The Historical Society’s Santa Fe 3751 will be parked at Union Station on Track 15 during Rail Safety: Los Angeles, what organizers are calling the biggest rail safety event in Los Angeles in more than a decade.
September is Rail Safety Month, and on Saturday and Sunday, the Historical Society will be joining Amtrak, Metrolink, LA Metro and local law enforcement partners to raise awareness and inform the public to learn about rail safety and the massive machines that criss-cross the Southern California landscape.
A fully restored 1927 Santa Fe 3751 steam-powered locomotive is shown in this undated photo courtesy of San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society.
The fully restored, 874,000-pound steam locomotive will be joined by modern train equipment from Metrolink and Amtrak, as well as informational booths from the local transit agencies.
“We could not be more excited to bring the message of safety around railroad tracks back to downtown Los Angeles,” said Alex Gillman, vice president of the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society. “Southern California is one of the busiest centers of passenger and freight railroad operations in the nation, and promoting rail safety is crucial for all our local communities.”
Rail safety month is an increasingly important topic for the Golden State, as California ranked first in the nation for rail deaths involving trespassers, according to federal statistics. There were 190 deaths and 134 injuries related to those trespassing incidents in 2023, officials said.
California also ranked No. 2 in 2023 for highway-rail grade crossing collisions, with 172 crashes that resulted in 38 deaths.
Organizers hope that by putting these trains and other rail equipment on display, it will inform the public about the raw power and sheer size of the vehicles and encourage best practices around railroad crossings.
In addition to the 1927 locomotive, Metrolink will be displaying its own F125 locomotive and a specially designed passenger “Cab Car” which allows Metrolink trains to operate with the locomotive pushing or pulling from either side of the train.
The SBRHS restored Santa Fe 3751 sits at Los Angeles Union Station next to a Metrolink F125 Spirit locomotive in this undated photo courtesy of San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society.
A Metrolink F125 “Spirit” locomotive is shown in this undated photo courtesy of San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society.
Amtrak’s Operation Lifesaver painted locomotive, Amtrak 203, shown in this undated photo courtesy of San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society.
A Metrolink passenger “Cab Car” railcar is shown in this undated photo courtesy of San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society.
Amtrak will have a “one-of-a-kind” locomotive that’s painted yellow and black like a railroad crossing sign. The Amtrak 203 is a diesel-electric locomotive that the national railroad system acquired as part of the 50th Anniversary of Operation Lifesaver , a “nonprofit public safety education and awareness organization dedicated to stopping track tragedies.”
In addition to the local rail agencies and the Railroad Historical Society, local and regional law enforcement and fire crews will be on hand to present over the weekend.
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