I live in Oceanside, and I am more impressed with performance than appearance. The Chargers and F125 are fantastic engineering achievements. I can't wait to ride them again now that COVID is no longer a crisis.
Great video! My first ride on the Surfline was in 1958. I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, and I used to take the train from Oceanside to San Diego. Then the route was operated by the Santa Fe, and the locomotives were PAs.
I gotta say, while I still need to get used to the look of the f125, there was something about the Siemens Chargers that really hooked me on to them when they first arrived
Commuting daily on Metrolink from Chatsworth to DTLA was so efficient. I was always able to do professional reading or answer east coast call / emails on to way to Union Station. Then a quick three stops on the subway to work. Route was also very useful in getting to Hollywood- Burbank airport or on weekends getting to USC games at LA coliseum. The coast route to San Diego was also much less of a hassle then driving down the coast on Friday evening for a mini- vacation as my wife would drive down earlier in the day and avoid traffic.
Last time I rode the Surfliner to San Diego a group of guys and girls, carrying the now standard shorter boards in one hand and a towel bag in the other, got on in Orange County and off in Oceanside. It was obvious they were headed for a day at the beach.
There is a growing movement to abandon the Surfline because the cost of moving the tracks away from the unstable cliffs at Del Mar is astronomical. They have about 5 years until the temporary fix also falls into the ocean, unless a big storm wipes out the reinforcement.
Great coverage on my favorite Amtrak route. I ride the Pacific Surfliners 8 times a year. The Coaster has the very best looking paint scheme for commuter rail in the nation, then Altamont Commuter Express which runs between San Jose & Stockton.
4:01 Its the first V20 Locomotive to be manufactured in recent years, Back in the 60s' EMD released the SD45 witha 20 cylinder 645, and later the 80Mac with a 20-710 and the 90Mac with a 20-265 (which is technically a 20-1010, just older and garbage)
I like the SC44's. I know the F59's are classic, but compared to rail lines in other countries, the amtrack lines looked like Dinosaurs before the chargers
4:27 three liveries to choose from .... 4:58 the chosen one has nothing to do with the three. (My favourite would have been No. 2, not too wild but still interesting enough with those long waves.)
Beautiful vid, thanks for sharing. I'm actually modeling the Surfline, and I'm also following suit, I just retired all my F59s and replacing them with the Chargers.
I believe they’ve installed PTC. Probably the biggest issue for this line is the single tracking. If trains can’t pass they can’t accelerate to higher speeds. US track class regs actually don’t place much of a premium on grade separation for higher speed (which doesn’t make sense to me at all). You can even place a quad gate at a crossing and run at higher speeds.
Nice video! How have the chargers been performing? I know they've been having trouble with the long-distance variants. Why did Siemens reject the paint scheme, what do they care? 😅
Thank you! It seems that the chargers are doing pretty well on the Surfline, but I heard they're having signalling-related issues in the Chicago area. Siemens rejected the paint scheme due to the fact that it was "too complicated" and they didn't have the extra time to put more effort into the paint. They've been really busy with equipment orders lately.
@@WorldwideRailfan I guess they would have to interrupt the wavey lines at the air intakes and then the result wouldn't look as good. Pretty sure they would do it partly with decals, as such multicoloured liveries are difficult to paint precisely.
From what I understand, the paint scheme was rejected due to the complexity surrounding the intake grates and it would be difficult to replace panels, repaint and just generally keep it looking good. Frankly, I like this look. It's crisp and clean. I see these engines every day as I live quite close to the San Diego depot and they are very attractive in person. Not sure some crazy artwork would have looked as good.
dope video. the surfliner passes a famous skateboard spot near DelMar, cruising at full speed super close to a ditch people grind the top of. ive only seen one clip of it being skated while the train passes and it was bugged tf out, def too sketchy and close. if i find the video ill post a link in here, its a pretty famous spot thats produced some crazy photos with the train approaching etc..
Amtrak really made the best choice into ordering Chargers from Siemens Mobility. They’re reliable and fast. I’m glad other commuter railroads followed Amtrak’s footsteps into buying the SC-44 Chargers as well. Brightline made the best choice into buying SCB-40 Chargers as I do like the nose! I can’t wait to see Amtrak’s new long distance Charger ALC-42 come into service soon as well as a Dual Mode Variant of the Chargers on the Empire Corridor to replace the P32AC-DMs! EMD F125s on the other hand… this is my opinion, The F125s suck as their unreliable as they have many issues such as fuel leak and have a horrible design with K2 horns that just makes it worse unlike the Chargers with their 3rd gen K5LA horns and their famous X shape vent! Although the SC-44 Chargers don’t have noses (VIA Rail’s SC-44 don’t count as they do have noses) the ALC-42 and SCB-40 Chargers do have noses and that makes up for it. I really hope the Dual Mode Charger Variant also has a nose on the front! Can’t wait to see more Chargers in operation on other commuter railroads as well as Amtrak’s ALC-42 Long Distance Chargers!
I would also like to add that while you were in California, nearly half of the F125 fleet was out of service due to fuel leaks and 2 F59PHRs that had previously been retired were put back into service. They were 856 and 868 and they both went to Oceanside around the time that you were there.
If you don’t know what an F59PHR is, it’s basically an F59PH that has Tier 0 or Tier 1 emissions and has a slightly different paint scheme from the older F59PHs.
I regularly take this line to my dad's house, passing the Del Mar and San Clemente coastlines along the way. I also like the new locomotives, they're much faster; capable of 125mph service (if THAT ever happens), cleaner, and quieter than the predecessors. Also, nice car search list, btw ;')
I just took Pacific Surfliner from Fullerton up to Santa Barbara on July 10, first time riding it north as we usually take it down to San Diego. The single SC-44 pulls the six Superliner cars effortlessly the whole way, and when able, gets to about 80mph. There's a portion of the northbound trip where the climb gradient through the canyons is noticeable, but it's a nice ride.
The Chargers with the Bi-Levels look great, but the F125 Spirits are much better looking locos in general. Will say, I still find it strange the US used locos and carriages vs multiple units.
While I'm fine with these Tier 4 locomotives, I just wish they (particularly the Chargers) weren't so boring. The Raised Letter K5LAs have really gotten stale by this point. I feel there should be at least a few Chargers with something else. That's why I love Metrolink F125s 926 and 929, because they have awesome K3 horns, and them simply being there makes the K2s feel less lame. If only Ed Long was still alive today, he could give at least one or two of the Chargers some better horns. Imagine 5004 with an M5 and 5005 with an M3. The reason Siemens rejected the Coaster schemes was because apparently, they have this policy that bans railroads from painting over the vents on their sides.
I travel Amtrak from BWI to NYP once a year and never really gave a thought to railfanning. My most recent trip a couple weeks ago on this NE corridor I was surprised how new and bright the cars were and how the tracks have been smoothed out over the years. Also the first time I'd been in the remodeled Penn Station and Moynihan Hall, previously it had looked like a 70s strip mall, now much more clean looking and spacious, basically the whole experience had improved a level. So, now I'm paying attention! I couldn't tell you if they were the new "charger" cars SC-44s(?) but next time I'll check and try to know what I'm looking at.
It's so weird, I grew up in Oceanside and with these trains, taking the coaster down to SD's Old Town or to Del Mar pretty frequently. I didn't realize how special the Surfliner and Coaster were until I moved away, the city I live in now only has once a day Amtrak service, no commuter rail at all
Living on the east coast I also wanted to experience the Surfeliner and had a chance and enjoyed my ride with the Chargers and I like them alot. Since the F125 are not in my part of the east coast I think they have an old design but not ugly. With time it will grow on me. Great video looking forward to your next video. Cheers!
Nice review of this great Corridor. I also prefer the beauty known as Coaster's original Charger livery over the one they have today. [I wonder if Ace Railfan or AVRP is going to notice my comment...]
This reminds me when I was in California a long while back. Me and my dad rode a Metrolink train into San Diego, or at least tried to. The train got stopped before the last station, and ended up getting backed to the station before since there was apparently a "suspicious package" at the terminus. I think it's interesting to ponder if the box was really a bomb or not.
I‘ve gotta say that the F125 looks a lot better than the SC-44, and way better than those overly chunky F59PHIs and PHs, but what good is that if they are so unreliable? It‘s a shame and I think that they would look great in Inter-City service too, but they probably don‘t have a future as it stands.
i just realized, if you want to see F59PHI locomotives, then come down to north Carolina, we still have F59PH's, & F59PHI locomotives still hanging around in the danville district from Raleigh to Charlotte, the piedmont commuter service.
I'm starting to think that California is the only state in the nation that actually cares about improving their rail transportation. Give it a few more decades and it will rival the Northeastern Corridor in terms of density and quality.
Because all of California’s efforts are going into HSR between San Francisco and LA. There is a proposal I believe to rebuild the Surfline to 110mph though.
As a Californian, I like the nice equipment, and stations for our local transit systems, but I'd prefer decent coverage. I am in normal suburbia and it is a 10 minute drive (0 bus connections) to the nearest commuter rail line. I know MBTA can be obnoxious and all, but at least it's there and it runs. In Cali, everything is new and shiny, and it runs nowhere.
When EMD (at that time still owned by GM) designed the F59PH and the later F59PHI, the designers drew inspiration not from streamlined locomotives, but from GM's minivan models of that time (i.e. Chevy Venture).
F125 is already a modern classic especially being so exclusive. The Charger front end on the other hand looks like a smashed arachnid. The rest of the charger isn't bad but they could have done the nose SO much better. Can't beat the F59PHI and P42 looks
Why is it that seemingly every human on earth knows the shave and a haircut tune yet nobody knows how they know it. It’s almost like the shave and a haircut is just embedded in our genetics.
Metro link needs to paint all their equipment the same color it looks so Eww with everything different Colors. Also The new Coaster paint scheme is ugly they could have just kept the original one it was soo much better. Also The Pacific Surfliner needs to get that one coach car in the middle of train pained 😂😂 it always looks odd but definitely one of my favorite commuter railroads. I’m patiently waiting for the Surfliner coach’s to be made in HO scale so I can buy them
Amtrak California has painted some of the CalTrans-rescued Superliners in the California colors, both for the Surfliner and the Capitol Corridor/SanJoaquin.
How to ride the full Surfline from San Diego to San Luis Obispo: Coaster from SD Santa Fe Depot-Oceanside, Metrolink 🍊 County Line from Oceanside-LA Union 🚉, Ventura County Line from LA Union 🚉-Ventura, & Amtrak Pacific Surfliner from Ventura-San Luis Obispo
I really like the look of the Chargers, especially compared to examples like the GP40MCs locomotives used by MBTA which just don't look like they belong on a passenger train. What I really wish is that the US could start using more EMUs.
The real reason why Siemens rejected the colorful Coaster paint schemes is because they confirmed that complicated paint schemes will start chipping off the SC-44 Chargers a lot earlier than the more boring paint schemes they use. I like the new Coaster paint scheme on the overhauled cars (not counting 2301 and 2302 because those cars are wrapped in the new Coaster paint scheme), but not so much on the locomotives. As time goes by, I hope people will start liking the new Coaster paint scheme over the old one. I actually rode in one of the overhauled Coaster cars last week, and it was not just a quiet, but also a very comfortable ride. I will say this: The trip back to Oceanside was a more comfortable than the trip to San Diego because of how smooth the locomotive was. I think once the new Next Gen Cab-Cars are delivered to NCTD in 2023, the ride quality for Southbound trips will be just as smooth as the ride quality for Northbound trips.
I hope that those modern passenger locomotives could be imported to Chile in a great effort to upgrade the passenger railroad service, both in commuter trains (something that's currently underway due to the work of the Chilean State Railways Company or EFE by their Spanish acronym) and in long range intercity trains (at least 30 to 40 years ago, the railroad network embraced Chile from the Northern cities until Puerto Montt in the southern end of the railroad system).
actually there were more v20 locomotives before the F125 that being the SDP45 and FP45 as well as the Brookville BL36ph for Tri Rail also use v20 prime movers
Metrolink was on the market for new tier 4 diesels before Siemens was a proven product, EMD won the contract before the SC-44 was even considered an option as the original order dates back to 2013. The long working relationship we have with EMD going back to 1992 was the deciding factor. I think the board went all in a bit too fast on them and so we had some teething issues in the beginning but in the end we wound up with working locos that we're happy with.
Awesome video mate! *personally i like the Sc-44 Chargers better than the F125s.* the F125 (in my opinion) has a unpleasant design than the Chargers. it just looks like they tried to badly mix up a F40 and a F59. also *it's really disappointing* that Siemens keeps rejecting cool Paint schemes made by there customers. but anyways, awesome video once again!
Some should have a look at what Britain's been doing with their diesels and electrics... EMD won a building contact for the BR Class 66. The styling isn't pretty but the loco is powerful and used for Freight services.
Honestly as a european I really don't get the American rail fan obsession with service numbers and especially horns. Still neat video none the less, though 9400 horse power ain't that much. I mean around my neck of the woods we've recently taken delivery of a fleet of Siemens Vectrons and each of those have 8700 horse power. And the plan is to run some of them with Talgo cars like on the Cascade, and them one Vectron in each end. Like the power and acceleration of that will just be insane. And this is on top of us ordering new Intercity EMU's from Alstom which has an acceleration as fast as some Metro trains!
Not a big SC44 fan, I don't like how they placed the ditch lights so high up on the front that is almost headlight height,sometimes from straight on it looks light it is just all one set of lights flashing. As far as the horns on Metrolink I don't know why they would think a 5 chime is too loud, I live near railroad tacks, Amtrak has the softest horns, the ES or ET 44's are ok but the SD70 ACe is way too loud, Metrolink should just use the same horn as Amtrak.
I wish I could be as excited about being in California as everyone else but to be honest it starts to get very boring after living here for 14 years straight.
I live in Oceanside, and I am more impressed with performance than appearance. The Chargers and F125 are fantastic engineering achievements. I can't wait to ride them again now that COVID is no longer a crisis.
FC45
Fast Charger
4500 Horsepower
I'm glad the surfliner cars are here to stay
I like them too.
F125 “fantastic engineering achievement”
So fantastic it broke down on its way to its own unveiling. 😂😂😂😂
The power of *EMD*
Great video! My first ride on the Surfline was in 1958. I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, and I used to take the train from Oceanside to San Diego. Then the route was operated by the Santa Fe, and the locomotives were PAs.
Sad that siemens rejected the paint scheme from Coaster, Great video!
I gotta say, while I still need to get used to the look of the f125, there was something about the Siemens Chargers that really hooked me on to them when they first arrived
they actually look like something made in this century finally haha
7:31 *happy folf sound*
5:14 Love that Standart Subtitle Present :)
The route from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara is beautiful. You get varied scenery and ocean views.
Commuting daily on Metrolink from Chatsworth to DTLA was so efficient. I was always able to do professional reading or answer east coast call / emails on to way to Union Station. Then a quick three stops on the subway to work. Route was also very useful in getting to Hollywood- Burbank airport or on weekends getting to USC games at LA coliseum. The coast route to San Diego was also much less of a hassle then driving down the coast on Friday evening for a mini- vacation as my wife would drive down earlier in the day and avoid traffic.
Need more trains
most of the f59's were bought by Metra and I've seen a few at Ogilvie station
Last time I rode the Surfliner to San Diego a group of guys and girls, carrying the now standard shorter boards in one hand and a towel bag in the other, got on in Orange County and off in Oceanside. It was obvious they were headed for a day at the beach.
There is a growing movement to abandon the Surfline because the cost of moving the tracks away from the unstable cliffs at Del Mar is astronomical. They have about 5 years until the temporary fix also falls into the ocean, unless a big storm wipes out the reinforcement.
Great coverage on my favorite Amtrak route. I ride the Pacific Surfliners 8 times a year. The Coaster has the very best looking paint scheme for commuter rail in the nation, then Altamont Commuter Express which runs between San Jose & Stockton.
4:01 Its the first V20 Locomotive to be manufactured in recent years, Back in the 60s' EMD released the SD45 witha 20 cylinder 645, and later the 80Mac with a 20-710 and the 90Mac with a 20-265 (which is technically a 20-1010, just older and garbage)
I like the SC44's. I know the F59's are classic, but compared to rail lines in other countries, the amtrack lines looked like Dinosaurs before the chargers
4:27 three liveries to choose from ....
4:58 the chosen one has nothing to do with the three. (My favourite would have been No. 2, not too wild but still interesting enough with those long waves.)
sad moment
Siemens doesn't allow paint, only primer, on exterior vents
Beautiful vid, thanks for sharing.
I'm actually modeling the Surfline, and I'm also following suit, I just retired all my F59s and replacing them with the Chargers.
Just imagine how much safer and faster rail service could be if there was PTC and grade separation.
I believe they’ve installed PTC. Probably the biggest issue for this line is the single tracking. If trains can’t pass they can’t accelerate to higher speeds. US track class regs actually don’t place much of a premium on grade separation for higher speed (which doesn’t make sense to me at all). You can even place a quad gate at a crossing and run at higher speeds.
Nice video! How have the chargers been performing? I know they've been having trouble with the long-distance variants.
Why did Siemens reject the paint scheme, what do they care? 😅
Thank you! It seems that the chargers are doing pretty well on the Surfline, but I heard they're having signalling-related issues in the Chicago area. Siemens rejected the paint scheme due to the fact that it was "too complicated" and they didn't have the extra time to put more effort into the paint. They've been really busy with equipment orders lately.
@@WorldwideRailfan I guess they would have to interrupt the wavey lines at the air intakes and then the result wouldn't look as good.
Pretty sure they would do it partly with decals, as such multicoloured liveries are difficult to paint precisely.
From what I understand, the paint scheme was rejected due to the complexity surrounding the intake grates and it would be difficult to replace panels, repaint and just generally keep it looking good. Frankly, I like this look. It's crisp and clean. I see these engines every day as I live quite close to the San Diego depot and they are very attractive in person. Not sure some crazy artwork would have looked as good.
dope video. the surfliner passes a famous skateboard spot near DelMar, cruising at full speed super close to a ditch people grind the top of. ive only seen one clip of it being skated while the train passes and it was bugged tf out, def too sketchy and close. if i find the video ill post a link in here, its a pretty famous spot thats produced some crazy photos with the train approaching etc..
Excellent video. I love the F125s. In the East, we’re still waiting for the Chargers. It could be a while.
Thank you for posting this content.
Amtrak really made the best choice into ordering Chargers from Siemens Mobility. They’re reliable and fast. I’m glad other commuter railroads followed Amtrak’s footsteps into buying the SC-44 Chargers as well. Brightline made the best choice into buying SCB-40 Chargers as I do like the nose! I can’t wait to see Amtrak’s new long distance Charger ALC-42 come into service soon as well as a Dual Mode Variant of the Chargers on the Empire Corridor to replace the P32AC-DMs! EMD F125s on the other hand… this is my opinion, The F125s suck as their unreliable as they have many issues such as fuel leak and have a horrible design with K2 horns that just makes it worse unlike the Chargers with their 3rd gen K5LA horns and their famous X shape vent! Although the SC-44 Chargers don’t have noses (VIA Rail’s SC-44 don’t count as they do have noses) the ALC-42 and SCB-40 Chargers do have noses and that makes up for it. I really hope the Dual Mode Charger Variant also has a nose on the front! Can’t wait to see more Chargers in operation on other commuter railroads as well as Amtrak’s ALC-42 Long Distance Chargers!
and the MP54ac have disgusting K5CA-LS which sadly the via rail siemens chargers will be equipped with K5CA-LS.
@@trevorderper5050 We don’t know that for sure. Maybe it will have K5LA just like all the other Chargers!
in canada the K5CA-ls is a mandated horn but maybe they will have 2 horns just like some of VIA's P42's that both have K5ca's and K5la's
I will miss the P42’s.
Metorlink didn't follow
I would also like to add that while you were in California, nearly half of the F125 fleet was out of service due to fuel leaks and 2 F59PHRs that had previously been retired were put back into service. They were 856 and 868 and they both went to Oceanside around the time that you were there.
If you don’t know what an F59PHR is, it’s basically an F59PH that has Tier 0 or Tier 1 emissions and has a slightly different paint scheme from the older F59PHs.
@@amtrak462productions4 PHs have Tier 0, PHIs Tier 2, and PHRs Tier 1+
@@AVeryRandomPerson Ok, I wasn’t 100% sure what they had. Thanks for letting me know.
So you're saying 20 F125s (Half) were out of service and were replaced with only 2 F59s?
The math doesn't math, you seem to have grossly exaggerated
So nice that amtrack and via rail are starting to get new train sets
I regularly take this line to my dad's house, passing the Del Mar and San Clemente coastlines along the way.
I also like the new locomotives, they're much faster; capable of 125mph service (if THAT ever happens), cleaner, and quieter than the predecessors.
Also, nice car search list, btw ;')
I just took Pacific Surfliner from Fullerton up to Santa Barbara on July 10, first time riding it north as we usually take it down to San Diego. The single SC-44 pulls the six Superliner cars effortlessly the whole way, and when able, gets to about 80mph. There's a portion of the northbound trip where the climb gradient through the canyons is noticeable, but it's a nice ride.
The Chargers with the Bi-Levels look great, but the F125 Spirits are much better looking locos in general. Will say, I still find it strange the US used locos and carriages vs multiple units.
Also, they put the locos in the wrong place. If you going to double them up, they should top and tail.
Locos and carriages in the US is very common!
It may be strange, but Ill prefer it to those ugly rail buses any day.
Primitive countries don’t do multiple units they do locomotives
@@whispofwords2590 buses work depending on the corridor trains need to be frequent tho
I like the look of the chargers
The ending with the black and white was so dramatic
Don't forget that Metrolink had an EX Amtrak F40PH locomotive. EX Amtrak F40PHR unit 396.
They rebuilt it into Metrolink 800
@@F59PHI I know.
Enjoyable video. Snazzy looking new locos. Can’t wait until we have them on the East Coast.
While I'm fine with these Tier 4 locomotives, I just wish they (particularly the Chargers) weren't so boring. The Raised Letter K5LAs have really gotten stale by this point. I feel there should be at least a few Chargers with something else. That's why I love Metrolink F125s 926 and 929, because they have awesome K3 horns, and them simply being there makes the K2s feel less lame. If only Ed Long was still alive today, he could give at least one or two of the Chargers some better horns. Imagine 5004 with an M5 and 5005 with an M3.
The reason Siemens rejected the Coaster schemes was because apparently, they have this policy that bans railroads from painting over the vents on their sides.
Yes M5's as a Western Pacific Fan M5's are the best!
I rode a Coaster train with a F40 trailing a long time ago. Can’t wait to ride on the new chargers after COVID!
3:59 I'm not sure if you mean just America or just diesel locomotives but in the UK a handful of DMUs use Cummins engines
I travel Amtrak from BWI to NYP once a year and never really gave a thought to railfanning. My most recent trip a couple weeks ago on this NE corridor I was surprised how new and bright the cars were and how the tracks have been smoothed out over the years. Also the first time I'd been in the remodeled Penn Station and Moynihan Hall, previously it had looked like a 70s strip mall, now much more clean looking and spacious, basically the whole experience had improved a level. So, now I'm paying attention! I couldn't tell you if they were the new "charger" cars SC-44s(?) but next time I'll check and try to know what I'm looking at.
5:14 Might want to fix before publishing
It's so weird, I grew up in Oceanside and with these trains, taking the coaster down to SD's Old Town or to Del Mar pretty frequently. I didn't realize how special the Surfliner and Coaster were until I moved away, the city I live in now only has once a day Amtrak service, no commuter rail at all
Living on the east coast I also wanted to experience the Surfeliner and had a chance and enjoyed my ride with the Chargers and I like them alot. Since the F125 are not in my part of the east coast I think they have an old design but not ugly. With time it will grow on me. Great video looking forward to your next video. Cheers!
I like the f125 better than the charger
Nice review of this great Corridor. I also prefer the beauty known as Coaster's original Charger livery over the one they have today. [I wonder if Ace Railfan or AVRP is going to notice my comment...]
I miss the old livery but the new train is cool.
This reminds me when I was in California a long while back. Me and my dad rode a Metrolink train into San Diego, or at least tried to. The train got stopped before the last station, and ended up getting backed to the station before since there was apparently a "suspicious package" at the terminus. I think it's interesting to ponder if the box was really a bomb or not.
Modern and useable commuter corridors should be electrified and fully double tracked.
I‘ve gotta say that the F125 looks a lot better than the SC-44, and way better than those overly chunky F59PHIs and PHs, but what good is that if they are so unreliable? It‘s a shame and I think that they would look great in Inter-City service too, but they probably don‘t have a future as it stands.
i just realized, if you want to see F59PHI locomotives, then come down to north Carolina, we still have F59PH's, & F59PHI locomotives still hanging around in the danville district from Raleigh to Charlotte, the piedmont commuter service.
I'm starting to think that California is the only state in the nation that actually cares about improving their rail transportation. Give it a few more decades and it will rival the Northeastern Corridor in terms of density and quality.
Amtrak still runs F59PHs and F59PHIs on Amtrak’s Piedmont route owned by NCDOT
I'm still trying to wrap my head around why they don't build a high speed line between LA and San Diego. The demand is clearly there.
Because all of California’s efforts are going into HSR between San Francisco and LA. There is a proposal I believe to rebuild the Surfline to 110mph though.
@@packr72 110? The units can do 125, so why not let them do it?
@@mattevans4377 Because that requires fully grade separated track which is extremely expensive.
@@packr72 And California High Speed Rail isn't?
@@mattevans4377 and that’s where most of the money is being spent.
As a Californian, I like the nice equipment, and stations for our local transit systems, but I'd prefer decent coverage. I am in normal suburbia and it is a 10 minute drive (0 bus connections) to the nearest commuter rail line.
I know MBTA can be obnoxious and all, but at least it's there and it runs. In Cali, everything is new and shiny, and it runs nowhere.
Yes,,,excellent video, just the right amount of information, ,
When EMD (at that time still owned by GM) designed the F59PH and the later F59PHI, the designers drew inspiration not from streamlined locomotives, but from GM's minivan models of that time (i.e. Chevy Venture).
F125 is already a modern classic especially being so exclusive. The Charger front end on the other hand looks like a smashed arachnid. The rest of the charger isn't bad but they could have done the nose SO much better. Can't beat the F59PHI and P42 looks
Why is it that seemingly every human on earth knows the shave and a haircut tune yet nobody knows how they know it. It’s almost like the shave and a haircut is just embedded in our genetics.
Metro link needs to paint all their equipment the same color it looks so Eww with everything different Colors. Also The new Coaster paint scheme is ugly they could have just kept the original one it was soo much better. Also The Pacific Surfliner needs to get that one coach car in the middle of train pained 😂😂 it always looks odd but definitely one of my favorite commuter railroads. I’m patiently waiting for the Surfliner coach’s to be made in HO scale so I can buy them
Amtrak California has painted some of the CalTrans-rescued Superliners in the California colors, both for the Surfliner and the Capitol Corridor/SanJoaquin.
How to ride the full Surfline from San Diego to San Luis Obispo: Coaster from SD Santa Fe Depot-Oceanside, Metrolink 🍊 County Line from Oceanside-LA Union 🚉, Ventura County Line from LA Union 🚉-Ventura, & Amtrak Pacific Surfliner from Ventura-San Luis Obispo
So since the SC44 has a Cummins engine, it's basically a Dodge Ram. XD
Dodge ram but worse
It’s funny because it sounds like one
Hey! Great video, man!👍
I prefer the first scheme on the coaster concept paint scheme
I honestly like the P2s but the K5LAs are more superior. I am used to the P2s because I railfan Caltrain.
Well some passenger rail networks especially Brightline are the same level as the surfline
Double headers on the mbta may be something more common due to the current failures of the F40PH-3C
Everyone just let you all know that first ALC-42 is on the move This not a jocke repeat this not a joke!
I really like the look of the Chargers, especially compared to examples like the GP40MCs locomotives used by MBTA which just don't look like they belong on a passenger train. What I really wish is that the US could start using more EMUs.
The real reason why Siemens rejected the colorful Coaster paint schemes is because they confirmed that complicated paint schemes will start chipping off the SC-44 Chargers a lot earlier than the more boring paint schemes they use. I like the new Coaster paint scheme on the overhauled cars (not counting 2301 and 2302 because those cars are wrapped in the new Coaster paint scheme), but not so much on the locomotives. As time goes by, I hope people will start liking the new Coaster paint scheme over the old one.
I actually rode in one of the overhauled Coaster cars last week, and it was not just a quiet, but also a very comfortable ride. I will say this: The trip back to Oceanside was a more comfortable than the trip to San Diego because of how smooth the locomotive was. I think once the new Next Gen Cab-Cars are delivered to NCTD in 2023, the ride quality for Southbound trips will be just as smooth as the ride quality for Northbound trips.
that was not the real reason, they lied so people couldn't argue with them
Nice video Sam
I feel like the long distance Amtrak trains will need the P42’s
They need to be replaced by HSR or dropped
I don’t 💭 that the Pacific Surfliner needs the Ventures unless it replaces the Horizons
i like the design of the F125 Spirits.
Lucky us Dallas residents still have f59's!!
I hope one day the line will be electrified, would be cool seeing ACS-64s screaming at high speeds
I hope that those modern passenger locomotives could be imported to Chile in a great effort to upgrade the passenger railroad service, both in commuter trains (something that's currently underway due to the work of the Chilean State Railways Company or EFE by their Spanish acronym) and in long range intercity trains (at least 30 to 40 years ago, the railroad network embraced Chile from the Northern cities until Puerto Montt in the southern end of the railroad system).
Normal people say, "Before, After", but you say "Name | Description, After".
Jk nice video
btw Metrolink's F59PHs do have a K5LA
but they use it only in emergencies
Yea my nearest station whiting station amtrack and 93rd metra eletric
Lmao it says Name Description at the new Coaster railcars part
Actually the superfine runs between LA and San diego
Nice video!🙂👍🏝
actually there were more v20 locomotives before the F125 that being the SDP45 and FP45 as well as the Brookville BL36ph for Tri Rail also use v20 prime movers
Did you get a chance to see any SPRINTER trains?
I wonder why Metrolink went with EMD instead of Siemens?
Metrolink was on the market for new tier 4 diesels before Siemens was a proven product, EMD won the contract before the SC-44 was even considered an option as the original order dates back to 2013. The long working relationship we have with EMD going back to 1992 was the deciding factor. I think the board went all in a bit too fast on them and so we had some teething issues in the beginning but in the end we wound up with working locos that we're happy with.
Aye, I’m from Plymouth MA
Awesome video mate! *personally i like the Sc-44 Chargers better than the F125s.* the F125 (in my opinion) has a unpleasant design than the Chargers. it just looks like they tried to badly mix up a F40 and a F59. also *it's really disappointing* that Siemens keeps rejecting cool Paint schemes made by there customers.
but anyways, awesome video once again!
Some should have a look at what Britain's been doing with their diesels and electrics... EMD won a building contact for the BR Class 66. The styling isn't pretty but the loco is powerful and used for Freight services.
Very nice & informative. My ONLY question is why does the knuckles on these train look so rusted???
Honestly as a european I really don't get the American rail fan obsession with service numbers and especially horns. Still neat video none the less, though 9400 horse power ain't that much. I mean around my neck of the woods we've recently taken delivery of a fleet of Siemens Vectrons and each of those have 8700 horse power. And the plan is to run some of them with Talgo cars like on the Cascade, and them one Vectron in each end. Like the power and acceleration of that will just be insane. And this is on top of us ordering new Intercity EMU's from Alstom which has an acceleration as fast as some Metro trains!
What’s Happening to Metrolink’s MP36s?
Luckily the f125 is a f unit
F40PH F59PH and PHI were also F unit
Would you support Chargers on the Downeaster?
Not a big SC44 fan, I don't like how they placed the ditch lights so high up on the front that is almost headlight height,sometimes from straight on it looks light it is just all one set of lights flashing.
As far as the horns on Metrolink I don't know why they would think a 5 chime is too loud, I live near railroad tacks, Amtrak has the softest horns, the ES or ET 44's are ok but the SD70 ACe is way too loud, Metrolink should just use the same horn as Amtrak.
Nice video!
Yeah!
I wish I could be as excited about being in California as everyone else but to be honest it starts to get very boring after living here for 14 years straight.
It's 5 rail company's not 3 BNSF, Amtrak, Coaster, Metrolink and The sprinter oceanside to Escondido
you sure the f59phis on coaster are gone?
actully the SD45s has V20 2 stroke EMD prime movers
As the did the SD80 and all variants of the SD90
Did you ever see the Acela?
The F40'S are still my favorite locomotive. Thank God for Via.
As far as looks go, the Charger wins for me. But man, that CAT C175 V20 really does sound good. F125s for sure have the better sounding engine.
The surf liner route needs to be high speed rail upgrade em
But why aren’t the new logos not electric?
5:13 name discription
I wonder how long 4012 will be back on steam