It's not mentioned but LA commuter rail (Metrolink) Orange County line also terminates at Oceanside from the north so it possible to take commuter rail from LA to SD as opposed to using the Amtrak California Pacific Surfliner (although the schedules are coordinated).
Was so awesome to see the Coaster and Surfliner when I went to San Diego a few weeks ago, wish we had more commuter rails here in Canada. Was surprised how modern their cabs and locomotives were going there.
0:55 Amtrak should also reintroduce the San Diegan on that route as a NEW Amtrak California Corridor Train running from San Diego, all the way to Las Vegas, Nevada!! It would run along the Surfline from San Diego to Oceanside, then on it’s own line through Fallbrook, Temecula, and Elsinore. Once it gets to Perris South, it then joins up with Metrolink’s 91-Perris Valley and Inland Empire-Orange County Lines from Perris to San Bernardino. It then continues via the Southwest Chief’s route from San Bernardino through the Cajon Pass to Victorville and Barstow, and then from Barstow, takes the route formerly used by the Desert Wind from Barstow to its final termination in Las Vegas!!
It would more need to go from sd to cp maple and follow the inland empire line to the SBD sub to San Bernardino and then hop on the cajon sub to Barstow and then on
I guess metra isn’t the only railroad that needs major attention! (I’m sorry I had to make this joke I couldn’t hold it in) Also have you ever heard of ACE Commuter rail in California? If so, thoughts on that for another episode in the future?
yeah it’s caltrain but entirely irrelevant and no one uses it or knows where it goes. even the amtrak to the central valley probably gets more riders ☠️
@@fenianfinn Ummm, “the Amtrak to the Central Valley” is the San Joaquins. It’s the 5th most popular rail route in the country! It uses the exact same Siemens Chargers and now the same Siemens Venture cars as Brightline. It also has the exact same top and average speeds as Brightline, only it serves a lot more stops and is more popular. It’s was precisely the success of rail lines like the San Joaquins that inspired the likes of Brightline and Texas Central to throw their hats into the ring and try making private rail work. The San Joaquins is excellent and a line of national importance! Literally!
@@fenianfinn Oh, and ACE has very comparable ridership to the Coaster. They’re literally twins! They use the same-ish equipment and the ACE ridership and the Coaster ridership are usually within 10-ish % of each other. Seriously, foamers have the weirdest mood swings concerning these rail lines. These two lines differ in location and livery. Everything else is completely identical, including the governance and rolling stock. You lot just throw a coin over which one to love unconditionally and which one to hate? FYI, the ACE is actually going to be upgraded a lot more and farther than the Coaster. They are targeting 125mph electrified Higher Speed Rail, and substantial extensions all the way to Merced to connect to CAHSR and to Sacramento!
Im not sure what the future of ACE will be with Valley Rail being in the same area. I guess Valley Rail will probably use DMU’s and look more like SMART then ACE.
@@fenianfinn First off, you SUCK at researching things. As a person who railfans Fremont, and even rode on ACE, ACE is a very, very popular and cherished service. Every dang time I railfan at Fremont, the platform is crowded with commuters going to the Pleasanton-livermore areas. I also rode ACE somewhere in April of 2022 and saw the train becoming extremely full at Santa Clara’s Great America station. Maybe next time stop posting useless comments and go railfan at stations with more people that serve ACE 💀💀💀
It should be emphasized that Coaster service is so great because the County owns the tracks and the freight service only runs at night. Consequently, Coaster is well integrated with the Sprinter and Breeze bus service; most of these services run twice an hour. Coaster is a "regional rail" service, not "commuter rail" because there is real directionality to the service and trains run every few hours during the middle of the day and in the evening. It even runs special late night trains for Padres baseball; few "commuter rail" services can just run more trains when they want. Metrolink has similar flexibility on some routes for special events, but they share a lot more routes with freight railroads.
Actually, the Santa Fe did not have a massive cutback until 1967, and reluctantly joined Amtrak, as they were still proud of the Super Chief-El Capitan, Texas Chief and San Francisco Chief.
10:40 despite many people calling these cab cars ugly, I assume that they will do better in any event of crash than the OG cab cars currently in use and that's definitely good
Definitely consider doing a video on the other rail line in northern San Diego County, the Sprinter. That line was built in the 1880s and had passenger service until 1947 with just one train per day, and restarted service in 2008 with 30+ trains per day (two trains per hour). I remember living close to it when I was young and rode on it during its first year of operation, and seeing news about it being persistently delayed until it finally opened during the recession.
In case you missed it, NS will send two SD70M-2s to Progress Rail for rebuilding into AC traction with all the latest software. The pair is not expected to begin testing until 2023. I believe the pair will be 2718 & 2737. 2718 and 2737 I believe. Several SD70M-2s have been sold off but NS retains many. How many exactly?
Definitely love what I see in this series. Hoping that my local commuter rail in Philadelphia, SEPTA comes along at some point, since there's a lot of interesting (and crazy) history and a lot is happening around here too.
In case you missed it, NS will send two SD70M-2s to Progress Rail for rebuilding into AC traction with all the latest software. The pair is not expected to begin testing until 2023. I believe the pair will be #2718 & #2737. Several SD70M-2s have been sold off but NS retains many. How many exactly?
Could you do a video about the Californian SMART regional rail? To my knowledge, they're one of two railroads in North America that use the Nippon Sharyo DMU
Replacing the F59PHIs with more chargers would be an advantage for maintenance logistics. I can see them getting picked up by someone who already has the type like Metra or Sounder, depending on condition
To be honest, Santa Fe was hesitant about joining Amtrak... It didn't give permission after 1973 the right to call the Chicago -Los Angeles train the Super Chief.
Coaster is the greatest railroad in the history of the world. The territory, scenary, equpiment, speed, stations. Even the crew moral. You say 41 miles of track and you think a switch engine clunking along at 10 mph. At Coaster its a SC44 doing 90. Say commuter rail and people think of a ghetto. At Coaster its a beach. Coaster is very special.
@@Southern_California_Railfanner California is investing like crazy in trains! Give them time! I'm sure eventually the Coaster will be upgraded too. Just look at Caltrain, the San Joaquins, BART all getting new rolling stock and upgrades!
@@Southern_California_Railfanner I won't put MARC down but they don't have as much beach and their weather isn't as nice nice and its close to ths Northeast Corridor where speeds like that aren't uncommon.
90 mph is good its faster then like half of the Belgian rail network which has a track speed of 120kph(75mph). but more than 90% of all track miles are electrified at 3kv DC
In case you missed it, NS will send 2 SD70M-2s to Progress Rail for rebuilding into AC traction with all the latest software. The pair is not expected to begin testing until 2023. 2718 and 2737 I believe. Several SD70M-2s have been sold off, but NS retains many. How many exactly?
Are you really not going to mention that the Coaster has substantially higher ridership than Brightline even though it has a route of about half the length? At least you mentioned that the Coaster has a higher top speed and much better views than Brightline! It looks like your rabid hate of California might be subsiding somewhat 😁
The comparison with Brightline should be changing very soon, as the Orlando line opens. Brightline isn’t really set up as well for commuter rail anyway
The F59’s won’t be going anywhere super soon, they are much more reliable than the chargers when maintained appropriately, and can withstand colder temperatures, something the SC44’s struggle with.
What is your source for cold weather reliability of the Charger? I keep hearing this meme in the railfannig community but there’s no mention of these issues in the real world. Canada’s VIA rail and Amtrak Midwest just ordered a bunch of Chargers. How come we didn’t hear anything about any cold weather or other issues with the Chargers if this is an actual concern? Wouldn’t the Canadian national railway have some questions about cold weather reliability if what you say were true?
Apparently VIA’s specification is slightly different, and they’re in the middle of a year’s worth of testing for that exact sort of problem. Their promotional stuff was saying a lot about cold-weather testing.
In case you missed it, NS will send 2 SD70M-2s to Progress Rail for rebuilding into AC traction with all the latest software. The pair is not expected to begin testing until 2023. I believe the pair will be 2718 and 2737. Several SD70M-2s have been sold off, but NS retains many. How many exactly?
It's not mentioned but LA commuter rail (Metrolink) Orange County line also terminates at Oceanside from the north so it possible to take commuter rail from LA to SD as opposed to using the Amtrak California Pacific Surfliner (although the schedules are coordinated).
Was so awesome to see the Coaster and Surfliner when I went to San Diego a few weeks ago, wish we had more commuter rails here in Canada. Was surprised how modern their cabs and locomotives were going there.
Amtrak California doesn’t mess around! We call it Amtrak Premium around here 😁
0:55 Amtrak should also reintroduce the San Diegan on that route as a NEW Amtrak California Corridor Train running from San Diego, all the way to Las Vegas, Nevada!! It would run along the Surfline from San Diego to Oceanside, then on it’s own line through Fallbrook, Temecula, and Elsinore. Once it gets to Perris South, it then joins up with Metrolink’s 91-Perris Valley and Inland Empire-Orange County Lines from Perris to San Bernardino. It then continues via the Southwest Chief’s route from San Bernardino through the Cajon Pass to Victorville and Barstow, and then from Barstow, takes the route formerly used by the Desert Wind from Barstow to its final termination in Las Vegas!!
It would more need to go from sd to cp maple and follow the inland empire line to the SBD sub to San Bernardino and then hop on the cajon sub to Barstow and then on
I also heard that Metrolink is doing a SIMILAR REFURB with their Bombardiers as well!
I guess metra isn’t the only railroad that needs major attention! (I’m sorry I had to make this joke I couldn’t hold it in) Also have you ever heard of ACE Commuter rail in California? If so, thoughts on that for another episode in the future?
yeah it’s caltrain but entirely irrelevant and no one uses it or knows where it goes. even the amtrak to the central valley probably gets more riders ☠️
@@fenianfinn Ummm, “the Amtrak to the Central Valley” is the San Joaquins. It’s the 5th most popular rail route in the country!
It uses the exact same Siemens Chargers and now the same Siemens Venture cars as Brightline. It also has the exact same top and average speeds as Brightline, only it serves a lot more stops and is more popular.
It’s was precisely the success of rail lines like the San Joaquins that inspired the likes of Brightline and Texas Central to throw their hats into the ring and try making private rail work.
The San Joaquins is excellent and a line of national importance! Literally!
@@fenianfinn Oh, and ACE has very comparable ridership to the Coaster. They’re literally twins! They use the same-ish equipment and the ACE ridership and the Coaster ridership are usually within 10-ish % of each other.
Seriously, foamers have the weirdest mood swings concerning these rail lines. These two lines differ in location and livery. Everything else is completely identical, including the governance and rolling stock. You lot just throw a coin over which one to love unconditionally and which one to hate?
FYI, the ACE is actually going to be upgraded a lot more and farther than the Coaster. They are targeting 125mph electrified Higher Speed Rail, and substantial extensions all the way to Merced to connect to CAHSR and to Sacramento!
Im not sure what the future of ACE will be with Valley Rail being in the same area. I guess Valley Rail will probably use DMU’s and look more like SMART then ACE.
@@fenianfinn First off, you SUCK at researching things.
As a person who railfans Fremont, and even rode on ACE, ACE is a very, very popular and cherished service. Every dang time I railfan at Fremont, the platform is crowded with commuters going to the Pleasanton-livermore areas. I also rode ACE somewhere in April of 2022 and saw the train becoming extremely full at Santa Clara’s Great America station. Maybe next time stop posting useless comments and go railfan at stations with more people that serve ACE 💀💀💀
Great video! I rode Coaster F40s and F59s as a kid, just recently rode north for my first experience on an Charger.
Same the old engines were nice but I wish the f40s and 59s were raised to 4400 for commuter service and that they could keep all engines for service
Another great video! Could you do a spinoff on the COASTER sister line the SPRINTER light rail?
Isn’t SPRINTER owned by Coaster?
It should be emphasized that Coaster service is so great because the County owns the tracks and the freight service only runs at night. Consequently, Coaster is well integrated with the Sprinter and Breeze bus service; most of these services run twice an hour. Coaster is a "regional rail" service, not "commuter rail" because there is real directionality to the service and trains run every few hours during the middle of the day and in the evening. It even runs special late night trains for Padres baseball; few "commuter rail" services can just run more trains when they want. Metrolink has similar flexibility on some routes for special events, but they share a lot more routes with freight railroads.
I am so happy that the Coaster F40PHM-2C'S are safe from being scrapped at LTEX.
This is amazing
The Coaster isn't the only super scenic commuter rail route in the country, the Sounder North Line here in Seattle is just as Scenic
9:20 a large new generation of railfans including myself
I live in Oceanside, I ride this train all the time, ama
Actually, the Santa Fe did not have a massive cutback until 1967, and reluctantly joined Amtrak, as they were still proud of the Super Chief-El Capitan, Texas Chief and San Francisco Chief.
10:40 despite many people calling these cab cars ugly, I assume that they will do better in any event of crash than the OG cab cars currently in use and that's definitely good
Imagine if WES had those cars...
They look much better than the old cabs
I just hate them because horns bad
It not the cab that made it worse it the horn they might used Canadian Dumb K5CA
I know you probably don't do request but I would for you to do sunrail in Florida or sounder in Washington. Keep up the great work. Love your videos.
Lol, sounder
I’ll see myself out
coaster has hinted they may go KISS EMUs as part of upgrades
I'll mis the Bi-Levels I grew up on but electrification would be really cool, especially once they get those 5-10 minute frequencies.
@@gearandalthefirst7027 metrolink will probably keep them till the 2050s at this rate
Really? Holy crap! That’s awesome to hear! Do you remember the source?
@@TohaBgood2 I think as part of the 2 new tunnels it was mentioned
Definitely consider doing a video on the other rail line in northern San Diego County, the Sprinter. That line was built in the 1880s and had passenger service until 1947 with just one train per day, and restarted service in 2008 with 30+ trains per day (two trains per hour). I remember living close to it when I was young and rode on it during its first year of operation, and seeing news about it being persistently delayed until it finally opened during the recession.
I had no idea San Diego had a rail line like this. Thanks.
Great review! Can't wait for what this small but mighty commuter rail has ok store for years to come.
It’s not a small line at all. The Coaster is a respectable size commuter line for the US.
Great video
In case you missed it, NS will send two SD70M-2s to Progress Rail for rebuilding into AC traction with all the latest software. The pair is not expected to begin testing until 2023. I believe the pair will be 2718 & 2737. 2718 and 2737 I believe. Several SD70M-2s have been sold off but NS retains many. How many exactly?
We need a Caltrain review
Definitely love what I see in this series. Hoping that my local commuter rail in Philadelphia, SEPTA comes along at some point, since there's a lot of interesting (and crazy) history and a lot is happening around here too.
That episode is in the works! Stay tuned
Nice video.
In case you missed it, NS will send two SD70M-2s to Progress Rail for rebuilding into AC traction with all the latest software. The pair is not expected to begin testing until 2023. I believe the pair will be #2718 & #2737. Several SD70M-2s have been sold off but NS retains many. How many exactly?
All of them were listed for sale a while ago
@@andrewreynolds4949 Keep in mind, 46 of these are still on the active roster.
Please do NYC’s metro north. I always feel like it’s overlooked compared to the LIRR and I would love to see more content on it.
I'm grateful that my namesake Coaster F40 #2103 was donated to the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum.
The SC-44 is impressive: the AC traction motors make more noise than the diesel engine inside
Could you do a video about the Californian SMART regional rail? To my knowledge, they're one of two railroads in North America that use the Nippon Sharyo DMU
2101 I believe will be donated to the C&O Railway Heritage center in Clifton Forge, Virginia.
Can you do one for Metrolink since it’s close to Coaster
I want Coaster to be the big commuter service all of San Diego!
Replacing the F59PHIs with more chargers would be an advantage for maintenance logistics. I can see them getting picked up by someone who already has the type like Metra or Sounder, depending on condition
To be honest, Santa Fe was hesitant about joining Amtrak... It didn't give permission after 1973 the right to call the Chicago -Los Angeles train the Super Chief.
You should do a railroad from the east coast next
3rd cool
2101, i believe will be donated to Clifton Forge, VA.
Riding coaster is significantly better than driving
I could see metra buying the f59s
Not to brag but i hope you do a railroad review of amtrak plz.
Coaster is the greatest railroad in the history of the world. The territory, scenary, equpiment, speed, stations. Even the crew moral. You say 41 miles of track and you think a switch engine clunking along at 10 mph. At Coaster its a SC44 doing 90. Say commuter rail and people think of a ghetto. At Coaster its a beach. Coaster is very special.
It truly is but sadly it’s not the fastest being Marc running up to 125mph
@@Southern_California_Railfanner California is investing like crazy in trains! Give them time! I'm sure eventually the Coaster will be upgraded too. Just look at Caltrain, the San Joaquins, BART all getting new rolling stock and upgrades!
@@Southern_California_Railfanner I won't put MARC down but they don't have as much beach and their weather isn't as nice nice and its close to ths Northeast Corridor where speeds like that aren't uncommon.
We’ve been trying to reach you about your SD40-2s extended warranty
90 mph is good its faster then like half of the Belgian rail network which has a track speed of 120kph(75mph). but more than 90% of all track miles are electrified at 3kv DC
First
Also great vid, keep up the good work.
I will stand by and argue that the metro north Hudson line is the most scenic commuter railroad in the US
I beg to differ, it’s costed and metrolink
In case you missed it, NS will send 2 SD70M-2s to Progress Rail for rebuilding into AC traction with all the latest software. The pair is not expected to begin testing until 2023. 2718 and 2737 I believe. Several SD70M-2s have been sold off, but NS retains many. How many exactly?
Are you really not going to mention that the Coaster has substantially higher ridership than Brightline even though it has a route of about half the length?
At least you mentioned that the Coaster has a higher top speed and much better views than Brightline! It looks like your rabid hate of California might be subsiding somewhat 😁
The comparison with Brightline should be changing very soon, as the Orlando line opens. Brightline isn’t really set up as well for commuter rail anyway
5:20 WHAT DID HE SAY?
*Surflner, NOT "Surfline." There's an "r" at the end of the name.
Surfliner is the Amtrak service, Surfline is the name of the physical railway line
NS SD70M-2s #2718 & #2737.
2024 and we still have no sign of the new cab cars least from what I’ve seen
I'm grateful that my namesake Coaster F40PH-3C 2103 was donated to the Southern California Railway Museum.
9:44 more specifically January 1, 2023
train guy nate
You got to do Long Island railroad next
The F59’s won’t be going anywhere super soon, they are much more reliable than the chargers when maintained appropriately, and can withstand colder temperatures, something the SC44’s struggle with.
the F59 are the plan is 2023 for coaster. cold weather isn't an issue in SD and they'll get better with time.
What is your source for cold weather reliability of the Charger? I keep hearing this meme in the railfannig community but there’s no mention of these issues in the real world.
Canada’s VIA rail and Amtrak Midwest just ordered a bunch of Chargers. How come we didn’t hear anything about any cold weather or other issues with the Chargers if this is an actual concern? Wouldn’t the Canadian national railway have some questions about cold weather reliability if what you say were true?
Apparently VIA’s specification is slightly different, and they’re in the middle of a year’s worth of testing for that exact sort of problem. Their promotional stuff was saying a lot about cold-weather testing.
The next railroad review should be either MBTA, CTRAIL, Or Metro North
In case you missed it, NS will send 2 SD70M-2s to Progress Rail for rebuilding into AC traction with all the latest software. The pair is not expected to begin testing until 2023. I believe the pair will be 2718 and 2737. Several SD70M-2s have been sold off, but NS retains many. How many exactly?