Uploaded November 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Over the weekend of October 28/29, I had the unique experience of riding the Pacific Sands between Los Angeles and San Diego. LA Rail runs scheduled excursions throughout Southern California using its fleet of 1950’s vintage rail cars attached to regularly scheduled Amtrak trains. On this trip we were coupled to the rear of Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train #564 departing LA Union Passenger Terminal at 7:25 am.
The route travels through Orange County with several stops along the way before meeting the Pacific Ocean at Capistrano Beach. From there it parallels the waves and Interstate 5 (San Diego Freeway) south until it passes through Del Mar where it turns inland to climb through Carroll Canyon up to Miramar. From there it drops back down to parallel I5 again eventually reaching the classic Santa Fe depot in downtown San Diego.
This video shows some of the highlights of my trip in one of the Pacific Sands roomettes. Unfortunately my camera battery died at the Miramar summit with the backup also being DOA. If you’re interested in taking one of these excursions, you can find all the information you need at larail.com
Over the weekend of October 28/29, I had the unique experience of riding the Pacific Sands between Los Angeles and San Diego. LA Rail runs scheduled excursions throughout Southern California using its fleet of 1950’s vintage rail cars attached to regularly scheduled Amtrak trains. On this trip we were coupled to the rear of Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train #564 departing LA Union Passenger Terminal at 7:25 am.
The route travels through Orange County with several stops along the way before meeting the Pacific Ocean at Capistrano Beach. From there it parallels the waves and Interstate 5 (San Diego Freeway) south until it passes through Del Mar where it turns inland to climb through Carroll Canyon up to Miramar. From there it drops back down to parallel I5 again eventually reaching the classic Santa Fe depot in downtown San Diego.
This video shows some of the highlights of my trip in one of the Pacific Sands roomettes. Unfortunately my camera battery died at the Miramar summit with the backup also being DOA. If you’re interested in taking one of these excursions, you can find all the information you need at larail.com
