San Diego Here We Come! 5/5/2015 

Did You Know? - The Fullerton Transportation Center is a passenger rail and bus station located in Fullerton, California, United States. It is served by Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner and Southwest Chief trains, and Metrolink's 91 Line and Orange County Line trains. It is also a major bus depot for the Orange County Transportation Authority, and is one of the major transportation hubs of Orange County.

The station has two historic depots on site: one built in 1923 by the Union Pacific Railroad, and the other built in 1930 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Both depots are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Quotation To Remember: Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him. - General Eisenhower

Did You Know? - There are three tracks at the Fullerton Station.

Track 1 - Passengers to LA
Track 2 - Bypass/Freight only
Track 3 - To San Diego

Did You Know? - Early rails were made of wood, cast iron or wrought iron. All modern rails are hot rolled steel of a specific cross sectional profile. Typically the cross section (profile) approximates to an I-beam but is asymmetric about a horizontal axis (however see grooved rail below). The head is profiled to resist wear and to give a good ride, the foot is profiled to suit the fixing system.

Worn, heavy rail from a mainline is often reclaimed and downgraded for re-use on a branchline, siding or yard.

Did You Know? - The Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) is an intermodal transit center in Anaheim, California, United States.

It serves as a rail station for Amtrak intercity rail and Metrolink commuter rail, as well as a bus station utilized by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), Anaheim Resort Transit (ART), and Megabus. ARTIC is adjacent to California State Route 57, and is directly accessible by bicycle from the Santa Ana River Trail.

Built to supersede the adjacent one-story Amtrak depot, the ARTIC terminal, a steel-framed, tubular 67,000-square-foot (6,200 m2) building, opened in 2014.

Did You Know? - The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. Its drainage basin spans four counties. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows past the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, before cutting through the northern tip of the Santa Ana Mountains and flowing southwest past Santa Ana to drain into the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Ana River is 96 miles (154 km) long, and drains a watershed of 2,650 square miles (6,900 km2).

For its size the Santa Ana drainage basin is quite diverse. It ranges from high peaks of inland mountains in the north and east, to the hot, dry interior and semi-desert basin, to flat coastal plains in the west. Its climates range from dry alpine to chaparral and desert, and the watershed as a whole is very arid. Relatively little water actually flows in the river or most of its tributaries.

Did You Know? - The Honda Center (previously known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena in Anaheim, California, United States.

The arena is home to the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks and was home of the former National Lacrosse League's Anaheim Storm, which folded in 2005. It is also home to the Los Angeles Kiss of the Arena Football League.

Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, it was completed in 1993 at a cost of $123 million. Arrowhead Water paid $15 million for the naming rights over 10 years in October 1993. In the short period of time between the enfranchisement of the Mighty Ducks and the naming rights deal with Arrowhead, Disney referred to the Arena as the Pond of Anaheim.

In October 2006, Honda paid $60 million for the naming rights for over 15 years. The Honda Center is often referred to by the locals as the "Ponda Center" or "Ponda" paying homage to its beloved old name The Pond.

Did You Know? - The Los Angeles-San Diego portion of the Pacific Surfliner route was once served by the Santa Fe Railway's San Diegan passenger trains until Amtrak took over operations. Initially there were three daily trips, but in 1976 the schedule was expanded. In 1988 the service was extended to Santa Barbara, followed in 1995 with one trip a day going all the way to San Luis Obispo. As the name "San Diegan" no longer reflected the extent of the route, it was renamed the Pacific Surfliner in 2000. The route is named after the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's Surf Line.

The 350-mile (563 km) San Luis Obispo-San Diego trip takes approximately 8½ hours with an average speed of 41.2 miles per hour (66 km/h); maximum track speed is 79 to 90 miles per hour (127 to 145 km/h).

Much of the Pacific Surfliner's scenic route follows the Pacific coast, although trains travel inland through expansive farmlands in Ventura County and industrial backlots in the Los Angeles Basin, San Fernando Valley, and parts of Orange County. The Pacific Surfliner operates 11 daily trains between Los Angeles and San Diego on weekdays, 12 on weekends.

Because the San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Goleta stations are not equipped to turn equipment, trains are operated in push-pull mode. The locomotive is at the rear of the train, pushing the train from Goleta/San Luis Obispo or San Diego to Los Angeles.

At Los Angeles, the train reverses the station, and pulls the train to San Diego or Goleta/San Luis Obispo, respectively. A project is currently being prepared for run-through tracks at Union Station in Los Angeles. As of 2007, the route recovers 63% of its operating expenses through ticket sales.