Western Railroad Discussion > 7th St San Francisco - Caltrain

Now is the time to get telephoto shots of Caltrain commuters at this spot before the electrification fills the view with poles and wires.  There's a fence at 7th & Townsend Sts. where these photos were taken, but recently somebody cut a hole in the fence (in exactly the right place), allowing photography!  Turns out I was able to shoot through the fence anyway, as the gap between the fence wires is about 2 inches, and my Nikon 135 mm lens is 2 inches wide.  Took these pics on Tuesday.  First photo:  At 4:00 pm. the horses are lined up and ready for the afternoon rush.  Second photo: Train 262 departs at 4:23 pm  Third photo: Train 264 departs at 4:32 pm. As the days get shorter, it may not be possible to get sunny shots after 4:15 for a while.
- Eric Blasko

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Great set of photos of the pending afternoon southbound rush in The City.

Rich

Nice. Did this depot ever have canopies? Does it go away with electrification with the new downtown terminal?

Short canopies, as seen in the first photo. I have no idea what it will look like when electrified. - E.B.

Posted from iPhone

The view I remember pre-CalTrain and pre-Safeway.

Robert Morris
Dunsmuir, CA
Robert Morris Photography

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That's how I like to remember it. Third & Townsend baby!
 

Nice photos, and a good throwback to boot.

Wow, we've come a long way in air quality as shown by the now and then photos!

That could well be fog.  Remember, this is San Francisco!   Also, they've never had a real serious bad air problem.  In fact it goes the other way -- out in the avenues west of 19th Avenue, it sort of becomes a Rust City for cars.  Sea air, you know.
 

San Francisco does not have an air pollution problem and never has. It's location between the ocean and the bay pretty much insures that there's always air movement.
What you do see in Photo Bob's picture is the remains of the marine layer that never really burned off.
The today picture where you can see the East Bay hills is actually the rare picture.

PHall Wrote:
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> San Francisco does not have an air pollution
> problem and never has. It's location between the
> ocean and the bay pretty much insures that there's
> always air movement.
> What you do see in Photo Bob's picture is the
> remains of the marine layer that never really
> burned off.
> The today picture where you can see the East Bay
> hills is actually the rare picture.

Generally this is true. The last week has had a combination of stagnant air and marine layer resulting in worse than usual air quality, but generally outside of the offshore winds in the fall it is super clean air. I live on top of the hill south of the city and have that sea air going past my place all the time :)

AlcoRSD15 Wrote:
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> Short canopies, as seen in the first photo. I have
> no idea what it will look like when electrified.
> - E.B.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Lots and lots of wires!

Also, a new signal bridge will be in there on the entry to the yard apparently. The catenary will be suspended apparently by either wires or long multi-track gantry, still tbd as to which supposedly. The pro of suspending via wire is much reduced cost, which Caltrain is trying to manage as best they can (the really want to ensure they don't go back for more funds).

I like Pics 2 and 3!!

norm1153 Wrote:
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> That could well be fog.  Remember, this is San
> Francisco!   Also, they've never had a real
> serious bad air problem.  In fact it goes the
> other way -- out in the avenues west of 19th
> Avenue, it sort of becomes a Rust City for cars. 
> Sea air, you know.
>  

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> San Francisco does not have an air pollution
> problem and never has. It's location between the
> ocean and the bay pretty much insures that there's
> always air movement.
> What you do see in Photo Bob's picture is the
> remains of the marine layer that never really
> burned off.
> The today picture where you can see the East Bay
> hills is actually the rare picture.

Good point and noted. However, there is definitely smog in the bay area. Even in the first post the hills are in a haze. I see it all of the time in the North Bay.

There was an Air Stagantion Advisory when I left yesterday. The fog stayed on the ground until about noon or so, there had been lots of fog the past few days. Something about the particular weather set up right now.

https://www.ktvu.com/weather

They can't decide if it's too windy or too calm, but they keep claiming Fire danger, or smoke advisory, or ...whatever.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/19 20:36 by TCnR.

portlander Wrote:
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> norm1153 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > That could well be fog.  Remember, this is San
> > Francisco!   Also, they've never had a real
> > serious bad air problem.  In fact it goes the
> > other way -- out in the avenues west of 19th
> > Avenue, it sort of becomes a Rust City for
> cars. 
> > Sea air, you know.
> >  
>
> PHall Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > San Francisco does not have an air pollution
> > problem and never has. It's location between
> the
> > ocean and the bay pretty much insures that
> there's
> > always air movement.
> > What you do see in Photo Bob's picture is the
> > remains of the marine layer that never really
> > burned off.
> > The today picture where you can see the East
> Bay
> > hills is actually the rare picture.
>
> Good point and noted. However, there is definitely
> smog in the bay area. Even in the first post the
> hills are in a haze. I see it all of the time in
> the North Bay.

The North Bay is an entirely different weather area from San Francisco itself. Different climate actually.

Great photo, Bob Morris.  A classic!
- Eric B.

With power being shut off due to wind, etc. I'd love to know what Caltrans has for a back up plan on a fully electrified route?

Very nice pics! Must say, San Francisco really took a step backward by replacing 3rd and Townsend with the current station which is even further away from the financial distrcit.