Bay Area Railfanning

In May of 2023 I took a 4 day road trip up to the Bay Area to catch Caltrain and Altamount Corridor Express F40PH units operating before they're replaced by new Stadler KISS and Siemens SC44 chargers, respectively. Arriving in Gilroy shortly before sunset I captured a pair of F40-led trains and saw my first Amtrak ALC42 leading the Coast Starlight, and from there we were off to the races! Heading up to College Park, I stayed at the small station for a few hours and caught many Caltrain trains pulled by F40s and MP36-3C units, as well as ACE trains with both F40 and SC44 power, and Capitol Corridor trains with F59PH engines, including a three-train meet!

Moving to San Jose station, I caught some VTA action along with the Coast Starlight before heading up to Jack London Square, and then the BNSF Stockton Subdivision, catching an intermodal out of North Bay at Christie and Port Chicago, Heading back to the summit tunnel at Christie after catching a manifest at Antioch, I headed to Benicia and caught trains there at both dusk and dawn. Then heading to the Bay at Rodeo, I caught a few trains along the shores of San Pablo Bay including a San Joaquin led by a Caltrain painted NPCU, before heading up to Sacramento to catch the inaugural run of Amtrak 164, the new Phase IV heritage unit, on the point of the westbound California Zephyr. From there, I hung out around Sacramento, filming the light rail around the city and their soon to be replaced Siemens U2 trollies, as well as the Sacramento Southern tourist train, and some bonus action on Donner Pass!

While heading home I also caught a brush fire in Bakersfield to round out an interesting trip up to the Bay Area! Enjoy your watch of my travels :)