Stockton's Robert J. Cabral (ACE) Station

At some point, I or another family member may take an Amtrak trip to visit my sister who lives in San Joaquin County, CA. The terminus of the trip (and nearest station to her) would be the Stockton ACE (Cabral) station serviced by the San Joaquin train that runs from Sacramento to Bakersfield. Looking at Amtrak's website, the station seems pretty bare-bones in terms of services (just a sheltered platfrom and a ticket kiosk are listed as station amenities). But when I look the station up on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Cabral_Station), it looks like a full-fledged train station building.

Is the building itself ever open to passengers or the general public? In other words, if I got off at the station and my sister wasn't there to pick me up yet, is it possible to go wait inside? And on that note, how sketchy is that part of Stockton? I've heard about how Stockton has a lot of crime, but is it bad enough that an unsuspecting train passenger waiting outside the building has a good chance of being harrassed, mugged, etc., especially in the evening?

Dude: Stockton has 2 Rail Stations: 1) The Old SP Downtown Station, nicely restored, which is the ACE Station you ask about/it is unstaffed but open during the day for commuters on ACE Trains to San Jose and also Thruway Buses! The San Joaquin Trains from Sacramento unload/load @ a platform about a block from the Station. The area is pretty much deserted, reminds one of downtown Detroit but not especially unsafe in Daylight!

Station#2 is the old ATSF Station on San Joaquin Street which is West of Downtown on the other side of the old Chinatown ( mostly deserted now,) and a semi- ghetto close to downtown. It is staffed and open 8am-7pm with an inside waiting area and also has a shed for Thruway Buses outside.

I suggest that you consider riding a Cap Corridor Train to Martinez, then catch a San Joaquin Train to Stockton if you are concerned about safety etc.

Downtown Stockton is busy and occupied during the Daytime but @ night its sketchy!

Also you may want to Google up USA Rail Guide.com which has pics and descriptions/info about every Amtrak Station in the US!

A lot depends on what time of day and what day of the week you will be arriving in Stockton. If you arrive on the noon train on a weekday, the Cabral station waiting room will probably be open and can be used, although I would phone the Atamont Corridor people (San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission) to confirm. On the other hand, if you arrive on the evening train or on a weekend, I think the waiting room will be closed.

Where is the other end of the trip, where you and other relatives would start?

DesertDude said:

Is the building itself ever open to passengers or the general public? In other words, if I got off at the station and my sister wasn't there to pick me up yet, is it possible to go wait inside? And on that note, how sketchy is that part of Stockton? I've heard about how Stockton has a lot of crime, but is it bad enough that an unsuspecting train passenger waiting outside the building has a good chance of being harrassed, mugged, etc., especially in the evening?

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A couple of AU members and myself were at the station last month around sunset. I don't think the station building was open at that time we had gotten off an ACE train and waited ~10 minutes for an Amtrak thruway bus to take us to the other station on Stockton I didn't feel that we were unsafe no one came up to us or anything like that.

Alice,

The starting point of the trip would be Salt Lake City, with a transfer at Sacramento to the afternoon southbound San Joaquin. If trains are running on time (I know, that's a huge if), then it's about a 2 hour 40 minute layover in Sacramento. I looked at the status archive website to see the OTP of the westbound CZ coming into SAC, and it looks like there's a 65-70% chance of being able to make the San Joaquin. Even if I or another family member missed the San Joaquin, my sister could come up to Sacramento to pick us up (she's taken my mom from her house to the Sacramento station before). To improve chances of making the connection, we wouldn't do checked baggage and would have the SJ ticket purchased in advance. If I or anyone else in my family tries this trip, we'll try to do it at a time of year when the CZ generally has better OTP.

DesertDude said:

Alice,

The starting point of the trip would be Salt Lake City, with a transfer at Sacramento to the afternoon southbound San Joaquin. If trains are running on time (I know, that's a huge if), then it's about a 2 hour 40 minute layover in Sacramento. I looked at the status archive website to see the OTP of the westbound CZ coming into SAC, and it looks like there's a 65-70% chance of being able to make the San Joaquin. Even if I or another family member missed the San Joaquin, my sister could come up to Sacramento to pick us up (she's taken my mom from her house to the Sacramento station before). To improve chances of making the connection, we wouldn't do checked baggage and would have the SJ ticket purchased in advance. If I or anyone else in my family tries this trip, we'll try to do it at a time of year when the CZ generally has better OTP.

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Not to complicate things even more but when I drove the Amtrak buses out of Sacramento Train 5 connections were often placed on the 6:30 bus (Schedule 3718) to Stockton partly because Train 5 was often late. If that happens that bus goes to the Stockton - San Joaquin St Station not the ACE Station. If 5 was much later they had a van they would use to get the connecting passengers to points south. If it's before 8pm the San Joaquin St Station would be open otherwise I'd demand to be dropped off at the ACE Station or have your ride come get you in Sacramento since that station is not a cool place to be when it is closed.

As far as the ACE Station goes if you do make your connection or end up getting dropped off at ACE the station is open from 4am to 5PM Monday through Friday and yes as an Amtrak passenger no one would question you for using the waiting room. Even after hours it is pretty safe as long as you are on the property. They have a security guard who is pretty proactive at keeping the riff raff out, If it helps too my daily commute on foot takes me past the ACE Station often around 3 am and while it's not my favorite I have never been mugged or felt threatened.

Thanks for the useful information, Mark! This is why I love this forum. I checked Amtrak's website, and you can book a trip SLC-Stockton with the thruway bus for only a dollar more than SLC to Sacramento! If any of us make the trip, we'll go ahead and book it that way, and if the CZ happens to be on time, then we can take the earlier train from SAC to the ACE station in Stockton. Thanks again!