// Intro
Yippeeee the promised San Bernardino / Redlands trip report is here! For once I actually finished writing the blog post the same day as the trip. Overall it was a very fun trip I really enjoyed it :D I highkey needed this after Long Beach was a mixed bag (for context, see the previous blog post). Plus I was rotting away reading fanfics the last two days so I needed to go outside. (I say that but I also finished my econ homework of the week so I'm just being harsh on myself.) Anyways enough chit chat trip report coming upppp! On Wednesday, July 7, 2026, I went to San Bernardino and Redlands. I had a friend with me so that's why you'll see me using "we" sometimes in this post.
// San Bernardino
To get to San Bernardino, I took the Metrolink San Bernardino Line! The scenery along the line wasn't too noteworthy; it's a very industrial commuter route. It's my first time on the SB line actually, so I was pretty stoked about it. We got off at San Bernardino Depot to visit the San Bernardino History and Railroad Museum.
What a view. It's hard to capture how I felt on camera. The station is right next to a busy freight yard, but for while there wasn't any train passing by. Outside of the station, it was so quiet and peaceful. There was something magical about seeing the sky out of the dome-shaped arches and the shipping containers sitting in the distance.
And of course the museum is very awesome!!!!! They had this Metrolink display that had me *ahem* foaming at the mouth. Look at these beautiful Bombardier BiLevels. I may or may not be biased against the Rotem cars. I want those Metrolink pins so bad they're so rare to come by. Maybe I'll finally bite the bullet and get them off eBay, but man shipping costs do add up like crazy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
UP streamliners dishware :) Dining cars were a big thing back in the days. They also have a model train diorama at the museum, how cool is that! While we were in the museum, a BNSF freight locomotive painted red-white-and-blue in celebration of the semiquincentennial passed by. My friend saw it but I didn't turn around fast enough to see it :( Still pretty cool tho to have come into contact with one and it's just doing its thing chugging along.
// The Arrow
The Arrow was so cool. The current rolling stock is pretty small just like the
ridership, consisting of four Stadler
FLIRTs. This one specifically is a hydrogen-powered ZEMU (zero-emission multiple units). Heh,
that's my name! The first thing about this train that caught me off guard is just how different the
interior feels. The second thing that caught me off
guard is that whoever voiced the on-board automatic announcement had a British accent. Probably because this
is a European train, specifically Swiss manufacturer. It's uncanny how quiet the hydrogen units are; I'm so
used to hearing diesel engines booming.
I think only this train was in service today because I saw two diesel units sitting in a yard on the way back. It was the same conductor too. We were on this train three times today and the conductor recognized us after the first time lol. I guess since this is already out of chronological order I might as well talk about it now: The third time I was on the Arrow I overheard another passenger asking the conductor about taking Amtrak up to Santa Barbara and SLO. The conductor recommended the Coast Starlight. Hearing the cities name dropped was like activating neurons in my brain LOL. I don't have any concrete plans to go to Santa Barbara yet, but it might still happen! In August I am definitely going to SLO though, so expect a blog post on that ;)
// Redlands
Walking around the University of Redlands was more fun than I was expecting. It has a pretty distinct architecture style — romanesque, if I had to guess. Naturally, the first thing I did was to try opening some doors. Most of the buildings were locked, but thankfully some of them weren't and had AC running because it was hot as sh*t today. I didn't think to check the weather beforehand and turns out it was 100 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT 💀💀💀 It hit 103 degrees at some point it was so bad. Just your typical SoCal heat amirght?
Since this is a private university, you already know the campus is gonna smell like money 💸 These buildings look sooo rich. Man, they even got a koi pond.
We walked into a building randomly and there was a choir practice going on so that was pretty cool. This campus also somehow has an Esports center which I thought was crazy considering the campus architecture looks like this. Good for them I suppose. I'm not a hater just surprised LOL.
Saw a Western gray squirrel :] Don't think I've seen one before. On the topic of wildlife, I also saw a hawk. It flew away after it saw me, and left behind an apparently still alive rodent that proceeded to skitter away. Maybe the hawk flew back later and got it IDK. Nature is healing (?)
After the university we backtracked one stop to Redlands Downtown. Didn't do much there because it was way too hot to be walking around. I got a peach slushy at a boba place and we just chilled there for like 30 minutes.
// The trip back
That was all for today! The journey back was uneventful for the most part, except for a slight confusion at the boarding platform because they changed the train from Track 3 to 4. I think what happened was, the SB 345 was parked at Track 3 and was supposed to depart, but couldn't because of mechanical issues. My train, the 349, was supposed to be on Track 3, but now has to be on Track 4. I checked the train status before this change was reflected on Metrolink's website, so when we got to the station there was a bit running around to do. I definitely panicked a little but it was fine because we had a couple minutes to spare. Just some woes of train travel, but you get better at dealing with stuff like this eventually.
On the way back I passed by the Auto Club Speedway! From the train tracks it looked really barren, almost abandoned. The perks of sitting near the end of the train is that you get to see the train cars in the front when the train is turning at a curve :) I like it because it makes me feels like I'm actually on a train. Also, fun fact, the three train cars in the photo each have a different paint scheme LOL. Metrolink is just quirky like that. None of their trains have a coherent livery.
Next trip coming up is San Clemente & Oceanside this Sunday! There will be a post on it, but probably coming Monday or Tuesday because I'll definitely be tired as hell by the end of Sunday. A good kind of tired, I hope!
// Bonus
