Now that summer has arrived, the green hills have turned into fuel for the wildfires that plague the west each year, but fortunately on this day there were no fires in Santa Ana Canyon (as there were in several other locations nearby). Amtrak train 3, the westbound Southwest Chief is late … again. After Amtrak P42DC 196, this train's lead locomotive, crapped out somewhere in New Mexico, and remaining diesel (AMTK Dash 8-40BP 816) couldn't handle the nine-car train (eight revenue cars plus a deadheading lounge on the rear) on its own, BNSF assigned ES44DC 7472 to help get this train to Los Angeles ... although freight engines have slower gearing resulting it – you guessed it! – an even later Chief! Adding to this train's woes as it passed through southern California was a crew change in Riverside, which took an hour to accomplish. Thus, train 3 was 7 hours 17 minutes late as it passed through Esperanza on BNSF's San Bernardino Sub. In another 13 minutes this train will arrive in Fullerton, its next-to-last stop before Los Angeles. (Yorba Linda, California – June 27, 2023)
