Passenger Trains > .

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/21 16:45 by F40PHR231.

F40PHR231 Wrote:
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>
> 5) Marsh lands north of San Jose, many old
> structures in ruins.

The old structures are historic Drawbridge, CA. Lots of interesting railroad/tourism history there.

Great shots!

Jarrod DellaChiesa
Oakley, CA

Thanks for a very well detailed report! The only segment you missed - to Alum Rock via Great Mall, does have an elevated stretch for about a mile, with a couple of stations including Great Mall, before descending back to ground level.

Dunno why you didn't experience 55 mph running; they do get up to 55 much of the time.

The only other "goodie" is the 3 Express trains in am & pm (if you want to call them expresses) that have free Wi-Fi on board, on the Santa Teresa line.

Your #31, re. Caltrain storage south of San Jose, is Tamien Station. Until the Winchester line opened up, this was the only interline transfer station between VTA and Caltrain. Many southbound locals operate through SJC to Tamien Station and lay over there, so the train you spotted was probably on a layover.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/10 23:10 by norm1153.

F40PHR231 Wrote:
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> The one issue that this system needs to address is
> the lack of speed. It's slow through downtown as
> it should be, but the rest of the system is
> mind-numbingly, nail-gritting, toe-tapping SLOW!
>
> Thanks for looking!

I went joyriding the system long ago, and don't mind the segments that go along Highway 87 and Highway 85, as well as along First St. north of downtown San Jose, as the speeds are pretty good. The Winchester segment isn't too shabby either. I think VTA dropped the ball on the Mountain View line. Had they planned it correctly, they could have incorporated the light rail along with the reconstruction of Highway 237, which was not a freeway until the mid 1990's, and it could have travelled that segment at higher speeds. FYI, the old "County Transit" Bus 20 which the Light Rail replaced was well-patronized.

Great report, enjoyed your perspective as an outsider.

F40PHR231 Wrote:
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> 22) Only two people boarded the Almaden-bound
> train. The only real use I saw at the lonely
> station in between end-points was this mall, which
> you have to cross a busy road and parking lot to
> access.

Check the map. Oakridge Mall is the *only* intermediate stop.

The line to Alum Rock is the newest; I was in San Jose just about the time it opened and took photos of the bus line that it replaced. Yes, the Mountain View line does seem to take the "long way around Robin Hood's barn". This is one of the trade-offs in designing any kind of transit (bus or rail): Maximize the number of stops and the amount of territory covered, or minimize the end-to-end time. Last time I was in the area was mid-September, when there was a big Oracle convention in San Francisco. I wound up staying in San Jose (on N. First St.) and riding VTA to Mountain View then Caltrain to the City.
Regarding the "Almaden" branch: I think that was once intended to go quite a bit further, but VTA either ran out of money or ran into NIMBY opposition. I have found it handy for reaching the local AAA office on occasion.
Regarding Sacramento:

Oops--hit the wrong key before adding comments about Sacramento:

I haven't ridden it lately; but I find the line to Folsom interesting A) because the outer end has some "interurban" atmosphere, and B) my mental jukebox cues up "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash (or Adam Marsland's Chaos Band).

Great report Chris. I've recently completed riding all the lines of the San Jose VTA myself this past year, something I started doing back in 2006 on frequent visits to the area. I found the northern half of the system to be more interesting than the south. The line from downtown to Santa Teresa is the least scenic in the middle of the freeway, and also had the grittiest passengers out of all the lines.

When I visit the area (heck, I'm going back again on Sunday), I usually like to stay at a hotel near the airport along 1st street and take either VTA (at the Metro or Karina/Ebay stop) to get to Caltrain Diridon or the free Route 10 airport flyer bus to the Santa Clara station. San Jose has a lot of transit options and is a good base for a railfan trip, since you can also get to the SF pennisula and Oakland/Emeryville/Martinez without needing a car (utilizing Caltrain/Amtrak Capitol Corridor/BART).

Rich

Wonderful presentation!

By the way, in the picture of that lady who fell down alighting from the train, is that her lawyer helping her up?

Deboard? Where the F did that come from? What was wrong with simply using "exit"?

Americans get their panties in a knot over hearing someone speaking Spanish while they can't even use proper English!

I've run into some gritty characters on VTA, one of whom made me a bit uncomfortable, but mostly the clientele is fine.

Parking at the Winchester end of the line is a joke. That lot is full by 7:00 AM. I suspect many people park across the street in the Safeway lot, although they risk getting towed if they do. Much of the traffic at that station comes in by bus. Fortunately for me, I live just a 15 minute walk from this station. I'll walk there next week and take the VTA to Diridon to catch the Starlight to Oregon. This line is planned to extend further south about a mile, ending more or less in front of Netflix's building, so Winchester would not be the end of the line then.

The ACE trains you saw are laying over on tracks south of Tamien before returning to Stockton in the afternoon. They used to use a drill track that is north of Caltrain's new maintenance facility (between it and Santa Clara). By moving to the current location they eliminated a lot of deadhead moves back north.

The station with the cool pedestrian bridge is Hamilton Ave.

The biggest problem with VTA, I feel, is the speed. As you noted, if you are going any appreciable distance, it is going to take you a while to get there. The stretch down highways 85 and 87 usually goes much faster than 40, so I don't know what was going on during your visit. As noted, they have just added 3 express trains that cut some time off certain portions of the route, but it still grinds through downtown.

Yes, as you noted, speed is an issue. Another big issue, and I have mentioned this on other threads about the VTA light rail, is that it skips the San Jose Airport. Not serving the airport was bad decision. Having a relatively quick rail connection to downtown hotels and convention facilities from the airport just seems so logical.

warren49 Wrote:
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> Yes, as you noted, speed is an issue. Another big
> issue, and I have mentioned this on other threads
> about the VTA light rail, is that it skips the San
> Jose Airport. Not serving the airport was bad
> decision. Having a relatively quick rail
> connection to downtown hotels and convention
> facilities from the airport just seems so logical.

But any of you who are natives of San Jose and lived there all your lives as we did know that "logic" is not a typical approach in San Jose. :-) The downtown merchants whose lives were totally disrupted during the construction of the light rail on First and Second Streets were duped into believing that the slow movements of the light rail through that area would revitalize their businesses. Did't happen.
Also, an interesting sidelight on the construction occured when it dawned on the SP that Rod Diridon and his troops were planning to cross the SP line on North First street at grade. One of our TO denizens was then in "power" at the SP and had the great satisfaction to tell VTA that there was no way in hell that those tracks were going to be crossed at grade, over or under, SP didn't care, but NOT at grade. And so it was back to the drawing boards and another bump in cost while they tunneled under the tracks there at Bassett and North First.
As noted the Almaden line is a wasteland----------a choice made in hopes of ultimately reaching Los Gatos, which never happened, and a choice made instead of logically extending light rail to the airport.
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

CarolVoss Wrote:
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> warren49 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----

>
> But any of you who are natives of San Jose and
> lived there all your lives as we did know that
> "logic" is not a typical approach in San Jose.
> :-) The downtown merchants whose lives were
> totally disrupted during the construction of the
> light rail on First and Second Streets were duped
> into believing that the slow movements of the
> light rail through that area would revitalize
> their businesses. Did't happen.
> Also, an interesting sidelight on the construction
> occured when it dawned on the SP that Rod Diridon
> and his troops were planning to cross the SP line
> on North First street at grade. One of our TO
> denizens was then in "power" at the SP and had the
> great satisfaction to tell VTA that there was no
> way in hell that those tracks were going to be
> crossed at grade, over or under, SP didn't care,
> but NOT at grade. And so it was back to the
> drawing boards and another bump in cost while they
> tunneled under the tracks there at Bassett and
> North First.
> As noted the Almaden line is a
> wasteland----------a choice made in hopes of
> ultimately reaching Los Gatos, which never
> happened, and a choice made instead of logically
> extending light rail to the airport.
> C.

Yes, I remember the SP crossing well. I worked immediately next to that crossing area when SP and VTA were fighting about it. There was never much question (in my mind anyway) as to who was going to win that particular battle. I never really minded the fact that the line ran along the residential area north of downtown, especially knowing the planned urban development that was on the way.

I just never understood why some sort of loop has never been planned between the airport and downtown, especially when one considers the construction that everyone knew was in store for highway 87 from downtown to the airport. Clearly a line from Diridon/Cahill to downtown/Fairmont Hotel area to SJ airport terminals that connects to the existing lines to the north (near the airport) and to the lines to the south (downtown) would make so much sense.

warren49 Wrote:
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>> I just never understood why some sort of loop has
> never been planned between the airport and
> downtown, especially when one considers the
> construction that everyone knew was in store for
> highway 87 from downtown to the airport. Clearly
> a line from Diridon/Cahill to downtown/Fairmont
> Hotel area to SJ airport terminals that connects
> to the existing lines to the north (near the
> airport) and to the lines to the south (downtown)
> would make so much sense.

And there you have it---------logic and sense hold no sway in San Jose!! :-)
C.
PS---I note that the Alum Rock/Capitol Ave line stops far short of Eastridge shopping center which has always been a major bus hub. More San Jose logic in action. :-)
C

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

PumpkinHogger Wrote:
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> Deboard? Where the F did that come from? What was
> wrong with simply using "exit"?
>
> Americans get their panties in a knot over hearing
> someone speaking Spanish while they can't even use
> proper English!


Yeah, I think that's a funny construction, too. BART says "offboard" quite a bit as well!

PumpkinHogger Wrote:
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> Deboard? Where the F did that come from? What was
> wrong with simply using "exit"?


While "deboard" may not be in dictionary.com, it is used in the industry to describe someone stepping off a form of transport vehicle. A google search shows that the word is widely used. "exit" is pretty broad, "deboard" specifically describes someone who is stepping off a boat, etc. You don't say "he exited from the recreational boat."

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/deboard

Examples from link above:
deboard (third-person singular simple present deboards, present participle deboarding, simple past and past participle deboarded)
--To exit a form of transportation such as a boat, ship, airplane, trolley, streetcar or spaceship.
--President Ford fell as he deboarded Air Force One.
--He was earlier detained late Tuesday after deboarding a British Airways flight from London.

Have never "deboarded" from a conveyance, and never will.

I get off or out of it the same way as anyone else.

PumpkinHogger Wrote:
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> Have never "deboarded" from a conveyance, and
> never will. I get off or out of it the same way
> as anyone else.


Alrighty then.

CarolVoss Wrote:
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>
> And there you have it---------logic and sense hold
> no sway in San Jose!! :-)
> C.
> PS---I note that the Alum Rock/Capitol Ave line
> stops far short of Eastridge shopping center which
> has always been a major bus hub. More San Jose
> logic in action. :-)
> C

Isn't that line supposed to eventually run all the way to Santa Teresa, or at least make some other loop that connects it to the existing Santa Teresa line? I thought that was the original master plan, to have the light rail make a large circular loop, south on 87, east on 85, eventually going across 101, then north to Evergreen College, on to Eastridge, then north, where it would connect with the already constructed line down Capitol Avenue. It was either that, or a line that was parallel with Capitol Expressway back to the Santa Teresa line along 87. Admittedly, I am thinking of something that I remember from the 1980s, so those plans could have changed many times over since I saw them.