The San Joaquin - Getting to LA from the Bay Area through the Back Door

A few years ago, I heard about a train, The San Joaquin, you could take from Sacramento to LA in roughly 9 and a half hours. At the time I had no idea such a train existed, the only train I knew of was Amtrak's Coast Starlight that takes nearly 14 hours on the beautiful but lengthy coastal route. I was very curious about how this rail service worked but I hadn't had a good reason to try it out. I had heard a few complaining remarks from some rail advocates about the bus connection from Los Angeles to Bakersfield but then I heard other stories about how nice the buses were so I finally had a good reason to travel from Sacramento (SAC) to Orange County, so rather than drive or fly I thought it a good opportunity to try it out

I learned that there are two trains a day originating in Sacramento as well as two more scheduled trips that start with a bus, changing to a train in Stockton. I opted for the later schedule that included a bus ride as the all-rail option left SAC station at 6:40 am and I had a ride at 7:00 am. The SAC station is undergoing major remodeling at this writing and so it took a bit of detective work to find where the correct bus left from. There is little signage at this point so one must ask around to get where you need to be. Other passengers were asking each other where to go as well. They have electronic sign boards but they were not working. They are a working on this though.

Sacramento Amtrak Station under Construction

Once I found the bus loading area which is just to the left of the area leading to the trains, right outside the main station, the only question remained was which bus to get on. Amtrak had "shouters", personnel shouting to passengers which bus to get on. It was a very busy day, so Amtrak provided two buses to take us to Stockton where we would then pick up the San Joaquin train to Bakersfield. 

Sacramento Station - Tracks for passenger trains have been moved about 100m south of the station creating some interesting planning opportunities for the space between the station and the tracks

Amtrak bus depot just to the left of the station south exit.

Why buy a train ticket to ride on a bus? While not optimal and less fun, the buses provide necessary links within in the rail network. BTW, one ticket covers bus and train. In fact, you have to have part of your trip on the train to ride the bus. The buses were fairly new and baggage is handled promptly. So begins the trip to Stockton where I would link up with my train.

 The person with the red pants is actually spread across two seats and is snoozing. The bus interior is clean, air conditioned, has wifi and a restroom. The trip to Stockton is about 50 minutes and while not as spacious as a train it was pretty decent. No traffic issues.  

Once we arrived in Stockton, the bus dropped us off in a covered bus port only a few steps away from the train loading platform and about 40 steps more to go into the station. Stockton station is the former Santa Fe station built in 1900 when it was a stop on the "Valley Road" Its important to note that this station is not same as the ACE station located 5 miles away. Also, take note that you don't want to wander outside the station as the area around the station is a slum and a major homeless area in south Stockton. Just stay close to the platform and you won't be bothered by the panhandlers out front. 

Entrance to the boarding area from the tracks

Bus port Stockton

Waiting area Stockton Station

Boarding for the northbound train to Sacramento. 

The southbound train was on time but I was a little disappointed that the train would be a single level and not the bi-level train. Still, I was glad to get on a train for the next part of the trip. One advantage to the single level cars is the cafe' car is easier to access and is a little roomier than the downstairs cafe' on the bi-level cars.

Boarding the southbound train

Today's train was nearly full. This demonstrates that even at speeds that are considered slow by European and Asian standards, people will often choose trains over driving.

 We left Stockton about 5 minutes late which wasn't too bad. The SJ route runs on the BNSF tracks which parallels US 99 and stops at the larger cities, including Modesto, Turlock, Merced, (jump off point for Yosemite) Madera, Fresno, Hanford, Corcoran, Wasco and Bakersfield. We covered the distances between these cities at a maximum speed of 79 mph. I read that the BNSF route is better than the former Southern Pacific because they can run faster. Still, its a little sad that these trains can only run at 79 mph when they are capable of much faster speeds. As an aside, American trains often ran faster than 100 mph in the 1950's. Nearing lunch time I headed forward to the Cafe' to check out the offerings.

Cafe car and lounge

For lunch I had a 3 cheese and chicken sun dried tomato panini for $6.50, heated up in the microwave. The combo which includes a soda and chips goes for $9.50. As a frequent rider on the Pacific Surfliner, I compared the Sea View Cafe menu and other than the appearance of the menu the offerings looked very similar. 

After lunch, I noted a couple of passengers who were indulging in the beer and wine offerings as they were really enjoying themselves and made no secret about it. There was also a younger passenger in the seat in front of me who whether by accident or design had "forgotten" to get off at his ticketed destination. The conductor finally came by and ordered him to get off at next station but then I think I spotted the forgetful passenger later in the cafe car. 

After lunch, I settled back in to my seat and did a bit of reading and writing and promptly dozed off. Trains can be a great remedy for insomnia. I woke up just in time to view what I believe to be the first bit of construction of the California High Speed Rail system, just outside the right hand side of the train. They are starting the build with a viaduct near Fresno.

Drought is evident from this view out the window south of Fresno

The rest of the trip to Bakersfield was smooth and quiet. The air conditioning worked great, in fact it was a bit chilly inside considering it was 100º F+ outside. Restrooms were all in good condition with no funny odors as I have experienced on other single level trains, especially on the east coast. 

We were about 5 minutes late pulling into Bakersfield station but our buses to take us to Los Angeles were ready and waiting. Detraining was quick and baggage was transferred quickly. We wasted no time on getting on our way. 

A side historical and rail advocate note here - The reason for buses at this point is that historically trains in the past heading to LA would travel over the Tehachapi pass over one of the most famous lengths of rail in America. I believe its the most heavily traveled single track in the US with trains snaking around curves such that they loop over themselves because of the curving track on this considerably steep grade. This routing would follow SP tracks to Mojave, Palmdale and then Glendale before arriving in Los Angeles adding several more hours to the trip. Buses can make it to LA in about 2 1/2 hours. The Tehachapi pass route is shrouded in intrigue as the powers that be wanted to bypass Los Angeles as LA's port was considered competition to bay area ports and shipping such that bay area interests were mostly concerned with a snow free way to get goods from their ports to points east. Today, many rail advocates and passengers would love to see a route over Tejon pass directly into Los Angeles as this would cut considerable time off traveling between LA and SF. Planners of the HSR have decided that Tehachapi pass is still the best route although its engineering and design will probably cost more and add up to 40 minutes additional travel time. Moreover, a conventional rail track over Tejon pass would allow current technology trains to make the trip much faster. 

Amtak needed two buses to carry passengers to LA Union Station. Other buses from Bakersfield take passengers to points east including Barstow, Palm Springs

The Amtrak thruway bus passes the US Post Office next door to LAUS on a remarkably clear day

The Metro/business class lounge at LAUS.

The new schedule signs at LAUS are welcome additions

The trip over Tejon was uneventful and we made the trip on time. I boarded the Pacific Surfliner for the remainder of my trip down to Irvine. I would definitely travel this way again. The entire trip on a single ticket was $59.00 not including drinks and meals. Door to door was just over 9 1/2 hours from Sacramento, CA to Laguna Niguel, CA. Best of all the trip was not tiresome in the least. I really like that I can watch movies, work or sleep or wander around without going through security or sitting in traffic. If we could only boost train speeds reducing travel time would make this way in to LA the best way.

Yellowstone 2015

Yellowstone 

Since we had a little time on our hands and we had the good fortune to have our two sons at home for a while, we decided to take a family trip up to Yellowstone National Park. None of us had ever been there before.

We hopped in the car and headed north with our first nights goal being Salt Lake City, Utah .

High Desert near St. George, Utah

Trolley Square is a restored shopping and dining center. 

 We had dinner at a Spaghetti factory in Trolley Square so named because this was the Trolley barn where the Salt Lake Trolleys were kept overnight and maintained. SLC had quite a network of rail transit at one time reaching 146 miles including a line up to Park City. I can imagine they wish they had it today. The SLC trolleys ran until 1946 and were replaced with busses. Rail transit in SLC is starting to make a come back with about 18 miles of new service with more to come. This story is the same for many western cities.

After dinner we drove and walked around downtown and searched for my wife's grandfathers' house where her father, uncle, aunt and mother lived.  We spent our first night at a Marriott Springfield Inn and Suites about 4 miles south of downtown.

 On the left is Mormon Temple in downtown SLC in Temple Square. We visited the temple although non-Mormons can't get in to this one. I wonder if there is a secret handshake or something as I am sure "Gentiles" have tried to get in. We sought information on Lynn's family history to help us locate the house but some of the information was vague. I was later told that if you try to enter, they ask you flat out if you are Mormon and you have to show an ID card.
We left SLC and headed to West Yellowstone.  The drive took us north along the front range of the mountains, with desert landscape giving way to more trees and mountains. We arrived in the late afternoon and checked into the Gray Wolf Inn. We had dinner at a place called the Slipper Otter a kind of woodsy restaurant.





Once we entered the Yellowstone, there were many choices of places you could go. Our first stop was a place where hot steamy water flowed into the Yellowstone River. The water is scalding hot and originates deep within the Yellowstone caldera. Its hard to get your head around the fact that most of Yellowstone is really a giant volcano.




The different colors are from the various metals, but mostly iron that exist beneath the surface.

After getting Reggie up and going for a morning walk around the Lil Aleinn property, it became apparent that a lot of what Rachel is all about appears to be a place where people stop and look and others just leave things here. There are abandoned cars, left over pieces of steel just left behind the trailers, and odd collections of land detritis. Why was it just left? So curious to know. So much of what resides in rest out in the desert, often feels like abandoned dreams. All that metal and proeprty was new once and somebody had an idea of what it was supposed to be used for but wasn't. So once the dream is over so it goes for much of all this stuff. I am talking about steel pipes and pumps, cable

Area 51 Groom Lake

Area 51, Extra Terrestrial Highway Drone Views

Recently, I fulfilled a dream to explore UFO territory in and around what is known as Area 51, aka Nevada Test and Training Range site, Groom Lake, Dreamland, Watertown and others. I brought along my dog Reggie as well as my Phantom 2 Quadcopter equipped with a GoPro 3. I have been a sky observer all my life and keep my eyes upward looking for anything interesting so what could be better than Rachel, Nevada? After reading and watching movies about about this place, I had to see it for myself. The town of Rachel is the center of activity for all things Area 51 related. 

I made an reservation online for an overnight stay at the Little A' Le' Inn. Turns out they are pet friendly for an additional $15.00 fee per night. Otherwise a one night stay is $49.00. After a 5  1/2 hour drive from Orange County via Las Vegas, NV., with one stop for gas and a break for Reggie, we reached Alamo, NV about 2 pm. This is near the beginning of the famous Extraterrestrial Highway, State Route 375, designated as such by the state of Nevada in 1996. One of the more pleasant surprises driving up here is the Pahranagat Valley, one doesn't hear much about it but it is really beautiful. It has both dry and wet lakes, trees, roving cattle and beautiful landscape. A nice contrast to some of the "cheesy" alien stuff.

The distance from Alamo to Rachel is about 70 miles along the 98 mile long highway. Along the way, I passed the Center for Alien Research, and a couple of other gift shops based on alien things. One place sold alien jerky and advertised a place to dump RV holding tanks. 

The "Alien Research Center" is a gift shop and the other "research" building across from the entrance was not open. I met a young couple that drove into the parking lot. They had just come from Massachusetts via Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. I met other people who had traveled the same route from the east all who are fascinated by the mystique of huge tracts of land that are sequestered off from public access.

             

 This place is near highway 318 and 375

From this point, I headed north past the "Park and Ride". It was a nicely shaded area and allowed for Reggie to peruse some nearby Cottonwood Trees.

I tried to find the Black Mailbox as that was the next stop along the way but it had unfortunately been removed by the owner thanks to people constantly breaking into it. After passing Coyote Summit, 5,591 ft. my destination of Rachel, Nevada finally appears. Driving into town, you pass an unmarked dirt road that heads west towards Area 51. The test site worker buses apparently use this route. I was excited to see the "Inn" and went inside the restaurant bar to check in. I was greeted warmly by the nice lady working behind the bar and she searched in vain for my online reservation. Luckily, they had room so Reggie and I would not have to bunk in my Expedition. The rooms here are in technically what would be called a trailer village of manufactured homes. My room was about 12' square with a small entry way where the bathroom was located.

Unbeknownst to me was that this was a "shared bathroom". I didn't find this out until the following morning. I had left my room door open and luckily Reggie didn't react to a stranger coming into the bathroom.

The movie "Paul", the story of an earth smart alien trying to escape the  evil scientists and aided by two British UFO nerds used this location for one of its better scenes. The restaurant is quite good with friendly service and interesting locals as well as tourists who want to find out what others have seen out there. I tried the Aleinn burger and was impressed. I recommend it.

I got to talking to one of the waitresses there who told me they see things all the time and have become more or less unfazed by what they see. Later that night, I got to witness a pretty good sky show. Even after sunset, some great stuff takes place. First are the high altitude contrails. Unlike most areas of the country where jetliners make their fairly straight sky trails, here they look like spider webs as they twist and turn. Obviously military aircraft going through their routines. Then come the sonic booms. Always in pairs, you know there is some supersonic activity going on. Reggie was not impressed and tended to shake and cower every time the booms commenced. One of the best sights of the evening though was a set of lights heading towards our location from the east, opposite to where A 51 is. At first the light was a steady white light that was moving in a slow but steady fashion towards our location. Then, the light splits in two and then splits again. Then after about 30 seconds the light(s) then suddenly disappear or go out depending on how you look at it. My best guess is that it was some kind of meteorite burning up as it entered the atmosphere. I have seen these before but never headed at me. Later, I saw a different kind of white light much like a flash camera but at very high altitude. There was no noise so I can't say what caused it but there were two bright flashes in succession, as if a giant camera in the sky had taken photos with a flash. I kept watching that spot to see if I could detect an aircraft but the second flash came about 20 seconds later and its location in the sky had not changed. Too bad I couldn't get this on video. After that the night sky show diminished and there wasn't much left to see. So, Reggie and I took a walk over to an area where there were no street lights or other forms of light just to look at the night sky. At first, it was just as you would expect with a carpet of stars unlike what you will see in most places. Being from So Cal, we get so much haze and light pollution there isn't much to see but out here, the night sky reveals its vast numbers of stars, galaxies, nebulae and other amazing features so thick with light that its hard to describe the immensity of so much sky matter.

The Next Morning

As I mentioned before, I was awakened by my trailer mate using the shared bathroom. I think my neighbors are permanent residents of this place.  After a delicious and hardy breakfast, it was time to unleash my Phantom 2 and GoPro to capture some video of the restaurant compound and neighboring desert. I had gotten permission to fly around the restaurant and take some high altitude stills as well. Their main concern was that I didn't hit anything. They are right to question a pilots skills and intentions as Phantoms sometimes can wander away. In this case all went well and I got some nice video footage. Hopefully, the next version of the quad copters will allow longer flight time.