Railfanning Ventura - East (w/ F125) - 7/2/18

[@nortonhatfield7312]

Metrolink recently added weekend service to this line. That was due to Ventura hosting the X games last summer.

[@reynoldhunter8600]

Metrolink leaves in the crack of dawn

[@BrentNguyen46]

Pretty amazing when you think about all the commuters that do this daily for work.

[@reynoldhunter8600]

@@BrentNguyen46 agreed

[@coppercruz3605]

Great Video:) You caught your first F125.

[@BrentNguyen46]

Copper Cruz Thank you ! Yep, they sure are shiny, haha !

[@nh_highlander1985]

Kewl trains with the clear view of the internals!! Nice video!!

[@BrentNguyen46]

Tweety Swauger Thanks ! It’s nice to hear from you again ! Glad you noticed the shot of the inside of the locomotive !

[@daboidarwin1299]

Thank you so much! I've been trying to find a video of this station! It's kinda akward seeing the trains back and forth alot. :/

[@BrentNguyen46]

darwinboy 129 You’re very welcome ! Glad you like the video ! Yeah, it is back and forth, but for 4 train movements per trainset, I’d say a 4 for 1 is a pretty good deal, haha !

[@average_joe8905]

Nice catches!

[@BrentNguyen46]

Average_ Joe Thank you !

[@nortonhatfield7312]

15:59, Was that engineer or the conductor boarding the f59 locomotive?

[@BrentNguyen46]

The conductor. The trains run CabCar forward on its trip to Los Angeles but has to make a reverse switching moves at this particular station. The conductor rides the engine as the engineer in the CabCar “reverses” the train.

[@LucyLoud2002]

The arrangement of this station in the system is kind of odd. When trains enter, they have to go forward (locomotive in the front) and then backwards (cab car in the back) and then the other way around when they leave for L.A., but it’s still unique to all the other final stations throughout all lines.

[@Adumzzinthehouse]

Odd but awesome. Makes the train action last longer for the short amount of trains there are.

[@nortonhatfield7312]

What's even more unique is when metrolink runs special trains to the Ventura county fair grounds. They switch from "pull mode"to " push mode"or vise versa at this station.

[@butthurt8]

I surprised Amtrak won’t buy any F-125 and they got charger instead.

[@BrentNguyen46]

butthurt8 Yeah, same here. Personally, I think the F125 looks better than the SC-44. However it is worth noting that initially there was a slight issue with the F125s when they were first delivered concerning the urea filter / emissions system. That was why there was a delay from the time they were delivered until most of the units ran trains by themselves. Nonetheless, the F125 is certainly a nice locomotive.

[@butthurt8]

BrentNguyen46 you got that right. I think Charger actually won Amtrak over since it has 4400hp and can travel 125 mph and zero black exhaust smoke.

[@Cards8114]

Is it just me, or does the Rail buckle and cause the train cars and locomotives that run over it to 'sway' when entering/exiting the station?

[@BrentNguyen46]

Remixed Person v8114 Sort of. The tracks that parallel the station here are actually the original jointed rail back when Metrolink began service here and are the same ones used to this day. As a result, the trackbed is not equivalent to modern designs; though it is still capable of handling the current trainsets, hence the minor swaying and “clickety-clack” as illustrated in the video. The rail however is not buckling from the weight of the train.

[@Cards8114]

@@BrentNguyen46 Oh alright, any plans to replace these tracks with concrete ties in the future?

[@BrentNguyen46]

Remixed Person v8114 As far as I’m concerned, I don’t think it’ll be anytime soon. Essentially only three trainsets use those tracks, so the wear is rather minimal, even after 16 years of use.

[@reynoldhunter8600]

That's near ventura County Beach

[@GoldRailfan162]

9:05 Lights turn on quick

[@kelsadilla367]

Isn't it illegal to leave the door on the locomotive's snout open?

[@BrentNguyen46]

Leafynitemare2 I would like to believe it is not illegal. I was not able to find any information regarding train movements and locomotive doors being open based on the GCOR specifications; however this is just based on what I was able to find.

[@rhettrossalbert]

Nice Video!

[@BrentNguyen46]

Rhett Ross Albert Thanks !