6/19/2023 0 Comments Inspirit santa fe![]() Perhaps Grandpa was there with us in spirit, sharing a few minutes with a curious great-grandson. We continued through Cressey, over the Merced River, passed through Ballico, paralleled Santa Fe Avenue with telegraph poles astride the line, and I felt like we had entered a time warp. Heading north, we had a better view of the air museum at Castle Air Force Base. We found our seats and departed two minutes later than scheduled. I was fond of the PAs and F7s in my youth, while Liam relishes the F40s. As it drew closer, my suspicions were confirmed: Northbound San Joaquin No. As our train approached, I looked down the line and saw the flash of a Mars light. With an hour to spare, we saw a freight train pass through town. The ice cream parlor grandpa and I visited was gone, but we stopped at a small grocery store for fruit snacks, before heading back to the station. Now Liam and I headed toward 17th Street in downtown Merced. The train came to a stop at a remodeled depot at 10:52 a.m. We worked our way downstairs to the doorway and watched signals with crossing gates pass by. The engineer attempted to make up time as we continued on through Ballico, Cressey, and Winton. We weren’t going to arrive in Merced on time. We stopped in Denair, departing 35 minutes behind schedule. Rolling again, we passed through Empire and Hughson. Instead it stops in Modesto, where more people got off and others got on our train. Amtrak no longer stops in Riverbank, either. The train rolled right through Escalon without slowing down. Yet, our train still went no faster than 79 mph. I later found out BNSF had upgraded this section of the line with new rail and ties. Turning southward at Mormon Yard, I was anxious to see if Amtrak still ran trains down the valley like the Santa Fe had done.The train gathered speed and began heading down the valley. Twenty minutes later and behind schedule, we pulled out. We pulled into Stockton 10 minutes late, and people boarded. Our train was back to speed and soon crossed the final drawbridge over the San Joaquin River. He impressed the couple across the aisle. We met a BNSF piggyback and container train, and Liam mentioned the BNSF and Santa Fe Warbonnet paint schemes on the locomotives. Within two minutes we crossed the Middle River. Liam couldn’t wait for the next one and he didn’t have to wait long. We rounded the curve at Bixler and crossed the first drawbridge at Old River. We rolled steadily into Oakley through the flat farmland. I pointed out the Antioch Bridge, a taller, more majestic structure that had replaced the old crossing. ![]() We remained on schedule as the train pulled out. I tried pointing out the boarded-up depot to Liam, but we rolled by so quickly he missed it. Liam looked up at me and smiled.Īmtrak no longer stops at Pittsburg. This moment still felt like the Golden Gate on the Santa Fe. As we rounded the big “S” curve over the UP at Ambrose, I couldn’t help but reminisce. I passed that information on to Liam, as he strained to peer out the window.Īt Port Chicago we switched lines without a hitch. I smiled as we got off the old SP and onto the former Santa Fe. The conductor explained that this was a slow section of track and we’d soon be switching to another line where the train would speed up. Our train was doing about 25 mph on Union Pacific tracks, former SP, along the southern tidelands of Suisun Bay. Two minutes later, we settled into our seats for an on-time departure. Our train, a navy blue and white F59PHI with five cars, arrived at Martinez at 8:14 a.m. Amtrak’s San Joaquin trains use the former Southern Pacific line out of Oakland before making a switch to the former Santa Fe tracks, now BNSF Railway, where the routes parallel at Port Chicago. Our trip would have other differences as well. Liam and I headed for Martinez, which was more convenient for us than Richmond. Amtrak’s San Joaquin passes Pinole, Calif., on its way to Oakland in May 2009. ![]() My son, Liam, was much younger than I had been, but he had a strong interest in trains. I knew the Amtrak San Joaquin service between the Bay Area and Bakersfield offered schedules not much different than what I had. Times have changed since then, and so have the trains. My grandfather had taken me on passenger trains from the San Francisco Bay Area to the San Joaquin Valley town of Merced, Calif., and back. ![]() I wanted Liam to experience a train ride that I took with my grandfather 50 years ago. I decided to make history repeat itself in August 2000, when my son, Liam, was 4.
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