A Ride On The COASTER by Harry Sutton The "Coaster" is the new commuter train in San Diego County. It's full name is San Diego North County Transit District Coast Rail Express. For the first week of service (2/27/95-3/3/95) the trains were running free of charge, so naturally I had to test them out. Wednesday 1 March. Partly cloudy and cool for San Diego -- mid-60's. I arrived at the Santa Fe Depot at about 4:05 pm, just in time to see Coaster #637, with F59 engine #2101, the first evening train, pull into the station from the layover area and board passengers. The Coaster trains use the closest in of 3 tracks at the Santa Fe Depot. There have been no real platforms here, just an asphalt area with embedded tracks. However, for the Coaster the transit district has built a platform of sorts. It's a raised area of asphalt, edged with the standard yellow nippled warning strip, about 8 inches high on the track side. There is only one of these "platforms"; it's on the station side of the closest in track. Amtrak typically uses the middle track during the hours that the Coaster is running. To facilitate Amtrak passengers getting to that track, there are two areas of dips in the "platform", with painted lines, so that no steps up or down are required. Many people seemed to be ignoring this, but it would be necessary for wheel chair passengers. In addition to the train tracks, the San Diego Trolley also uses the area on that side of the depot for it's North line. The trolley right of way is between the train tracks and the depot, with a fence funneling train passengers to two crossing points (not gate protected). So far there have been no significant incidents that I know of, but this remains an accident waiting to happen. Coaster 637 left on time at 4:15 pm, but I had opted to take the next train at 4:45, #641. Meanwhile, Amtrak 783 was at the Depot. After 637 departed, 783 was loaded for a 4:30 pm departure. That seemed to go smoothly, but the time for loading is much tighter than before the Coaster began. The passing trolleys complicate this to a small extent. Amtrak 783 departed on time, and very shortly afterward, Coaster 641, with engine #2102, moved into the station area. It had been waiting just 100 yards or so south (railroad "east") on the other side of Broadway, which marks the south edge of the station area. There are two tracks there, still owned by Santa Fe railroad (as far as I know). A switch splits the east track into two for the crossing at Broadway. The Coaster consists wait just to the south of this switch, and thus beyond the point where the crossing gates are activated. Coaster 641 consisted of engine number 2102, coach 2306 (with cab controls on the south end), coach 2208, and coach 2308 also with cab controls -- it would be in the lead on the way back down from Oceanside the next morning. Coaster 641 opened it's doors immediately (controlled by the engineer, but can be overridden at each door) and began boarding. After I took a few pictures I walked to the first car and boarded. These trains are push-pull with the engine on the geographic north end (railroad "west) and a cab-control coach on the opposite end. #637 had had 4 cars, but 641 had only 3. I took quickly took some pictures in the first coach while it was nearly empty, and then settled in upstairs in the middle of the car at seat with a table. The cars are tri-level. Passengers board from two doors on the lower level each about 1/3 of the distance from the respective car end. There are about 26 seats on this level, with one large (wheelchair friendly) restroom. Stairs on both ends of the lower level lead to the middle levels. There are about 12 seats in each of these levels, and the doors to the adjoining cars. I understand that these doors will mate with Amtrak single-level equipment (such as Amfleet and Horizon cars), as well as Los Angeles Metrolink and others. Turning away from the end doors one sees steps to the upper level. The majority of seats are here and most passengers will prefer this level. I counted 72 seats all of which are arranged in a facing cluster of 4 seats on each side of an ample aisle. 2 seats face 2 seats. 6 of these clusters have small work tables between the seats. I was immediately reminded of the end of an old ironing board when I saw the tables. They are only about 12-14 inches wide at the widest, the wall side of the table -- but that should be ample for commuters. The color scheme, inside and out, is pleasant with shades of blues. The seats are modular light gray plastic covered with cushioned blue fabric. Though the seats are fixed pitched and rather upright, they are quite comfortable for a fairly short journey (a maximum of one hour); they are definitely more comfortable than those on the very similar Los Angeles Metrolink cars. There are no luggage racks or other places for luggage or even brief cases. I had a shoulder bag which would have been a nuisance in a packed car. I took a seat at one of the table positions, on the geographic east side of the car. Most people preferred the other side, I imagine because it has the spectacular ocean view through Del Mar and a few other places on the former Santa Fe "Surf Line". I noticed a couple of employees talking on the platform. The dominant uniform color is a dark sandy brown. The Conductors wear coats that color, with darker slacks. Definitely nothing like Amtrak's dark navy blue uniforms. Coaster 641 departed on time at 4:45 p.m. with a good running air test accomplished before we had actually left the station area (I was using a scanner to listen to the on-board crew). We departed on an diverging clear signal, and at Control Point Ash (just beyond the station) we diverged to the geographic west main track -- the only one in use in that area because of trolley construction. Six minutes later we slowed and made our first stop at the Old Town Transportation Center. Well, let me re-phrase that. We stopped at a partially completed platform in a construction area that will be that Center sometime in the near future. The trolley is due to serve this Center also, on parallel rails, by Summer of 1996. There will be ample parking and many connecting bus routes (Coaster tickets provide free transfers to all area transit systems.) Our stop in Old Town was for about 30 seconds, with a fair number of riders embarking. We had left San Diego with only 22 riders in the upper level of my car, but that was to increase to 44 riders shortly, when we left the second stop at Sorrento Valley. The riders nearly all looked like commuters. The Coaster trains are headed by a powerful F59 engine, essentially identical to the engines used by L.A. Metrolink and a number of other systems. I could feel the smooth and powerful acceleration as we diverged onto single track and crossed the San Diego "River" (mostly a small stream and flood control area these days) and entered the first segment of 90 mph track. We were quickly out-pacing the fastest cars on the adjacent Interstate highway. The ride above 70 mph or so, on this excellent roadbed, was just a little "bouncie". I was easily able to write a few notes on my pad on the table. The large, tinted windows kept the worst of the low western sun at bay while offering a superb view of the landscape. The train passes Mission Bay Park here, an attractive section. San Diego has had a little more than it's share of rain this winter, and that shows in the greenness of the hills and canyons, all the wild areas. The semi-arid golds and tans on the hillsides that help to make California the Golden State will be held at bay for a while this spring. New signs have popped up all along the right of way. Yellow with dark red letters, about 12"x24" high on a fence-type pole, they read: Danger, Pelagra, No Trespassing, Railroad Property. The signs seemed to be spaced from 200 to 400 yards apart along the edge of the right of way on both sides. The Transit District has vowed to cite people for trespassing, in an effort to prevent deaths and injuries; there are now 30 passenger train movements daily on this route in San Diego County, up from 8-10 just a few years ago. Soon (at 4:58 p.m.) we approached a small "S" curve that Amtrak and the transit district would dearly love to eliminate. Alas, funding is not available since the voters have recently turned down some state ballot measures. So we slowed briefly to 25 mph, and then at a Control Point named "Elvira" in San Clemente Canyon the train diverged onto double track (running on the right hand now), headed inland, and began the assault up the 2% grade of the south side of Miramar Hill. We were very quickly back up to 65 mph. We passed a yellow signal (prepare to stop at next signal) at Mile Post 254.1. There are plans to eventually build another station at the top of this grade, near Miramar Road, because it is a work intensive area with a major Naval Air Station and many light industries nearby. But for now the spot remains a remote and empty area, with just a railroad wye (used by Santa Fe) and some signals. The north side of Miramar Hill is steeper (2.2%) and single track. We waited at the end of a double track section, at "Control Point Cumbres" at the top of hill, for a southbound Amtrak (#578) which was running on time with engine number 238 pushing. Our wait was brief, but this is indicative of the problems of a line that is currently mostly single track with passing sidings. Delays are inevitable, particular when trains are already a little late and the schedule is disrupted. Derails are set at the little used wye (Santa Fe services a few industries up the tail of the wye). Several ballast cars were parked here on the siding track inside the wye. I noted SDNX 7001, two more with heavy graffiti obscuring the numbers, two wooded deck flatcars, and another ballast car SDNX 7004. Shortly after the meet, at 5:08 p.m., we were underway again on a clear signal. We turned again toward the ocean and descending the grade at 35 mph down to and through the Sorrento Valley. This is a pretty section, a very green canyon at this time of year, with heavy semi-arid vegetation that is unfortunately being more and more despoiled almost daily. I had never particularly noticed on Amtrak single level cars just how much the rails are "banked" (super-elevated) through the many sharp turns of north Miramar Hill. The tri-level cars make that much more evident. At the bottom of the grade we slowed again for the second stop, Sorrento Valley. I pick up the end of the Conductor's announcement: "... be ready to de-train. All doors will open for this very brief station stop. We thank you for choosing the Coaster." The station is just north of the major intersection in Sorrento Valley, and actually underneath the western lanes of I-5. I was surprised (but shouldn't have been) to see the platform jammed with travelers. This valley and the surrounding hills and mesas are San Diego's answer to the Silicon Valley, an area of computer software houses, light technical manufacturing, bio-medical concerns, and so forth. Most of the workers here are North County residents, and Coaster 641 makes this stop at 5:11 pm (actually about 5:16 on this day), just after most businesses close. Notwithstanding the crowd, we departed after about a 45 second stop, with all of the passengers on board. By the way, I could see five persons with bicycles attempting to board just my car. More about that in a moment. I gained a seat mate here. He whipped out a notebook computer and started in on something. I asked him what he thought of the Coaster and he was very definite, "I'm going to do this every day. I wish they had runs on weekends." The "Surf Line" meets the surf just a couple of miles north of Sorrento Valley after crossing a large wetland area. Actually not the beach itself, but rather the cliffs above the surf in Del Mar. This is a particularly pretty section, often seen in pictures of the Southern California coast. It's enjoyable to ride along here, and now more so from the high vantage point of the tri-level Coaster cars. Until recently Amtrak stopped in Del Mar, but the Transit District has opened a station in Solana Beach, just two or three miles north of there. The Del Mar station is of early Twentieth Century vintage, and quite a lovely place, but it has very little parking and is in what is now a congested area. So, all of the trains pass through Del Mar now, and make Solana Beach their stop for that area. It's a bit sad, but for commuters particularly it is already quite an improvement. At about 5:24, 5 minutes late, we came to a stop at the platform in Solana Beach. I de-trained here in order to catch the single southbound afternoon train, due 20 minutes later. The Solana Beach station is going to be very nice, but on this day it was only an asphalt platform, a temporary chain link fence and two parking lots. Oh yes, and a trailer labeled "Amtrak Waiting Room" with two adjacent "porta-potties". A sign says that no tickets may be purchased there; they can still be purchased in Del Mar or on the train with no penalty. Another sign says "Donuts, across the street, open 24 hours." A very nice looking station building is about 1/3 completed. In a few months this will be a modern, comfortable, attractive place to catch a train. The parking lots, entered off Cedros Street, were about 80-90% full as far as I could easily tell. The northern lot is a bit obscured by vegetation so I couldn't see the far end of it. The platform is only on the geographic east side of the single track right of way. There are long range plans for double track north of Miramar Hill all the way to the County Line near San Clemente (and beyond since Metrolink uses the same track in Orange County) -- but those same funding shortfalls will delay that well into the next century. I spoke to two NCTD employees while I waited at Solana Beach. One, who had a tag identifying him as Jonathan Chapman, the Manager of Maintenance of Way for the NCTD, was counting riders and bicycles with a clipboard (he called in the info via cellular phone as I stood there), and answering questions. He looked familiar to me, but I couldn't place him. The other, a young woman, seemed to be there mostly to answer general questions and direct folks. There was also a security guard and a ticket issuing person. Since this was a free day, the ticket machines were not in use, but the Transit District was still issuing tickets by hand to those who wanted them for use as transfers to other modes, or as souvenirs (in my case!). All but monthly passes will be sold only by the machines at stations; passes will also be available by mail. The young woman (no name tag) talked a little about the scheduling problems and answered a question I had had since leaving San Diego. While we were waiting and boarding passengers, I had seen a Coaster consisting of engine 2105 and two cars enter the San Diego station area from the south and stop at 4:37 p.m. on the third track, the track furthest from the Depot. This seemed strange. I learned at Solana Beach that this 2 car consist is a "protect" train, pressed into service as a protection against mechanical failures of any of the regular 4 consists. On Monday of this week, during the morning rush hour on the very first day of service, the Coaster experienced a serious mechanical problem which greatly complicated service. The second southbound Coaster *#622) stalled at its first stop (Carlsbad Village, a single track segment) with an electrical problem that could not be corrected on the spot. This train had to wait from 5:38 a.m. till 6:19 a.m. for the following scheduled train, #624, to come up behind it and push both trains on to San Diego. All of this greatly disrupted the schedule. After this fiasco, the Transit District decided to use the single spare engine and two spare cars to act as a "protect" train in Oceanside in the morning and San Diego in the evening. The woman mentioned that the protect train had been used once, but she wasn't able to finish telling me about that as someone else asked for some information. As I talked and waited, the platform began to fill with all sorts of people. Many were families, with young children. Obviously, some people were taking advantage of the free fare to enjoy a small train ride, and to test the possibilities of the Coaster. I noted 2 bicyclist in the group. Each Coaster car has a bicycle rack that nominally will handle 2 bicycles, with Velcro (tm) straps to tie them down. But from talking briefly to the Manager doing the checking at Solana Beach, and from comments in the local newspaper, the Transit District may have to increase the bicycle space. More bicycles than racks have been the rule this week. Southbound Coaster #644, with engine 2101 pushing, was about two minutes late into Solana Beach, arriving at 5:45. I noticed that the crossing gates at Loma Santa Fe Boulevard, just south of the station, were activated slightly before we could see the Coaster approaching. Until very recently, this was a 90 mph section with no stop. I believe the crossing gates have not been adjusted for the fact that all passenger trains will be stopping at Solana Beach. The impact is that auto traffic will see the gates come down and then somewhat later the southbound train stop and board passengers. Drivers are by nature impatient. An unpleasant situation may eventually occur. I did note a small "Spot Cab" sign and red line on the ballast, about 20 yards from the grade crossing indicating where the cab was to stop; that is likely to be to ensure that the wheelchair ramp (at every station) lines up properly with a door. I counted about 30 people waiting for Coaster 644 just before it arrived. We boarded with no difficulty, but soon discovered that _many_ other people had had the same idea. The train was nearly "full". That is, almost all of the seats were taken. In fact the train was far from full. The manager I had talked to indicated that each car is designed to handle up to about 400 people including standees. On this particular night there were about 140 or so people in each of the 4 cars, many of them young children. I had decided to board the second car from the front (in direction of travel) and then check the situation for moving from one car to another. The car I boarded had very few empty seats. I saw only two on the upper level and 3 or 4 on the others. I walked forward to the car-to-car doors, and not seeing any sign to the contrary, passed between the cars. The doors are not like Amtrak's. They do slide open, but not automatically. One must turn a handle and push the door open. Obviously, they aren't intended to be used by passengers in a routine manner. The lead car of the train was not quite so crowded. I peeked at the lower level and then went upstairs. I noted a few seats, but wanted to see the "head end" so I continued forward. Because of other folks clustered there, I really couldn't see into the cab area which is closed off, with a door that has a blacked out window. It does appear possible to pass through this area if it were not in use as a cab. I returned to the upper level and took a seat near the middle of the car with a single "cluster-mate" on the left hand side (east side). I heard on the scanner that someone had left a green purse in the "physically challenged" area of the lead car. After some discussion on the radio, the crew was told to drop it off to someone at the Sorrento Valley stop, for transfer onto the next northbound. At 5:50 we rolled by a north bound Coaster (#645) that was on the siding at Del Mar; it was running about 5 minutes late. Just a few minutes later, at 5:56 we stopped at Sorrento Valley where there seemed to be little off-on activity. 644 was clearly a "tourist train" on this particular evening. The sun had set about the time that I board 644, a pretty sunset, and it was fully dark shortly as we crested Miramar Hill. The cars on the train are very well lit with a row of diffused fluorescents down both sides up where luggage racks might have been. One could easily work or read in this lighting. At 6:00 p.m. we began the climb up Miramar Hill. At 6:02 the signal at Mile Post 151.2 was yellow over yellow, "approach medium" -- slow to 30 mph to pass next signal. The next signal was Diverging Clear at the top of the hill (Cumbres) and we took the right hand track. We pass another north bound Coaster, #649 on-time, on the south side of Miramar Hill. The remainder of the trip was standard commuter train. Just pleasant, relaxing, nothing much worthy of note. We were 3 minutes late departing Sorrento Valley and Old Town and about 1 minute late into San Diego. I de-trained and walked forward to Broadway, to the parking lot in which my car was waiting. As I passed the former "head end" of Coaster 644, soon to be the rear markers of Coaster 651 the last northbound of the day, I noted that there were 2 Coaster Consists sandwiching an Amtrak consist, with an Amtrak "protect" engine (#250) sitting quietly just a few feet behind what was about to be Amtrak San Diegan #585. A lot of passenger trains in San Diego! A very good sight for this passenger rail fan, a very welcome symbol of the resurgence of rail transportation here. This was a pleasant 2+ hours of "railfanning", a nice little trip, very educational. It seems to me that the residents of North County San Diego have a real winner here. I suspect that many of them will be making the round trip daily, enjoying all the joys of train riding, and particularly enjoying the view of the severe traffic delays on the Interstate as they glide by at up to 90 miles per hour!