An Evening At Commerce

Amtrak; Commerce, Calif.; March 6, 2014

On my recent trip to California I spent three days in the Los Angeles area before heading up the Central Valley to Stockton. On my last day in L.A. (March 6, 2014) I decided to sit somewhere to watch trains until rush hour quieted down (which it really doesn't do in the L.A. area). At the suggestion of Charles Freericks, I headed to the Metrolink station at Commerce, which sees frequent Amtrak trains in addition to Metrolink. As an added bonus, BNSF Railway has a diesel maintenance facility just across the main line, and light engine moves are frequent into the facility. The evening started off with a southbound Pacific Surfliner for Amtrak arriving (above).

The BNSF power moves I saw all came from the west, rolled through the station area and entered the engine facility through the east switches. A light power move is almost at the end of its day as a hi-rail maintenance truck heads west on the main line.

BNSF Railway; Commerce, Calif.; March 6, 2014

Despite the fact that the city is to the west, the eastbound platform was surprisingly busy in the evening. A few vans from local businesses dropped off passengers before this Metrolink train arrived.

Metrolink; Commerce, Calif.; March 6, 2014

Not far behind that train was another Metrolink train. A bicycle is last on the eastbound train as a BNSF freight approaches from behind.

Metrolink; Commerce, Calif.; March 6, 2014

That following train turns out to be an eastbound double-stack train.

BNSF Railway; Commerce, Calif.; March 6, 2014

The Amtrak Pacific Surfliners and Metrolink trains all have locomotives on the east end and cab cars on the west end. In the afternoon, the locomotives are all backlit. However, the Metrolink trains have the most photogenic cab cars in the U.S., with noses that give it a bit of a locomotive-like look as they approach. We see a westbound Metrolink train rolling through. The Commerce station only has one platform, so all trains making a stop use the near track.

Metrolink; Commerce, Calif.; March 6, 2014

With a break in the action we have a few minutes to drive west past the freight cars sitting in the yard so we can look back into the BNSF engine facility.

BNSF Railway; Commerce, Calif.; March 6, 2014

Here comes a westbound (northbound from San Diego) Pacific Surfliner and instead of the usual cab car leading, this one has one of Amtrak's converted F40 diesels. These converted diesels have lost their prime movers, and the extra space inside is used for baggage -- there are baggage doors added to the side. This combination of cab car and baggage car has led to these being referred to as "cabbages."

Amtrak; Commerce, Calif.; March 6, 2014

Meanwhile, the power for this train is actually from a diesel pushing on the east end. Today, the diesel is a special one -- Amtrak No. 42 painted to honor U.S. military veterans.

Amtrak; Commerce, Calif.; March 6, 2014

The sun is just about gone as the next Metrolink eastbound approaches. A green signal on the middle track indicates we might squeeze in one more westbound before we depart.

Metrolink; Commerce, Calif.; March 6, 2014

The sun has, indeed, gone down as that westbound approaches. We squeeze off one shot of a BNSF stack train before heading off to the streets of Bakersfield for the night. Once again, thanks to Charles Freericks for suggesting heading to Commerce. More shots from Commerce (and earlier in the day) can be found here.

BNSF Railway; Commerce, Calif.; March 6, 2014