On a hot September morning, the equipment for this day's northbound train 14, Amtrak's Coast Starlight (Los Angeles to Seattle), has just backed into Los Angeles Union Station's Track 12, and will soon be loading passengers for its 9:51 departure from the City of Angels.
Today's eight-car train has a pair of Siemens ALC-42 locomotives, in slightly different paint schemes: 325 (in the Phase VII scheme) and 305 (one of only eight in the Phase VI scheme). Over to the left, on tracks 13, 14 and 15, can be seen some of the equipment on display for the Los Angeles Union Station Train Festival 2023, including Santa Fe 4-8-4 3751, Amtrak P42DC 203 (in Operation Lifesaver markings) and Santa Fe SD45-2 5704 restored to its Bicentennial glory. Sadly, they crammed all this equipment into a very tight area, making photography difficult and the light was best before the display was open. (Los Angeles, California – September 9, 2023)
Running daily between Seattle and Los Angeles, this train offers running alongside the Pacific Ocean and through the Cascade Mountains. It has been one of Amtrak's long-distance success stories.
