San Francisco's INTERCITY Train - Amtrak's San Joaquins!

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Hello and welcome to Martinez, California! Today we’ll be taking a ride on Amtrak’s San Joaquins from here back to Oakland.
Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed!
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[@guretsugu]

As a bay area local, this is my most ridden Amtrak line! Useful to note that there is a direct transfer to BART at the Richmond station for direct rail service into San Francisco.

[@LonestarTrips]

Very true! People often overlook the Richmond transfer as Oakland is the usual terminus for trains.

[@N734NJ]

Glad to see the California Superliners got the new Amtrak national seat covers.

[@LonestarTrips]

I was surprised to see them with the new interiors, as I would have assumed they'd miss out on the interior refresh.

[@ckildegaard]

My understanding (unless things have changed) is that the Venture cars will, at least for now, just be for the San Joaquins, and the displaced California cars will become available for use on the Capitol Corridor. However, the "cafe car" for the venture sets will feature vending machines and no service counter -- a huge downgrade for trains that make trips of several hours!

[@Yvonne-Bella]

Trust. I know some (myself included) who are up in arms, but we aren't enough to be heard

[@christophersalse485]

I believe they changed their plans to include full service cafes, probably something like the cafe/coach cars in the Midwest

[@AbdulsCycles]

Thank you for sharing the wonderful walking tour video documenting a very nice San Francisco's intercity train view.

[@MilesJajich]

The layout of that cafe car is certainly interesting, and the view you got showing the front of train is awesome! Great review as always!

[@LonestarTrips]

It's a nice change from the usual cafe layout. It's got way more character than the traditional cafe layout, which I love. Glad to see you in the comments as always!

[@rydot]

4:37 The seats on these original California Cars do have a "captive" recline, but it's entirely hidden. Pull up on the seat cushion, and the seat slides forward slightly, reclining the back at the expense of legroom. It's in no way adequate, but a useful tip if you are riding the full 6+ hour length of the San Joaquin service between Oakland & Bakersfield and there's no Superliner (or a 2nd-gen California Car from the Surfliner order) in the consist.

[@LonestarTrips]

Wow, I wouldn't have ever thought to pull up on the seat cushion to recline the seat. That's a terrible way to do that, but at least it exists.

[@tonytins]

Nice! I always wondered what original California Cars looked like up close. I'm only familiar with the newer fleet used by the Surfliner.

[@LonestarTrips]

They're very similar to the Surfliner fleet, but still have their own charm.

[@tonytins]

​@@LonestarTrips Yeah. That café car looked amazing! Shame it was closed.

[@dimanimatedtakes]

Great video, very informative. Pretty cool for an intercity train and whatnot. I've always been curious about what makes this one stand out from others and the video did a good job of presenting that. I'm not sure why I've seen comments on other sites saying San Joaquins is awful or sketchy. This video showed otherwise which is what I hoped for.

[@LonestarTrips]

I'm glad you enjoyed! I'm not sure where people get the sketchy idea from for San Joaquins. It's a great service with some convenient connections in and around the Bay Area.

[@LENNIE-LCO]

Please review the Capitol Corridor train next! It’s my go to commuter train from Sacramento to the San Francisco Bay Area

[@EntertainmentWorldz]

great vide sir ❤❤

[@LonestarTrips]

Glad you liked it!

[@stacydelgado3285]

I took the Zephyr last week and it was FABULOUS! got a picture of that loco in Martinez.

[@LonestarTrips]

Wonderful to hear! I loved taking the Zephyr myself, and I can't wait to share the experience in a future video. Did you take the entire route or just a segment of it?

[@stacydelgado3285]

@@LonestarTripsthe whole way. Emeryville to Chicago in a bedroom. The food was great. Meeting new friends while dining was too. Amtrak honors same day metropolitan lounge access even on arrival. Relaxed in Chicago until our hotel room was ready. It arrived right on time.

[@LonestarTrips]

@@stacydelgado3285 Love to hear it. That's how it should be done tbh.

[@JoeyLovesTrains]

0:34 why not have a center staircase/elevator for the island platform???

[@LonestarTrips]

Good question. As is the case for a lot of California stations, passengers can just walk across the tracks at the designated crossings to reach the island platform. Now why they didn't add a staircase down when building the pedestrian bridge to the parking area is beyond me.

[@Blue3rd]

I'll never forget about the time I was starting to go down the stairs just before pulling into Emeryville from the north. I was holding my acoustic guitar case and had a duffle bag over my shoulder. We hit a turnout to cross over to one of the station platform tracks and it literally launched me down the last 5-6 steps. As I flew into the lower vestibule area, this lone lady already there just had a disgusted look on her face and shook her head. I couldn't believe I was able to stay upright and not fall. Guitar was okay too. I sure wasnt trying to skip any steps! Also, the Cal Car diners once had table service. I would always order the San Joaquin Special when I had the chance, like in c. 1996 when I spent a good amount of time in the front vestibule area, watching the rear of F40PH 390 bouncing all over the place out near Stockton. The dining car attendants seemed like they cared about your experience, and the service was good. There was a really friendly one on a westbound trip in 2000-2001, who joined us for conversation. I was surprised that he actually didn't know much about trains. I guess he didn't need to.

[@jessicaburdell7779]

I remember at one point Amtrak was actually testing out the X2000, just before the current Alstom Acela trainsets came out alongside the AEM-7's, also of Swedish design origin. Definitely can't wait to see they're still fairing out over in the Venice of the North.

[@LonestarTrips]

That they did! They also tested a German ICE-1 trainset before deciding on the Alstom deal to build the Acelas. Of course I'll cover all that in next week's video. (and I have to say, they're fairing a LOT better than the Acela sets)

[@cynthiazepeda2441]

❤Oh wow i hope it went well lonestar hope you enjoyed it❤

[@Letsgobyland]

like the retro poster! nice video 😉

[@LonestarTrips]

Me too! Wish I could get one of those for my kitchen.

[@danielhoward755]

You’re title got me excited, hoping Amtrak actually went into San Francisco.

[@coolleo149]

Honestly I can’t tell if this is the end of an era for the cars themselves, along with the locomotives too, so yeah I don’t know if this is it

[@LonestarTrips]

It's not entirely clear what will happen with the Cali cars, but it's the "end of an era" at least for San Joaquins trains in that they're receiving new rolling stock. The displaced cali cars will likely move to CC services, or be shipped down to Surfliner trains.

[@seyley2901]

Amtrak, the best thing about the service are the posters..

[@marvin6870]

Them ventures are gonna be ELITE on AMT fr tho 💙💙💙I'ma gonna miss the phi and the p42 💯🤧😔

[@DouglasDC10.30]

I'm personally not into North American trains but I love the F59s!

[@marvin6870]

@@DouglasDC10.30 real 💯especially on the piedmont from RGH-CLT

[@LonestarTrips]

That they are! It's finally a new era of rail travel in the US! Can't wait to see the Airo sets hit the rails in the coming years.

[@dwightpriddy8111]

Reallly like your posts. You give us a lot of information about this wonderful transportation method. I have a question for you. You showed plug-ins on this train in coaches. I'm curious to know if the plug-ins are in the Southwest Chief. Need power for my oxygen machine. Thanks, and keep up the wonderful reports. A major train lover!

[@LonestarTrips]

Hey! Thanks for the kind words! On the southwest chief, there are two outlets below the windows of each row in coach, 1 outlet per roomette, and 3 outlets per bedroom. Hope this helps!

[@dwightpriddy8111]

@@LonestarTrips It did. Thanks loads, now I can plan our California trip!

[@AmtrakNerd42]

I’ve always wanted to ride the San Joaquins but I think I’m a bit too late to enjoy the California Cars.

[@LonestarTrips]

There's still plenty of time to go ride the cali cars. Only 4 of the 7 ordered venture sets are scheduled to be in service by the end of the year, plus the Capitol Corridor operates teh cali cars as well, so plenty of opportunity to check them out while they're still around.

[@AmtrakNerd42]

@@LonestarTrips My problem is I hardly get to travel. The closest route other than the Pacific Surfliner that runs these Cali cars is the San Joaquins which is a 3 hour drive away.

[@CAwxwatcher]

Have there been any talks about Venture or Airo trains entering service on the Surfliner?

[@christophersalse485]

Lossan doesn’t want them. Some of the displaced California cars are going to be sent to the Surfliner and Capitol Corridor until they can get new bilevels

[@LonestarTrips]

Nope, not at the moment. As @christophersalse485 mentioned, they'll likely take some of the displaced Cali cars until they get a full fleet replacement.

[@eymannreport4177]

@@christophersalse485 the trouble is nobody makes bilevel cars anymore

[@coleallen3895]

3:00 - too bad Amtrak did not order more of these cars for Amtrak Cascades, Midwest, North Carolina and Downeaster trains.

[@scottkew6278]

I find it curious that this is the only route that directly connects to BART requiring a simple walk across the boarding platform. Bad planning.

[@theventuracountyrailfan]

I hope they send the California cars to surf liner for more than 2 round trips per day to San Luis

[@PDXLibertarian]

I hope they eventually extend BART to there.

[@cdtx8306]

When I see a Superliner car on CDTX, I head straight for it. Many people mistake it as a business class car, so there are only a few people usually in it. Unfortunately, the coach/baggage Superliner on CDTX are retired. One Superliner has no seats on the bottom.

[@Petetornado]

8:28 You can thank me for that.

[@samtrak1204]

Venture car seats look hard and uncomfortable and the decor is sterile and unappetizing. These cars are a big step down from the California cars and the Venture cafe cars are "horreeblay". California should have gone with Stadler Flirts or some other stylish European adaptation.

[@LonestarTrips]

They definitely should have. While I'm sure they're nice for short/medium journeys, going all the way from Oakland to Bakersfield in those seats sounds awful.

[@anthonyangelici2963]

Or Viewliner Coaches based on the Viewliner Sleeper cars…

[@fresnocaliforniarailfan280]

Was this today?

[@LonestarTrips]

No, this was filmed back in March of this year.

[@BoeingAvation8490]

Hello

[@LonestarTrips]

Howdy!

[@himbourbanist]

Was that a New Jersey Transit coach hahahaah

[@nelsonramos5826]

What how😮😊

[@teuast]

Hey, two stations I've been to! I took the Starlight from Tacoma to Martinez once, and last year took the Capitol Corridor several times to see a woman I was dating. My usual spot for CC was Coliseum because of the BART connection, but since half the trains stop at Jack London, I did go to the BART transfer at Richmond a couple of times. On two other occasions, I actually got off at Martinez to bike to my place in the Dublin/Pleasanton area via the Mt. Diablo Summit Junction ranger station, neither of which went especially well. On one of them it was so punishingly hot that I just bailed on Diablo and took the completely flat Iron Horse Trail instead, and even that was so brutal that I had to take shelter in a Jamba Juice in Danville for an hour to avoid boiling to death. On the other, I did make it over Mt. Diablo, but I apparently didn't hydrate sufficiently, because I had to pull over at a water fountain by the roadside to avoid passing out (and then, when sufficiently recovered to keep going, realized I had been literally one corner away from the junction! FML). I did eventually make it home by that evening, but I took a few easy days after that.

[@vincent412l7]

Replacing bi-level cars with single level cars seems to me to be losing capacity. I'm aoso not a fan of push-pull operations.

[@barbarakilpatrick3859]

please give the new population a chance to even book a ticket we are water😷💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦

[@MarcelosalivaTRENESArg]

Excellent video my friends 😊awesome 😮 Greeting 🙋 from Argentina 🇦🇷 suscribete

[@LonestarTrips]

Glad you liked it! Hope you enjoy the rest of the channel.

[@samtrak1204]

Why is that ugly single level car in the consist? What's with this axle count BS?

[@LonestarTrips]

Some freight operators have minimum axle requirements to ensure crossings and other safety equipment activate properly. The single level car is added in this case to meet that requirement.

[@samtrak1204]

@@LonestarTrips A waste of Amtrak's paltry roster of equipment. Before Amtrak railroads ran 2 or 3 car locals all over the country with no problems.

[@LonestarTrips]

@@samtrak1204 That it is.