Another quick piece based on another, later train journey to LA -

I was heading with family down to Los Angeles on the 30th of October to check out Universal's Horror Nights (which, frankly isn't really my cup of tea) on the same day. Ideally and theoretically, this would work out well schedule-wise (the train is set to arrive at 9, Uni's HHN lasts from 9 to past midnight). However, the odds of the Coast Starlate actually being on time are, well, you can pretty much guess. In a stroke of either bad luck or further proof of tardiness, the train suffered many delays on the way down -

• Stopping in Oakland to pickup a private railcar
  
• Stalled in the middle of a trestle south of Salinas due to high tides (water was an inch below the rails)
  
• Yielded in Santa Barbara to let the Surfliners pass
  
• Return back to Santa Barbara to pick up a downed Surfliner
  
• (What is pictured here) Halting along the coast, in the middle of nowhere due to brake issues, before losing all power for half-an-hour
  
• Yielding to Metrolink

In the end, the train ended up being well over an hour late, and my family and I decided to just go to Universal the next day instead.