Western Railroad Discussion > Album of South San Francisco Station Improvement Scenes

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/18 14:11 by phthithu.

A very thorough photo essay, thank you.

I wonder what the people will be saying when the electrification project is completed. While I have no idea right now just how "aggressive" the support structure will be, if it is anything close to what the specs have called for in all the recent light rail projects in the last few years, I fear that it will be an "eyesore," I am sorry to say. Perhaps even to the point where people will miss the diesels more than they realize. The "eyesore," if it really turns out to be an eyesore to the public, will outweigh the gains in efficiency and shortened timetables. I could indeed be full of it, but nothing like this has yet shown up on the west coast. Saying "you should see the Northeast Corridor" will fall on deaf ears.

Well, we will see soon enough.

I take it the 'primary' team track (given what's left) will become the dump spur at Brisbane. There were plans for the eastern South City lead and yard (to Pac-Agri) after Georgia-Pacific closed down in 2004, but obviously they never materialized. Contrary to what you may told to believe, your average Caltrain rider or neighbor doesn't give a rat's ass about the electrification. Is the train reliable, clean, comfortable? Are fares increasing? That's really all that matters. The trains show up on time. In many places the track is damn near laser-leveled. The gallery cars still have the pleasant new-train smell from 1985. I think something riders really would appreciate is protection from the elements at stations.

Dirty diesels have got to go. They're too third-world.

Overhead wires are used in San Francisco on many bus lines as well as the Muni trolleys. Further south, San Jose's light rail is powered overhead. So Caltrain's electrification won't be the first time locals have seen trains under wire.

Of course, and I'm very familiar with all of those. Caltrain's electrification will be entirely different. It will be a much, much higher voltage system than 600-700 volts used by all of those systems. So for openers, the infrastructure has to be heavier, among other things.

The electrification does not have to be big and ugly like the Northeast Corridor. European electrifications are hardly noticeable.

So will the station be accessible from both sides of the tracks? I remember looking for a hotel to stay at for a trip to SF last year and considered staying at a hotel in South San Francisco and riding CalTrain up to The City. Gave up on that idea when I looked at the map and it appeared I had to cross the bridge to get from the hotel on the Bay side to the station. Maybe I just read the map wrong. It's too bad they can't just build the new platforms at the level boarding height of the new equipment, seems like a waste of money to build the station twice.

Nathan

Is therexsupposedctombecsomexcontentbtomthiscopeningbpost? All I get/see is a blank.
phthithu Wrote:
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Steve Donaldson
Pacific Grove, CA