[?]

Riding the Private Car "Tioga Pass" over Tehachapi and north on the Former Southern Pacific Valley Route 11/14/2008 Part 5

The train's speed increased as we reached the San Joaquin Valley.

Going through the crossovers at Sandcut.

Let the vineyards be fruitful.

A BNSF freight train as we passed Edison.

The BNSF DPU's were helping this eastbound train.

Rolling through Edison.

Passing underneath the signal bridge at the east end of Bakersfield Yard.

Today it was a very empty yard.

We came to where the San Joaquin Valley Railroad line to Buttonwillow takes off from the Union Pacific mainline.

Kern Junction, where the crew had crossed us over so we could use the platform at the Bakersfield station for a fresh air stop during the crew change there.

Our "Tioga Pass" passengers detraining at Bakersfield, where three of our passengers left us.

"Tioga Pass" in Bakersfield. We reboarded and continued on to Sacramento.

The San Joaquin Valley Railroad train and the Union Pacific freight we had passed at Marcel earlier.

Passing the former Southern Pacific Bakersfield station built in 1888.

Looking back as we leave the Bakersfield station behind.

The end of two main tracks at Chester Avenue.

Crossing Kern River.

Here is where the San Joaquin Valley Railroad's Landco Subdivision joins the Union Pacific mainline after running over the former Santa Fe line.

Oil Junction. I went back inside "Tioga Pass" and worked on the story in the dining room until they had to set the table for the first dinner seating.

Before that, the end of a fantastic day of train riding aboard "Tioga Pass". The train would continue through the night to Sacramento.

A close knit group at the table. I worked on my story until being called in for dinner, while some passengers continued to ride the open platform after dark.

I was in the first seating for dinner, with Tom Geer of the Pacific Railroad Society and Bob Johnson and enjoyed an excellent roast beef meal.

The lounge area of this wonderful prviate car.

The second seating of dinner as the our train continued its non-stop run north up the San Joaquin Valley. I returned to the rear platform as we neared Manteca to see which way we would run up to Stockton, which was to Lathrop then north.

The Altamont Commuter Express facility in Stockton.

The signals for the BNSF crossing.

An Altamont Commuter Express train at Stockton station. We ran non-stop until we neared Elvas then continued past the former location of Elvas Tower and we all had to clear the rear platform as the conductor had to reverse the train all the way to the Sacramento Station, at which we arrived at 8:58 PM. A special thank you to the owner Norm, Bartender Todd and Chef Victor for an excellent trip aboard the "Tioga Pass".

Chris Parkerwanted to stay and take some night shots so I went to the Vagabond Inn and received our room then checked the Internet before showering and working on the story before Chris arrived. We soon called it a night after a great day of train riding.

11/15/2008 After the clock radio went off twice, we decided to get up and went over to the Sacramento Amtrak station where Chris bought his ticket from the Amtrak ticket machine and soon we were outside waiting for the train to arrive from its overnight storage area. The southbound Coast Starlight was there, but was a very odd train. It had engines, transition, diner, lounge, four coaches, three sleepers and a Pacific Parlour Car on the rear.

Chris and I boarded the train and I started working on the story again as we made our way south. Before Stockton, the crews announced that there would be no buses in Bakersfield due to the fires and that if anyone wanted to cancel their trip today to get off in Stockton or if they had checked baggage, get off in Modesto. We were delayed by a freight train for nine minutes and I finished the story to this point by Madera. Remember, every trip is an adventure! The train made it to Figarden where we waited for a westbound BNSF freight.

As we waited, I noticed the nice reflections in this pool of water. The train made its way to Fresno and proceeded to Bakersfield with no further delay, arriving twenty minutes late.

Since there was no bus to LAUPT or even a Los Angeles Bus to take since Interstate 5 was closed, we asked if we could take the Oxnard Bus and connect with a Pacific Surfliner there to get home to Santa Ana. The driver said "Yes" and soon Chris and I, plus our new friends Rufino and Theo, boarded the bus for Oxnard. We departed Bakersfield at 12:15 PM and all was normal until after Lake Hughes Road where the traffic on the Interstate 5 came to a halt at 1:45 PM. We crept along very slowly, stopping and going, then stopping again and again and again.

The four lanes of traffic were trying to get into one lane to exit the freeway at California Highway 126. I listened to all of the new Alice Cooper CD before we left Interstate 5.

The view looking down California Highway 126 once we turned on to it.

A look back at our escape route from Interstate 5. The detour was to Fillmore then California Highway 23 and back to California Highway 118. After about another mile of bumper-to-bumper traffic, the road opened up and we all thought we were home free. Wrong! About five miles east of Piru, the highway grounded to a stop and for over the next two hours, we crawled along, stopping and going, all the way into Fillmore. The sun had long set before we crawled into Fillmore and once the traffic turned off onto California Highway 23, the bus picked up speed and ran to Santa Paula, where we dropped off one passenger and took a ten minute stretching break. That felt really good and soon we were on our way to Oxnard, arriving there at 6:30 PM.

That was the longest I have ever spent on an Amtrak Thruway Bus. As we pulled in, we spotted the Ruby Café and the four of us decided to have dinner there. I enjoyed a New York Steak which made me happy and enjoyed part of the Jackie Chan movie "Who Am I". After dinner, we walked back to the Oxnard Station and went out on the platform to wait for our train.

The moon as seen from the platform as we waited on a nice warm balmy night.

Pacific Surfliner 796 arrived to take us all home. All of the bus riders were boarded in one car and soon we were on our way south. After Simi Valley, we spotted our conductor friend, Bob Riskie, waving with a big smile on his face. The train made its way into LAUPT, where Chris detrained with Theo, whom he would drive home to UCLA. The train changed crews in Los Angeles before it made its way to Fullerton.

The moon as seen through the smoke during our Fullerton stop. We then ran to Anaheim and onto Santa Ana, arriving at 11:00 PM, where I detrained and drove home, ending the longest trip home from Sacramento that I have ever made.