After dropping my wife off at her hospital site for her current phase in her nursing program, my daughter and I made our way down to Calafia Beach in San Clemente to find a spot to catch the special run of the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners (AAPRCO) convention train on its way down to San Diego. The AAPRCO train was being led by ATSF 3751, a former Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe steam locomotive. This woud be the second run of this restored locomotive to San Diego this year. Before this year, this wonderful old steam engine had not run on these tracks for more than fifty years, when it was a regular pulling trains to and from San Diego. ATSF 3751 was restored and is maintained by the San Bernardino Railroad and Historical Society. It was very overcast and gray when we arrived at the beach. Not the best conditions for photography, but you take what is given to you and make it work. We parked and
made our way along the bluffs to claim our spot for the capturing images of the train. We were there pleny early, so we ejoyed watching the surfers in action.Bodysurfers were active too.
Passing Surfliners provided a chance to practice for the arrival of the AAPRCO train. Northbound train 565 passes by our location.
Not too long after 9:00, we saw the signal light up with a red light indicating the train was approaching our location. A distant headlight appeared and more photographers were racing to get a spot to capture their images. The train came more into view and began to blow its
whistle for the pedestrian crossing as people stopped to watch. Many of these people were completely unaware of this special train.The train passes the signal and was upon our location faster that expected with 24 private railroad cars in tow.
An Amtrak employee was enjoying the view as he watched from the window of the last Amtrak P42.
We went back to the car after the train had passed by and put away the tripod and chairs. We had plenty of time remaining on the parking meter, so we made our way down to the beach to have a little play time. The sea birds were not bothered by our presence and posed for some images.
Samantha had her sand bucket and shovel and proceeded to fill the bucket with wet sand. After filling up the bucket, she brought it up to me and left it there. She went back to play in the water as it came in.
We were closer to the surf action, so I captured a few more images of the surfers as they made the best of the conditions that were given to them.
One last image as we made our way back to the car. The sun came out making for a nice scene.
All in all, it was a nice morning away from our home and some memories to boot.
Thanks for stopping by.
Ken
