DSC_0299-Calrailfans
Calrailfans at Antioch, 14 July 2018
Our July Calrailfans meet was, as usual, at Antioch, California at the marina park next to the BNSF main line just west of the Amtrak station. Antioch is a potluck BBQ meet and always draws a pretty good crowd. People come more for the food and company than the trains, as the BNSF line is not the busiest in the state and Amtrak runs 10 San Joaquins through there per day.
I normally take the train to and from Antioch and this year was no exception. I went to Antioch on Amtrak 729 to Martinez and then 714 to Antioch. The UP ran the MRVOA (Roseville-Oakland manifest) through Sacramento a bit ahead of 729 and we were about 15 minutes late into Martinez from following it, but 714 was held for connecting passengers.
The Coast Starlight was in Sacramento as I arrived a bit early for 729, but left as I was walking to the platforms. It was about 2 hours late.
We saw 3 BNSF freights and several San Joaquins in Antioch as well as an LPG tanker leaving the Port of Stockton for Panama. The BBQ came out perfect and nobody went home hungry.
Rather than return on a San Joaquin and Capitol as I normally do, I decided to check out the new BART extension to Antioch that opened in late May 2018. Rather than build an extension of its broad gauge electric system, BART built several miles of standard gauge track in the median of Highway 4 from Pittsburgh to Antioch and is using DMU trains on the line. The DMUs are Stadler GTWs, which I had ridden on New Jersey's RiverLine.
I took BART to the Oakland Colesium station, where I connected to Amtrak 744 for the ride home. On 744, I ran into some friends and spent the trip visiting with them, a great way to end the day.
DSC_0299-Calrailfans
Calrailfans at Antioch, 14 July 2018
Our July Calrailfans meet was, as usual, at Antioch, California at the marina park next to the BNSF main line just west of the Amtrak station. Antioch is a potluck BBQ meet and always draws a pretty good crowd. People come more for the food and company than the trains, as the BNSF line is not the busiest in the state and Amtrak runs 10 San Joaquins through there per day.
I normally take the train to and from Antioch and this year was no exception. I went to Antioch on Amtrak 729 to Martinez and then 714 to Antioch. The UP ran the MRVOA (Roseville-Oakland manifest) through Sacramento a bit ahead of 729 and we were about 15 minutes late into Martinez from following it, but 714 was held for connecting passengers.
The Coast Starlight was in Sacramento as I arrived a bit early for 729, but left as I was walking to the platforms. It was about 2 hours late.
We saw 3 BNSF freights and several San Joaquins in Antioch as well as an LPG tanker leaving the Port of Stockton for Panama. The BBQ came out perfect and nobody went home hungry.
Rather than return on a San Joaquin and Capitol as I normally do, I decided to check out the new BART extension to Antioch that opened in late May 2018. Rather than build an extension of its broad gauge electric system, BART built several miles of standard gauge track in the median of Highway 4 from Pittsburgh to Antioch and is using DMU trains on the line. The DMUs are Stadler GTWs, which I had ridden on New Jersey's RiverLine.
I took BART to the Oakland Colesium station, where I connected to Amtrak 744 for the ride home. On 744, I ran into some friends and spent the trip visiting with them, a great way to end the day.