Hitting the rails with a couple of friends

Recently, a couple of friends invited me to join them for an event at Union Station in downtown L.A. Anyone who knows me knows that an event that involves trains requires little thought on my part about going. "Trains? OK, I'm go..." Wait, where did he go? He's at the train station, dummy. He got there before he finished his sentence.

Back in 2008, Amtrak began holding an annual event known as National Train Day. Held on the second Saturday of May, it was a day to celebrate trains. Old steam locomotives and classic coaches shared the tracks with modern coaches and brand new diesel-electric locomotives that pull trains today. Visitors to the event lined up for hours for a chance to walk through the cars and see how our parents or grandparents traveled when they were younger. One time I even got to climb into the cab of an old steam locomotive and check it out. (Read about that here.)

I don't know for sure when Amtrak stopped having that event, but it was within the last couple of years. I attended the first one in 2008 and still have a button I got while I was there. In past blog posts, I've written about my adventures. (Click the link in the paragraph above.)

The event I attended with Jeff and Wendi was very similar to National Train Day. This time the event was called Summer Train Fest and was held at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. I can't recall where I first learned about National Train Day because I wasn't on Facebook at the time. It might have been in the newspaper. But Summer Train Fest was advertised on Facebook, and I saw it there. Between "Going," "Not Going," and "Interested," I clicked "Interested" because I'm never sure whether I'll be up to attending events where I'll be too hot or on my feet for an extended period. (I just can't do a lot of that anymore. The reasons why are for another post.) But I got the invite from Jeff and Wendi, so I decided "what the heck, I'll go." It sounded like fun.

The three of us arranged to meet around 9am at Metro's Universal City station to take the Red Line to Union Station. A twenty-minute ride got us there not long past 10am, which was the official starting time for the event. People were already lined up along the wall in the tunnel that Amtrak and Metrolink passengers use to reach the track where their trains are boarding, or after arrival to get to the Metro Red or Gold Line stops or the main station concourse.

The event was free, so we didn't need to purchase any tickets for anything. We weren't in line long before it started moving. Visitors were led to the middle of the train before boarding and walking through some of the cars. Because I'd seen these cars before, I didn't take any photos. Jeff and Wendi had not walked through these cars previously or in recent times, so everything was new...ish to them. Any photos that appear in this post were taken by Wendi unless otherwise specified. To start, here are the three of us in the dome of Silver Solarium.

Wendi, Eric, and Jeff traveling in style.

There's no question that travel by rail could be quite an elegant experience back in the day. While much slower, it was definitely a hundred steps above the cramped, flying buses that we use today. (Yes, they're buses with wings unless you pay big.) What better way to see the country than at ground level? Someone else is driving, and you can sit back, enjoy the scenery, meet new people, get up and walk around the train, get a snack—you name it. And you can't beat the view from a dome car!

Eric, Wendi, and Jeff enjoying the dome car.

You won't find appointments like these today. The three of us did, however. No cramped seating here; only a nice sofa:

Wendi, Jeff, and Eric enjoy a little class. Sofa, so good...

What has always amazed me is how these cars roll down a track with rails only 56.5" inches apart, yet the cars can be as wide as a room in a house. We didn't get photos, but some of these cars have bedrooms with bunk beds and/or beds that can convert into a comfortable seat and vice versa. This is an exterior shot of the car we're sitting in.

Classic railcar from the 1950s

Once we were finished enjoying our 1950s rail trip, we hopped aboard the Metro Red Line and headed to Pershing Square. We stopped there to ride Angel's Flight. It has been shut down for quite some time, and I wasn't aware that it had reopened, so we had to see for ourselves. Sure enough, there was a car waiting for passengers at the bottom station. We wasted no time in getting in line.

Sinai waiting to carry folks to the top of the hill.

Jeff had never ridden Angel's Flight, and Wendi hadn't ridden it since before its original closure in 1969, when it was located a half-block up Hill St.

After our classic downtown L.A. rail experience, we headed across Hill St to have lunch at the Grand Central Market. Inside, there are a lot of places to eat, but we decided that the Horse Thief BBQ would suit us for lunch. We had to wait a bit, but it was worth it. A little western food hits the spot now and then.

The classic Bradbury Building was only one block away, so we walked over there and went inside. Here we are inside:

Jeff, Wendi, and Eric rockin' the Bradbury.

Unfortunately, unlike my last visit to the Bradbury Building sometime in the '80s, we were not able to ride the classic, open cage elevators. Guided tours are offered, but you have to sign up and make a reservation. There were no open slots when we were there, so maybe some other time. Here's a shot of one of the elevators:

Going up?

Wendi took quite a few photos of the interior of the Bradbury Building. Here is an assortment of her pictures:

By the time we left the Bradbury Building, I was beyond exhausted and we were ready to head back to the Valley, anyway. We had to walk a couple of blocks to reach the Pershing Square station of the Metro Red Line, so we got a-hoofin'. Jeff, Wendi, and I got our TAP cards loaded and pretty much walked onto a train headed to the Valley. It was nice to sit for a few minutes at least.

Back at Universal, I drove Jeff and Wendi over to get his car which was parked at a friend's house not too far away. I called it a day and headed home. At some point, I'm sure we'll embark on another adventure of some kind. There's so much to explore in the city of Los Angeles.