Johann Marsbar Posted November 24, 2022 Author Share Posted November 24, 2022 The reason for being in that part of Pennsylvania on the trip was that the Sunday corresponded with the date that a Model Rail & Railroadiana fair was being held - one that we had been to a few years previously. It had moved from its previous location in Allentown to a Community Centre in Easton and actually turned out to be a much bigger event than the one in 2011, with a lot more model rail items on sale. As it didn't open until 10.00, we spent a couple of hours seeing what was about, rail wise, in Allentown (nothing of note) and then having a look at the photographic opportunities in Emmaus, before heading off to the show. There were quite a lot of bargains on the RR Timetable front there, and I was able to even find some pre-WW2 ones at under $5 each - they can be at least twice that price normally over there. I also picked up a couple of reasonably priced loco worksplates from the 1970's, an EMD one off the L&N and a Conrail GE B23-7 - From memory they were the equivalent of just under £30 each! After a couple of hours at the show we carried on to Phillipsburg in New Jersey to see what was moving on the NS through there. We saw a couple of trains, but the Belvidere & Delaware River SY class on their passenger run was more interesting, even if photo opportunities were a bit limited..... We then headed back to Emmaus and took up position in the Town centre by a couple of level crossings. I remained at 6th Street, whilst my colleague wandered off a bit further down the line, as West Jubilee St parallels the line at this point At 6th Street, one of the local fire engines came over the crossing....... ...but whilst waiting for a train to appear (in 90F heat), my attention was drawn to the red industrial building seen in the background which seemed to be attracting occasional passers-by and was the source of a familiar smell, so I went to investigate. It turned out to be the brewplant cum bar of Funk Brewing, one I'd never heard of, who had been there for about 6 months. They were still awaiting the granting of their PA State bar licence, but for $6 you could have a "Tour" and 6 samples of their beer! The "Tour" aspect enables them to get round the law (and was something I also found on a later trip in New Jersey), so you pay for the tour and the beer is technically free - So the Tour generally consists of someone taking your money, pointing out the brewers plant and then asking what you would like to drink....... My colleague did eventually find me in there - he wondered where I had vanished to - so he did get a chance to try some of my "samples", as rail traffic was fairly light - a couple of freights and a power move being all we saw in the 2+ hours we were there .... A load of photographers turned up as we were leaving (18.30), so my guess is that there was an evening rush of westbounds after that time. On the last day of the trip, we headed off to Emmaus again, but very little seemed to be moving...... We did get "nobbled" by an ex-pat local whilst we were there who turned out to have a shop nearby that dealt in military modelling. He apparently acted as a consultant/designer to Brittains Models as well as selling their products. Additionally, he was a Motorman at Seashore Museum, so had a selection of secondhand trolley books for sale in his shop, so we came away with some rather interesting and not normally seen publications from there. From Emmaus we headed in to Allentown to visit the Mack Truck Museum. The truck plant itself seems to only deal in "Special finishes" to their vehicles in a fairly small building on a site adjacent to the museum, but we did get taken in there on the tour. A few of the older museum exhibits.... ...and an example of one of their "Special finishes"...... Then it was back to Philadelphia Airport for the flight home. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 2014 was the last year of the regular annual "2 trips +" holidays to North America as various external circumstances started to come in to play from then on, beginning with the deteriorating state of my Mothers health, so I didn't want to stay that far away from the UK in case anything happened whilst I was away. The sole "American" content from 2015 was limited to such things as the NY Subway car body at Quainton Road.... ....and the open day at the former Debach Airfield...... I did at least manage a few short trips to more exotic locations though.... By the end of 2015 the situation seemed to have improved so at my Mothers insistance I did book up a trip to the US again for May 2016..... 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 For the trip in May 2016 I decided to go somewhere I'd never been to before (other than the Airport) and, taking inspiration from the Flowerpot Men (The band, not the Flobalob ones...), it was "Let's go, to San Francisco...", an area that it is at least possible to get around by Public Transport, so no car was required. Sadly, as it turned out, my Mother didn't survive to see me go on that trip, which I'm sure was the reason she was so insistent I went ahead and booked it....... The San Francisco area required a lot of planning beforehand as there was a lot, potentially, to try and fit in during the time available. One thing that seemed fairly apparent when looking for a suitable hotel was that it was best to stay out of the City Centre, both on a price basis and the fact that some of the Downtown appeared to be rather "suspect" to be wandering about in, to put it mildly. That was quite an eye-opener when I was there and I was actually to find it considerably worse on two more trips to the West Coast in coming years. I actually found a very good price for a hotel in Millbrae, close to the Airport (with its own van shuttle service there) and only 20 min walk from the Millbrae BART/Caltrain stations. There was even a direct bus service from the road outside into Downtown SF as well, so I duly booked a 7 night stay there and flew out on a Virgin Atlantic A340 from Heathrow on 2nd May. The flight was rather tedious as the usual Virgin standards of entertainment were somewhat lacking as a it wouldn't work on about 25% of the plane! Somehow or other they managed to rustle up enough Tablets to go round most of the affected seats, so I could at least watch a couple of films during the trip. After arrival at SFO, and buying a "Clipper" Fare Smartcard to use and loading some cash on it, I just transferred to the Hotel, which turned out to have a good view of the main airport runway from its waterfront location, and decided I was that shattered I wasn't going to go anywhere for the rest of the day! The following morning I walked to Millbrae Station and bought a 2 Zone (Z1 & Z2) day ticket on Caltrain which covered me from the San Francisco terminus out as far as Redwood City, then spending a couple of hours riding the trains before ending up in SF itself. samTrans is the main bus operator on the peninsula south of SF and a couple of their buses are seen at Redwood City...... Motive Power on Caltrain is provided by these F40PH locos....... and these MP36PH-3C's...... Electrification works on the line down as far as San Jose(Tamien) had started at that time but as of 2022 the scheme has suffered delays and 2024 is now given as the start of electric service, using Stadler built double-deck EMU's. Whilst I had bought a Clipper Card, which is valid on all the transport in the Bay area, on this occasion I decided to get a traditional cardboard version of the Muni 7-day Tourist Ticket from the Streetcar Museum down by the Ferry Building, so on arrival in SF on Caltrain, I walked there via The Embarcadero, taking photos as I went.... A Breda built LRV dating from 1994........ A genuine San Francisco Double ended PCC used on Route E The multi liveried PCC cars (either ex Philadelphia or NJT Newark Subway) used on Route F....... Pacific Electric Birmingham and Cincinnati...... and El Paso, with a couple of ETI (Skoda) 14TrSF trolleybuses thrown in for good measure..... It had already become obvious that the camera was going to see a lot of use on this trip!! 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted November 29, 2022 Author Share Posted November 29, 2022 There are qute a number of different ferry services around the Bay Area operating out of San Francisco as well and the Clipper Card Smartcard gave a fares reduction if you paid that way - something that was common across most of the Operators who accepted that medium for payment. One of the ferries is seen with the Transbay Bridge in the background. The Muni multi-ride passes are able to be loaded on the card as well, but I decided on the traditional cardboard version which I bought from the Streetcar Museum on Steuart Street, near the Ferry Terminal Building. The Museum isn't very large and consists of photos & small exhibits plus a retail shop and is well located for the PCC/Peter Witt worked tram routes. After getting my 7-day ticket - valid on all Muni bus/trolleybus/tram routes, plus the cable cars, an important feature given the fares payable on that mode (7 Day ticket is currently $47, cable car single $8 !) - I headed off for my first cable car ride on the California St route. This is the quieter, passenger wise, of the routes as it doesn't serve any Touristy destinations, unlike the other two. I've had the car to myself on some of the trips! This pair were at the Market St terminus.... ...where I boarded car 49 for the run uphill to the terminus, sitting at the back so I could get photos like this.... You realise just how steep it is in places from the lower part of that photo. The upper terminus is now at a fairly nondescript road junction, the route originally continuing further out, though that was replaced by trolleybuses many years ago, I then caught a route 1 trolleybus to travel out to the Richmond Republic Pub for an early lunch before continuing on to the route 1 terminus at Geary/33rd..... I then followed the Lands End path from near there round to the Pacific Ocean beaches near to where the fomer Cliff House & Sutro Baths used to be. This path follows the route of a steam worked line that opened in 1886 and was converted to a tram route in 1905. https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Cliff_House_Steam_Railroad https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Public_Transportation_for_Everyone It's quite a scenic walk and you wouldn't realise how close you still are to the City when walking along it. Nice views are available of the Golden Gate..... and passing shipping..... At the western end of the path you aren't too far from the La Playa trolleybus terminus..... ...so I was able to catch the 5R express trolleybus back into the City Centre from there. It was signed as "Fulton Rapid" and the driver certainly didn't hang about either! Downtown I carried out a quick investigation of the terminus of the Powell/Mason cable car lines...... ...before heading off to the Caltrain terminus for a number of afternoon peak moves with my 2 zone rail ticket, eventually ending up at Burlingame for an evening visit to Steelhead Brewing for a meal and sampling their wares. This rather nice preserved painted advertisement was adjacent to the station in Burlingame...... Then it was back to Millbrae and the hotel after a fairly exhausting day, during which I'd somehow managed to take around 120 photos..... 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted November 30, 2022 Author Share Posted November 30, 2022 Most of the next morning was spent around the Powell/Mason cable car lines and the cable car museum in the winding house building. It pays to be out before the tourists on those two lines, so I caught the samTrans 292 bus route towards San Francisco from the Hotel at 06.25 and rode that to just inside the City limits where my Muni Pass became valid. More or less after crossing the boundary you meet the terminus of the T line streetcar which I took as far as Powell St, getting there around 08.00 when there wasn't a tourist in sight! Car #7 was on the turntable and I rode that all the way out to the Fishermans Wharf terminus..... The route does run along the same roads as one of the trolleybus routes for a while, so I took this shot from the car...... The terminus of the Mason line..... From there I walked back along part of the route and over to the Hyde line to get some photos.... In the latter photo, some of the vessels at the Maritime Museum can be seen in the background. One of the New Flyer Excelsior XT60 articulated trolleybuses -in course of delivery at that time - crosses the Hyde line..... Down on Fishermans Wharf, this photo shows the "Balclutha" - built in Glasgow in 1886 and the paddle tug "Eppleton Hall" - Built in South Shields in 1914. I then caught the cable car up to the Museum..... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted November 30, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 30, 2022 (edited) I was in SF for a few days in May this year, so these pics bring back some good memories. Our hotel was a couple of blocks from the bottom end of the Powell-Mason line and to avoid the queues, we jumped on the first one in the morning. Got quite a surprise when we got to the top and crossed the California line. Also had a ride on Caltrain to San Jose - F40 out, MP36 back. Virtually zero sign of electrification in SF itself, but plenty of wires up elsewhere. Saw one of the ex-Amtrak AEM7s that was to be used for testing in SF and one of the new Stadler units at San Jose depot. Edited November 30, 2022 by newbryford 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted November 30, 2022 Author Share Posted November 30, 2022 43 minutes ago, newbryford said: I was in SF for a few days in May this year, so these pics bring back some good memories. Our hotel was a couple of blocks from the bottom end of the Powell-Mason line and to avoid the queues, we jumped on the first one in the morning. Got quite a surprise when we got to the top and crossed the California line. Also had a ride on Caltrain to San Jose - F40 out, MP36 back. Virtually zero sign of electrification in SF itself, but plenty of wires up elsewhere. Saw one of the ex-Amtrak AEM7s that was to be used for testing in SF and one of the new Stadler units at San Jose depot. I saw the pair of AEM7's on the Depot at San Jose when I was there in September 2019, though they were well hidden behind other stock so a photo from the train was out of the question. Some of the overhead has gone live recently, from what I've read, so they should finally start getting used for testing pretty soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted November 30, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 30, 2022 2 minutes ago, Johann Marsbar said: I saw the pair of AEM7's on the Depot at San Jose when I was there in September 2019, though they were well hidden behind other stock so a photo from the train was out of the question. Some of the overhead has gone live recently, from what I've read, so they should finally start getting used for testing pretty soon. The other AEM7 #938 - that I didn't see - was repainted into Caltrain colours in late 2021 https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/news-photos-toaster-california-style/ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted December 1, 2022 Author Share Posted December 1, 2022 Whilst waiting for a cable car to take me up to the Museum, this one in use as a training car turned up on the Hyde St line and was turned ready for the trip back. My visit to SF corresponded with a general crew shortage over the whole Muni network as apparently staff can "bid" on what mode of transport they want to work on at certain times (April, from memory) as per the Union agreements, so there was a lot of bus substitution on the E & F heritage streetcar lines and the service provided on the cable car network left a lot to be desired as well. On arrival at the Museum/Car Sheds, this refurbished/new California St car was outside awaiting unloading, but I've never been able to find out which one it actually was.... As well as housing the museum display, the site is still the operating base for the system..... The museum gallery provides a panoramic view of the cable operating equipment for the network...... As well as numerous small exhibits and photos, there are a few full sized cars on display including this grip car and trailer...... The Depot building is shown as the background of this shot, with the museum entrance on the right..... 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted December 1, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 1, 2022 3 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said: As well as housing the museum display, the site is still the operating base for the system..... The museum gallery provides a panoramic view of the cable operating equipment for the network...... As well as numerous small exhibits and photos, there are a few full sized cars on display including this grip car and trailer...... I found the explanations of how the cables work around curves and gradient changes quite fascinating. 5 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lurker Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 If I recall correctly, the initial SF lines had no curves. It was the export of the system to Dunedin, where curves were required, that led to the innovation Mick has shown above, which was then adopted in SF as the system expanded further. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted December 2, 2022 Author Share Posted December 2, 2022 From near the Cable Car museum I caught a trolleybus back downtown and was pleased to discover that one of the Milan Peter Witt cars was out in service on the F line - the first one I'd seen as none had been out the previous day. They own 11 vehicles of this type, though not all are currently in use,,,,,,, After catching a PCC on the F line to Market St, I managed to find the terminus of the Route 12 bus for the run out to find the premises of Southern Pacific Brewing, a well-hidden former industrial building down a cul-de-sac, so it was a good job I'd printed off a map beforehand! Their logo is a gondola car along with an SP mark inspired by a RR crossing sign and the rail theme is very obvious from the decor of the building. I got the impression the place may have been part of a rail wagon maintenance works many years ago after looking at some very old maps, but the whole area is redeveloped now and has been for some years. After lunch, I walked to Mission St and caught a Route 14 trolleybus out as far as Geneva Ave..... ...and then walked to the Muni Geneva Carhouse to catch a Route J car back towards Downtown, alighting at Mission Dolores Park where photos can be taken with a city backdrop.... Whilst passing through there on the J three years later, it was obvious that a growing homeless encampment had now been established in that area around the streetcar trackage, presumably one that has grown further since then. At the northern end of the park the Route 33 trolleybuses cross the streetcar lines.... I then continued on the J down to Market St and caught an F out to Fishermans Wharf for a look around. The preserved WW2 Liberty Ship Jeremiah O'Brien is based in San Francisco and operates occasional cruises around the Bay area. Unfortunately my trip didn't correspond with one of those and I've had similar luck with the other one that does sailings out of Baltimore. From Fishermans Wharf I made my way out to visit the Magnolia Brewpub in the Haight-Ashbury district of the City at Haight/Masonic. According to their publicity, in 1964 the building was the Drugstore Cafe, one of the original hippie hangouts, pre "Summer of Love" and has now been a Brewery for just over 25 years. I understand that one of the owners of the place is (or was) a member of "The Grateful Dead". Certainly the music being played whilst I was there fitted in with the late 60's feel. A bit more about the building and how the place got its name... - https://hoodline.com/2014/06/the-many-lives-of-magnolia/ The most impressive thing was that they had 5 handpumps on the bar serving their own cask-conditioned ales - in 20 oz measures (proper pints, none of that US 16 oz rubbish...) Speaking to the barman, he said that they have the highest sale of cask ales in the entire western USA and sales volume is that high some casks get emptied in a day! Route 6 out to the pub should have been trolleybus operated, but it was diesel buses at that time - possibly due to the staff training problems, as for the trams & cable-car routes. The bus back dowtown decided to terminate early and throw us all off, as did the F line PCC car that most of the passengers piled on afterwards, though at least I did get to where I wanted to go before he stopped at the Ferry Building. It was the San Diego liveried PCC as seen below and the ground floor of the brick building in the background is where the Streetcar Museum is located..... I'd decided to catch the direct 292 bus back to the Hotel that evening - the journey taking a rather mind numbing 90 mins - made worse by most of it being in the dark. At least it only cost about 1/3 of the equivalent rail fare and about 1/4 of the BART fare! The bus is seen awaiting departure from the (Temporary) Transbay Terminal area....... It was a rapid crash-out once back at the Hotel as I was off early the following day to have a run on Amtrak..... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted December 2, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 2, 2022 Thanks for all those SF pictures. They bring back many memories including the young lady who drove me round in a Porche 911 back in 1978 on my first visit. Jamie 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted December 2, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 2, 2022 3 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said: From near the Cable Car museum I caught a trolleybus back downtown and was pleased to discover that one of the Milan Peter Witt cars was out in service on the F line - the first one I'd seen as none had been out the previous day. They own 11 vehicles of this type, though not all are currently in use,,,,,,, After catching a PCC on the F line to Market St, I managed to find the terminus of the Route 12 bus for the run out to find the premises of Southern Pacific Brewing, a well-hidden former industrial building down a cul-de-sac, so it was a good job I'd printed off a map beforehand! Their logo is a gondola car along with an SP mark inspired by a RR crossing sign and the rail theme is very obvious from the decor of the building. I got the impression the place may have been part of a rail wagon maintenance works many years ago after looking at some very old maps, but the whole area is redeveloped now and has been for some years. After lunch, I walked to Mission St and caught a Route 14 trolleybus out as far as Geneva Ave..... ...and then walked to the Muni Geneva Carhouse to catch a Route J car back towards Downtown, alighting at Mission Dolores Park where photos can be taken with a city backdrop.... Whilst passing through there on the J three years later, it was obvious that a growing homeless encampment had now been established in that area around the streetcar trackage, presumably one that has grown further since then. At the northern end of the park the Route 33 trolleybuses cross the streetcar lines.... I then continued on the J down to Market St and caught an F out to Fishermans Wharf for a look around. The preserved WW2 Liberty Ship Jeremiah O'Brien is based in San Francisco and operates occasional cruises around the Bay area. Unfortunately my trip didn't correspond with one of those and I've had similar luck with the other one that does sailings out of Baltimore. From Fishermans Wharf I made my way out to visit the Magnolia Brewpub in the Haight-Ashbury district of the City at Haight/Masonic. According to their publicity, in 1964 the building was the Drugstore Cafe, one of the original hippie hangouts, pre "Summer of Love" and has now been a Brewery for just over 25 years. I understand that one of the owners of the place is (or was) a member of "The Grateful Dead". Certainly the music being played whilst I was there fitted in with the late 60's feel. A bit more about the building and how the place got its name... - https://hoodline.com/2014/06/the-many-lives-of-magnolia/ The most impressive thing was that they had 5 handpumps on the bar serving their own cask-conditioned ales - in 20 oz measures (proper pints, none of that US 16 oz rubbish...) Speaking to the barman, he said that they have the highest sale of cask ales in the entire western USA and sales volume is that high some casks get emptied in a day! Route 6 out to the pub should have been trolleybus operated, but it was diesel buses at that time - possibly due to the staff training problems, as for the trams & cable-car routes. The bus back dowtown decided to terminate early and throw us all off, as did the F line PCC car that most of the passengers piled on afterwards, though at least I did get to where I wanted to go before he stopped at the Ferry Building. It was the San Diego liveried PCC as seen below and the ground floor of the brick building in the background is where the Streetcar Museum is located..... I'd decided to catch the direct 292 bus back to the Hotel that evening - the journey taking a rather mind numbing 90 mins - made worse by most of it being in the dark. At least it only cost about 1/3 of the equivalent rail fare and about 1/4 of the BART fare! The bus is seen awaiting departure from the (Temporary) Transbay Terminal area....... It was a rapid crash-out once back at the Hotel as I was off early the following day to have a run on Amtrak..... I managed to drag Mrs NB out on the MUNI for a couple of hours. We rode the J line out to the Balboa terminus to catch a K line to Church St. I only realised too late, that the PCC depot was at Balboa and missed a load of pics. Then it was a spin on the N line to Pacific Beach and back. It was that windy, we were being sandblasted on the beach! I managed to get a panorama pic of two units in the circle at pacific Beach. I had some strange looks as I stood in the middle of the road/centre of the circle rotating round! The road on the left and right of the image is the same straight road. On the last day, we took a bay trip out under the Golden Gate and round Alcatraz. The Jeremiah O'Brien could be seen steaming off in the distance. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted December 2, 2022 Author Share Posted December 2, 2022 1 hour ago, newbryford said: I managed to drag Mrs NB out on the MUNI for a couple of hours. We rode the J line out to the Balboa terminus to catch a K line to Church St. I only realised too late, that the PCC depot was at Balboa and missed a load of pics. Then it was a spin on the N line to Pacific Beach and back. It was that windy, we were being sandblasted on the beach! I managed to get a panorama pic of two units in the circle at pacific Beach. I had some strange looks as I stood in the middle of the road/centre of the circle rotating round! The road on the left and right of the image is the same straight road. On the last day, we took a bay trip out under the Golden Gate and round Alcatraz. The Jeremiah O'Brien could be seen steaming off in the distance. I hadn't realised it actually ventured out into open sea with passengers on board nowadays, though I suppse they have to do that to a limited extent to cruise under the bridge! The John W Brown does trips out of Baltimore and they seem to be limited to the area of Chesapeake Bay - though that still gives them a lot of cruising scope at their disposal. That's the one I'd like to do at some stage, as they appear to arrange things like WW2 aircaft interacting with the ship and suchlike. Problem is they only do about 4 cruises a year when I've looked in the past. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted December 4, 2022 Author Share Posted December 4, 2022 The following morning saw an early start from the Hotel with a walk to Millbrae station to take my first ride on the BART system, riding through to Oaklasnd City Centre - a run of just over 40 minutes. The BART trains seemed to live up to the "Rapid" part of their name, but the system certainly exudes a 1970's atmosphere in the stations and the trains, though some of the more recent extensions to the system are rather more modern in styling. New trains are also in course of delivery at the moment which will make a difference. I had about 90 minutes in Oakland before my Amtrak service to Sacramento departed and after a quick look at the local AC Transit bus scene in the City Centre..... ...I caught the free shuttle bus down to Jack London Square. I'd actually planned a full day in Oakland, with a visit to the Aviation Museum near the Airport, but, on seeing what the place was actually like, that was reduced to an afternoon, mainly around JLS and a couple of Breweries in that area. Even the Jack London Square area seemed to have gone downhill compared to what I'd been told it was like by people who had been there before me, One interesting vessel preserved on the waterfront there is the USS Potomac (Built 1934), which ended up as the Presidential Yacht for President Roosevelt, but had a somewhat chequered career after that time.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Potomac_(AG-25) The terminal of the ferry route to San Francisco is the framework structure visible in the background and a ferry is seen departing to the right of the photo. JLS is noted for its street running trackage and I did see three passenger trains whilst I was waiting for my service..... My train departed at 09.15 behind #2009 and was fairly bereft of passengers - only about a dozen got on at JLS - though more boarded at some of the other stops during the two hour run to Sacramento. We passed the now rather depleted US Reserve fleet moorings at Suisun Bay en-route, and a few photos were possible out of the train window...... The weather in Sacramento was fairly gloomy, though at least it wasn't raining at that point. First port of call was the "Old Town" area and the California State RR Museum. This pair of ATSF steam locos had recently positioned adjacent to the Museum and actually received a proper repaint within a couple of months of my visit..... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted December 5, 2022 Author Share Posted December 5, 2022 Whilst the California State RR Museum was a fairly impressive place, I was rather underwhelmed by the number of full sized exhibits that were on display - particularly given the size of the building. I was expecting a layout like the RR Museum of Pennsylvania which manages to fit a lot more into the available floorspace. There is a seperate storage shed nearby that contains quite a few other exhibits, including some rather elderly steam locos, which has open ends but was not open for viewing, and, in addition, some items earmarked for the museum were still stored over at the former SP Workshops the other side of the Amtrak station. Four of the locos stored there have since gone to a museum in Texas instead! My pictures don't show it, but the place was crawling with schoolkids as well which made the visit somewhat less enjoyable...... 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted December 5, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 5, 2022 The first time that I visited the Sacramento I enjoyed the museum but the second time I found it not so good. The upstairs gallery was almost devoid of exhibits but my other half did enjoy going in the Cab Forward. Thats why I had to get a few HO scale ones! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted December 7, 2022 Author Share Posted December 7, 2022 "There's somethin' about the weather that ev'rybody loves They call it the Indian spring of Sacramento...... " Obviously Middle of the Road had never been to the place when they sang that back in 1971 as the weather when I was there in May 2016 was grey and miserable to say the least, and later in the day it turned to fairly heavy rain for the rest of my time there. Luckilly it was still dry when I came out of the Railroad Museum so I had a look around "Old Town Sacramento" - some of it not being as old as it looked as this row of buildings are part of the modern RR museum structure Most of the rest of the area did seem to have a genuine historic provenance though...... From there I made my way back to the Station and went for a ride on the area Light Rail system which opened its first section back in 1987. The original Siemens-Duewag cars from that time were still in use in 2016 but they now are looking at withdrawing them by the end of next year....... I had worked out that I could have covered all 3 of the lines in the time I was there but that didn't leave a lot of time for anything else, so I settled on a return trip out to Folsom - the longest of the routes. The system seemed well used and the cars were made up into 3 or 4-unit trains which made them quite an impressive length. They were updating the livery and these secondhand UTDC built (1985) units from the San Jose system were painted in the new version. These cars have now been withdrawn. The other car types in use were these CAF ones, constructed in 2002/3 After the run out to Folsom, I went in search of Rubicon Brewing, which turned out to be located next to a rail line, though only one train passed in the 2 hours I was there - a manifest behind BNSF power. I wasn't intending to stay there that long, but there was a cask conditioned ale due to be served from 17.00, so I decided to hang around for that! I started raining whilst I was at the Brewpub, so by the time I got back into the City Centre it was rather wet.... After some photography there, I rode the Light Rail back to the Amtrak station, getting there about 40 mins before my train back to Oakland was due to depart. It was interesting to see that the Amtrak locos were being refuelled from equipment actually located on the passenger platforms...... As we left, I was able to get a shot from the train of two of the stored locos for the RR Museum - a Baldwin and a Fairbanks-Morse . In the event, these locos, plus 2 others, have been transferred to the Museum of the American Railroad in Texas - rather a shame, given there is only one diesel on display within the Sacramento museum. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted December 8, 2022 Author Share Posted December 8, 2022 On the Friday morning I caught the samTrans 292 bus from the Hotel to the temporary Transbay Terminal in SF where a number of the local bus services from the Bay Area terminate, such as AC Transit from Oakland..... The bus terminal was the only one I've found in the US where the security staff seem to take exception to you taking photos of buses on their property as I was asked to leave. By walking about 10ft from where I was challenged, I was able to take more or less the same images from the public sidewalk and the security person admitted they could do nothing about it...... Not what you expect in a City that actually makes a big show of their transit system to Tourists and runs historic vehicles in daily service! Until the early afternoon, I spent the day travelling around on the Muni system and a bonus was that a few more Milan Peter Witt cars had made it out into service that day....... At least one different cable car livery had also made an appearance.... .......as had one of the double-ended PCC cars in Dallas livery..... Unfortunately the weather that day was rather grey with light drizzle for most of the time. Some of the other days started off like that but cleared up by about 09.00 but that wasn't the case this time round. Just before 15.00 I caught a ferry to Oakland, Jack London Square from Pier 41 on Fishermans Wharf. By catching the ferry from there rather than the Ferry Building you get some good photo opportunities of the Downtown area from the boat - and the fare is the same as well. The trip to Oakland is quite an interesting one as it gives good views of the Transbay Bridge and shipping moored at Oakland Container Terminal which includes lines such as Matson that are based in Hawaii and aren't seen in Europe...... On arrival in Oakland I headed off to Pacific Coast Brewing for something to eat before returning to JLS..... On the morning of the Sacramento trip, I had noticed some signs around the Amtrak station area pointing to "Independent Brewing" - one that didn't crop up on my pre-trip research - so I went off to investigate and found a small industrial unit with a brewing plant and a bar. They seemed to go by the name of "Oakland Brewing Company" as well, just to add a bit more confusion. I had a pint there and decided to fit in another visit there the next day. On returning to the central part of Oakland to catch BART back to Millbrae I did notice this mural near the station which features one of the Key System Interurban cars that used to run over the Transbay Bridge into San Francisco....... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted December 8, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 8, 2022 I saw Matson boats in American Samoa and the Hawaiian islands on our trip in 2019. I think that they go back to the 19th century. More nice ohotos and memories. When I went to Seashore museum they talked about having Large Witts and Small Witts. I casually asked if they had any half witts. The Brits in my party cracked up but the humour bypassed the Americans completely. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted December 9, 2022 Author Share Posted December 9, 2022 Saturday morning saw a longish run on BART from Millbrae through SF & Oakland down to Fremont - a line that is currently being extended into San Jose. The trip would normally have taken 1hr 40 min, but there was a rail replacement bus on part of the line near Fremont so it actually took 2 hours. The replacement bus was remarkably well organised as BART were actually advising of an extension to journey times of 40-60 minutes, rather different to the 20 minutes longer that it actually took! At least I was able to get some photos of the original BART rolling stock during the journey as my previous runs had mainly been in the tunnel sections...... They are quite a distinctive design that exudes a "1970's" feel and Rapido are producing an HO version - though no doubt to 16.5mm gauge rather than the 19.25mm they should be! (BART is 5' 6" gauge) Fremont was still in the AC Transit operating area despite its distance from Oakland.... The reason for heading to Fremont was to visit the Pacific Bus Museum, an interesting collection of vehicles, but which were fairly well "shoe-horned" into a few industrial buildings about 15 min walk away from the BART station. They seemed to be a Californian version of the Eastern Transport Collection or Leicester Transport Heritage Trust, being a storage/restoration for a variety of group and privately owned vehicles. Visitors did get a fully escorted guided tour of the site, which took 90 minutes, but photographic opportunities were somewhat limited due to the way the vehicles were parked, though this is their 1955 built Flixible..... A 1955 GM TDM 4512.... ...and a Greyhound GM Scenicruiser, also of 1955..... Full details of their collection can be found here.... https://pacbus.org/museum-roster/ The preserved Niles Canyon Railway run into the Fremont area but when I was planning the trip, there didn't seem to be any way of getting a ride on it in a sensible timeframe so I had to give it a miss. It would have been possible by hiring a car but the extra expense wasn't worth it. Returning on BART as far as Fruitvale, it was then time for a visit to the brewery of Ale Industries, adjacent to the station, before carrying on to Oakland for the rest of the afternoon..... 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted December 10, 2022 Author Share Posted December 10, 2022 When I got to the Jack London Square area I discovered that there was some sort of classic/custom car gathering taking place so was able to wander around that and get some photos.... ...before heading off to Independent Brewing again for a rather longer stay than before. The seemed to be giving away free beer that afternoon as well, as my notes indicate that 2 of the 4 (16 oz) pints I had there were presented without charge when they found out where I was from! Some of the beers that they were dispensing were rather interesting , a couple being based on Vietnamese beer styles, which was a bit different and certainly somewhere I'm not ever expecting to visit. From there I caught the free shuttle bus to downtown Oakland and had a wander along the main street area. Some intersting buildings, architecturally, remain there, but the place did look rather down at heel with very little retail activity...... I caught BART back to SF and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening there before getting the 20.30 bus back to Millbrae and my Hotel. I was hoping to visit the SF branch of Rogue Brewing for something to eat, but there was zero chance of even getting through the front door given the crowds, so ended up at a local burger place instead. Brooklyn liveried PCC + ETI trolleybus..... Double ended PCC in SF Municipal Rly colours...... Cable Cars near Hyde St terminus..... Ferry Terminal building at twilight with the Cincinnati liveried PCC car..... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted December 11, 2022 Author Share Posted December 11, 2022 A rather obvious destination to be visited during the trip - San Jose - had been left to the Sunday which was the last full day that I could fit it in as my flight home was late afternoon on the Monday. As the weekend Caltrain service is fairly sparse in the mornings, I was able to spend some time close to my Hotel which provided quite a good vantage point for traffic in and out of SFO Airport.... There is a chap on YouTube who does livestreams of the Airport on a reasonably regular basis from the same place I took those photos and it seemed to be a popular spot for photographers. I then walked to Millbrae station and caught the 08.39 train to San Jose - a trip of 75 minutes duration. Whilst it was still grey and cool in Millbrae, by the time I got to SJ it was warm and sunny and would remain so for most of the rest of the day. There are a few Amtrak connecting bus services that run out of San Jose, this Santa Cruz toute being one of them.... Like Sacramento, I'd worked out a timetable to cover all of the VTA light rail lines whilst I was there, though, in the event, I decided to ignore the short branch ( three stops) to Almaden - and no prizes for guessing which line was closed and replaced by a bus in 2019..... The VTA LRV's are all rather boxy looking things built by Kinki-Sharyo between 2001 and 2005, the original cars from 1985-87 being sold to Sacramento & Utah after the K-S cars were purchased.... Don't forget to leave your dummy hand grenades at home though...... After a run out to Santa Teresa and back to Tamien, I then rook a 30 min walk along a main road to reach the San Jose History Park, having decided it would be a quicker way to reach the place than returning to downtown SJ and getting a bus to the park. This turned out to be the case and had the added bonus of walking past a small shopping arcade, one of the "shops" having the sign "Santa Clara Valley Brewing Co - Brewery Tap" attached to it ! That was duly noted for the walk back from the Park.... The History Park is a collection of preserved buildings transplanted to the site from around the SJ area - admission being free, though there seemed to be a lack of co-ordination between the various building preservation groups as to when they would be open for viewing and there weren't that many open that particular Sunday. Thankfully the California Trolley & Railroad Corporation - a rather grand title for a preservation group - display barn was open, though several items that they own were not present at the site. Some of the cars did run on VTA in the downtown SJ area in the past, so may still be at the VTA depot. First sight on getting to the Park entrance was this 1912 American Car Co built bogie car that ran in SJ until 1934. It was restored in 1988..... There is a trolley line that runs outside the park boundary and #124 was operating on that line - but not in Public service as they seemed to be conducting driver training that day - which was a bit annoying. There wasn't even a chance to "nobble" the crew for a ride either... However, there is another line inside the park and that was being worked by an ex San Jose Birney car of 1922, so I did at least get a ride on that...... This Port Huron built traction engine dates from 1921..... Preserved Gas Station with a rather rusty pick-up..... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted December 12, 2022 Author Share Posted December 12, 2022 In the depot at the site were a couple more of the preservation groups trams, a San Francisco horse-car, built by Stephenson (New York) in 1863...... ...along with an ex Porto electric car (1934) painted in San Jose livery..... They own another 4 restored cars, including one from Melbourne and one from Milan, and my guess is that they are kept at the VTA depot just to the north of the City Centre. A few motor vehicles were on display in the depot, including this 1913 Metz (built in Waltham, MA)..... and this 1927 Kleiber tanker, built in San Francisco...... The somewhat rebuilt ATSF 0-4-0 "Little Buttercup", originally built in 1899 by Baldwin is also in there..... ......whilst outside in the park itself is former SP #1215 (Baldwin 1913) I didn't end up spending as much time as expected at the park, so made my way back to Tamien station, calling in at Santa Clara Valley Brewing on the way. They seem to be another operation that has shut down after I've visited the place, which is a shame, as the beers were very good. From Tamien, I returned Downtown and spent some time in central SJ before heading off on the light rail to the terminus at Allum Rock Transit Centre....... VTA transit frequencies on all modes seemed very good on Sunday, so there was no problem in getting around the place. From Allum Rock I then returned as far as Tasman station and then caught a service out to Mountain View - the last main branch I had to cover - where it connects with the Caltrain services on the San Jose to San Francisco line. Before catching the train, however, I paid a visit to Tied House Brewing, conveniently across the road from the station, for a rather substantial meal! I was able to get the 18.19 train from Mountain View back as far as Broadway - a station that is only open at weekends - which was slightly nearer to my Hotel than Millbrae, though by the time you had negotiated the various street crossings, it wasn't a lot quicker walk. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now