Well I am starting to think about what colleges I want to apply to and I decided to start asking if there is any good train watching nearby. To anyone but a railfan asking how close the nearest railroad yard is might seem like an odd question and I doubt the admissions people would know the answer anyway -so I am asking you guys.
Is there any good train watching near Stanford?
Thanks [:)]
emmar
Only if you like CalTrain or commuting. If you want to go all the way to San Jose, you can get the Coast Line traffic. Unless I was trying to break a tie, I would not consider railroads in picking a college. I believe the Sacramento Line (otherwise known as the Cal-P) goes next to UC Davis.
That’s a first for me – school proximity to railroad hotspots. My guess is that if you were to ask, most colleges would consider distance from heavy rail traffic to be a positive selling point. For example, the major universities in Chicago are quite a distance from the railroads. How about Purdue, which is in Lafayette, Ind.?
Besides being one of the world’s great schools, Stanford’s campus, IMO, approaches heaven on earth. Aren’t those good enough consolations?
The Iowa State campus in Ames, IA sits right next to the UP transcon. The University of Iowa isn’t quite as fortunate, but does pretty much surround the CRANDIC and IAIS mainlines.
There are many good places for railfanning in the Bay area that are easily accessable from Stanford (or Berkeley) by public transit. For example, take Caltrans to San Francisco - change to BART and go to Jack London Square in Oakland and watch street running Amtrack!
dd
I was just there. My bro lives in the next town Menlo Park. Look at my link for pix of Atherton . Click on the Cental California 06 gallery to locate them.[:o)]
[quote]
Originally posted by emmar
[
mr:
as a 50 year old father of a son attending college, I would have to ask you the question if I were your parent…“Am I sending you to Stanford at $45000+ per year to watch trains?”
seriously, if you are considering Stanford, then you must be doing some great things in school. If I were you and could swing it, go to Stanford, and dont worry about the trains.
However, if railroads are critical to your decision making process, then consider my hometown of Valparaiso, In (Valparaiso University):
All three cross 4 miles west of the campus.
VU is a very highly rated academic institution, private liberal arts…affiliated with the Lutherens, less than an hour from Chicago - THE RAIL CAPITAL of United States.
Good luck…and what do you want to major in?
ed
Don’t worry I am not going to decide where I go to college on how close the nearest train is. I was just wondering. As far as which colleges I am looking at the ones that I am planning on applying to are Cornell, Princeton,United States Military Academy, Stanford and probably a few others. As far as majors go I am thinking of Chemical enginneering, something in biology or ecology. Oh and MP173 it was my Dad who wanted me to ask if there were trains near Stanford.
Well i live on the caltrain peninsula and all day its just commuter traffic but if u like night the freights start to play its all dry cement and wood n’ stuff but i tell you one thing… hearing that wail from a beast of the rail at night can make any man happy (and a good night sleep!) i live in the emerald hills so its at just the right volume, beautiful thats just it
your in the middle–Donner/Feather River to the north, Tehachapi/Cajon to the south. Both would probably be overnight trips (especially Cajon/Tehatch) but are great (as anyone will tell you)
enmar:
you have quite an impressive list of colleges. You obviously have done a great job…sounds like your parents have done a great job. Your dad obviously has quite a bit of trust in you.
Why chemical engineering…why not go mechanical and invent the next signalling system for the rails to improve capacity?
ed
Wanted to do chemical, but have zero desire to do organic chem. So I went with electrical.
Oh, you aint gonna have time to go watch trains with an engineerin major. Infact I should be studyin right now…
Adrianspeeder
Princeton (aside from imho having better chem E programs than that junior university
;-} – PARTICULARLY in biochem) has ready access to some good East-Coast trainwatching (directly via the PJ&B to the NEC; a bit of a drive to the ex-Reading, NH&I with its 4-8-4 under restoration, etc; frequent cheap transit to New York and Philadelphia – etc.
If you mean West Point – the river line (ex-West Shore) actually goes through a tunnel under the grounds, and there’s a fine view of Garrison etc. on the other side. Relatively easy to get to NYC too (although you presently have to cross the river to go there by train…)
Your request seems perfectly reasonable to me. My daughter just got her Ph.D from Stanford and is still there teaching. I am from the Philly area on the east Coast and visit quite frequently (my other daughter is at Berkeley across the Bay) and my daughters think I am a devoted father for visiting so much. Well to be honest it’s to railfan the Bay Area. You will find yourself in a railfan’s Valhala. First of all watching Caltrains F 40s go through the Art Deco station at Stanford or crossing the old truss bridge a quarter mile to the north of the station is fun in itself and the occasional UP movement does use that line. From the station at Stanford you can take the “commute” train about 20 miles or so to Santa Clara just north of San Jose. At Santa Clara there is one of the oldest extant stations in the country and a freight yard and a wooden tower and a lot of pedestrian traffic moving through the yard. One stop south and you are in San Jose and its pretty busy station with other commuter activity and VTA light rail. Go north from Stanford, actually it’s Palo Alto, about 30 miles or so and you are in SF. You’ll see some UP freight activity around San Bruno, some of it in Espee colors, before you reach the station. Once in SF you can railfan Muni’s light rail system including the heritage F Line of vintage trolleys, especially the PCC’s, the cable cars and BART. You can get the N line light rail at the Caltrain station to acces the other lines. You can take the BART into Oakland, Fruitvale, to see more freight action and you can watch Amtrak and ,again UP freight , at Jack London Square where the trains run in the street. If you take Bart into Ricmond you can again watch UP and Amtrak at that station. you can take Amtrak California trains from Jack London Square, Berkeley or Richmond to Martinez or Davis or Sacramento. There is so much railfanning to do in the Bay Area that you will need to enroll in the eight year Ph.D. program to see it all. Good luck.
I did electrical to avoid the organic chem - and ended up in the semiconductor industry and had to learn the organic chem on my own. You study a little harder when your lab is a fab line generating revenue of over $100K per hour.
Studying is great but I also scheduled in an hour or so of R&R (railfanning) a week. I found that the time away from the books allowed me to put the information into perspective a lot easier.
Good Luck
dd
Emmar,
You also mentioned “something in biology or ecology.” I am a professor of ecology at the University of California (and a railfan…). I can tell you that the ecology programs at Cornell, Stanford, and Princeton are all top-notch.
Regards,
Michael Loik
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by kevikens
Your request seems perfectly reasonable to me. My daughter just got her Ph.D from Stanford and is still there teaching. I am from the Philly area on the east Coast and visit quite frequently (my other daughter is at Berkeley across the Bay) and my daughters think I am a devoted father for visiting so much. Well to be honest it’s to railfan the Bay Area. You will find yourself in a railfan’s Valhala. First of all watching Caltrains F 40s go through the Art Deco station at Stanford or crossing the old truss bridge a quarter mile to the north of the station is fun in itself and the occasional UP movement does use that line. From the station at Stanford you can take the “commute” train about 20 miles or so to Santa Clara just north of San Jose. At Santa Clara there is one of the oldest extant stations in the country and a freight yard and a wooden tower and a lot of pedestrian traffic moving through the yard. One stop south and you are in San Jose and its pretty busy station with other commuter activity and VTA light rail. Go north from Stanford, actually it’s Palo Alto, about 30 miles or so and you are in SF. You’ll see some UP freight activity around San Bruno, some of it in Espee colors, before you reach the station. Once in SF you can railfan Muni’s light rail system including the heritage F Line of vintage trolleys, especially the PCC’s, the cable cars and BART. You can get the N line light rail at the Caltrain station to acces the other lines. You can take the BART into Oakland, Fruitvale, to see more freight action and you can watch Amtrak and ,again UP freight , at Jack London Square where the trains run in the street. If you take Bart into Ricmond you can again watch UP and Amtrak at that station. you can take Amtrak California trains from Jack London Square, Berkeley or Richmond to Martinez or Davis or Sacramento. There is so much railfanning to do in the Bay Area that you will need to enroll in the eight year Ph.D. program to see it all. Good