Trip Report

Amtrak San Joaquin Trip

July 23, 2003

Southbound Trip Train 712

Martinez Depot	Arrival of train 712 into Martinez

0740: I arrived at the Amtrak station in Martinez a bit early. The San Joaquin was only running about 10 minutes behind schedule. The train arrived at about 0840. I have never been on this train before so I will really enjoy this trip.

Amtrak 712 at the Stockton station	Amtrak 712 at the Stockton station
Stockton station	Stockton station

0929: We arrived into Stockton even made up a little time along the way. I am trying to get a electrical outlet on the train so I can hook up my GPS and track the progress of the train. So far they are all taken. Hopefully I can get to one later along the way.

1003: We just arrived into Modesto. Nice new station here. I am now hooked up to electricity. I need to get the new battery so I don't have to worry to much about power.

Merced station	Merced station	Merced station

1045: Arrived into Merced. I stepped off the train here. Wow it got a little warm out today. It was windy and overcast when I departed Martinez.

1140: Into the Madera station. Running a bit late but not to bad. We were supposed to be into the Madera station at 1102. A lot of fields to see here. I suppose that is the way it is mostly everywhere along the way.

Fresno station

1210: Arrived into Fresno. We were supposed to arrive at 1135 so we are still running a bit late. Kind of a disturbing thing on the way into Fresno. Shortly out of Madera we received a slow order for a police action. This turned out to be a shooting of some sort. There was a body of a man pretty nasty scene. I guess when you travel by train you see just about everything. Not a pretty site for sure. Getting into Fresno here I noticed that a lot of folks got on the train.

Hanford station	Hanford station

1250: Train 712 arrived in Hanford.

Corcoran station

1315: Arrived into Corcoran. We are currently running about 45 minutes behind schedule. Not bad really considering a few slow orders.

Bakersfield station	Bakersfield station

1430: Train 712 arrived into Bakersfield. I just stayed around watching the Santa Fe trains getting ready for the long haul to Tehachapi.

BNSF freight headed for the Loop with helpers	BNSF freight headed for the Loop with helpers
BNSF freight headed for the Loop with helpers	BNSF freight headed for the Loop with helpers

Northbound Trip Train 717

1530: Train 717 began boarding passengers. It is even more crowded then the trip southbound.

Oil fields near Bakersfield	Oil fields near Bakersfield

1550: Train departed Bakersfield on time. A lot of buses joined us from various locations Las Vegas, Los Angeles etc. There are a lot of people that boarded from these buses.

1612: Arrived in Wasco and departed about a minute after that. Fast stop here for sure. Just a quick note not to alarm anyone. I work for the California Department of Corrections as you all know if you read my train reports. One thing I have noticed on this train. There are a lot of inmates that are going on parole that boarded in Bakersfield. I think that is not a great thing but hey I am just a little more aware of them then most people.

1700: Arrived in Corcoran

1720: Arrived in Hanford we are only about 15 minutes behind schedule. Doesn't look like many passengers got on the train here at all.

1755: Train arrived into Fresno, again not many passengers boarded here.

1900: Looks like we made up a little time. My computer says we will be at the Merced station at 1901 hours. Our scheduled arrival time was 1850 hours so we are only about ten minutes behind.

2130: Arrived back into Martinez. Just a side note, today July 24 I checked the web and found out that the person killed I mentioned earlier in the report was actually hit by a train. It is a lesson to people to stay away from railroad tracks. It was a sad thing to see for sure.

Anyone wanting information about setting up scanners or GPS tracking while on your train e-mail me: