The below images were captured from the west facing security camera mounted in the center of the pedestrian bridge over the tracks at the Fullerton Amtrak Station. This security camera was owned and operated by the City of Fullerton and provided a live feed to the Amtrak Ticket Office that was located directly below the TrainWeb office in the Fullerton Amtrak Station. The City of Fullerton split the signal and put a monitor in the TrainWeb's office so that we could capture webcam images of the live railroad action. The bottom images on this page show the Santa Fe 3751 steam locomotive arriving into the station in preparation for display at Fullerton Railroad Days in May 2001.
Above is one of the most unusual events to ever take place at the Fullerton Amtrak Station. A north bound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner arrived on the center track of the station instead of the track at the platform. This was a train dispatching mistake and was the only time we had ever seen this happen. We believe this happened because of the difference of how Amtrak and BNSF numbered the tracks. BNSF numbers the tracks in sequential order with the #1 track being closest to the station at the northbound platform, the #2 track in the middle coming next, and the #3 track being furthest from the station and on the southbound platform. Amtrak used a different number sequence. Amtrak numbered the track closest to the station as the #1 track just like BNSF. But since Amtrak doesn't use the center track they had no number for it. Amtrak numbered the southbound platform track as Track #2, the one that BNSF identifies as Track #3. We believe there was a mix up and instead of placing the train onto what Amtrak identifies as Track #2, they put the train on what BNSF identifies as Track #2, which is the center track. Listening to the railroad radio feed it was obvious that even the Engineer and Conductor on the train were surprised as to the track they ended up on. We heard the explamation: "Look at the track they put us on!" that came from either the Engineer or Conductor. The Conductor had to make sure there would be no freight trains through the station on Track #1 and escorted passengers to and from the platform for their safety. I do believe that since that time Amtrak and Metrolink have renumbered how they identify the tracks to match that of BNSF.
