Passenger Trains > Caltrain Diesel Finale: Electro Funk Defeats Dino Chunk

That’s a wrap. Farewell and goodnight. auf Wiedersehen. Do not resuscitate.
 
While many are lamenting the end of regular service using diesel locomotives on the San Francisco Peninsula, I’m excited about the increased service speed and train frequency that the new Stadler EMU trains are ushering in. The new service schedule is especially welcome for the added flexibility it will provide at lower ridership stations like the one in my hometown of Burlingame. Service every 30 minutes (versus 60) makes Caltrain a much more viable option now in situations that I might have previously driven. (We’re heading to dinner in Palo Alto tonight with friends, and the transit time via train is less than the estimated drive time. That’s a win.) I think it will be good for businesses from San Jose to San Francisco. And, as ridership bounces back to the pre-pandemic levels that I expect it will, Caltrain will be ready with infrastructure that has room to further grow capacity. This is what commuter rail should look like in the 21st Century.

I didn’t have much time to get out this past week to capture the last of the diesel service, though I was able to spend about an hour at Bayshore on Thursday as the evening commute was commencing. I also managed to walk over to the Burlingame Station to grab shots of both northbound and southbound F40PH powered trains on Friday evening. While I can’t say the shot below of JPBX 908 at Burlingame will be my last of a Caltrain F40PH, it’s entirely possible it will be. (It should be my last shot of this unit, which is being retired.) A service disruption could bring one of the remaining F40PH or MP36PH units back up my way, or perhaps I’ll get down to San Jose to watch the Gilroy fleet arriving or departing Diridon at some point to tickle that nostalgia bone. Time will tell.

Photos 1 through 11 were shot at Bayshore on the afternoon of Thursday, September 19, 2024. Photos 12 and 13 were shot on the evening of Friday, September 20, 2024, at Burlingame.

Photos 1 and 2: JPBX 907 “Mountain View” was leading limited train 308 south from Tunnel 4 on the typically northbound Main 1 at Bayshore. San Francisco’s notorious summer marine layer was present further north in the city and south of here through South San Francisco and San Bruno. I was fortunate to have San Bruno Mountain and the hills to my west shielding me from it, providing for a pocket of sunny skies.
Photo 3: 11 minutes later, southbound local train 124 was preparing to stop at Bayshore at the northbound platform. “All trains will board on the northbound platform.” It’s three flights of stairs up and down to cross between platforms if you didn’t get the message.

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Photos 4 through 6: Northbound limited train 513 was holding on Main 1 at CP Tunnel while train 124 switched onto Main 3 for its station stop at Bayshore. With the switch lined to continue north, a set of Nippon Sharyo gallery cars pushed by JPBX 908 “Redwood City” highballed into Tunnel 4.
 
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Photo 7: Worms eye view from the industrial spur on the east side of Bayshore Station at CP Tunnel. Express train 708 was southbound on Main 2.
Photos 8 and 9: The next train was EMU powered northbound local 123.
 
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Photo 10: This double header of JPBX 928 and JPBX 918 “County of San Mateo” had Bombardier cars in tow for limited train 410. It looked like both units were running based on the heat signature above the units.
Photo 11: JPBX 908 “Redwood City” was returning south with train 310.

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Photo 12: Northbound limited 411 is seen departing Burlingame with JPBX 916 “California” providing power. 
Photo 13: Potentially my final shot of a Caltrain F40PH, JPBX 908 “Redwood City” was southbound with train 312. I’d be curious to know what the engineers think of the transition, especially some of the seasoned ones with decades in the seat on these machines. This is a crop of a broader shot I took framed by the arches of the Burlingame Station. Just as the gates were coming down a young couple with a toddler in a stroller ran up so they could watch the train pass. I couldn’t fault them for photo bombing me, as they were unaware I was there. Furthermore, I would have asked the same of my parents at that age, and my son frequently asked the same of me. The child will likely be too young to remember witnessing the end of regular Caltrain diesel operations on the Peninsula. So it goes.

Cheers,
Sean

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Outstanding group of photos in the last days of the Caltrain diesel era on the peninsula!

Thanks to you and all that have documented the changeover here.

Rich

broken_link Wrote:
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> While many are lamenting the end of regular
> service using diesel locomotives on the San
> Francisco Peninsula, I’m excited about the
> increased service speed and train frequency that
> the new Stadler EMU trains are ushering in.

Thanks for documenting the action on the north end of the line. Great photos!

While I'll miss the diesel-powered Caltrains, I might be one of the vocal few who don't feel too strongly about it one way or another. I survived the scarlet and grey SD9s, GP9s, GP40P-2s, and the original gallery cars being taken away from me 4 decades ago already.

It won't be Caltrain's fault if ridership doesn't materialize from the better schedules, especially weekends. As a kid, it was tough to manage my time to coincide with 1-3 hours schedule gaps on weekends and the dearth of trains on Sundays in the SP commute era. So even before electrification, the hourly weekend schedule in the F40PH era was a blessing.

I'm cynical enough not to rely on economic "recovery" to help ridership in the Stadler era. Hope all the freeloaders that packed the trains yesterday and today rethink their travel habits, and help Caltrain and themselves regardless of economic mismanagement by our mediocre leaders.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/24 17:45 by cchan006.

Great photo series. I lived in the bay for 9 years and always loved hearing a screaming 645 accelerating away from a station stop. Like you, I'm excited for the new EMUs and the improvements they're bringing!

Hopefully the dinner trip was indeed faster than driving too :)

broken_link Wrote:
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> ...I’m excited about the
> increased service speed and train frequency that
> the new Stadler EMU trains are ushering in.

Got off to a rocky start this morning. Train 606 was indicated on the platform display at
Santa Clara to be 43 minutes late the last I looked. Not sure about 608, because the next
run appearing on the display was 610.

Our train south this evening (640 with a 5:51 PM scheduled departure from Burlingame) was also running late. The train was quite crowded. Lots of families with kids. There was a full party going on a San Mateo that slowed things down a little more. My return train (655 with a scheduled departure of 8:55 PM from Palo Alto) was also running around 7-8 minutes late. I believe things were worse earlier in the day. I'll be curious to know how much of this was driven by high ridership due to the free fares this weekend plus some of the events going on at various stations versus operational issues with the new schedule or equipment.

chuba Wrote:
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> Got off to a rocky start this morning. Train 606
> was indicated on the platform display at
> Santa Clara to be 43 minutes late the last I
> looked. Not sure about 608, because the next
> run appearing on the display was 610.

YOUR tax dollars at work! ENJOY!!!

Congratulatiuons  . These are great images ! Really like the composition . Thanks for sharing them. 

Fantastic set! I can't believe the page has finally turned on this electrification deal. Seems like everyone took advantage though and made the most of the last few days of diesel operation north of San Jose. Congrats on the IOTD!

Thanks all.

I've lived within earshot of the Caltrain line through Burlingame for the entirety of the 20 years I've lived in California, including a location from 2006 to 2009 where I could see it from my front room. I neglected to shoot it all that much, as commuter rail seemed too mundane compared to what I could see travelling to places like Tehachapi, Donner, the Feather River Canyon, etc. Once I became so busy with a young family and demanding career even the trips to Tehachapi and Donner stopped. I should have filled in that space shooting Caltrain, but I started realizing the missed opportunities a little too late. Views started to close up as they first added fencing along the ROW and then overpasses. Then electrification came through and permanently altered the landscape. It was silly of me to consistently neglect what I felt was too common. So it goes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/24 12:27 by broken_link.

Nice shots!!

Great set of shots!!