Communities Gear Up for Metrolink : Transit: The commuter train makes a whistle-stop tour. Moorpark and Simi Valley are planning their own celebrations.

As the start date nears for a transit service that will link Moorpark and Simi Valley with downtown Los Angeles, officials are scurrying to lure potential commuters by organizing promotional events.

About 100 curious commuters got their first glimpse of the Metrolink commuter train Friday morning during a whistle-stop tour through western San Bernardino County. Although the tour did not include stops at the Simi Valley and Moorpark stations, officials in those cities said they are planning their own events to increase public awareness of the service.

The train will be on display in Moorpark on Oct. 3 as part of the city’s Country Days celebration, said Mary Lindley, assistant to the city manager. Simi Valley plans to kick off the service with a small party on opening day, Councilman Bill Davis said.

And Metrolink riders in both cities will enjoy a week of free rides starting Oct. 26, the day the train begins eight daily runs to and from Los Angeles, Lindley said.

“The excitement is building,” said Davis, the Ventura County representative on the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, Metrolink’s operator.

“I think everyone is happy we’re finally going to see this train run,” Davis said.

On Friday, commuters turned out at the freshly graded site of the future Montclair station, the first stop on the run, to catch a glimpse of the richly appointed, double-decked periwinkle-and-white Metrolink cars.

More potential riders snapped pictures of the eight-car train and nosed around its interior at other future station sites in Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Rialto, San Bernardino and Claremont. Generally, people said they liked the train.

“It’s about time we had something like this,” said Norma Bran of Fontana. “I can’t wait until it’s up and running and we can just hop on board. We won’t have to arrange our whole day around traffic.”

Initially, Metrolink will have three lines radiating out from Los Angeles’ Union Station to Moorpark, the Santa Clarita Valley and Pomona, with interim stops in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys.

Protracted negotiations with the Santa Fe Railway over track purchases have pushed back the scheduled start of service to western San Bernardino County until January, with service to San Bernardino itself delayed until next spring.

Within a year, the SCRRA plans to operate six lines in five counties. Service will extend from western Ventura County to northern San Diego County and deep into the urban end of the Inland Empire.

Service to Moorpark--as well as the lines to Pomona and Santa Clarita--will operate on track purchased in 1990 from Southern Pacific Railroad.

Money to buy the track and the trains came from $1 billion in statewide rail bonds, as well as local sales-tax surcharges in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties.

In Ventura County, the $750,000 annual cost to operate the service is paid entirely through state transit funds after voters turned down a petition to fund local Metrolink service with a half-cent sales tax.

Unlike subway and light-rail lines operating and under construction in Los Angeles--with stations less than one mile apart and designed for all-day transportation--Metrolink commuter trains stop only every five miles and are designed chiefly for rush-hour commuting.

That was fine with the people gathered in Montclair, sipping free lemonade and listening to Col. Bogey’s March over a public-address system as they waited to tour the train.

“I’m really looking forward to mass transit,” said Lee Mayfield of San Bernardino. “I love going to San Francisco, because you can get anywhere without using a car. It’s a shame that it has taken us so long to get this, but I’m glad it’s here.”

Stein is a Times staff writer and Saillant is a Times correspondent.