Railfanning in LA Area

Hello,

I was recently at Metrolinks Glendale station and noticed a string of well cars on the siding. I have been to Fullerton a few times and seen the BNSF pass through. Therefore I would like to know do the same freight trains that pass through Fullerton also pass through Glendale? Glendale is closer to LA than Fullerton so to save time I'm thinking it would be beneficial to go to Glendale and see the same trains that would eventually pass through Fullerton.

I don't live in the area, but I visit periodically. Basically, no: Glendale is on UP, and Fullerton is on BNSF, so if you go to Glendale you should see entirely different (freight) trains from those going through Fullerton. If you have to choose one or the other, though, I would say you'll see more trains at Fullerton (3 main tracks vs. 2 for one thing), and while all BNSF traffic to and from the LA Basin goes through Fullerton, the UP traffic going east is split between the former UP line (for identification, it's the one used by Metrolink Riverside service) and the former SP, through Pomona and Colton. In addition, Fullerton has all the Surfliners to San Diego plus the Southwest Chief and Metrolink Orange County and "91 Corridor" trains. If you can get to either Riverside or San Bernardino (both possible via Metrolink), you can see all BNSF freights plus the UP freights on the former UP line. There is a tight curve just east of San Bernardino passenger station which restricts all trains to something below 50 mph, so you get a good look.