Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Big Passenger Train in California

Photo courtesy of PF Sullivan

I bet this train was really noisy when the picture was taken! That horn is loud loud loud. This locomotive takes passengers between cities in California for Amtrak. Find out more about Amtrak here:

http://www.amtrak.com

Blue is my favorite color, and this engine has a lot of blue paint.

5 comments:

  1. Please remember that trains take a LONG time to stop... do not get in front of the train for any reason!

    This picture is NOT public domain - it is licensed under the "creative commons" with the "non-commercial no derivitives" restriction. - copyright holder, Paul Sullivan

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  2. Paul F - Indeed you are correct. We post both here. The top of the page says, "All photos are in Creative Commons or Public Domain."

    Is this your picture?

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  3. Paul F - You are very right about how long it takes for trains to stop. They are fun to watch but can be very dangerous to be around! Always expect a train when you are near the tracks.

    Thanks for that great message!

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  4. Yes, it is my picture. (I use the Flickr pseudonym of a prop from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail")... This is taken from the Jack London Square Barnes & Noble bookstore.

    You are right, the trains coming through JLS are very (even extremely!) noisy - they are required to sound their horn 3 times for every street crossing. (and there are 5 streets in a row!) The train horn is loud enough to require ear protection if you're going to be around trains a lot! (...and don't want to go deaf...)

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  5. Amtrak California is really run by Amtrak under contract from the California Department of Transportation (or "Caltrans", for short...) It is (for all intents and purposes...) a SEPERATE railroad from Amtrak itself... although it sometimes borrows equipment from Amtrak, Caltrans actually owns all the locomotives in this color scheme, (two models, the EMD F59PHI seen here [15] and the GE B32-8W [2]) and all the cars that say "Amtrak California" on the side.

    Amtrak California locomotives can sometimes be seen on the Coast Starlight, running down to the Los Angeles Amtrak locomotive facility for major overhauls.

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