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San Francisco is still one place where you can find classic PCC cars plying their routes. Here, cars representing Birmingham Electric and an early SF MUNI paint scheme head east on Market Street. Directly behind is one of MUNI's more modern vehicles. In the distance, a third PCC car representing...
The San Francisco Belt Railroad employs two kinds of goats. One for kicking cars, the other kind for eating the weeds between the rails. They operate a waste transloading operation out of one of the piers and have a small yard on the southeast side of town. Built for the railroad in 1946, Alco...
The brakeman on the South City Switcher doesn't bat an eye as he passes the bizarre mural on Carroll St. while riding the front porch of UP 589 to pick up a few empties at an industry farther down the street. This is in the heart of San Francisco's Bayview/Hunter's Point neighborhood, a gritty...
The South City Switcher winds its way through the twisting street trackage of San Francisco's Bayview industrial district. Although the train comes through on a daily basis, many people assume the tracks are abandoned and park on the tracks. However, today there were no problems.
The power on the South City Switcher roars with all its might up the 3% grade to the Caltrain main with 16 loads, while the conductor stands by. Iconic landmarks of San Francisco loom in the background: the Bay Bridge, I-280, and the downtown skyline.
The South City Switcher runs through "Junkyard Alley," also known as Rankin Street, which is lined with scrap dealers. All of the vehicles off to the side were sitting on the tracks waiting to enter the junkyard just a minute prior. When the train arrived, there was a mad dash to pull...
LB Railco, a waste hauler based out of the Port of San Francisco, owns two Alco S-2 switchers for shuttling cars around their facility. #25 is seen working today to make up a train for the outbound South City Switcher, the daily UP job that serves industries in San Francisco. The power for the...
An afternoon Caltrain commute run speeds across the old bridge over Quint Street in San Francisco. The bridge is one of a dwindling number of bridges still lettered for the SP. It was built in 1907, just after the San Francisco earthquake.
Caltrain "Baby Bullets" meet each other at the 22nd Street station in San Francisco. Baby Bullets are the hottest trains on the Peninsula. Making only a few limited stops between San Francisco and San Jose, they cut the commute time to just under an hour, much faster than driving...
Southbound Caltrain commute run #276 powers its way out of 22nd Street station. It needs to get down to its next stop at Bayshore in a hurry because a Baby Bullet train is hot on its tail.
This Saab was fouling the tracks ahead of the South City Switcher. They had to wait for a tow truck to show up to remove the car. With the tow truck driver at the wheel, the brakeman and a good samaritan shove the car out of harm's way.
The South City Switcher winds its way down the twisting street trackage of Quint Street in San Francisco. If there's going to be a headache, this is where it will be, as many people don't realize that a freight train comes through here on a daily basis. Thinking the tracks are abandoned, many...
The brakeman on the South City Switcher looks with resignation upon the obstruction that has brought his train to a standstill. Despite copious signage, this driver still failed to heed the warnings. As a result, several grade crossings were fouled for 20 minutes while a tow truck was called to...
An especially lengthy South City Switcher puts on the appearance of a mainline freight as it roars up the Caltrain mainline at Bayshore at 50 mph with 5 engines and 30 cars.
In a scene almost reminiscent of the third world, the South City Switcher gingerly picks its way down an alley lined with junkyards and scrap dealers. The tracks are barely visible amid the dirt. Just two minutes prior, you wouldn't even know a train could ever pass through here, as there were...
The South City Switcher carefully picks its way down Rankin St. There are several scrap yards in this area which see a lot of truck traffic and there are frequently obstructions on this stretch of tracks, everything from trucks to forklifts, to dumpsters. Liberal use of the horn usually is...
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