Nostalgia & History > Track 5 Cahill St. San Jose--Then & Now

It's May of 1979 and SP commute GP9 3194 and a mate have just arrived on track 5 in San Jose with mid-morning eastward plug #116. 32 cylinders of 567 power are more than what's needed but this power won't need a spin on the Lenzen Ave. turntable before returning to the City.

Fast forward 26 years to the summer of '05 and while there has been the expected generational change in motive power and equipment many other things remain constant. While the surrounding neighborhood has been gentrified the station, thanks to a late 90's rehab, retains much of its 1930's look. The platform sheds remain as is and the track layout has seen few changes. And commutes like the one led by F40 915 still rest in the same spot as steam power and geeps did for decades before.

Hey, two images! Thanks, Todd!

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Going even further back, track 5 was used by East trains while #4 was used by West trains. During steam days, there was a water plug at each end of the platform between the two tracks.

The sheds themselves were raised about two feet with the arrival of SP's first gallery cars in the mid-fifties. If you look at the supports today, you can still see where they were cut and extended by about two feet.

Fast forward 2 years (or rewind 24 years) - same track on a quiet day in San Jose - 1981. The old water tank still towered over all else.

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As PhotoBob would say, "It's all crap now".

Axy

Well, Photobob's terminology is also applicable to the entire Santa Clara Valley.One of the world's best agricultural valleys, paved over by greed.

But at least there are more trains now using the station than at any time in the past, and one can still get a cup of coffee at the little snack bar. And, they have more colors! But, I sure would like to see some Daylight colors again.

And now 5 & 6 are used for freight movements when warranted.

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And if you're staying at a motel on First St., the VTA light rail will take you right to the station (no more going the long way around to Mtn. View or Tamien).

What year was it '85 or '86 when the F40's appeared in San Jose? I was driving north on Hwy. 17 one day and as I looked toward College Park, there was my first view of a CalTrain F40 heading w/b toward San Francisco. Kind of a funny feeling that day when not seeing a scarlet and gray unit pulling a commuter train.

The conversion to the new equipment came in the sping of 1985 but the F40's themselves had been around a while before that as they did pill the SP equipment before the new cars were in service.

San Jose has got to be the best place for downtown trainspotting. You can see more variety on a daily basis in cars, locomotives, and trains: for passenger power alone: CalTrain F40 (two rebuild styles, with or without HEP), CalTrain and ACE (MK Boise)F-40s, calTrain MP-36s, Amtrak P42s, F59PHIs, and P32s. For passenger cars, CalTrain double-deck and Bombardier cars (2 paint schemes), ACE Bombardiers, Amtrak Capitols with both Amerail and Alsthom cars, and Superliners with heritage baggage cars and Hi-Level Pacific Parlours. Throw in the occasional PV which can be anything from the Virginia City to the Silver Solarium, plus a good amount of UP freight traffic. With a cozy bar right across the street that has some delightful pics and other RR stuff in it, too. Top it off with a pedestrian overpass two blocks south for picture taking (Yo, Todd - this would be a GREAT place for a web camera!)


Anywhere else come close?