Wednesday 6/5/02
Morning
I was completely unaware of anything more until we arrived in Sacramento at 6:20am for a 15 minute stop. I looked out and watched people coming and going at an hour when I am usually fast asleep.
Sacramento in the early morning
My head alternated between my pillow and the window as we progressed towards Davis. I had the good sense to get a few photos of the passing farmland here and there.
Sacramento Valley farmland
We hit Davis at 6:55. I remember getting off here at this hour in the olden days. Thank goodness I didn't have to make myself presentable now. Eventually I worked the cobwebs out of my head, and emerged to public view. Al appeared and asked if he could make up my room. I gave him the go-ahead.
I was more alert as we approached the Navy's famous mothball fleet in Suisun Bay.
The US Navy's mothball fleet. In the foreground are recently imported Japanese automobiles.
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Crossing Suisun Bay. |
An oil refinery at Martinez. |
We crossed the bay and entered Martinez at 7:40. I saw our conductor, who was the same one I had on my northbound trips both this year and last. I don't know his name, but he is a very nice fellow, and quite energetic.
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The old Martinez station, right next door to.... |
...the new Martinez station. |
We were passing along the Carquinez Straight and we passed a detector while other communications were going on. Naturally, these transmissions caused interference with each other, and at certain moments they canceled each other out. The milepost was 31.4, no defects, but I couldn't hear the speed. Once everything else got sorted out I heard the dispatcher say he did hear "no defects" somewhere in the mix.
Underneath Interstate 80 at the Carquinez Straight
At 8:02, we we rounded the bend towards Oakland, closely following the shoreline of the bay.
8:10 "UP detector, milepost 14.1, no defects, axles 56, speed 76."
I heard that Capitol train #522 had dropped off a passenger for us to pick up at Richmond. Of course, Richmond is not one of our scheduled stops, (though it should be because it is the only station shared by both Amtrak and BART). A few minutes later came a somewhat miffed voice: "Tell them next time carry him to a station we're supposed to stop at."
I delayed getting breakfast because I was hoping to get a photo from the rear of the train as we passed down the middle of the street in Jack London Square. Unfortunately, the last car was still locked, so that would not be an option. So at 8:22 I sat down in the Sightseer Lounge to to get a few shots from there.
We made our stop in Emeryville at 8:29, just 9 minutes late. We are making good time today. One thing is certain, I will be having lunch at home.
Near Emeryville
Between Emeryville and Oakland's Jack London Square is the Oakland rail yards, one of the largest I have ever seen. There is a lot of cool railroad stuff to see here, not that I am entirely sure what I am looking at.
Oakland's li'l ol' Amtrak switcher locomotive.
After we passed through the Oakland rail yards we were running down the middle of the street towards the station at Jack London Square.
For a few blocks the Coast Starlight takes to the streets of Oakland.
Our Oakland stop came at about 8:45. I stepped off onto the platform for a few quick photos. Al brought out the wheelchair ramp, which is stored next to the baggage rack, to assist someone aboard and into the handicapped sleeping room on the lower level.
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Wednesday morning boarding activity in Oakland. |
Al and the conductor discuss details. |
Breakfast
I then went to breakfast, and sat down at 8:54, again at a window seat, making a perfect record for this trip. Since the train wasn't very full, and I was eating fairly late, I had the table to myself. I saw the chefs and our steward on the platform with our steward, so I thought it might be awhile before I was served. I ordered the French toast, and much to my delight it arrived within three minutes. Obviously somebody was cooking down there.
The French toast was pretty decent, but didn't quite measure up to those huge, fluffy pancakes I had going north. On the plus side, they didn't overfill my plate, and I was able to finish it without waste.
Meanwhile, two younger fellows came into the diner independently of each other, performing a small comedy of errors. When the second one came in, he was offered a seat with seat with the first, but instead he moved on to the next table. The attendant pointed out that the diner had community seating, and asked him to take the same table. Now, the first fellow, said he'd like to order apple pie for breakfast. The server explained that only breakfast items were currently available. After a brief discussion, the first guy was directed to the snack bar where he could get pastries and similar things. That left the second fellow by himself. All he wanted was a beer. Again the server had to explain that only breakfast items were available. The server directed this young man to the snack bar, but his customer didn't seem to understand the concept of the lower level in the lounge car. Finally the server said "I'll take you there."
We pulled out of Oakland at 9:02, 17 minutes late. By 9:15 I was back in my room for a bit, thinking I would just remain there for the rest of my journey.
The Leslie salt plant north of San Jose
But I got a little restless and wanted more photo opportunities, so I decided to go to the Parlor Car. I found Audrey at one of the swivel chairs (in this car they were all lined up on one side of the car), and I asked if I could join her. We chatted for a bit, and the man on the other side of her joined in now and then. We chatted a bit more about Amtrak and all, and she was kind enough to let me take her picture for this little document.
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Audrey |
A Caltrain locomotive at San Jose |
This seat on the right of the train gave me some good angles on the Caltrain locomotives as we rolled into San Jose at 9:55.We were now just five minutes late.
We left San Jose at 10:12, seven minutes late. I excused myself and returned to my room where I would spend the remaining hour of my trip.
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Crossing Highway 280 |
A lot of taxis |
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Note the same building in the background of the two photos above. |
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Another detector milepost 51.6 came and went at 10:21, but it was unintelligible, the next one was perfectly clear: "UP detector, milepost 66.2, no defects, axles 56, speed 77."
Closing in on home
We passed a number of familiar landmarks which I usually see from the highway. As usual the train offers a fresh perspective.
Farmland south of Gilroy. Highway 101 is at the base of the hills.
At 10:49 crossed under Highway 101 at Gilroy, through farmland until 10:54 when we crossed under 101 again and hit "UP detector, milepost 83.3, no defects, axles 56, speed 30."
Crossing the Pajaro River
We then made our westward turn into the Pajaro Valley (pronounced PA-hu-ro). We slowed down to a crawl to get through the Graniterock quarry at 11:05. I made several photos, thinking I had lots of film for both the quarry and the Elkhorn Slough, but, as usual, I fired away so rapidly that I ran out even before we left the quarry. The slough would have to wait for another day.
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Hoppers at the Graniterock Quarry near Aromas |
Graniterock has its own switcher, which has its own house |
At 11:10 the valley began to open up into farmland, and we worked our way to Pajaro, a tiny own immediately south of Watsonville. There was some rough track in here, which I didn't recall feeling on my outbound trip. We picked up speed as the tracks turned southward again. here the Starlight is less than three miles from the coast, but one wouldn't know it from all of the farmland around us.
Between 11:21 and 11:27 we we crossing the slough. An announcement was made that sea lions could be seen in the water, but I didn't see any out either side. That's OK, I have seen lots of them, just not here. The end of the slough was marked by the Dolan Road overcrossing. We then passed through two miles of farmland on our way to Castroville, the artichoke capitol of the world, where we passed under Highway 156 at 11:29.
The train stopped briefly just south of Espinosa Road, at 11:32 while the engineer copied down information for the train's journey south of Salinas. I had photographed the Starlight near here a few months earlier. The crew announced the purpose of the stop a few minutes before it occurred, and I was able to hear the "track warrant" being transmitted over the radio.
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I photographed the Coast Starlight at Espinosa Road near Castroville back in April |
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We arrived at Salinas at 11:40 am, six minutes early! That's never happened to me before. Al cheerfully helped me off the train, and set my large bag on the platform. I looked around for Mrs. Toy, but didn't see her at first. I attempted to assemble my bags as best I could when she came running up to me with her wonderful smile. I took a moment to introduce her to Al, and told her he took good care of me. Then I remembered, I had almost forgotten to give him his tip! I would have felt terrible if I forgotten that!
We walked to the corner of the station, and decided to wait until the train departed before we drove away ourselves. Since the train was early, it lingered a bit longer than usual. We were opposite the Parlor Car, and I looked up and saw Dana walking through. I waved up at her, and she waved back. The next thing I knew she was at the door to say goodbye. I was able to introduce my wife to her and we enjoyed a final brief chat.
The whistle blew, and doors began closing up. Only the conductor was left on the platform. Two boys were standing near him and they asked "How fast can this train go?" The conductor said "How fast does it go, or how fast can it go?" The boys repeated, "How fast can it go?" He replied "A hundred and twenty."
Is that true? Legally the train cannot go more than 79 MPH because few railroads have the money to invest in the modern traffic control systems required for higher speeds. I know these trains are capable of doing better, but I didn't think Superliners could go faster than 100 MPH.
The conductor gave the engineer the "highball," and jumped into the Pacific Parlor Car. Wheels turned, the cars rolled by. We watched the last car pass over the Main Street bridge, as my train slowly disappeared around the bend.
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Epilogue The day after I returned Amtrak's new President David Gunn made a startling announcement that Amtrak would completely shut down at the end of the month unless it could secure a loan of $200 million to hold it through the fiscal year. I began to wonder if I had just taken my last train trip. An 11th hour deal at the end of the month promised to keep Amtrak in business a few months more, but as of the publication of this Train Travel Tale, the long-term prospects for the Coast Starlight and many other trains is still uncertain. It is past time for Congress and the President to make make the necessary financial commitment to passenger trains as they did for highways and aviation many decades ago. Time is running out. To start making your own Coast Starlight memories, click on the friendly attendant at the right. |
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