High speed trains running down this route would be a sight to behold for railfans. Although I suspect for safety's sake they'll have to at the very least eliminate some of the grade crossings along the line.
@@youminholastransit3218 Yeah it'll have to go slower along the CalTrain line on the peninsula than it would be on its new built elevated line in the central valley. But considering the CHSR will only have 1 stop between San Francisco 4th and King Street and San Jose Diridon at Millbrae, it'll probably still go a lot faster than even the fastest electrified CalTrain on the line at that time. The fact that it won't need to spend too much time slowing down and accelerating due to having fewer stops means the CHSR will still be relatively fast overall I think. I do think some of the grade crossings on the line will have to go for safety's sake once CHSR starts running though.
As for Gilroy, even though electrification would be complete, Caltrain’s diesel locomotives would still be operating to Gilroy since that track is owned by UP. Unless if Caltrain were to talk to them about making that track electric and giving them a separate track for the UP trains. I don’t know for sure but the diesel trains for Caltrain will still provide services to Gilroy as for what I know so far.
Very good video! Do you by any chance can perhaps try to film round trip cab rides so viewers can enjoy the trip back as well? Sometimes seeing the line from the other end is just as interesting!
Well on the same day I shot this video, I actually did try to shoot a video on a south bound train as well. Unfortunately I was told to stop by the conductor on board. So it seems that different staff tend to deal with railfans differently. In order for my video to happen I'm gonna have to hopefully end up with someone on the friendly and hands off side of things, as was the case when I managed to shoot this video on the north bound train. I do plan on returning to the bay area and shoot more videos this year. Stay tuned. :)
Although I'm rarely in Texas, I'd be happy to shoot a POV video on the TEXRail when I eventually end up in the Dallas Fort Worth area. I probably won't be able to get a view to the front of that train though as the Stadler FLIRT DMUs don't seem to have a transparent window or door offering passengers a view to the front. As you can see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TEXRail#/media/File:TEXRail_Stadler_FLIRT_Interior_2.jpg In the meantime, please do feel free to check out several other POV train videos I have on the channel: ruclips.net/video/Wl3ovQfOeSQ/видео.html ruclips.net/video/iVEELIx51vk/видео.html
I'd love it if someone could do another Cabride of the northern half of Caltrain to San Francisco. I'm wanting to see more of the catenary installation in the San Francisco 4th and King area; as well as, coverage of the new extension to the Transbay SalesForce Center!
This video actually shows the trip from San Jose Diridon to San Francisco 4th and King in its entirety, as of Wednesday, November 10th, 2021. So as far as the catenary installation's concerned, what's shown in this video is exactly how it looked like 2 weeks ago, if you can excuse the dirty front window I had to shoot through. As with the new extension to SalesForce Center, I'm actually curious to see how they'll complete that as currently the tracks seem to come to a dead end at 4th and King station. @ 1:37:20 The train actually stops right in front of the station's glass facade. I suspect some demolition of preexisting structures are inevitable before the extension is complete.
It'll have to back out of 4th and King and go underground to the Salesforce Tower. Unless they can manage to demolish enough buildings and hold the streets hostage long enough to complete tracks there. It's quite some distance to cover.
The whole corridor should be a 4 track mainline. That was the plan of Harriman when he got control of the SP. Harriman bought up more lands on either side of the original San Francisco & San Jose Railroad ROW with the plan to 4 track it into the San Jose and points southward and then double track the SP ROW through the Salinas Valley and points southward into Southern California. Who knows? If the Supreme Court hadn't forced Harriman to break up Harriman's Southern Pacific and Union Pacific union the economic development of the coastal rail route along Monterey and San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in California might have been VERY different and the route may very well be today be the equivalent of the PRR's created present Northeast Corridor.
And now we have a bunch of billionaires in Atherton who will never allow anything more than the current system. They successfully killed passing tracks and almost killed electrification with their lawsuits!
I noticed that too, in comparison to the CalTrain, UTA's FrontRunner almost never uses the horn. I suspect they don't have a quiet zone in place along CalTrain's route. I do think the frequent use of the horn does provide an extra layer of safety though, as the CalTrain does go through numerous dense urban areas with multiple grade crossings almost as if it's light rail, and the areas near the grade crossings are are fairly busy and have plenty of foot and vehicular traffic. In the long run they might have to eliminate some of the grade crossings once the high speed trains start running on the route.
@@Shuotography yeah, good point. It's definitely more dense. Frontrunner very rarely uses any horn (none is required as it's all quiet zone, unless there's unsafe conditions or workers near the track)
Yeah although the rail network here also uses the 1435mm standard gauge used in the UK, the structural gauge here is probably quite a bit more generous. This is especially true in the western US, where most of the rolling stock for intercity, regional, and commuter passenger trains are essentially double-deckers. Amtrak's Superliners, Bombardier's Bi-level coaches, and of course the Nippon Sharyo Gallery cars seen in my video are some examples of those double-deckers. I suspect these equipment will have problems clearing bridges and tunnels in the UK to say the least.
@@Shuotography Yes, the British loading gauge is tight in world terms. They have double-decker trains elsewhere in Europe, but it's only our buses which are DD. Also your platforms are lower so it makes the trains seem bigger! Here the platforms are at the level of the carriage floor.
@@davidpanton3192 The low platforms is not universal in the US though. They tend to be more common in the west and in more rural areas. In contrast, some commuter rail systems like the LIRR and Metro North on the east coast only have high platforms. While some other systems such as MBTA's commuter rail network in the Boston metro area and SEPTA's commuter rail network centered around Philadelphia have a mix of high and low platforms, with the stations in more urban areas using high platforms and stations in the suburbs and more rural areas using low platforms. I assume the lower platforms were cheaper to built. Looks like the circumstances made the trains in the western US tall double-deckers that uses low platforms. The double-decker buses in the UK are certainly iconic. Those are fairly rare in the US, but I did get to ride some of them. I actually shot a POV video on board one. It should go live on the channel eventually. I do have to say that the double-decker buses in the UK are quite a bit shorter length wise than their counterparts here though. I suspect they had to be shorter in order to better maneuver in dense urban environments with narrow streets. Meanwhile the double-decker buses in the states are used either for their additional capacity for express commuter routes or for the high vantage point they provide on routes used by tourists and sightseers. In terms of the size of their footprint, they're not really smaller than regular buses.
@@Shuotography Thanks for this. We are familiar with 'climbing aboard' trains from old American movies, but it looks a little undignified to us! We've nothing to climb up, and the tiny number of stations with low platforms have to have portable steps on the platform. Yes, our buses are shorter probably for the reasons you give. Various cities have trialled bendy-buses but they've never caught on. Here in Edinburgh we have some extra-long DDs which can take 100 passengers which is pretty impressive. I must say SF station looked a bit of a mausoleum by our standards even taking the pandemic into account. A city of that size anywhere in Western Europe would have a bustling station with departures every couple of minutes minutes going all over the country. It's sad how the car completely took over in the US but I don't suppose I need to tell you that.
@@davidpanton3192 The interesting thing about most of the double-decker rail rolling stocks in the US is that passengers usually board them on their lower level, and there isn't that much of a climb from low platforms. www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/platform-step-stool-placed-to-assist-passengers-boarding-an-news-photo/1152230897 This image shows how low the lower level of a Amtrak Superliner sits to the track and platform. Amtrak trains usually come with those yellow boarding stools conductors can deploy manually. But I've never seen them used on commuter trains. For single level train cars on the east coast, passengers can usually board them without climbing any steps if they are at a station with high platforms. But if they're at a station with low platforms, they'll usually have to use the built in steps below the train car's boarding door's trap doors. As you can see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapdoor#Railways Articulated buses are not great for environments with tight horizontal clearances and turns for sure. They're especially tricky to operate in case they have to reverse for any reason. Also in environments where there are lots of snow and ice, they don't have the best traction as usually only their rear wheels have power. I heard that those buses do have trouble climbing hills in winter weather. Ironically, CalTrain is probably one of the busier rail systems in the western US. During the weekdays, there are multiple trains, both local and express, starting their run at the terminal stations in both directions within the span of a hour. The train does run on the weekends, as well as pretty early in the morning and fairly late at night. In comparison, Metrolink commuter rail in the LA metro area has entire lines that do not run on the weekends; while the Sounder in Seattle and the WES in Oregon are essentially a mostly morning and evening rush during the weekdays only service. Relatively speaking, the commuter rail networks on the east coast tend to run trains in higher frequency than their west coast counterparts, at least on the weekdays. Nonethless, it's still tough to catch a train on the weekends or late at night. I remember one time I was in Boston on a Saturday evening and needed to ride MBTA's commuter rail to get back to my cheap hotel in the suburb. I missed the 8PM train, and had to wait for the 11PM train which was the next train on the same line... I think ultimately the fact that there isn't sufficient investment into public transit infrastructure in the US had to do with not just the auto and petroleum industries' influence in politics and the political decisions to heavily invest in infrastructure for automobiles in the mid to late 20th century, but also the fact that the population density of much of the continent, especially in the past, was/is low and the environment somewhat rural. This along with cultural factors might have led to the built environment in the US to develop in a low density and mostly horizontal sprawl. The cultural aspects of this phenomenon is quite notable as it seems in the US, many people overwhelmingly prefer to live in standalone houses with a yard and view higher destiny and vertical residential developments with derision or at least in a stigmatized light. At the same time, the ownership of standalone houses and private automobiles are seen as status symbols and accomplishments. I understand that many people around the world might view such idea as I guess peculiar and an acquired taste if not also a bit extreme. But it is what it is. :)
Yeah. The locomotive is always on the southern end of the train and the cab car is always on the northern end. So essentially the train is led by the cab car when going north bound and by the locomotive when going south bound.
I would love to shoot a POV video on board one of the baby bullets. Although those trains almost always use the Bombardier Bi-levels instead of the gallery cars. There's a extra partition between the front of the train and the passenger cab on the Bi-Levels. So far I haven't been on board any one of them without the windows on that partition being blocked with window film, cardboard, or a sheet of paper. So unless I somehow end up on board a baby bullet that uses the gallery cars, I doubt I can do a video on them. Also even if I'm on a gallery car, there's always a chance that the conductor stopping or forbidding me from filming. This has happened before too.
ruclips.net/video/nw60BD2xg4Q/видео.html Although I haven't been able to shoot a POV video on board a Baby Bullet yet, I did manage to shoot one on board the L4 413 recently. The video is in 4k. I hope you'd like it.
I’m not an electric fan but at least Caltrain will keep a small amount of diesel trains for their Gilroy services. I don’t know how many to be exact but Caltrain doesn’t own that track on once they pass Tamien Station. UP owns that track.
Bugs or not, you did great. Can't control how clean the windows are.
Wow! The electrification work is really going well!
Cant wait till Caltrain electrification is complete. California high speed train will run here too
High speed trains running down this route would be a sight to behold for railfans. Although I suspect for safety's sake they'll have to at the very least eliminate some of the grade crossings along the line.
@@Shuotography true. And I feel like this section of track, the high speed train would have to go a lot slower...
@@youminholastransit3218 Yeah it'll have to go slower along the CalTrain line on the peninsula than it would be on its new built elevated line in the central valley. But considering the CHSR will only have 1 stop between San Francisco 4th and King Street and San Jose Diridon at Millbrae, it'll probably still go a lot faster than even the fastest electrified CalTrain on the line at that time. The fact that it won't need to spend too much time slowing down and accelerating due to having fewer stops means the CHSR will still be relatively fast overall I think. I do think some of the grade crossings on the line will have to go for safety's sake once CHSR starts running though.
As for Gilroy, even though electrification would be complete, Caltrain’s diesel locomotives would still be operating to Gilroy since that track is owned by UP. Unless if Caltrain were to talk to them about making that track electric and giving them a separate track for the UP trains. I don’t know for sure but the diesel trains for Caltrain will still provide services to Gilroy as for what I know so far.
Love how the Nathan P2 is barely alive lol
Its somewhat common on gallery cars lol
Very good video! Do you by any chance can perhaps try to film round trip cab rides so viewers can enjoy the trip back as well? Sometimes seeing the line from the other end is just as interesting!
Well on the same day I shot this video, I actually did try to shoot a video on a south bound train as well. Unfortunately I was told to stop by the conductor on board. So it seems that different staff tend to deal with railfans differently. In order for my video to happen I'm gonna have to hopefully end up with someone on the friendly and hands off side of things, as was the case when I managed to shoot this video on the north bound train.
I do plan on returning to the bay area and shoot more videos this year. Stay tuned. :)
Very dope, I'm excited for the electric trains especially the AEM-7
Yeah as much as I find those Stadler EMUs great, it would also be awesome to see the AEM-7s pulling the gallery cars in service.
@@Shuotography yeah, that would be great to see these AEM-7 Units with Gallery and Bombardier Cars
love it, it is very different then the dutch railway system. Could you do a texrail POV, from Fort Worth T&P to DFW International Airport?
Although I'm rarely in Texas, I'd be happy to shoot a POV video on the TEXRail when I eventually end up in the Dallas Fort Worth area. I probably won't be able to get a view to the front of that train though as the Stadler FLIRT DMUs don't seem to have a transparent window or door offering passengers a view to the front. As you can see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TEXRail#/media/File:TEXRail_Stadler_FLIRT_Interior_2.jpg
In the meantime, please do feel free to check out several other POV train videos I have on the channel:
ruclips.net/video/Wl3ovQfOeSQ/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/iVEELIx51vk/видео.html
I'd love it if someone could do another Cabride of the northern half of Caltrain to San Francisco. I'm wanting to see more of the catenary installation in the San Francisco 4th and King area; as well as, coverage of the new extension to the Transbay SalesForce Center!
This video actually shows the trip from San Jose Diridon to San Francisco 4th and King in its entirety, as of Wednesday, November 10th, 2021. So as far as the catenary installation's concerned, what's shown in this video is exactly how it looked like 2 weeks ago, if you can excuse the dirty front window I had to shoot through. As with the new extension to SalesForce Center, I'm actually curious to see how they'll complete that as currently the tracks seem to come to a dead end at 4th and King station. @ 1:37:20 The train actually stops right in front of the station's glass facade. I suspect some demolition of preexisting structures are inevitable before the extension is complete.
It'll have to back out of 4th and King and go underground to the Salesforce Tower. Unless they can manage to demolish enough buildings and hold the streets hostage long enough to complete tracks there. It's quite some distance to cover.
Nice! Just Subscribed
Nice Video!
The whole corridor should be a 4 track mainline. That was the plan of Harriman when he got control of the SP.
Harriman bought up more lands on either side of the original San Francisco & San Jose Railroad ROW with the plan to 4 track it into the San Jose and points southward and then double track the SP ROW through the Salinas Valley and points southward into Southern California.
Who knows? If the Supreme Court hadn't forced Harriman to break up Harriman's Southern Pacific and Union Pacific union the economic development of the coastal rail route along Monterey and San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in California might have been VERY different and the route may very well be today be the equivalent of the PRR's created present Northeast Corridor.
And now we have a bunch of billionaires in Atherton who will never allow anything more than the current system. They successfully killed passing tracks and almost killed electrification with their lawsuits!
Nice video like and subscribed from Czech Republic 🙂👍👍👍
Thanks. It's good to have you. :)
@@Shuotography you're welcome 🙂
its interesting that they sound the horn so much. Is the alignment not a quiet zone? I noticed they sound horns at every grade crossing
I noticed that too, in comparison to the CalTrain, UTA's FrontRunner almost never uses the horn. I suspect they don't have a quiet zone in place along CalTrain's route. I do think the frequent use of the horn does provide an extra layer of safety though, as the CalTrain does go through numerous dense urban areas with multiple grade crossings almost as if it's light rail, and the areas near the grade crossings are are fairly busy and have plenty of foot and vehicular traffic. In the long run they might have to eliminate some of the grade crossings once the high speed trains start running on the route.
@@Shuotography yeah, good point. It's definitely more dense. Frontrunner very rarely uses any horn (none is required as it's all quiet zone, unless there's unsafe conditions or workers near the track)
Good stuff. From a British point of view these trains look insanely big!
Yeah although the rail network here also uses the 1435mm standard gauge used in the UK, the structural gauge here is probably quite a bit more generous. This is especially true in the western US, where most of the rolling stock for intercity, regional, and commuter passenger trains are essentially double-deckers. Amtrak's Superliners, Bombardier's Bi-level coaches, and of course the Nippon Sharyo Gallery cars seen in my video are some examples of those double-deckers. I suspect these equipment will have problems clearing bridges and tunnels in the UK to say the least.
@@Shuotography Yes, the British loading gauge is tight in world terms. They have double-decker trains elsewhere in Europe, but it's only our buses which are DD. Also your platforms are lower so it makes the trains seem bigger! Here the platforms are at the level of the carriage floor.
@@davidpanton3192 The low platforms is not universal in the US though. They tend to be more common in the west and in more rural areas. In contrast, some commuter rail systems like the LIRR and Metro North on the east coast only have high platforms. While some other systems such as MBTA's commuter rail network in the Boston metro area and SEPTA's commuter rail network centered around Philadelphia have a mix of high and low platforms, with the stations in more urban areas using high platforms and stations in the suburbs and more rural areas using low platforms. I assume the lower platforms were cheaper to built.
Looks like the circumstances made the trains in the western US tall double-deckers that uses low platforms.
The double-decker buses in the UK are certainly iconic. Those are fairly rare in the US, but I did get to ride some of them. I actually shot a POV video on board one. It should go live on the channel eventually. I do have to say that the double-decker buses in the UK are quite a bit shorter length wise than their counterparts here though. I suspect they had to be shorter in order to better maneuver in dense urban environments with narrow streets. Meanwhile the double-decker buses in the states are used either for their additional capacity for express commuter routes or for the high vantage point they provide on routes used by tourists and sightseers. In terms of the size of their footprint, they're not really smaller than regular buses.
@@Shuotography Thanks for this. We are familiar with 'climbing aboard' trains from old American movies, but it looks a little undignified to us! We've nothing to climb up, and the tiny number of stations with low platforms have to have portable steps on the platform.
Yes, our buses are shorter probably for the reasons you give. Various cities have trialled bendy-buses but they've never caught on. Here in Edinburgh we have some extra-long DDs which can take 100 passengers which is pretty impressive.
I must say SF station looked a bit of a mausoleum by our standards even taking the pandemic into account. A city of that size anywhere in Western Europe would have a bustling station with departures every couple of minutes minutes going all over the country. It's sad how the car completely took over in the US but I don't suppose I need to tell you that.
@@davidpanton3192 The interesting thing about most of the double-decker rail rolling stocks in the US is that passengers usually board them on their lower level, and there isn't that much of a climb from low platforms. www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/platform-step-stool-placed-to-assist-passengers-boarding-an-news-photo/1152230897 This image shows how low the lower level of a Amtrak Superliner sits to the track and platform. Amtrak trains usually come with those yellow boarding stools conductors can deploy manually. But I've never seen them used on commuter trains. For single level train cars on the east coast, passengers can usually board them without climbing any steps if they are at a station with high platforms. But if they're at a station with low platforms, they'll usually have to use the built in steps below the train car's boarding door's trap doors. As you can see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapdoor#Railways
Articulated buses are not great for environments with tight horizontal clearances and turns for sure. They're especially tricky to operate in case they have to reverse for any reason. Also in environments where there are lots of snow and ice, they don't have the best traction as usually only their rear wheels have power. I heard that those buses do have trouble climbing hills in winter weather.
Ironically, CalTrain is probably one of the busier rail systems in the western US. During the weekdays, there are multiple trains, both local and express, starting their run at the terminal stations in both directions within the span of a hour. The train does run on the weekends, as well as pretty early in the morning and fairly late at night. In comparison, Metrolink commuter rail in the LA metro area has entire lines that do not run on the weekends; while the Sounder in Seattle and the WES in Oregon are essentially a mostly morning and evening rush during the weekdays only service. Relatively speaking, the commuter rail networks on the east coast tend to run trains in higher frequency than their west coast counterparts, at least on the weekdays. Nonethless, it's still tough to catch a train on the weekends or late at night. I remember one time I was in Boston on a Saturday evening and needed to ride MBTA's commuter rail to get back to my cheap hotel in the suburb. I missed the 8PM train, and had to wait for the 11PM train which was the next train on the same line...
I think ultimately the fact that there isn't sufficient investment into public transit infrastructure in the US had to do with not just the auto and petroleum industries' influence in politics and the political decisions to heavily invest in infrastructure for automobiles in the mid to late 20th century, but also the fact that the population density of much of the continent, especially in the past, was/is low and the environment somewhat rural. This along with cultural factors might have led to the built environment in the US to develop in a low density and mostly horizontal sprawl. The cultural aspects of this phenomenon is quite notable as it seems in the US, many people overwhelmingly prefer to live in standalone houses with a yard and view higher destiny and vertical residential developments with derision or at least in a stigmatized light. At the same time, the ownership of standalone houses and private automobiles are seen as status symbols and accomplishments. I understand that many people around the world might view such idea as I guess peculiar and an acquired taste if not also a bit extreme. But it is what it is. :)
Question. This train makes the same route backwards??
Yeah. The locomotive is always on the southern end of the train and the cab car is always on the northern end. So essentially the train is led by the cab car when going north bound and by the locomotive when going south bound.
Nice! When was this taken?
This video was taken almost 2 weeks ago on Wednesday November 10th, 2021.
Could you do a Baby Bullet one day?
I would love to shoot a POV video on board one of the baby bullets. Although those trains almost always use the Bombardier Bi-levels instead of the gallery cars. There's a extra partition between the front of the train and the passenger cab on the Bi-Levels. So far I haven't been on board any one of them without the windows on that partition being blocked with window film, cardboard, or a sheet of paper. So unless I somehow end up on board a baby bullet that uses the gallery cars, I doubt I can do a video on them. Also even if I'm on a gallery car, there's always a chance that the conductor stopping or forbidding me from filming. This has happened before too.
ruclips.net/video/nw60BD2xg4Q/видео.html Although I haven't been able to shoot a POV video on board a Baby Bullet yet, I did manage to shoot one on board the L4 413 recently. The video is in 4k. I hope you'd like it.
I’m not an electric fan but at least Caltrain will keep a small amount of diesel trains for their Gilroy services. I don’t know how many to be exact but Caltrain doesn’t own that track on once they pass Tamien Station. UP owns that track.
You're missing out on some great railfanning! These electric trains are beasts! Incredible power and speed. The future is coming!