My family will be traveling to San Francisco to visit relatives over my Spring break from school in about 2 weeks. We are getting a rental car, and my Dad promised that I could have at least half a day to railfan in the imediate area, Oakland, San Fran, ect… I have Kalmbach’s Guide to North American Railroad Hotspots, and they recomend Pinole California, about 13 miles to the South of Oakland.
But I was still wondering, does anyone else know of any good spots with in 20 miles of San Francisco and Oakland? If you could provide exact directions or a Mapquest map to the area it would greatly help me, We know the basic area but not alot about it. I would prefer just the lines that have at least 3 or 4 trains an hour, so I can see the most in the time that I’ll have(a few hours). I appreciate any answers that you can give, I want to make the best out of the situation.
Jack London Square in Oakland is an interesting place to visit with non-rail fans. There are some good restaurants, and nice shopping in addition to Amtrak and freight traffic. It probably does not have the traffic density of other places but it has things for other family members. Check the Amtrak schedule.
TrummyandElla, your right, the location part means that Oakland is South, I read it as the other way around. Thanks for pointing that out. It’s good to know that this is a fairly good spot. But I do have one question. Under the directions, it says to go 1.5 miles off of I-80 on Appian Way till the road ends at the tracks. Under saftey considerations it mentions that you should watch approaching individuals and keep aware of things happening around you. Is this area any sort of a “Bad part of town” or anything? Is there any reason I’d have to be worried?
I would say Jack London Square is as good a place as you will find without driving too far. Following the ex-sp line a few blocks north will lead you to the yard. There used to be quite a bit of activity in that area, but I havn’t been there for many years. And be forewarned some of the neighborhoods in this area are not the safest.
good luck.
You might consider Martinez. You can reach it by taking BART from Oakland to Concord, and taking a bus from Concord to Martinez. There is a wharf next to the ex SP station in Martinez where you can photograph trains. You can also see trains crossing the Carquinnez Straits about 1-1/2 miles away. Also there is some street running in the vicinity of Jack London Square.
You may also want to visit the CalTrans station next to the new baseball stadium in SF. Lots of commute trains. Also take the F Line trolley on Market Street.
TrummyandElla, your right, the location part means that Oakland is South, I read it as the other way around. Thanks for pointing that out. It’s good to know that this is a fairly good spot. But I do have one question. Under the directions, it says to go 1.5 miles off of I-80 on Appian Way till the road ends at the tracks. Under saftey considerations it mentions that you should watch approaching individuals and keep aware of things happening around you. Is this area any sort of a “Bad part of town” or anything? Is there any reason I’d have to be worried?
Noah:
Thanks for including the directions – now I know where they are talking about…
If you are coming from Oakland or San Francisco on I-80, take the Appian way exit and turn left (crossing over the Interstate). In about a mile or so you would come to a stoplight at the bottom of a hill. The cross street is San Pablo Avenue. Continue straight through the intersection (the street name changes to Pinion Avenue) and in about a half-mile or so the road dead-ends at the old Santa Fe tracks – beyond are the old Southern Pacific tracks.
By way of a disclaimer, while my parents still live in Pinole, I haven’t lived there since leaving for grad school in 1985. While the area wasn’t the fanciest part of town, I don’t recall it as being a particularly bad part of town or anything like that. I think the safety considerations are just good advice anywhere. Since you spoke of Spring Break, I’m assuming that you are probably at the oldest a high school student, and that most likely at least your Dad will probably be with you. With the two of you there during the daylight hours you should be just fine.
Another location in Pinole would be to follow the directions above and turn right when you get to San Pablo Avenue. Follow San Pablo Avenue about a mile or so and turn left on Tennant Avenue, then follow the road to the end at the bay front and
Maybe not anymore. The Interstate 680 bridge is immediately on one side. I know I have heard of putting another bridge immediately on the other side. I do not know if this has been built yet.
TrummyandElla, Thanks for the second location tip. It doesn’t sound far from the other area, we’ll have to check that out too. It’s good to know we won’t have to worry two much about the area then as well.
And thanks to everyone else, I will most definately check out these other locations I appreciate the tips much.
You might consider taking a trip to Stockton, where the tower used to be. It’s not as far as Donner or the canyon and you will surely see a lot more trains. This is where the BNSF(and Amtrak) to Richmond crosses the UPs north(roseville) south line through the valley. Very busy spot.
This is for ericsp. You are right. I looked at a slide I shot back in 1993 of the Amtrak California Zephyr crossing the Carquinnez Straits. The I 680 bridge is downstream from the SP’s bridge over the Carquinnez Straits, but it is much higher than the SP bridge so you can see the train(s) crossing the bridge. Because of the differences in height the SP bridge is visible from the Martinex wharf or marina, and if I am right it has a lift span which is normally open because of the heavy ship traffic.
I like this idea. I last rode CalTrain about 3 years ago (well before the Baby Bullets came). There are maybe 40 round-trips a day on the Peninsula line…enough frequency that if you choose to ride you won’t have to wait long! And the fares are subsidized … won’t put a big dent in the wallet. If you are interested in freights you will need to travel to the southern area of the line, below Santa Clara {see the SP article/photo in the March '05 trains}.
If you want to see some older trains, check out Sunol, just off I-680 near Niles Canyon.
You might also want to consider taking CalTrain down to the San Jose Diridon Station. There, you’ll see Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, Amtrak California trains to Sacramento, CalTrain, and Altamont Commeuter Express (ACE), in addition to UP freights. CalTrain has a small service facility there, with GP7/9’s (I think that’s what they are) and a caboose in CalTrain paint.
Michael, I rode the CalTrain down to San Jose once about a few years ago when we went to the National Model railroad Convetion. I think it was 1998, could be wrong though. It was a really fun ride though, it was the first time I’d ever taken any sort of Commuter trains. We are going to look into taking Amtrak Somewhere, just for the heck of taking it somewhere. We went on Amtrak up to Sacramento(SP?) the last time we were there, three years ago. Went to the railroad museum, and it was really fun.
Thanks again for everybody’s advice, I’ll look into all of it.
I’m unclear – will you have the car, or will you not?
First, no offense but forget about Feather River or Donner, they are much too far away. So is Stockton. Bay Area traffic is nasty and Sacramento is worse. You could lose your whole day stuck in traffic. No need anyway – plenty to see, even in this rail-sparse town.
I realize this is too sophisticated for one message, so I’m going to write 3 more messages:
If you don’t have a car, and you like public transit.
If you don’t have a car and prefer mainline railroads
Be sure to take your camera and get some good shots to post for us. And take a few with yourself in them. Years from now, those will be the ones you will treasure most. They will show you as you used to be. And believe me, the older you get, the harder it is to remember. BTW I have seen your website and you obviously know your way around a camera, so I trust anything you post will be good. Have a great time!