5:15 PM Train Time (A Photo Essay)

Etched into memory forever is the oscillating flash of the locomotive’s light, the hiss of air, the sound of tickets being punched, the clickety-clack of the rails, the sing-song call of the next stop, the squeal of brakes, a sea of humanity carried through the peak hours by a parade of 7- to 10-car trains. The commuter remembers the distinctive throb of the Fairbanks-Morse OP engine bringing us up to speed, the chant of the EMD 16-cylinder 567 prime mover ... even the sterile turbocharged whine of the EMD 20-cylinder 645. Watch your step! All aboard! Enjoy your ride into history.  (And remember to reserve your set of bilevel commute coaches by 12/28/10.)

GP-9 accelerating out of Burlingame during the morning rush hourMorning, June 1981, Train No. 129 enters 4th & Townsend with EMD GP40P-2 leading a train of 72-ft Suburban CoachesMorning train No. 43 rounding the curve for the last lap into the City ... bilevel coach shown is a 1968 Pullman-Standard built carThis was taken when I was a little with my 110 Kodak Instamatic Camera: Car No. 3723 is an ACF built 1957 bilevel coach that Wheels of Time is currently recreating (see http://wheelsotime.com/bilevel-commute-coach)One of a kind Caltrain-painted-&-leased SP locomotive 3187 with bilevel coaches leaving in the afternoonEvening rush hour with SDP45 in commandSP Train No. 42 rounding 7th Street with EMD SW1500 switching a set of bilevel coachesTrain No. 151 at San Jose waiting to leave for a night run up the Peninsula ... notice the portable red light that hangs on the metal gate

Comments

[lynn]

you guys have to make the 72' coaches! i am current scrambling to find some 60s as stand ins but they are so rare (which means you guys did an awesome job haha)i love what you guys do. got those caltrain bilevels ordered (ive learned my lesson). and the fact that you are bay area like me adds bonus points. i wish i was a train fanatic back in the 80s, i would have caught these SPs before they took out the entire mission bay and redid them!