Remiss In My Duties

It's been 10 days since I posted. I've been on vacation so I guess I really have no valid excuse. I will say that I have the Christmas tree finally completed. Now it's a battle to keep the cat from destroying it.





I haven't been completely devoid of doing anything meaningful. Sunday 12/7 Mrs. Farfromgruvin and I went down to the Santa Clara CalTrain station to see the holiday train. It was a nice change of pace.





The station was open so families had their kids inside looking at the model railroad display in the historic building. Coffee, hot chocolate and cider were for sale. The Salvation Army had carolers and a band playing. Toys For Tots had a big toy drive going on.







Wide eyed kids all over the place. They were expending energy at a phenominal rate of speed. It's been awhile since we've been around a cluster of young'uns like that.



It was just brisk enough to have a wintery feel to it. It has been uncommonly mild this December (NOT due to global warming). I will definitely be placing this activity on my annual Christmas event schedule. More importantly, we have dibs on the grandbaby!! Probably not this next year since he will only be about seven months old. But Christmas 2010...

Just Messin' Around

My new camera has movie capabilities and I was just trying it out. I just wish it had sound as well. I took this video at the Santa Clara CalTrain station. I was about 10 feet from the track steadying myself on a wooden fence. You can still see the movement as the wind "hits" me when the locomotive passes.

Lawsuits Are The Answer

It always amazes me that when trouble strikes the first on the scene are the lawyers. We wonder why goods and services are so expensive. The million dollar scalding cup of coffee incident at McDonald's is a good example.

This article on CalTrain having found some hairline cracks near the wheel assemblies of their passenger cars amazes me. The fourth sentence of the article talks about CalTrain officials "looking into their legal options after the flaws were discovered". Talk of a lawsuit is thrown around before any mention of discussions with the manufacturer of the equipment. The assumption is there was negligence involved in these cracks appearing in the wheel assemblies? Any reputable manufacturer would be anxious to correct a problem with their equipment to maintain their customers' satisfaction.

My hope is that the politicians running The Peninsula Joint Powers Board are not looking to help bridge the gap in their upcoming 2009 budget shortfall. They are politicians so I'm not holding my breath.

I Chose The Stairs

I Chose The Stairs
Originally uploaded by sharkzfan

Not really having the "daring-do" to find out the meaning of the inscription, I took the stairs to the ground floor. To read the graffiti on the elevator doors you need to view the picture in a larger format. Click the links below the picture.

CalTrain, Union Pacific and Amtrak

This was taken from the top of the CalTrain parking structure in Sunnyvale, CA. at 6:55 am Thursday October 4, 2007. It is about one half second exposure. Unfortunately I don't have a digital SLR to get super informative with. This is a shot looking east at the Sunnyvale Ave. crossing at Hendy Ave. In the background are buildings belonging to Westinghouse. Westinghouse currently uses the plant to manufacture steam generators, marine propulsion systems, and missile launching systems for the Department of Defense. Westinghouse purchased the original site property in 1947. Previous owners of the plant had used the property to manufacture ball mills, mine cars and hydraulic equipment in the early 1900's, and defense products such as torpedo tubes and mounts after 1940. Westinghouse also expanded the site by purchasing adjoining property in the mid-1950's from companies that manufactured heavy machinery and cable


This was an interesting picture to take. I was trying to get the time exposure but with my "basic" digital point and shoot it's difficult to get fancy. This was about a three second exposure on a southbound out of Sunnyvale at 6:45 am Thursday October 4, 2007. I actually set my camera on rail for this shot. I found a piece of scrap metal and set the camera on it to stabilize it since the rails are not a flat surface. Because of the length of the exposure, the sky appears as if it's nearly daylight. It was actually quite dark at this time and it was difficult to tell the actual frame of the picture since the display didn't register any image other than the dots of street lights and the headlights of the train.

Union Pacific number 4400 heading up a southbound load of Toyota's that just came off the assembly line at the New United Motors Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, CA. Passing through the Santa Clara, CA. station bound for southern California. It's a rather bland, run-of-the-mill shot but I can give a little background on the motive power. UP 4400 is one of two hundred and thirty one SD40T-2's originally owned by Southern Pacific. These units were in service for SP from 1996 to 2001. The second locomotive UP 9229 is one of two hundred and fifty six C40-8's in service since 1987.

This is a shot of the Amtrak Capitol Corridor passing the abandoned Agnew Station in Santa Clara, CA. on Saturday September 29, 2007 at 3:04 pm on it's way to San Jose. It's being pulled by P42 DC number 164. This site has other shots of # 164. There's pictures of it from Washington state to Washington D.C. It's been around the block a time or two.

Latest Railfanning Excursion

Waiting patiently for the ACE (Altamont Commuter Express) train to cross the Alviso Slough around 7:32, I am pleasantly surprised by the Amtrak Capitol Corridor F59PHI 2010 whizzing by at 7:15, just ahead of the ACE train. Both are making their next stop at the Santa Clara-Great America station after coming from the Fremont/Niles Canyon area.

A shot of the bridge over the Alviso Slough. This was taken at 7:21 am just a few minutes after the Amtrak passed.

As I pass the time waiting, I notice that the railing running along the bridge (seen in the picture above) is a heavy cable and is secured with a sturdy support. An old piece of track is used as a support for the cable. A hole has been drilled through it and it has actually been welded to the bridge structure.

Nice to see they don't just leave all the old track laying alongside the road bed to rust away and that they actually recycle it and put it to a good use. However, just on the "other side of the tracks" there is the rusting away rails I mentioned. The shot below has a section of track that has been replaced but not removed.

My ACE train finally arrives and in trying to do some fancy schmancy shot I end up being less than prepared. Hence the cut off locomotive.

Trying to recover from my photo faux paux (pun intended), I took this trailing shot of the ACE so I didn't go away empty handed.

I then left for the San Jose Diridon train station in downtown San Jose. There were quite a few trains idling on the tracks to keep me interested. The picture below is the southbound #332 express train MPI MP36PH-3C 923 "Baby Bullit" that arrived in San Jose at 9:58 waiting for the return trip up the peninsula to San Francisco. I believe this will be the northbound express #365 which departs at 4:25 pm


The maintenance shed at the south end of the station busy with activity. This MPI MP36PH-3C 927 locomotive is having some heavy work done on it's engine from the looks of it.

Here's a better shot of the tear down. I'm not too sure of what they are actually doing but those big holes in the engine are about the size of basketballs.

This is the sister unit to MPI MP36PH-3C 927, she's MPI MP36PH-3C 928 who looks like she's getting some type of lubrication maintenance. There are barrels nearby that appear to be axle grease. The cart on the left contains jugs of fluids as well.

Below is a portable welding unit that looks ready to go into action on the EMD F40PH locomotive #918 named the County of San Mateo.



This is the Amtrak Capitol Corridor #521 being pulled by F59PHI 2010 that had surprised me earlier at the Alviso Slough when I was waiting for the ACE train to pass by. It's sitting idle waiting for it's return trip to SAC as the #532 at 12:20 pm.

This is the Amtrak Coast Starlight pulling into San Jose on track number one at 10:37am Thursday September 20, 2007. Pulled by P42DC 115.

Sunnyvale CalTrain, Part Deux

This shot has a more pleasant feel to it than the previous "Southbound CalTrain at 45 Mph" post. Even though this is also a moving train shot, it has more vegetation and just looks more comfortable. The angle of the trees combined with the lines of the train and the blue tree-cropped sky have a nice flow. This was taken the same morning, Friday September 14, 2007 at the Sunnyvale boarding platform on the southbound side looking north around 9:45 am. You can just barely make out the Mathilda Ave. overcrossing at the rear of the train at this resolution. The guy with the bicycle on the left side of the picture in the passenger shelter is plucking a banjo. He showed up a few minutes after I got there. He didn't know too many different chords but it seemed a fitting soundtrack for railfanning that day.

Northbound CalTrain "Baby Bullit"

It's a rather crude video actually taken on my digital camera. It's a bit jumpy but it has an antique feel to it (just like the camera). This was taken Friday morning September 14, 2007 near the Fairoaks Ave. over crossing in Sunnyvale, CA.

Southbound CalTrain at 45 mph

At least I think it was about 45 mph. I was about four feet from the track when I took this picture. I was leaning on the fence that keeps the stupid people from stepping onto the tracks when there is an oncoming train. I was wearing a ball cap that day and had turned it around so the bill was not in the way of the camera. It was a good thing, too. The blast of air would have sucked it off of my skull had I been wearing it the right way. It's quite a rush to be standing so close to a train doing that speed! Taken Friday morning September 14, 2007 around 9:45.

Sunnyvale CalTrain

This shot was taken at the edge of the CalTrain passenger platform with the "Baby Bullit" engine number 332 speeding by with commuters on their way to or from work. I would have to estimate it was going at least 45 to 55 mph. This particular train does not stop in Sunnyvale in the southbound direction. Shot was taken about 9:55am on 9/14/2007.

At The Blossom Hill CalTrain Platform

On the way to Morgan Hill I caught a quick shot of northbound Union Pacific motive power waiting for the south bound Caltrain to pass. I wasn't back in my car yet before it pulled away. I get the feeling they were waiting for me to snap the picture first (yeah, right). Engines numbered 7698 and 7638 are new GE ES44AC's. UP 5402, 4359 and 5401, which may have been dead-heading, I haven't researched yet. They were pulling about a half mile of empty box and lumber cars as they sat idle at 12:30pm wednesday 9/12/2007.