Passenger Trains > Capitol Corridor ride in 2009

15 years ago on March 9, 2009 while visiting San Francisco with the wife, I took a few hours to do a little riding of the rails.  First, I took a Caltrain "Baby Bullet" down to San Jose and spent a few hours shooting some action around the station.  For my northbound leg I decided to take Amtrak to Jack London Square (Oakland), where after a couple more hours trackside I would eventually take a ferry back to San Francisco to meet back up with the wife.

The following pictures were taken on the northbound leg - the Amtrak trip from San Jose to Jack London Square.  For much of the trip I had a poor man's 'cab ride', basically looking through the crew cab of an Amtrak California double-decker.  Of course at the time I didn't take any notes, but with the aid of a somewhat spotty memory and Google Maps, I was able to determine most of the locations.  Hopefully some of you on TO can help fill in the missing details.

So here are the pics:
1.  Pulling out of San Jose you quickly pass the Caltrain Shops
2.  Ditto
3.  About to pass Santa Clara station

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4.  Approaching CP Coast, just north of the Santa Clara station
5.  Banging a right at CP Coast
6.  I believe this is Alviso, correct?
 

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7.  Just north of Alviso
8.  Just out of Fremont station, with BART crossing in the distance
9.  CP Shinn, waiting for soutbound Amtrak to clear

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10.  CP Shinn with soutbound crossing over - silhouette of the conductor partially blocking the view
11.  BNSF local at Hayward (thanks ble692!!)
12.  Pulling into Jack London Square



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/24 11:59 by rbenko.

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13.  And finally, my gallant steed pulling out of Jack London Square station, headed for Sacramento

Thanks for viewing.

Rob Benkovitz
West Palm Beach, FL

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Nice coverage in my old stomping grounds working both freight and passenger.

rbenko Wrote:
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> 11.  BNSF local at ???

That is Hayward.

Thanks for the "blast from the past" from better days when the ROW wasn't lined with burned up, stolen cars, crap and homeless encampments!

IC_2024 Wrote:
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> Thanks for the "blast from the past" from better
> days when the ROW wasn't lined with burned up,
> stolen cars, crap and homeless encampments!

No lie. It's ridiculous how bad things have gotten in the last 10 years or so.

Looks like a fantastic trip. I did my “round the bay” trip in 2000/20001 by using BART between Richmond and S.F. and ditching work at lunch to ride trains. I never did try the ferry between Jack London and S.F. when I stayed there, need to try that still.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

I like that distant BART shot with the green hillside!

Excellent series and great look at the signals!

Andy

Very nice set, Rob!  Thanks for sharing.

texchief1

mp51w Wrote:
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> I like that distant BART shot with the green
> hillside!

March is the best time to see the green hills in the Bay Area.

Nathan

rbenko Wrote:
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> 7.  Just north of Alviso

That's where the Alviso Industrial Lead diverges off of the Coast Sub. The lead goes to a water treatment plant.

IC_2024 Wrote:
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> Thanks for the "blast from the past" from better
> days when the ROW wasn't lined with burned up,
> stolen cars, crap and homeless encampments!

I hadn't done a Capitol Corridor joyride in years, but I did it recently, and boy has it gotten much worse. The burned up stolen cars really stood out.

Nothing bad happened to me personally, so I'm going to stay in my bubble and pretend I never saw it. :-)