Manual pollination is done by skilled labourers on ladders, or by use of a wind machine. In some areas such as Iraq the pollinator climbs the tree using a special climbing tool that wraps around the tree trunk and the climber's back to keep him attached to the trunk while climbing.
Date palms can take 4 to 8 years after planting before they will bear fruit, and produce viable yields for commercial harvest between 7 and 10 years. Mature date palms can produce 68 to 176 kilograms (150 to 300 lb) of dates per harvest season, although they do not all ripen at the same time so several harvests are required. In order to get fruit of marketable quality, the bunches of dates must be thinned and bagged or covered before ripening so that the remaining fruits grow larger and are protected from weather and pests such as birds.
Our train soon arrives
Surfliner at your service
Screech..... Hiss.....
A little libation as we scream through the little cities along the track
Notice the airplane shirt
Paul had the P-51 shirt
It was a relaxing ride even at 80 miles and hour
We know we are near San Diego as
the water is on both side of the track
San Diego Station here we are!
Did You Know? - The Santa Fe Depot (as it was originally designated) officially opened on March 8, 1915, to accommodate visitors to the Panama-California Exposition.
The depot was completed during a particularly optimistic period in the City's development, and represents the battle waged by the City of San Diego to become the West Coast terminus of the Santa Fe Railway system's transcontinental railroad, a fight that was ultimately lost to the City of Los Angeles.
The historic depot is located in Centre City (Downtown San Diego) and is still an active transportation center, providing services to Amtrak, the San Diego Coaster, the San Diego Trolley, and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System bus system.
Of the 74 California stations served by Amtrak in Fiscal Year 2013, the Santa Fe Depot was the 3rd-busiest in California and the 13th-busiest in the Amtrak system, boarding or detraining an average of approximately 1,880 passengers daily.
Can't miss the trolley!
Many tracks come into the station!
Making its appointed rounds!
The sign had meaning years ago...
To Davanti Enoteca
in Little Italy
Four blocks, 1/2 miles, 12 minutes
Great grub!!
We are ready to eat!
Us too!
Nice dining
Truffle Oil Egg Toast
We have been seated, now it is time to walk!
We are off and walking and enjoying all the outdoor tables
0.8 miles, 20 minutes
It was hot for our walk to the Midway