Having grown up in Switzerland, I’ve taken the country’s most famous train, the Swiss Glacier Express.  It slowly (11 h) provides direct service between St. Moritz and Zermatt every day, and it has been powered by clean hydro-electric power since 1941. 

I came upon a much different transportation service last summer when, after a serious car problem, I found myself needing public transit to get from Bishop back to south Orange County.  And I discovered a cheap, fun, and slow way to get from the Sierra to southern California.  It’s not the Glacier Express by a long shot, but it works!

After breakfast at Denny’s, I walked to the bus stop in Bishop, inconveniently located at Vons at the north end of town, where a group of backpackers began to assemble.  Promptly at 8:45 am the bus coming from Mammoth pulled in, and soon everybody had their gear stowed and found a seat.  In talking to the other passengers, I realized that most of them were using the bus to get to a trailhead or to return to a car left at another trailhead.  While this bus strictly follows the 395 highway, there are local services providing connections to the trailheads in Bishop, Mammoth, Independence, Lone Pine and Inyokern.

Accordingly, folks got on or off at these stops, and after Inyokern there were only 3 passengers left for the trek across the high desert to Lancaster and LA.  It turned out that one of my fellow travelers was a mountaineer from Chicago and the other a young woman from the same small town in Switzerland where I had grown up.  Both had come out of the Sierra backcountry, and we had fun talking about our experiences along the way. Upon our arrival at the Metrolink terminal in Lancaster around 1 pm we shared a Thai lunch at the only eatery within sight of the deserted station.

The adventure continued aboard what must be the world’s slowest commuter train.  It left Lancaster at 2:11 pm and lumbered toward Union Station where we three parted company.  I continued at 4:30 pm and arrived in Irvine at 5:40 pm, or 9 hours after leaving Bishop.  The entire trip cost all of $53.25. 

A weekday northbound trip could begin in Irvine at 9:04 am and arrive in Bishop at 6:10 pm, Mammoth at 7:00 pm .

The OC – Eastern Sierra Express doesn’t have the glamour of the Glacier Express, but it’s sure a lot faster:  while the Swiss train takes 11 hours to cover 180 miles, the 300 mi. trip from Bishop to Irvine lasts only 9 hours, and costs way less.

Ed Maurer