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Hi guys,I was just curious, has anyone here heard about about the Santa Fe depot in San Bernardino being restored, and Santa Fe locomotive 3751 being here this weekend? The grand re-opening of the depot was today. I'm a member of the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society...and I had the most awesome day today! I had a chance to ride the steam train back to Los Angeles! We got a special invitation. (I didn't even know about it until this morning!) It was an amazing experience that I will definitely never forget! Everyone really got caught in the moment with so many people along the track waving at us and taking pictures. I have to say that what the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society was able to do with 3751 is incredible. It was apparently a static display in a park near the depot. I never saw it in the park. But over the years it had deteriorated and been vandalized, but the SBRHS was able to restore it back to running condition. So if any of you guys saw the train running this weekend or caught pictures of it in LA...I was ON that train! I managed to get some pictures today, and I will try to get them scanned and posted.If anyone from the SBRHS sees this post...thanks guys for a great trip! Keep up the good work! Chris Tobar
I was hoping to make it to that event, but sadly could not. Anyway, I would love to see some pictures if you get a chance! The 3751 is definitely a beautiful engine! and it is great that she is able to stretch her legs on the high iron from time to time. (Wish NS would reconcider steam) Mykel
Hi Mykel,Just curious...where are you? How did you know about it? It was covered in the local newspapers, but I was surprised that there really wasn't anything said on the local news stations. We took the Metrolink line to LA. If you're familiar with the area, you know part of it runs in the middle of Interstate 10. I'm sure we made a big commotion on the highway! They had a computer with a GPS receiver set up in our car. And at times we got up to 60 mph. It was interesting to see people on the highway keeping pace with us to watch the train and wave at us. I have already seen a couple of pictures on a couple of places on the net that looked to be taken when we arrived in LA. There was one where the cylinder cocks were open and blowing steam. I couldn't see that from our car, but I definitely HEARD it! Unfortunately, I don't have a digital camera and I was just using a 35mm. So I'll have to get them developed and then scanned. And I'm still not sure how they turned out. But I tell you that even if they don't come out like I wanted, the pictures and sounds I have in my mind are going to last forever! As corny as that may sound, it's true. I've never had a chance to ride a steam train that far. The only time I've ever even seen a running steam locomotive before today was at the Orange Empire Railway Museum. And then there they only have a short mainline they ran it on.Chris
I went down and caught it when it came into San Berdoo on the 12th, I was wearing a Train-sim.com T-Shirt with logo on it so I think you would have recognized me if you saw me I uploaded my shots to my photo album but will have a thread in a little bit. -Shane- MASW Activity Designer www.freewebs.com/klwtrainsim
Shane, I saw it on Rialto Avenue on its way down to the depot on Saturday and got a few pictures there. As you can imagine, there was a pretty big crowd of other people with cameras there. We went down to the depot and saw it pull in. I hung around the depot for a little while and talked with some friends I met down there. But there were so many people of all ages with railroad shirts and hats on that I don't think I would have been able to spot anyone from Train-Sim! You might have run into me without even knowing it! I look younger, but I'm in my 20s (26) and I was wearing a green shirt and jeans...if that helps any! Ha! Too bad I couldn't find my Pacific Electric shirt But it was encouraging to see such a big turn out. I heard the mayor's speech on Sunday. I thought it dragged on for a while (and it was hot out there!), but at least she recognized the huge historical significance of the depot and how much the Santa Fe played in San Bernardino's development. There are still plans for Amtrak to come back and use the depot. There were also plans to have a railroad museum and SBRHS was hoping to house 3751 there. I hope that still works out. It belongs in San Bernardino.Chris
Presently I am up in Corvallis, Oregon. I have several sites of current steam engines bookmarked and try to check then on a regular basis. But I seem to recall seeing something posted here at Train-Sim regarding this trip that alerted me to it. And you are correct, memories are what makes a lasting impression! Somethings about steam engines just can't be captured with all the "modern" equipment. Sounds like a great trip, especially going down I-10! Hopefully it was a huge success for the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society and the 3751! Anyway, take your time with the pictures, just wanted you to know that someone would be interested in seeing them. Thanks!Mykel
