July 16, 2012 10:39 AM PDT
No one knows for sure how it started, but legend has it that in 1979, at The Mugs Away Saloon, a K.T.Smith told his buddies he'd buy a drink for all who would run outside to the rail road tracks and "moon" the next train, which many did. The mooning tradition prevailed and each and every year since then more and more people show up to drop their pants and moon the passing Amtrak trains. Metrolink commuter trains started weekend operation on this track in Summer 2006 giving the mooners even more opportunities throughout the days to drop their inhibitions (and pants).
It has never really been an official event promoted or sponsored by anyone and for 29 years everyone "behaved" - at least to the point of keeping alcohol in cups or cans in coozies so as not to blatantly display they were breaking any drinking in public laws and the nudity was kept to mooning and some fun quick flashing. Even the people that got there days early in their campers (like us) would behave and be respectful of the community. The police patrolled the event to make sure there was no trouble and they would just smile, shake their heads and drive on. However the event started getting a little too much publicity - radio stations would announce it every day for weeks before - and in 2008 the biggest crowd ever showed up... estimates of over 11,000 people in and out with about 8,000 there at any given time.
Problem was (as usual) a few ruined it for many. Mugs Away Saloon is on a four mile long dead end street and the road became completely blocked not allowing any access for emergency vehicles (which were needed occasionally - normally people falling down drunk), and the crowd had changed from the mooners just out for some silly fun to a bunch of people turning it into a party that would make Mardi Gras veterans blush. We even saw a group of guys putting lag bolts into the street to install a stripper pole at 2am the night before.
Well needless to say the police helicopter flew over and told us we had to leave. We talked to several police officers on site and even they were bummed that this tradition had to be shut down. As a matter of fact once they got the street cleared to traffic and got the super crazy people out of there, they blocked the street from allowing people in and let several hundred of us stay if we promised to behave and go back to what the mooning used to be. Since then they have strictly enforced the parking and traffic laws and the open container laws but still let us moon the trains and even turn their head to an occasional boobie being displayed, but most peopled have stayed away since 2008. This year there was a large police presence (at the beginning) and crowd was back up a little. After the police realized we were back to just having a little silly fun, they all went away just passing by every now and then to check up on us :-)
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