Fullerton Train Festval Re-Cap

What a day it was! We figured the best way to get to a train festival was on the train, so we ordered our tickets online and awaited the big day. Of course, the weather report was calling for a big winter storm, even though it was already May. Oh well, being former Ohioians we usually don't let the rain stop us from traveling so we packed up the rain coats and boots and headed out.

As fate would have it, a major line of showers can through right as we were about to depart, but by the time we packed up and drove the 10 minutes to the station, the storm was already headed east and the sun was streaming through white puffy clouds.

The train was right on time and only paused a moment in Van Nuys before heading out again. We hadn't even found our seats yet before the wheels started to turn. Settling into a nice spot with 4 facing seats we took in the sights along the rails, including several cars stalled in the midst of 5-6 foot deep water from the storm.

As we approached Burbank Airport we paced a large Southwest jet as it made its landing. Soon we had arrived in Union Station downtown for a short wait as they loaded transferring passengers and their baggage. Joe and I had enough time to walk down the concourse, grab a snack at the news stand and a photo of the lobby before heading back to the train.

There were other train people aboard as we headed towards Fullerton and I enjoyed eavesdropping on their descriptions of all the rail yards, maintenance stations we passed along the way.

With no stops between downtown and Fullerton, the trip seemed too quick. We had arrived before we even had our belongings gathered, but managed to get off the train before it pulled out, heading for San Diego. As we rode the train, a big line of storms had passed over Fullerton, soaking the festival, but by the time we arrived the sky was bright blue.

The festival was set up right in the station parking lot, so we only had to walk a few steps to immerse ourselves in it. Nonna Mary, Rosanne's mother met us there as she only lives a few miles away in Placentia. Our friend, Lorilyn was there as well, exhibiting with the Southern California Lego Train Club.

There were 2 huge tents full of model trains of every shape, scale and design. Old time Lionel layouts held court in one, while HO, N, Lego Trains and other were spread throughout the other. I have never seen so many model trains in one location before. Several companies had large G-scale garden railroad layouts set up in the parking lot. One even had 4 trains set up so that kids could run them around their small ovals.

A real diesel engine was available for a walk-through, along with a restored caboose and World War II era coach car. Another benefit of holding the festival at a train station was the plethora of real trains passing north and south. We saw several long freights, the Pacific Surfliners that we had taken down and although Metrolink doesn't have weekend service to Fullerton, they had a train parked so people could check it out.

Food and entertainment rounded out the day. The Spaghetti Factory, where we had dinner, is located adjacent to the train station and we also found a nice little coffeehouse, The Hub Cafe, located just across the parking lot. We retreated there to take a little rest and rejuvenate with a cafe latte before walking back to look at more trains.

At about 5:30p we headed back to the station, checked that the train was on-time and then had some great conversations with other riders also headed northbound. By 745 we were back in Van Nuys, tired but very happy with our busy day.

Click the photos for a large photo gallery of our day!