Passenger Trains > Caltrain Diesels Under Wire in Palo Alto

As the subject states, catenary is up through the area around University Ave and the Palo Alto Caltrain station. I ventured down there on Monday, September 19, 2022, after dropping my son at school to capture the end of the morning rush hour.

Photo 1: The Harriman Era 1902 built through truss bridge (Baltimore Truss) spanning San Francisquito Creek on the border between Menlo Park and Palo Alto is looking rough and in need of some love. JPBX 926 is shoving on the rear of the northbound local train 111.

Photo 2: After missing the opportunity to get a shot of JPBX 900 leading a southbound train across the bridge due to a trespasser crossing in front of me and law enforcement trying to detain them, I caught JPBX 904 “Palo Alto” entering its namesake city with train 504 in tow.

Photo 3: 12 minutes later northbound train 503 is being powered by JPBX 918 “County of San Mateo.”

Continued…

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Photo 4: Running a few minutes late, northbound train 113 is departing Palo Alto with JPBX 915 “South San Francisco” as motive power. The Southern Pacific built Streamline Moderne style Art Deco depot is partially visible to the left of the train.

Photo 5: JPBX 921 “San Martin” is pulling southbound train 112 through the reverse curve under wire as it approaches the station stop at Palo Alto.

Cheers,
Sean

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All those poles and wires sure are ugly.  Not the peninsula I remember running on for 35 years before transferring to Oakland.  I don't know how the NIMBY's living along the tracks ever allowed it. 

Unsightly, true. The electric trainsets will be cleaner and quieter, however, so perhaps that's an acceptable compromise. Honestly I don't think many people care about catenary or not, as they probably either don't find the railroad right-of-way attractive to begin with, or they don't really think about it. The bigger issue that erupted among the NIMBYs was the proposed elevated grade separation for HSR.

ExStarlightHog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All those poles and wires sure are ugly.  Not the
> peninsula I remember running on for 35 years
> before transferring to Oakland.  I don't know how
> the NIMBY's living along the tracks ever allowed
> it. 

ExStarlightHog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All those poles and wires sure are ugly.  Not the
> peninsula I remember running on for 35 years
> before transferring to Oakland.  I don't know how
> the NIMBY's living along the tracks ever allowed
> it. 

Overhead wire is a small price to pay for a more efficient and faster service.

Posted from iPhone

Wolverine350 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ExStarlightHog Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > All those poles and wires sure are ugly.  Not
> the
> > peninsula I remember running on for 35 years
> > before transferring to Oakland.  I don't know
> how
> > the NIMBY's living along the tracks ever
> allowed
> > it. 
>
> Overhead wire is a small price to pay for a more
> efficient and faster service.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Yep. The NIMBY's dgaf about the catenary at all. Quieter and faster trains was a win all around.

Wolverine350 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ExStarlightHog Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > All those poles and wires sure are ugly.  Not
> the
> > peninsula I remember running on for 35 years
> > before transferring to Oakland.  I don't know
> how
> > the NIMBY's living along the tracks ever
> allowed
> > it. 
>
> Overhead wire is a small price to pay for a more
> efficient and faster service.
>
> Posted from iPhone

And how is it going to be faster.
 

TomG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wolverine350 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ExStarlightHog Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > All those poles and wires sure are ugly. 
> Not
> > the
> > > peninsula I remember running on for 35 years
> > > before transferring to Oakland.  I don't
> know
> > how
> > > the NIMBY's living along the tracks ever
> > allowed
> > > it. 
> >
> > Overhead wire is a small price to pay for a
> more
> > efficient and faster service.
> >
> > Posted from iPhone
>
> And how is it going to be faster.
>  

Electric powered trains, particularly MU's, accelerate much faster than diesel-electric locomotive hauled trains. For routes with multiple stops, a faster schedule end-to-end is possible.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/22 13:22 by prr60.

Now have you actually been an engineer on both or are you guessing.

Straight from Caltrain, unless they're lying or were lied to...

"Electrified trains can accelerate and decelerate more quickly than diesel-powered trains, allowing Caltrain to provide more frequent and/or faster train service, initially increasing capacity by over 30 percent."
Source: https://www.caltrain.com/projects/electrification/project-benefits

Sean

TomG Wrote:
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> Now have you actually been an engineer on both or
> are you guessing.

When is this wire and electric train service expected to go live?

TomG Wrote:
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> Now have you actually been an engineer on both or
> are you guessing.
You're joking right? Its aproven fact that EMU's will accelerate faster than diesel hauled trains.  The Stadler Kiss alone produces a max 8000hp at the wheels and has a P to W ratio of 22.  Their acceleration is rated at 2.24mphps. 

I had thought service was supposed to begin in 2023, but looking at the timeline on Caltrain's website, it looks like it will be 2024.

Sean

DevalDragon Wrote:
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> When is this wire and electric train service
> expected to go live?

Nothing as ugly as that Palo Alto bridge.  They waiting until it's rusts away....how expensive can paint be?

Painful to look at.  Not how I want to remember Palo Alto.   sphogger

 

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With the changes to the Peninsula going to electric is the only way to go, almost cause and effect. Here's the screenshot from San Carlos, El Camino across from the old San Carlos granite built Depot of yesteryear. The depot is under the palm trees on the right.

For the folks who had been familiar with the Commute operation in the past and moved away, check the new skinny Condos that extend off the photo to the left. In the distance had been a new car dealer and then a number of used car sales lots, a coin op car wash and other small activities. Then the grade seperation where CalTrain was on a fill and the tallest thing for quite some distance, now it's up againest taller Condo buildings. The same happened at Redwood City and South SF, maybe not so close and not so skinny. I haven't ventured any further.

There's been some moratorium on painting bridges for quite a while, something about the chipped paint and hazardous mitigation. I can imagine what it would be but the bridges simply don't get painted. The State owned bridges do get painted with great care.

Nice work on the contemporary action. Good to get it while it changes.

+ rephrased for clarity.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/22 20:22 by TCnR.

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Thanks TCnR. It's changed a lot over the past 15 years. I'm glad that many of the classic SP stations have remained, even if they are overshadowed by the grade separations in many areas.