Railfanning Bakersfield - 12/15/17

In conclusion to my railfanning trip along Amtrak's San Joaquin route coinciding with my trip home to SoCal, I headed over to the Bakersfield Amtrak Station immediately after railfanning at Wasco to beat Amtrak 702 there with ample time to spare. The Bakersfield station serves as the terminus for all southbound and originating northbound Amtrak San Joaquin trains, in addition to serving as the main bus connection for the majority of Amtrak passengers travelling to or from Southern California. Due to the fact that Amtrak does not provide frequent rail service directly from Northern or Southern California via the Tehachapi Pass or the Coast Line, essentially all passengers disembarking at Bakersfield immediately boards a connecting bus. Surprisingly enough though, the architecture and setup of this station is one of the most intriguing and well planned stations I have seen thus far, with efficient boarding and detraining plus some captivating architecture to look at as well. In addition, the Amtrak staff at this station were very welcoming of my presence throughout the duration of my railfanning here.

Train 1 : BNSF M-BAKBAR2-15A with ES44C4 #7975, ET44C4 #3843, GP60 #183, C44-9W #5257, ES44C4 #8044, & C45ACCTE #5513(UP). Given the setup of the Bakersfield station, all passing BNSF freights are viewed at the distance since the closest three tracks serve as boarding and layover storage for Amtrak equipment.

Train 2 : Amtrak 702 with CabCar #8312 & P42DC #13. Nice engineer on this train. As soon as 702 arrives into Bakersfield, the Amtrak personnel get to work readying the train turn for Amtrak 717 while all the passengers disembark to board buses bound for SoCal and other connections. Amazing to see the choreography of these connections !

Train 3 : BNSF V-KCKRIC1-12A with ES44C4 #6517 & AC44CW #6592(UP).

Train 4 : BNSF Q-RICALT1-15V with ES44C4 #7042, C44-9W #5247, ES44DC #7515, & C44-9W #5543. This train comes through shortly before Amtrak 717 is scheduled to depart.

Train 5 : Amtrak 717 with P42DC #13 & CabCar #8312. Great crew on 717 with some extra horn action and even a complementary shave and a haircut from the engineer as well upon departure !!!

Train 6 : BNSF Q-STOCHI6-15A with ET44C4 #3903, C44-9W #5370, #5311, ES44C4 #8330, & C44-9W #4688. Right before Amtrak 710 is scheduled to arrive, this BNSF intermodal passes by.

Train 7 : Amtrak 710 with NPCU #90225 & SC-44 #2101. With the arrival of 710, the Amtrak personnel get to work readying the outbound Amtrak 719 and where I would call it an end to a successful railfanning trip. However before departing, I decided to get some up close and varying angled shots of the Siemens Charger, F40PH... I mean NPCU, and the architecture of the station for those interested.

Thanks for Watching !