tehachapi group explores la by metrolink

Riding the rails – Above, the Tehachapi group at 7th Street/Metro Center Metro station in Los Angeles, left front, leaning down, Flasirfida Smith; from left, Bruce Perry, Dean Smith, Teresa Perry, Charles White, Marlan Woodside, Jim Wilson, Fred Motter (white hat), Laurie Rude-Betts, Shirley Motter (blue shirt), Hal Morgan (behind Shirley), Carol Newell, Cheryl Wilson, Patricia Hunter, Shirley Graves, Tina Cunningham. Obscured behind Graves is Teresa Sanchez.

The LA skyline and City Hall as seen from the train as it approaches the Metrolink station, an extension of the historic Union Station. The ride to LA is just shy of two hours.

Bustling, modern, clean – Passengers hustle to their connections at the modern Metrolink train/underground hub at Union Station in Los Angeles

Railfan and tour leader Marlan Woodside waits for the group with Charles White for a Red Line train at a downtown station enhanced with works of neon art.

After the Glendale stop, an LA County Sheriffs Deputy writes $250 citation for passenger (not visible) who was riding without a ticket.

View of the Los Angeles River from the train

Interior of the Orpheum, a refurbished movie theater on Broadway, a street lined with derelict grand old theaters from the heyday of early 20th century cinema. The Tehachapi group saw "Citizen Kane" in a packed house at a fundraiser for the L.A. Conservancy. The richly wood-paneled reception area below the Orpheum auditorium is a journey into bygone elegance.

The group at the colorful, evocative Chinatown station.

Dean Smith photographs trains at the Metrolink station in Lancaster (the end – or beginning – of the Green Line) as a group of Tehachapi residents organized by Marlan Woodside.