January 4th, 2017
We arrived in San Francisco for a few days vacation and immediately went to the Golden Gate Bridge.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco truly needs no description.
January 5th, 2017
We explored downtown San Francisco's streetcars and cablecars.
January 6th, 2017
We travelled around the Bay to Mountain View and up the other side to Oakland to check out the USS Hornet and Jack London Square.
Mountain View, California
While I had a contract with a company in Mountain View for nearly a decade, I never actually visited it for more than eight years after the contract ended. It is just outside of San Jose on the southern end of the San Francisco bay.
Oakland, California
Oakland is directly across the bay from San Francisco and is home to a busy stretch of street-running known as Jack London Square.
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We just catch a UP freight at Jack London Square, narrowly missing catching it on the street running.
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A southbound Amtrak heads down the street running at Jack London Square.
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An Amtrak heads North through the Jack London Square street running.
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Another Amtrak heads north through Jack London Square.
January 9th, 2017
Disneyland! Because, we're already here... interesting train systems in the park.
Anaheim, California
Anaheim, in the greater Los Angeles area, is the home of California's Disneyland.
January 10th, 2017
We went to explore the Cajon Pass for two hours. We were not disappointed!
Cajon Pass, California
The Cajon Pass is where most of southern California's trains have to go through to get in and out of the Los Angeles region through the mountains. It is a busy, interesting place with wildly unpredictable weather, changing from clear skies to driving rain in a matter of seconds without warning.
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A 5-unit eastbound BNSF intermodal train starts off our two hour adventure at the Cajon Pass.
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Three BNSF GE units haul an eastbound ethanol train.
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Five BNSF GEs lead a stack train eastbound as we experiment with an after-market zoom lens on the iphone.
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A war bonnet hides between two regular units on a westbound stack train, with another unit at the rear.
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Four UP units lead a train eastward as a fifth pushes, while a five BNSF unit westbound passes.
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Four BNSF locomotives lead an eastbound stack train on the north track as a four-unit UP train passes on their tracks up the hill, a three-unit BNSF heads west with two more DPU in the middle and one more on the tail end, and an 11-engine power transfer joins the fray to make a four-train meet at the pass.
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10 BNSF units with a CITIRAIL interloper transfer power back west through the pass.
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Four BNSF pumpkin-scheme GEs lead two blue and yellow geeps eastward as rain suddenly shows up.
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A three-unit UP intermodal train heads west through the pass, concluding our short visit to the pass.
