There And Back Again: An Amtrak Excursion, Part 1: San José To Oakland
There And Back Again: An Amtrak Excursion, Part 1: San José To Oakland
On Saturday D. and I went on an experimental Amtrak excursion, to test how well I tolerated train travel. We chose a short, 40-mile trip on the Capitol Corridor, from San José to Jack London Square in Oakland and back again a few hours later. I took a lot of pics along the way (doing the best I could on a moving train through a thick, scratched and mullioned window; sorry for any interior reflections, weird optical effects or motion blur). Here is Part One: San José to Oakland.
The station in San José.
The upper level interior of the coach.
Pulling out of the station. You don't see a lot of fancy establishments right next to the train tracks.
Crossing the Guadalupe River in Alviso.
A salt pond in Alviso.
The ghost town of Drawbridge, long abandoned and sinking into the marsh.
Passing through Fremont, near Warm Springs.
The glamour of train travel.
The wye near Niles Canyon.
Crossing Alameda Creek at the mouth of Niles Canyon.
Hay bales lie in a field near Hayward.
A fire department training area near the tracks.
The presence of industry: gantries and shipping containers, as we near Oakland.
A foundry.
Almost every stretch of wall along the route is plastered with graffiti.
The Oakland Coliseum BART Station swoops past.
More graffiti.
I guess watching the trains go by is entertaining enough for someone to have arranged chairs by their fence to watch in comfort.
The outskirts of Oakland come into view.
Buildings begin to look more commercial and less industrial, a sign we are nearing the station.
The Oakland Jack London Square Station.
Part 2 here. Part 3 here.
.
On Saturday D. and I went on an experimental Amtrak excursion, to test how well I tolerated train travel. We chose a short, 40-mile trip on the Capitol Corridor, from San José to Jack London Square in Oakland and back again a few hours later. I took a lot of pics along the way (doing the best I could on a moving train through a thick, scratched and mullioned window; sorry for any interior reflections, weird optical effects or motion blur). Here is Part One: San José to Oakland.
The station in San José.
The upper level interior of the coach.
Pulling out of the station. You don't see a lot of fancy establishments right next to the train tracks.
Crossing the Guadalupe River in Alviso.
A salt pond in Alviso.
The ghost town of Drawbridge, long abandoned and sinking into the marsh.
Passing through Fremont, near Warm Springs.
The glamour of train travel.
The wye near Niles Canyon.
Crossing Alameda Creek at the mouth of Niles Canyon.
Hay bales lie in a field near Hayward.
A fire department training area near the tracks.
The presence of industry: gantries and shipping containers, as we near Oakland.
A foundry.
Almost every stretch of wall along the route is plastered with graffiti.
The Oakland Coliseum BART Station swoops past.
More graffiti.
I guess watching the trains go by is entertaining enough for someone to have arranged chairs by their fence to watch in comfort.
The outskirts of Oakland come into view.
Buildings begin to look more commercial and less industrial, a sign we are nearing the station.
The Oakland Jack London Square Station.
Part 2 here. Part 3 here.
.