chuljin
Lead Service Attendant
Part 2: January 22
Caltrain, Stanford, VTA Light Rail, Capitols, Two new BART routes, SFO PC
Pictures (and a few videos) from this day are here.
Up at 6, I showered, packed, and made my way back to Diridon (SJC) to catch the first Caltrain, #421, to Palo Alto. I first visited the Amtrak ticket counter to leave my bag so I didn't have to drag it all over Stanford. They cheerfully took it and my three dollars and gave me a claim check.
Since I'd be taking four segments on Caltrain today, with a total cost of $14.00, I'd earlier planned to pay $17 for a day pass, paying $3 extra for the convenience of not having to remember to get a ticket for each segment. I ultimately decided not to, in case I didn't take all four segments, and just get individual one-way tickets. This fateful decision actually wound up biting me in the ass and costing more (see near the end of today).
Someone up there or elsewhere noticed my bitter complaints about having to, during Pilgrimage 1, ride in Bombardier Bilevel Coaches on Caltrain, which made the experience into essentially yet another Metrolink with red cars, because on this trip, all four of my intended trips had Nippon-Sharyo gallery cars. Just before 7am, I boarded train 421 for my half-hour ride up to Palo Alto. I spent an hour or so exploring the Stanford University campus, which is quite impressive and beautiful, beginning with the at least half-mile tree-lined boulevard one must walk along before even reaching buildings. While exploring, in a vain attempt at an achievement perhaps only ALC_Rail_Writer, and to a lesser extent, Long Train Runnin' and the_traveler will get, the All Right Now foursquare badge, I checked in at most buildings I passed. Foursquare eventually regarded these as suspicious 'quick-fire checkins' and denied me my badge even after I'd qualified. I later fixed that.
Back at the Palo Alto Caltrain, I had a coffee at the cafe there (if nothing else than to fulfill my desperate need to powder my nose), then it was Caltrain 422 back south the few stops to Mountain View. We actually left Palo Alto a little late, because the conductor had a mysterious difficulty in closing the train's doors. At mountain view, I went to yet another cafe and had yet another coffee, then it was off to downtown San Jose on VTA light rail. On the way, I made a point of looking for something I'd noticed in satellite images: just east of the Evelyn station, there is a connecting track between VTA and Caltrain. I saw it, and was disappointed to discover they've started tearing it up. I enjoyed the ride, as I have before, passing by Moffett Field and the headquarters of many big names in technology.
I detrained at Paseo de San Antonio, and needed to powder my nose again. I remembered from last time that somewhere here was one of those round green public restrooms, but I couldn't find it. So I decided to go ahead and have lunch at the first open place I could find. Johnny Rockets' door was unlocked, so I went in, only to be told 'We open at 11' (it was around 10:50). I therefore had lunch instead at 'Asian Gourmet Express' nearby. I'd thereafter intended to take VTALR again back to SJC, but instead decided to save $2 and get some exercise by walking there. This gave me an opportunity to see a few parts of San Jose I hadn't, like Guadalupe River Park and 'Monopoly in the Park'. I'd been mistaken about the latitude of Diridon, so I wound up going out of my way a little, but the non-optimum path took me past a meat packing (or meat something) company called 'Stephens Meat'.
Back at SJC, I went to the little cafe and wrote down numbers from their display of railroad pins for sale (I'd discovered this gem on my first trip). I took my list over to the counter and wound up monopolizing their time for some 10 minutes while they rummaged for them. Unlike last time, I got all 9 I wanted (including 2 I'd wanted last time that they didn't have). As I walked back towards the main hall, I heard a voice behind me say 'I'm looking for Chris Stephens.' No one at the station knew my name except perhaps the Amtrak agents who'd stored my bag. Perhaps it had ticked suspiciously and SJPD took it into the parking lot to blow it up. I turned around to discover a smiling older (than me, at least) gentlemen with a fabulous long beard. 'Chuljin?' he asked. 'I'm p&sr!' Yes, our own p&sr, who'd given me such good advice before and after my last two trips. He let me know that (by design or coincidence, I don't remember) he was going to be on the same Capitol Corridor train as me, he to SAC, I to OKJ. He invited me to join him for a hot dog, but I said that I'd already had lunch, but after retrieving my bag I'd be happy to join him for a chat. So I went to get my bag, went outside to check in with Mr. chuljin, then came back to chat for the 15 or so minutes until our train.
We went out and boarded Train 734, and sat across from each other at one of the many (well, more than Surfliners, anyways, and less restricted in who may sit there) tables. Soon after, our tickets were lifted, and remarkably I got this! Yes, the Capitols are using e-ticketing! I thought perhaps it was a pilot on limited trains, but I also got them on the three CC segments later on Monday (but this is the only one I was able to grab and keep as a souvenir...the rest were removed shortly before I detrained in each case). I was very glad to have someone as knowledgable as p&sr along for this segment, as he was able to point out to me many interesting things, both train-related and not, outside, that I would otherwise have missed (and in fact did the only other time I traveled this part of the CC), like the Morton salt factory, the complex junction between the CC, Niles Canyon, Dumbarton, &c., and the [semi-?]abandoned tracks under/beside the BART Fremont line.
Arriving at OKJ about an hour later, I bid p&sr farewell, and each of us wished the other a safe and enjoyable trip (he was headed to SAC, whence 704 and bus to SAN, etc.) and I detrained. I started towards the Lake Merritt BART station, but got turned around a little and wasted several blocks before taking a picture of the unmarked building where (I think) BART and MTC have their headquarters, then descended into the station to begin both my conquest of BART and the unlocking of my Foursquare Trainspotter badge (which latter effort was thwarted during the trip itself by my being in the rapid-fire-checkin penalty box for the rest of the day). First off to Fremont, where I spent only a short while outside the station before turning back to Bay Point, whence (after a cross-platform transfer) Dublin/Pleasanton, where I again spent only a short while outside the station, before finally crossing over into SF. The Transbay Tube is much longer and noisier than I first remembered. Detraining at Civic Center, I walked a block southwest on Market and another southeast on 9th to my hotel, Rodeway Downtown, and checked in. This hotel is merely OK or very slightly worse than OK. I'm not sure I will ever get a Choice 12,000-point room in future.
After relaxing a little while, I walked over to Powell/Hallidie Square and the Westfield California Center, where, at the Borders there, I got new copies of Market Street Railway and Railways of San Francisco from Arcadia's 'Images of Rail' series, to replace the ones I'd bought on Pilgrimage 2 and then ruined by leaving them in my trunk in the rain. Thence the Carl's Jr at Hallidie Square, where I've been so many times on previous trips, for dinner. After that it was BART to SFO. After a quick AirTrain ride to Terminal 1, and I Select-Plus-carded myself into the CO Presidents Club. The checkin process has much improved since my previous trips...before they had to manually key in the numbers, a process frustrated by the age of the receptionist and the numbers being in tiny black digits on a dark grey card. This time they just swiped it, and, interestingly (I guess they track visits) told me it was nice to have me back again. I'd given myself an hour here in my itinerary, but it was far more than I needed, so after a drink and a couple bits of cheese, AirTrain back to BART, whence Millbrae.
The reduced time at SFO gave me more time here at one of my favorite stations, so I was actually able to walk a considerable distance from the station for a couple pictures. Then I took Caltrain 448 to Burlingame, which I'd read and seen had an attrative little station from the SP days. Each Caltrain locomotive is named after a city served by Caltrain, and as it was leaving, I noticed, but neglected to photograph, the fact that my train from Millbrae had been pulled by 'Millbrae'. I was only going to have 15 minutes here before taking 449 back up to 4th/King, so I got right to work, taking dozens of pictures in the hope that at least a few would be steady enough to make productive use of my camera's Night Landscape mode. I got so wrapped up in it that I didn't realize, until 449 was arriving, that I'd forgotten to get another ticket. I didn't want to risk a proof-of-payment citation, so I ran over to the ticket machine, but was still furiously pressing buttons when it left. It was not the very last train of the day, but the next (and last) one was a full hour and a half later, and I didn't relish the thought of waiting there that long and getting back 'home' at almost 1am, so I reluctantly hailed a cab and paid $15 (including tip) to go back to Millbrae, whence BART back to Civic Center. While I waited at Millbrae, my train approached from the north, and naturally I decided to take a video of it. The driver, seeing this, wagged his finger, in a vain attempt to enforce a rule that doesn't exist.
The Civic Center BART/MUNI station has five exits all over the complex street intersection there, and by this point I hadn't quite figured out the optimum one, so I wound up coming up in a place that almost made up for my Caltrain flub: right in the middle of UN Plaza, with a remarkable night view down Fulton towards City Hall. I took a dozen pictures of this (later keeping one), thence back to the hotel. The next day would also be both early and long.
Caltrain, Stanford, VTA Light Rail, Capitols, Two new BART routes, SFO PC
Pictures (and a few videos) from this day are here.
Up at 6, I showered, packed, and made my way back to Diridon (SJC) to catch the first Caltrain, #421, to Palo Alto. I first visited the Amtrak ticket counter to leave my bag so I didn't have to drag it all over Stanford. They cheerfully took it and my three dollars and gave me a claim check.
Since I'd be taking four segments on Caltrain today, with a total cost of $14.00, I'd earlier planned to pay $17 for a day pass, paying $3 extra for the convenience of not having to remember to get a ticket for each segment. I ultimately decided not to, in case I didn't take all four segments, and just get individual one-way tickets. This fateful decision actually wound up biting me in the ass and costing more (see near the end of today).
Someone up there or elsewhere noticed my bitter complaints about having to, during Pilgrimage 1, ride in Bombardier Bilevel Coaches on Caltrain, which made the experience into essentially yet another Metrolink with red cars, because on this trip, all four of my intended trips had Nippon-Sharyo gallery cars. Just before 7am, I boarded train 421 for my half-hour ride up to Palo Alto. I spent an hour or so exploring the Stanford University campus, which is quite impressive and beautiful, beginning with the at least half-mile tree-lined boulevard one must walk along before even reaching buildings. While exploring, in a vain attempt at an achievement perhaps only ALC_Rail_Writer, and to a lesser extent, Long Train Runnin' and the_traveler will get, the All Right Now foursquare badge, I checked in at most buildings I passed. Foursquare eventually regarded these as suspicious 'quick-fire checkins' and denied me my badge even after I'd qualified. I later fixed that.
Back at the Palo Alto Caltrain, I had a coffee at the cafe there (if nothing else than to fulfill my desperate need to powder my nose), then it was Caltrain 422 back south the few stops to Mountain View. We actually left Palo Alto a little late, because the conductor had a mysterious difficulty in closing the train's doors. At mountain view, I went to yet another cafe and had yet another coffee, then it was off to downtown San Jose on VTA light rail. On the way, I made a point of looking for something I'd noticed in satellite images: just east of the Evelyn station, there is a connecting track between VTA and Caltrain. I saw it, and was disappointed to discover they've started tearing it up. I enjoyed the ride, as I have before, passing by Moffett Field and the headquarters of many big names in technology.
I detrained at Paseo de San Antonio, and needed to powder my nose again. I remembered from last time that somewhere here was one of those round green public restrooms, but I couldn't find it. So I decided to go ahead and have lunch at the first open place I could find. Johnny Rockets' door was unlocked, so I went in, only to be told 'We open at 11' (it was around 10:50). I therefore had lunch instead at 'Asian Gourmet Express' nearby. I'd thereafter intended to take VTALR again back to SJC, but instead decided to save $2 and get some exercise by walking there. This gave me an opportunity to see a few parts of San Jose I hadn't, like Guadalupe River Park and 'Monopoly in the Park'. I'd been mistaken about the latitude of Diridon, so I wound up going out of my way a little, but the non-optimum path took me past a meat packing (or meat something) company called 'Stephens Meat'.
Back at SJC, I went to the little cafe and wrote down numbers from their display of railroad pins for sale (I'd discovered this gem on my first trip). I took my list over to the counter and wound up monopolizing their time for some 10 minutes while they rummaged for them. Unlike last time, I got all 9 I wanted (including 2 I'd wanted last time that they didn't have). As I walked back towards the main hall, I heard a voice behind me say 'I'm looking for Chris Stephens.' No one at the station knew my name except perhaps the Amtrak agents who'd stored my bag. Perhaps it had ticked suspiciously and SJPD took it into the parking lot to blow it up. I turned around to discover a smiling older (than me, at least) gentlemen with a fabulous long beard. 'Chuljin?' he asked. 'I'm p&sr!' Yes, our own p&sr, who'd given me such good advice before and after my last two trips. He let me know that (by design or coincidence, I don't remember) he was going to be on the same Capitol Corridor train as me, he to SAC, I to OKJ. He invited me to join him for a hot dog, but I said that I'd already had lunch, but after retrieving my bag I'd be happy to join him for a chat. So I went to get my bag, went outside to check in with Mr. chuljin, then came back to chat for the 15 or so minutes until our train.
We went out and boarded Train 734, and sat across from each other at one of the many (well, more than Surfliners, anyways, and less restricted in who may sit there) tables. Soon after, our tickets were lifted, and remarkably I got this! Yes, the Capitols are using e-ticketing! I thought perhaps it was a pilot on limited trains, but I also got them on the three CC segments later on Monday (but this is the only one I was able to grab and keep as a souvenir...the rest were removed shortly before I detrained in each case). I was very glad to have someone as knowledgable as p&sr along for this segment, as he was able to point out to me many interesting things, both train-related and not, outside, that I would otherwise have missed (and in fact did the only other time I traveled this part of the CC), like the Morton salt factory, the complex junction between the CC, Niles Canyon, Dumbarton, &c., and the [semi-?]abandoned tracks under/beside the BART Fremont line.
Arriving at OKJ about an hour later, I bid p&sr farewell, and each of us wished the other a safe and enjoyable trip (he was headed to SAC, whence 704 and bus to SAN, etc.) and I detrained. I started towards the Lake Merritt BART station, but got turned around a little and wasted several blocks before taking a picture of the unmarked building where (I think) BART and MTC have their headquarters, then descended into the station to begin both my conquest of BART and the unlocking of my Foursquare Trainspotter badge (which latter effort was thwarted during the trip itself by my being in the rapid-fire-checkin penalty box for the rest of the day). First off to Fremont, where I spent only a short while outside the station before turning back to Bay Point, whence (after a cross-platform transfer) Dublin/Pleasanton, where I again spent only a short while outside the station, before finally crossing over into SF. The Transbay Tube is much longer and noisier than I first remembered. Detraining at Civic Center, I walked a block southwest on Market and another southeast on 9th to my hotel, Rodeway Downtown, and checked in. This hotel is merely OK or very slightly worse than OK. I'm not sure I will ever get a Choice 12,000-point room in future.
After relaxing a little while, I walked over to Powell/Hallidie Square and the Westfield California Center, where, at the Borders there, I got new copies of Market Street Railway and Railways of San Francisco from Arcadia's 'Images of Rail' series, to replace the ones I'd bought on Pilgrimage 2 and then ruined by leaving them in my trunk in the rain. Thence the Carl's Jr at Hallidie Square, where I've been so many times on previous trips, for dinner. After that it was BART to SFO. After a quick AirTrain ride to Terminal 1, and I Select-Plus-carded myself into the CO Presidents Club. The checkin process has much improved since my previous trips...before they had to manually key in the numbers, a process frustrated by the age of the receptionist and the numbers being in tiny black digits on a dark grey card. This time they just swiped it, and, interestingly (I guess they track visits) told me it was nice to have me back again. I'd given myself an hour here in my itinerary, but it was far more than I needed, so after a drink and a couple bits of cheese, AirTrain back to BART, whence Millbrae.
The reduced time at SFO gave me more time here at one of my favorite stations, so I was actually able to walk a considerable distance from the station for a couple pictures. Then I took Caltrain 448 to Burlingame, which I'd read and seen had an attrative little station from the SP days. Each Caltrain locomotive is named after a city served by Caltrain, and as it was leaving, I noticed, but neglected to photograph, the fact that my train from Millbrae had been pulled by 'Millbrae'. I was only going to have 15 minutes here before taking 449 back up to 4th/King, so I got right to work, taking dozens of pictures in the hope that at least a few would be steady enough to make productive use of my camera's Night Landscape mode. I got so wrapped up in it that I didn't realize, until 449 was arriving, that I'd forgotten to get another ticket. I didn't want to risk a proof-of-payment citation, so I ran over to the ticket machine, but was still furiously pressing buttons when it left. It was not the very last train of the day, but the next (and last) one was a full hour and a half later, and I didn't relish the thought of waiting there that long and getting back 'home' at almost 1am, so I reluctantly hailed a cab and paid $15 (including tip) to go back to Millbrae, whence BART back to Civic Center. While I waited at Millbrae, my train approached from the north, and naturally I decided to take a video of it. The driver, seeing this, wagged his finger, in a vain attempt to enforce a rule that doesn't exist.
The Civic Center BART/MUNI station has five exits all over the complex street intersection there, and by this point I hadn't quite figured out the optimum one, so I wound up coming up in a place that almost made up for my Caltrain flub: right in the middle of UN Plaza, with a remarkable night view down Fulton towards City Hall. I took a dozen pictures of this (later keeping one), thence back to the hotel. The next day would also be both early and long.
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