Caltrain 150th Documentary - The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad

In 2014 Caltrain celebrated 150 years of rail service between San Francisco and San Jose. The founding company was the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad, which was incorporated in 1860. The company completed the line between the two Northern California cities in 1864. The railroad was a precursor to the Transcontinental Railroad and the oldest continuously run passenger railroad west of the Mississippi. This documentary captures the story of the railroad from its inception in 1860 until it was acquired by Southern Pacific and incorporated into one of the largest railroads the world has ever known.
Special thanks to Art Lloyd, John Signor, The San Mateo County History Museum, The San Francisco Public Library digital archive, the Caltrain Public Affairs Department, the San Mateo County Web and Creative Services Department and to all the Peninsula riders who have helped keep this service running for 150 years.

[@ostwestexpress2709]

In May 2014 I made a ride down the peninsular from San Francisco to San Jose and back. It was wonderful ! Greetz from an old german railroad man.

[@ThePeninsulaRailfan]

You send the Gallery cars and F40PH's to good homes!

[@TohaBgood2]

I will never understand how anyone could like the gallery cars. They're basically the gulag train. Soviet trains were literally more comfortable than the gallery cars!

[@ThePeninsulaRailfan]

@@TohaBgood2 that's why they cool

[@TohaBgood2]

@@ThePeninsulaRailfan They’re cool because they’re awful and the normal riders hate them? But what happens if the riders stop riding the train? Don’t these just end up at the junkyard? You do understand that your position undermines the existence of passenger rail in general and of the gallery cars in particular, right? If there’s no riders then there simply can’t be any cars of any kind whatsoever l!

[@ThePeninsulaRailfan]

@@TohaBgood2 nobody rides the train to begin with so what's your argument? Railroads get nice new equipment so it can rot empty

[@TohaBgood2]

@@ThePeninsulaRailfan Lol, Caltrain is one of the most popular regional/commuter lines in the country. It's been running at capacity for three decades despite constant capacity increases. It's the 7th most popular commuter rail system in the country already and that is with just one single line unlike all the other top 10 systems! Now, it's getting electrified, sped up to 110mph, and getting about triple the frequency. Caltrain is incredibly popular as far as commuter rail goes. Tell now, are you just some eight-year-old, or something? If you're even a tiny bit into trains, how could you not know this?

[@jasonbentley]

Great doc!