Passenger Trains > Pacific Surfliner overshoots SJC station?

Just now (5:26 pm) it looks like a SB Pacific Surfliner overshot the depot at SJC, stopping immediately south of the ped crossing.  Is there a reason or was that a "miss"?

And at 5:28 it backed up to the station....

Bruce



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/19 17:32 by StStephen.

Where is SJC station on Paciic Surfliner route ?

In Amtrakese SJC is San Jose, CA.

John Webb
Trinidad, CA

San Juan Capistrano. 

Bruce

San Juan Capistrano.

Steve

migt be a student

That station (SNC) can be a son of a gun to get stopped at. Downhill, 90 MPH almost to the depot. Can get even the best of them if all conditions aren't right. Irvine going north is the same animal.

Winnemucca Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In Amtrakese SJC is San Jose, CA.

Didn't know the Surfliners went north of San Luis Obispo.

They don't.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Winnemucca Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > In Amtrakese SJC is San Jose, CA.
>
> Didn't know the Surfliners went north of San Luis
> Obispo.

Posted from Android

SNC is San Juan Capistrano.



Chris

Yep- SNC is San Juan Capistrano. SJC= San Jose.
We were just talking about this at the RR Retirees breakfast, that happens in my area.
I've personally seen the "overshoot"  done about 5-6 times. Like the other poster said- you're
coming down a descending Grade, from a 90 mph zone. There are many different scenarios that
can cause over-shooting a station. The most extreme I've ever seen was at La Plata, MO on #3.
We got by the Depot by about 2 miles, and had to make a Reverse Move, to pick up the passengers.
Lots of odd things can happen in railroading, for a multitude of reasons.
---edit---



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/19 20:08 by OldPorter.

OldPorter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yep- SNC is San Juan Capistrano. SJC= San Jose.
> We were just talking about this at the RR Retirees
> breakfast, that happens in my area.
> I've personally seen the "overshoot"  done about
> 5-6 times. Like the other poster said- you're
> coming down a descending Grade, from a 90 mph
> zone. Have to get your braking point right.

How braking a bit earlier?

This is one of the reasons why some railroaders don't like railfans.  This was a minor flub-up but someone felt it was important enough to post it on the Internet.  Maybe the engineer was new.  Maybe the dynamic brakes dropped out at a bad time.  Maybe some mischeivous kids came out and poured motor oil in the rails. 

Who knows? 

But is it really necessary posting something like this on a site that is, in all liklihood, read by Amtrak managers and Catrans officials?

This would be like someone going into YOUR workplace and observing you and then going on their smartphone and reporting, "I observed a worker at a fast food outlet today and he forgot to put any napkins in one of the bags for a customer at the drive-through window."  

A - number 1 to Portland!

CA_Sou:

Bruce was NOT trying to point a finger at the crew.  He observed something that was unusual to him and asked about it.  Valid explanations were given.  Better to ask about something than to stick your head in the sand and pretend something unusual did not happen.

Steve

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This would be like someone going into YOUR
> workplace and observing you and then going on
> their smartphone and reporting, "I observed a
> worker at a fast food outlet today and he forgot
> to put any napkins in one of the bags for a
> customer at the drive-through window."  

There are enough people with a Smartphone camera at the ready, doing just that, looking for something "unusual" so they can post that online hoping to go "viral." I don't think the OP meant to do that here, but in the "21st Century", this silliness will continue, and so will the hostility, railfans and others.

I'm not disagreeing with you, just pointing out how neurotic our society is becoming.

SGillings Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bruce was NOT trying to point a finger at the crew. 

Regardless of what his intentions were, he "outed" them by providing the time the event happened, the direction of the train and the date. 

> Better to ask about something than to stick your head in the sand and pretend something unusual did not happen.

How on Earth did people survive before the Internet and discussion bulletin boards?  They must have had to stick their heads in the sand on a regular basis. 

Remember, my intent here was to try and explain why a lot of railroaders do not like railfans.  I think I was successful in that regard.     
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/19 17:36 by CA_Sou_MA_Agent.

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Remember, my intent here was to try and explain
> why a lot of railroaders do not like railfans.  I
> think I was successful in that regard.     
>  
And you're totally correct in imho

It wasn’t my intent to out anyone, really curious about what had happened, why, etc.  I can see how it would be taken that way.
 
But now that I think about it, I think that something like that is worth discussing and raising a red flag.  What if there was an absolute stop signal there? (those occur at Fullerton – different circumstances, but they are right at the end of the platform).  And so if an engineer “misses” his/her braking by a several hundred feet, and fouling a switch, and I see that, should I just go “oh well, good thing there wasn’t an opposing move; hope he/she doesn’t do that again!” ??? I personally would not equate forgetting to put napkins out with miscalculating breaking distance.  One is an inconvenience, one borders on tragedy.

I believe the cause of the BNSF – Metrolink crash where the Olive Sub meets the 3rd District at Orangethorpe and Richfield in 2002 was a miscalculation on braking.  See: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,138043  Was that the same as not putting out napkins????  People died, others injured. 
 
I understand railroaders have a very tough job, especially given the management refusal to support decent working conditions and address the whole scheduling/sleep deprivation mess.  But even though this was not a track layout like the crash noted above, it is a similar situation regarding a braking error that could prove fatal.  What would you suggest be done? 

Bruce
 

StStephen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What would you suggest be done? 

I've witnessed some interesting stuff, many of which I've not posted anywhere, and some of my friends (who are TO members) know what I'm talking about. Some of those friends are railheads, and they open up and tell me potentially controversial issues, knowing that I exercise judgement and not post everything they say in public. In that regard, I might be an atypical foamer ("railfan")?

You can always wait until you post a question, a delay of several days might suffice. During that time, if you forget the details and don't want to post anymore, then it wasn't that important.

I remember several years ago where I witnessed an Amtrak train overshoot a little bit, due to coming in a little hot. Once the train stopped, the conductor came out, looked at me and shook her head, because she probably knew that I knew who the engineer was. I've told this story to friends, but I think it's the first time I posted this on TO. Location and train shall remain anonymous. :-)