Get out of your car and start earlier than I did. There's always something to do in downtown Los Angeles on a Saturday morning. Ten dollars buys you a weekend day pass on Metrolink. You can ride it all day long or take it out to a destination and stay for a while. There is no dining car, so bring food, water, sodas and grab a table seat on the train. It took nearly two hours to go out to San Bernadino. (Earlier, I would have gone to San Juan Capistrano to see the mission and historic area. You can see that by 11 in the morning, San Juan Capistrano is no longer on the departure board.)
The ticket-issuing vending machines will drive you nuts. At the end of a sentence (i.e., your choice of what you want to do or think you're doing via reading the monitor, you will see R4, R2, etc. and you won't get it and you'll stand there blankly. Pay attention to what "R" it says at the end of the sentence. Press the corresponding button to the right of the screen for each of those choices. If you get lost, there are people around to help you in the main lobby of the station. You can buy a ticket at a vending machine near the escalators, but if you're a first timer on the vending machine, do it with a guy around and don't buy a regular ticket -- buy the weekend pass option -- or you may be stuck with a full price ticket, good for only that day.)
All day parking - pay attention: If you opt for a Union Station departure, you can park for $14 for the day. The lot closes at 9:30 pm. My advice: don't look for bargains - just pay to park at the station. If you look for cheaper on the street, know what time their lots close and how safe your car is. Perhaps it is worth the couple of extra dollars you pay for the convenience of being at the station. If you leave from other stations, I am not certain what the parking arrangement or safety of your car is in any of those lots or if they vary, based on the train station's location.
You can bring a bicycle with you on the train. It rides in a bicycle car on the train. I don't think they'll let you bag a couple of chiwawas.... didn't see any pets on board.
Pay attention to your destination. The engineer will announce it, but he's kicking you off fast and leaving in two minutes, so move it before you know you're getting off and be ready to jump from the train when it comes to a stop at your station.
Boarding/Tickets - don't lose your ticket. You may wonder why the powers that be don't come around and ask for it, but someone will get around to you at some time or some place, be it the guy on the platform, someone walking through your car or an official cop-looking person. Eventually someone does get around to you at some point in your trip. Just remember, they want you off and on that train mucho pronto, so if you want to fall asleep, set your cell phone alarm or something.
I have added the link to Metrolink at the bottom of Travelling On ATen Spot -- using this link will take you out of this site, completely, so either hit the back button or wait until you finish here. There are a lot of pix in this blog, so it's down there a bit. Thanks for travelling on my adventure with me!
Leaving Union Station
(art deco elegance)
Destination: San Bernadino, a favorite for rail fans.
(art deco elegance)
Destination: San Bernadino, a favorite for rail fans.
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All Aboard!
Looking out of the window
San Bernadino Rail Station & Museum
(built in 1915)
(built in 1915)
After you see the museum, you can photograph all things industrial, but there is not much to do, except maybe go buy a Subway sandwich or Chinese fast food nearby. I didn't walk over the bridge to see what was on either side, but if you google map the area, there might be more out there to discover. If you are a rail fan, you are in heaven because this is a busy station for trains. You can get out of there on the next train: read your schedules before you leave on your trip -- know when the last train back is, always... Go on to another destination or go back downtown. The museum closes at 3pm. You cannot access the restrooms or the interior of the rail station once the museum closes. I will put a link to their site down below as well. The "leak-a-torum" is close to original - pretty white marble stalls -- nice and clean... yippee, this is no gas station truck stop. Remember, even if there seems to be nothing out there, there's always something to see, it's relaxing to ride and you can always go back downtown if you need more action. This kind of day gets you out of the box for a while.
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| some of the rail fans |
Going Home
Enjoying the ride at sunset, arriving back at the station, out for a little dinner and then across the street to Olvera Street for a little amusement before the parking lot closes at 9:30.
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The food at TRAXX was very good. It is not necessarily for the budget minded, but then again, if you took a ten-spot trip, then you can treat yourself to other things. Want Chinese? Chinatown is just outside of the station as is Phillipe's au jus sandwich style food (very tasty) and Mexican at Olvera Street. The train station has Subway sandwiches, Wetzel's pretzels and Sees candy.
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Metrolink Information:
Remember, going to the Metrolink site will take you out of my blog, so in order to return to this page, you must either figure that you are done here or hit the back button. On their site, you can enlarge the route map which is helpful. When you are at the station, the schedules for the various routes are at the counter (left wall when you face the counter window) even if nobody is there. If you end up on the main page, choose "Weekends" in the sidebar on the Metrolink home page.
Enjoy your ride!
San Bernadino Railroad Museum
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