19-05-19 PHOTOS: Caltran Caltrain VII

While I am a frequent visitor to the Bay Area, it had been some time since I was last able to conduct a full survey of the Caltrain line between San Francisco and San Jose.  In 2019 however I was forced into flying in and out of SJC airport for an event in San Francisco which would allow for multiple opportunities to see what was new on the old Peninsula commuter line. On the inbound leg of my trip I wound up getting a ride part way from family and the remainder of the trip was on Bombardier trainsets without a front view.  However the return leg allowed me an express run from San Francisco to San Jose with a short return hop back to Santa Clara where the airport bus connection is made.

You can find the full set of Caltrain photos here (mirror) and San Francisco transit photos will be covered in a separate post.

We begin at San Carlos where I was catching a northbound Sunday afternoon local to San Francisco just as a light drizzle was picking up.  Lead car of the Bomber trainset was car car #113.  Note the mix of LED and sealed beam headlights.

Instead of  riding all the way to the 4th and King Street terminal, I alighted at Bayshore to make a connection with the T-Third light rail line. Power was being provided by Caltrain MP36PH-3C #927 and the train departed under a Limited Clear signal indication at CP-TUNNEL.

Skipping ahead about 5 days, I again found myself on Caltrain catching "Baby Bullet" express train #330 south out of San Francisco's 4th and King street terminal on a Thursday Morning.  Often these late express runs will operate with a normal Gallery Car trainset as opposed to one of the Bombardier Baby bullet sets.  Departing 4th and King I captured MP36PH-3C #926 at the head of a Gallery Car trainset and #928 at the head of a Baby Bullet trainset on the lower tracks to the north. 

F40PH-2 #902 and MP30PH-3C #925 were hanging on tracks to the south.

South San Francisco is the Union Pacific staging area for all freight in San Francisco and a pair of UP GP40-2, including #1433, were on hand in the grey morning fog.  The signal bridge is a Southern Pacific original and construction is underway for the new electrification project which will place one of the substations just out of frame to the left. 

Caltrain has been slowly grade separating its line in busy downtown areas since 2004 and the most recent segment to be completed was in the town on San Bruno.  A new elevated station was constructed with closer proximity to BART, replacing the old station at the southern end of the viaduct.  Here we see Caltrain MP36PH-3C #923 with a northbound Baby Bullet trainset passing through San Bruno.  Note the newly installed overhead catenary supports.

Caltrain F40PH-2CAT #219 seen pushing northbound with a morning peak period train just south of the Millbrae station.

A new grade crossing project is underway through the town of Hillsdale with the viaduct going up adjacent to the current right of way.  This is somewhat reminiscent of the way the LIRR Babylon branch was reconstructed in the 1970s.  Here Caltrain F40PH-2CAT #901 is passing one of the new concrete overpasses.  It appears that the design involves both raising the tracks and lowering the road.

At Palo Alto my train passed F40PH-2CAT #901 pushing a Baby Bullet trainset.  Due to ridership increases Caltrain purchased a number of MetroLink Bomber Bi-levels, made surplus after Metrolink's purchase of new Rotem equipment.

 As the morning rush was winding down, we passed by F40PH-2CAT #918 near Mountain View.  Caltrain is somewhat unique for its bi-directional rush hour as work and residential concentrations are spread throughout the Bay Area.

Caltrain F40PH-2CAT #904 and #917 hang out the at CEMOF maintenance facility near San Jose, while F40PH-2CAT #905 leads a trainset towards the San Jose Diredon terminal.

As Caltrain uses a semi-POP system with 4 hour duration tickets, I was able to change to the last northbound limited stop run of the morning, Train 237.  While my train was waiting to departSan Jose Track #5, #905 and its train pulled into track #7.

My Train 237 was being led in the norbound direction by Chicago style gallery cab car #4015.

Propulsion was furnished by Caltrain F40PH-2 #907, seen here departing Santa Clara and passing by the preserved CLARA Tower.

Caltrain appears to have settle on a transponder based PTC system similar to Amtrak's ACSES system deployed in the northeast.  I am unsure if it also makes use of coded track circuits or is its own unique beast.



While waiting for my shuttle bus at San Jose, Amtrak California F59PHI #2006 rolled in, just a few minutes away from the end of its run in San Jose.

A Baby Bullet trainset with Caltrain MP36PH-3C #925 rolled into the station.  Since I did not know which of the morning express runs would operate with gallery equipment, this train would have been my backup if 330 not had gallery cars.

A not terrible tardy Amtrak Train #11, southbound Coast Starlight, was next on the scene, led by P42DC #4.

 

Due to some trackwork, northbound trains were running on the southbound track north of Santa Clara.  Here are good friend #905 pushes a northbound local through the diverging route at CP-DE-LA-CRUZ north of Santa Clara.


I'll leave things with this view of the preserved CLARA tower, which was operated by Amtrak at the time of its closure as Amtrak had the Caltrain contract at the time. Although the structure is preserved, I am not sure if the GRS Model 2 interlocking machine is still present.

Next time tune in as I tackle the hills of San Francisco on cable cars, PCCs and the T-Third light rail line.