I stumbled upon this train as it was approaching the station in Orange, and was surprised to see it as daytime freights on the old Santa Fe 4th District, dubbed the "Surf Line," (today Metrolink's Orange Sub) are a rarity. I grabbed some shots, but it was overcast and I thought, "I could beat him to the beach," assuming I would catch him again under coastal clouds there, too. But as I approached the coast on Interstate 5, I could see that my impulsive decision to head down to the Pacific Ocean was serendipitous and, amazingly, the marine layer was burning off to relatively clear blue skies! Before long Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 768 (Goleta to San Diego) passed by, and I knew the freight was most likely not far behind. And, for a change, I was right! BNSF ES44AC 6092, and Dash 9-44CWs 4317 and 4596 (with ET44C4 3703 and ES44C4 6686 shoving on the rear) were in charge of train H-BARSDG1-13A, a High Priority Merchandise that originated in Barstow and was heading to (wait for it...) San Diego. This 77-car train was running 19 hours 12 minutes late (as it passed Atwood, a few miles before I first saw it), so maybe that's why it was running while the sun was up, passing milepost 206 and just 1? miles from entering San Diego County. (San Clemente, California – April 14, 2021)
