I remember it well. It was in 1988, an extension of the LA-San Diego trains 574 and 583 to Santa Barbara. When that happened, Amtrak changed the numbers to 774 and 783 to indicate that these trains went outside the LA-San Diego territory. I don't remember the exact start date, but it seems to me to have been in April 1988? Amtrak did not have a separate or special name for these two trains, but SP and Amtrak Employees and local railfans alike nicknamed it something like the Santa Barbarian or Santa Barbarbaran, or something like that. It is a nickname that didn't last very long. There are a few, including a horrible female Opeator, who's name I can't remember to save my life, that worked at SP's Dayton Ave. Tower that nicknamed it, "The Commuter". I rode the first Eastbound run of this train and that was #774 from Chatsworth to LA with my best friend who is now an Engineer for UP in LA. Seems to me, that one way ticket cost me $5.75. The Amtrak Engineer was Mike Fleshman, who is now retired and living in Slidell, Louisiana. He was a regular Engineer on those trains when they first began. Thanks Charles, for reminding me about the past!