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My Long Trip: June 16-17

	I took a very long trip that day, from Livermore to San Jose
to Sacramento and back to Livermore (though by a bit more direct route
:-). Here is how the trip went, organized by subject. I note in
passing that I spent much of the time reading Marc Reisner's book
_Cadillac Desert_, about the history of water projects in the western
United States (sort of like socialism ran amok :-).

* BART to Dublin/Pleasanton: I-580

	The bulk of the Dublin-Pleasanton BART extension runs in
I-238/I-580 from BART's Fremont Line eastward to those two towns. Here
is an east-to-west report:

	At eastern D/P, east of the Hopyard-Road bridge, the interior
of the station was still under construction, with walls, pillars, and
rebar frameworks visible. The bus I rode turned off the freeway at the
aforementioned bridge, however, and did not return to it until it
reached the Foothill Rd. bridge. There was no track in D/P proper,
though the ground was flattened and the road barriers built.

	From there on, it was almost continuous track all the way to
Castro Valley, with a few breaks in the north-side track (one at a
long, curving bridge and one in CV itself). The bulk of the retaining
walls on the sides of the CV station appeared done, but it was harder
to see what was going on with the station platforms. The tracks were
partially done to the west of there, but I got an incomplete picture,
since the bus turned off at the I-580/I-238 interchange. But some
weeks back, I did go by there, and the most that was evident was some
flattened ground and some partial barrier construction.

	At this level of completeness, I'm not surprised that the
opening of this extension has been put off until the middle of next
year.

* BART to Dublin/Pleasanton: BayFair South Yard and Junction :-)

	This is actually two sidings and a center track just south of
BayFair station, and some switches for the D/P extension track to
depart. That extra center track turns into the eastbound track, and
goes over the northbound one in a flyover bridge. They had been wiring
those two sidings (there were big spools of electrical cable there),
and when I passed by it on my way to San Jose, I noticed that one of
those spools had moved to the center track near where the flyover
begins. When I returned the next day, it was too dark to see much, but
at Hayward, there was a big sign reminding everybody to use the
west-side (southbound) platform for all of the trains -- meaning that
the east-side track had been closed that day.

	There is also some rebuilding of the I-238 bridge over the
BART and UP tracks; currently, the north-side lanes are done, while
half of the south-side lanes are now demolished and some new bridge
piers are going up. One thing interesting is that the construction has
created a jag in the UP line; I wonder if the UP trains have to slow
down very much for it.

* San Jose LRT

	I took BART southward to Fremont, and then the Santa Clara
County bus southward to downtown San Jose. There are plans to built a
BART line to downtown SJ, but they have been stalled by endless
bickering over such things as its great cost. I got off at the Civic
Center LRT station, and I waited for a LR train. I rode it to the
hotel where I stayed the line, but it had already gotten very dark,
and it was difficult for me to tell where I was. I wanted to get off
at the Convention Center, where my hotel was, and I did it by dead
reckoning. I had heard a less-than-clear announcement of the Paseo de
San Antonio, and I looked out the window and noticed that. That meant
that the Convention Center was next, just around the curve. Sure
enough, the LRV went around a sharp curve, and I got off at the next
station -- which *was* the Convention Center :-). Otherwise, the SJ
LRV's were *very* nice -- comfortable, smooth, and quiet. 

* Amtrak California: the California Capitols to Sacramento and Back

	I took a taxi to the San Jose Amtrak station, which still had
"Southern Pacific" on it, and I ate a bit of breakfast there; it was
nice that the station building had now been reopened. The train pulled
in, and I got a very big and very pleasant surprise -- I saw a train
come in that had the new California Cars, which looked something like
Superliners with a different paint job. There was also a Superliner
diner (evidently, Caltrans still hasn't gotten those). And it had a
California Loco pointing northward, towards Sacramento. Interestingly,
the new schedule stated that between Emeryville and San Jose, the
Capitols would be replaced by Amtrak buses (Ambuses) that would take
20 min. longer to run -- on every day but Saturday, when I made my
trip.

	There were a lot of people there, and one thing that helped
was a beep coming from the open doors. We can thank the handicapped
lobby for that :-) Also, the CalCars had little signs on them
indicating which train they were, actually a very convenient feature,
though it is not as useful as it would be if there were a large number
of trains coming and going.

	I got on, went up to the upper level, and found a seat. The
seats were half-forward and half-backward, as if for push-pull duty,
and some of the seats were around tables. I sat near a window, of
course :-), but the windows were *big*, and I could get a good view of
*both* sides. Though the narrowness of the seats has stirred up some
controversy, I did not find them excessively narrow for myself. The
aisles were very wide, thanx to the handicapped lobby :-), and there
was a little sign inside like the ones on the outside announcing which
train it was.

	My train was a bit late in leaving, but I knew we were moving
when I heard the CalLoco rev up like a freight loco. The CalCars were
very quiet inside (the main thing I could hear was the A/C), and the
suspension seemed very good. 

	My train was held up a few minutes at Niles Junction;
apparently a UP dispatcher had forgotten to reset some signals. On its
way northward (geographic north, not SP north :-), the train
paralleled the BART line, often being a block or two away. The BART
line was on a concrete el, and it did not seem very obtrusive. My
train stopped at the new Jack London Square station in Oakland, and
already there was the Coast Starlight, with two AMD-103's up
front. The CS was, for some curious reason, on the track nearest the
station building, which threatened to block off my train. But my train
got past the end of the CS.

	There was a short pause in west Oakland, for no clear reason
(possibly another train which was stopping, and which might have used
some upcoming track). North of the BART el, there was not much
evidence of construction of the replacement freeway there -- mainly a
lot of destruction :-) -- a pile of dirt and broken-up pavement where
some of the yard used to be. The 16th-and-Wood SP/Amtrak station was
now deserted, but still standing. To the north, however, there were
some pillars in place and a short section of new freeway in place.

	Berkeley was only a short distance from Emeryville; that
station seems suspiciously porky :-) [Especially when one can easily
go to Emeryville or Richmond from Berkeley]. Onward and
north-east-northward -- a lot of pleasant scenery. The stretch of
track between Richmond and Martinez, especially the more mountainous
parts west of Martinez, seem to be a favorite spot to photograph
trains at :-). Past Martinez, going up the grade to the bridge, I saw
another Capitol come buy -- a CalLoco in front, four CalCars, and a
Superliner diner. Going through the Central Valley always gives me the
pleasure of watching farmers waste water :-), though I did not see too
much of that this time around. The Causeway Zone near Sacramento was
still single-tracked (no work apparent to replace the missing causeway
tracks), and for some reason, my train switched over to the other
track to go the rest of the way to Sacramento (the other track was
getting a bit rusty on top).

	At Sacramento, where the station also had "Southern Pacific"
on it, I checked out the new info terminals, which were in the style
of some airport ones (I didn't have the time to try out those at San
Jose). Not as fancy as I'd like, though still rather good.  They had a
list of all the Amtrak California stops, and had varying amounts of
detail about each of them (some had maps and some didn't). They also
had mentioned numerous local transit agencies, but only had a map of
BART. Also at that station, there were (as usual) some Ambuses.

	Returning, there were a lot of people getting on at
Sacramento, and I had to sit away from a window. And the conductor
only got around to my ticket *after* the train had stopped at
Fairfield. The train was held up a couple of minutes at the bridge
over the San Joaquin River; there was a ship passing through, and the
bridge's center section had been raised to allow the ship to pass.

	Interestingly, the "Superliners" on both trains were not
"true" Superliners but old double-decker Santa Fe El Capitan diners,
which now had an Amtrak paint job. The seats were nice and plush, and
the windows had blinds one could pull down.

	And I could tell that they were still turning Capitols at both
San Jose and Sacramento; at least the one that I was riding to Sac'to
got turned for its return. This was despite its having a cab car at
the end (well, that's good for turning also, since turning at a wye
requires backing up).

	The Central-Valley track seemed a bit rough, even when
experienced through the good suspension of the CalCars. There was
supposed to be some sort of deal with SP to improve that track and
rebuild the second track through the Causeway Zone, but I have no idea
what has come of it -- is it still bogged down in negotiations?

	There are also some plans to extend some Capitol runs to Reno,
NV, which would be nice for all the skiers :-), but I don't know
what's happened. SP's single-tracking of parts of the Donner Pass
might make life a bit difficult.

* The California State Railroad Museum

	A very nice place. Recommended for train-brains everywhere :-)
And only a short walk from the Amtrak station there. It contains a big
collection of antique RR rolling stock; when I went, some privately
owned railcars had shown up; some of them are available for tourists
who want the ultimate vacation :-). There were also some
model-railroad exhibits; some on a rather grandiose scale
:-). However, most of what was there I had already seen before, but I
did find two things new. There is supposed to be a Museum of Railroad
Technology to be built near the CSRM; presumably a little to the south
of it; there is a bond issue to go to the voters some months for
now. The opening date: if everything goes well, 2000.

* The Sacramento LRT

	I took a ride on it to see how much had gotten
double-tracked. A good fraction of it now is, and there's a gap that
is now filled between 29th and 59th Sts. However, the following is
still single-tracked: the Bee Bridge (between 13th and 16th Sts.;
named after the newspaper building it goes by), some parts east of
69th St. / Univ., including the curvy, bridge over the SP line, the
sharp S-curve just south of Royal Oaks, and the track at the I-80/Watt
stations.

	I was disappointed at the paucity of rail-advocacy
publications I had found this year (other years were better :-), so I
got nothing on plans to extend this LRT and to build a downtown
antique-trolley loop.

	The Sacramento LRV's were also nice, if not as fancy as the
San Jose ones (I don't like the facing seating; I prefer stretches of
single-direction seating). I just hope that the San Francisco Muni
does not take forever to replace those rolling junkheaps that pass for
LRV's, and that their replacements, which are now arriving, will be a
significant improvement.
-- 
Loren Petrich, the Master Blaster	Happiness is a fast Macintosh
petrich@netcom.com			And a fast train
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