San Joaquin scenery

[user 12233]

Hello Everyone;

I am thinking of including this train ride from san francisco to bakersfield on our upcoming amtrak adventure.

What scenery can be seen on this route?

 

[Uncle Dick]

There are some nice views of the San Francisco/San Pablo Bay between Oakland and Martinez. Between Martinez and Stockton, the train rides high above the low-lying Delta region. South of Stockton, it's all farmland punctuated by some decidedly unscenic Valley towns. If visibility is good, you may be able to see the Sierra Nevada to the east.

Personally, I enjoy the views of fields, orchards, and vineyards as far as the eye can see, but I suspect that most would consider the San Joaquins to be one of the least scenic routes in California. Feb-April is probably the best time to ride because the fruit/nut trees are in bloom and everything greens up for a couple of weeks after spring rains.

 

[niemi24s]

What scenery can be seen on this route?

See for yourself using the aerial/satellite imagery of Google Earth and the scrollable topographic maps available here: http://www.mytopo.com/maps/index.cfm? Won't take long to look at what there is to see along this 315 mile route.

For me, one advantage to doing this is becoming aware of things along the route that are not too visible from the train but which are of interest. As an example, about 6 miles out of Martinez I just spotted a peculiar feature using Google Earth that I knew (from a munitions background in a former life) just had to be a munitions staging and loading area for the US Navy. Google Earth identified the spot as Port Chicago and a Google search turned up an interesting Wikipedia article about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chicago_disaster A little later I saw the area identified as Naval Weapons Station Concord on the topographic map.

There might not be much to see at that location from the train but if I ever take this train I'd at least know about it and keep my eyes peeled. I wonder how many forum members know about this place and the disaster (claiming 320 souls) that occurred there in 1944?

 

[tomfuller]

Are you planning on going onward from Bakersfield on a bus? I always go through Bakersfield and never stay there for any reason.Our son DIL and grandkids live near Newhall so we used the train bus combo to get there and to return.

 

[City of Miami]

In springtime, esp March, it is nice with fruit and nut trees in bloom - almonds in particular. Lots and lots of them.

 

[niemi24s]

Another feature of the USGS website is that it allows you to see "how things were" in the past - at least as far back as USGS topographical maps are available. F'rinstance, while planning a trip on the Zephyr Google Earth was used to trace the route West of Denver. Getting to the Moffat tunnel I wondered what train travel through the area was like before the tunnel was built. A Google search turned up a few drawings of the pre-Moffat route, but a little research in the USGS Historical Map Collection https://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/maplocator/(xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd&layout=6_1_61_48&uiarea=2&ctype=areaDetails&carea=%24ROOT)/.do allowed the creation of this by stitching together two adjoining maps:



Some remnants of this original route can still be seen in Google Earth, but this is a complete "picture" of the route showing all topographic details. A similar one is available for the Cascade Tunnel on the route of the Empire Builder. Some areas have topo maps available as far back as the late 1800's.

 

[seat38a]

Lots of California prisons and mental institutions along the route and you can see them from the train.

 

[Texan Eagle]

With some luck you can spot parts of under-construction California High Speed Rail. See it while you can, since eventually they are all going to end up as disjointed parts of a never-completed project, for future generations to see, like a memorial.

 

[Asher]

If you have never traveled through the greatest crop producing area in the country all you have to do is check out the vast amount of crops that are grown without rainfall of any amount to speak of to be amazed. Its all watered through irrigation. Their is enough variance of crops and orchards to make for an interesting trip. Trying to figure out what type is a problem. Another thing you will probably realize is the skilled and hard working labor force it takes to maintain.

Hope you have a nice trip.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Between Martinez and Stockton look for several bodies of water that amazingly have fishing and pleasure boats on them.

I was amazed to see people water skiing and fishing in this arrid area the first time I rode the SJ.

 

[sechs]

I usually try to see a lot of the inside of my eyelids.

I was through a month ago and there was a lot of dry riverbed to be seen.

 

[City of Miami]

Between Martinez and Stockton look for several bodies of water that amazingly have fishing and pleasure boats on them.

I was amazed to see people water skiing and fishing in this arrid area the first time I rode the SJ.

This is the edge of the Sacramento River delta and estuary to the San Pablo and SF Bays. Not arid at all even with much of the water canaled to SoCal. And yes people vacation there.