From time to time there will also be a video on other travel topics, such as plane trips, scenic drives, and city walks.
While we record new material and have shot a lot of video footage in recent years, we also have quite a few videos that we made as far back as 1990. We’d like to share these older videos, shot on analog tape way before RU-vid was even imagined. We hope that you’ll enjoy these snapshots of the past three decades, but please understand the quality limitations.
I try to upload videos regularly every two, three weeks, but, as this is a hobby and I have a day job to pay for it, sometimes priorities take over and there may be delays between new postings. And, if you don't see the favorites that were here before, try @MiscellaneousTravelRamblings.
Now is no other option mate. Worse that they don't cooperating with other train firms. But common dont lie about seats. In Japan 3999 dollar train have worse seats and not opening window with noisy trains. So don't lie. Refurbished means You are in 70's train. After 1990 US attack Poland and kill millions of people.
I guess it's a matter of perspective. 1,000,000 qualifies as a large city, so 100K not so much... Thanks for your comment and I will try to select my adjectives in a more relative way. 😀
For context the plantations in Kawaii were essentially feudalism where indigenous Hawaiians were dispossessed of their land by force by European and American capitalists, then made to work the land for little more than what they needed to survive. Nothing to remember fondly, it’s akin to southern slavery plantations or forced labour camps anywhere.
I frequently travel on such train in sleeping wagon (either from Jelenia Gora or Szklarska Poreba - depending to current timetable). Yesterday to myself surprise I travelled on the wagon undergone to fully interior refurbishment done by PESA. As per identification plate the VEB Waggonbau Gorlitz Type K 1170 MFG 1981 was modified in 2016 into 308 A Type. Pretty good impression - from old interior nothing remained. Efficient aircon with digital control in each compartment, large restroom for disabled persons. It looks that till now only 10 wagons modified to such type, but may be that such mod. programme will cover other units.
Caltrain electrification is part of the HIgh Speed Rail project. Not only is it being electrified, they are adding a third set of rails in many areas to expand the "baby bullet" trains that skip large numbers of stations and will have more spots to pass the trains stopping at every station.
You skipped three interesting stations. Palo Alto with its streamlined art deco station, Mountain View with its connection to VTA Light Rail, and Santa Clara with its station built in 1863.
Great, thanks for pointing these out. When I'm back to report on the Stadler electrics, I'm going to plan a stop at each of these interesting stations.
It's quite metallic, true, but offers a nice glimpse at the history of American commuter rail. Still, I'm very much looking forward to the Stadler electrics taking over these services.
The modern term for this sort of line is "Regional Rail". If it was peak hours only into a downtown core, "Commuter Rail" would be the term. Turning Commuter Rail into Regional Rail is one of the best things to do to provide non-commuter mobility around an area. And I am sure some commute on this into San Francisco, combining with the ferry.
And I'm very glad that non-peak hours schedules are maintained on this service. Perhaps this is why the ridership is good on the weekends, as people get used to having the train when they need it.
Yes, which is what I experienced in Odawara, and that wasn't even the highest frequency, based on the published schedule. The operation between Tokyo and Shin Osaka, in terms of trains per hour, is more services than a typical metro in the US. Fabulous!
Has anyone travelled on both the Nightjet and the EN overnight train between Vienna and Zurich? If so, which one is better? We will be looking for a 4 bed couchette compartment. Also, which side of the train is better for scenery (if we have the option to choose) when travelling from Vienna to Zurich?
My feeling is that the Nightjet is the better overall. I have not traveled on the EN, which is a Hungarian train with their equipment and staff. I'm sure that it would be just fine, but, if you get the Comfort Couchette on the Nightjet, that would be the best option. These have recently been introduced after extensive refurbishment, feature only four beds, and have a bright and modern interior. Plus, you get a small breakfast, which I'm not sure you'd receive on the Hungarian EN train. When traveling this route, either side is great for some fantastic scenery in the early morning, in both Austria and Switzerland. The train reverses direction, I believe in Feldkirch, Austria, and after that you'll be in Switzerland and have the best views on the right side traveling towards Zurich, with beautiful lakes and mountains as backdrop; great way to have that breakfast, looking at wonderful eastern Switzerland! One thing to mention is the cost. Nightjet has increased their prices significantly since last December. And while it's still possible to get a low price ticket (or four), it's more difficult as you near your departure date. From this perspective, then, the Hungarian EN might be less expensive.
Bombardier(Alstom) Bi Levels are a lot better than the gallery cars, more spacious and offer tables and have restrooms in every car, the bombarider bi levels are not going to be retired,they will be kept for the Tamien-Gilroy line and soon Salinas line, not sure if theyre going to use then on the SF-SJ line with the AEM7’s but probably not. Caltrain ordered a Stadler BEMU trainset for the Tamien-Salinas line
Thanks for this clarification. I have a review planned of the Bombardier bi-levels in the near future, although not for the Caltrain fleet. I rode the Utah FrontRunner train from Ogden to Salt Lake City, which uses the same bi-level, and enjoyed it very much.
San Francisco, the city by the bay (and where you have to constantly look down walking on the sidewalk to make sure you avoid stepping on human waste of all kinds, used syringes, and the prerequisite homeless person whose to lazy to work but instead use drugs, alcohol, and who knows what else}.
crazy how this is real, San Francisco is part of the bay, but Oakland is a lil worse than SF, your car steps foot in there you’re going to get robbed, if you end up going there eventually, leave everything open, doors, trunk, EVERYTHING but take your belongings with you, they won’t matter since everyone who lives/visits there usually carry’s there suitcases around bc of that.
What specific details may I provide? In general, the compartment is arguably (or was until recently) the most spacious sleeping car space in a regularly scheduled intercity overnight service. There are two beds, with the top one folded away for single use, a fairly large table with two chairs, a full en-suite bathroom, and good space for luggage. The headroom is naturally limited by the curvature of the roof, but that is compensated with an open feeling affected by the four panoramic windows. The new Nightjet Comfort Plus cabins in the just introduced trainsets (Wien/Insbruck-Hamburg), offer more space and are, of course, state of the art, but for the last three decades, the Deluxe compartments as depicted in the video were the best. By the way, a Slovak private operator has purchased a large batch of these same rail cars from Deutsche Bahn and intends to return them to service on their own trains as well as leased to other operators. It will be interesting where and how successful that en-devour will be. I plan to have another video posted of the double-deck Deluxe compartment in the near future, and then a full review of the new Nightjet sleeping car compartment later on this year.
A little fun fact is, that the reason why the tunnel is so wide out of Larkspur, is because back in the day interurbans actually used to run through it! It was a part of the Northwestern Pacific's Greenbrae Cut-Off, which allowed interurbans to bypass the lengthy San Anselmo route. Never was too well-patronized, but it was a great route until the interurban was abandoned in 1941.
I take this very often on my way to work. Usually we have different vessels like the one where when you were leaving on the side, I haven’t seen much of this vessel lately
Thank you! As far as US Intercity train travel goes, this is quite a nice experience. I've traveled these Capitol Corridor trains more than a few times, and have watched the ridership increase over the years. I'm looking forward to an equipment upgrade, whenever that'll be, and hope that either the refurbished existing cars, or new trains will bring the service a step closer to a world standard.
Just flew out from New York for several days to railfan Caltrain. I love the old F40 locomotives and loved the railfan windows on those fantastic gallery cars. I had to go there to get the old power and railfan window experience before it’s all lost to what they call progress!!!
Great coverage! Always love seeing hd footage of these parades from years past. It's such a shame that none of the Wolsztyn-based locomotives featured here are running anymore, let alone well cared for in the case of those Ol49s. In fact I'm pretty sure that the GWR Prairie 5521 and those two Czech steamers 475.111 and 423.0145 are the only locomotives in this video that are still operational. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for your feedback! The current parades are definitely a shadow of what they used to be, of course because the locomotives are slowly dying out. During my first visit to Wolsztyn as part of the Wolsztyn Experience foot-plating weeks, I spent time at the controls of Ty3-2, which was my most favorite time in a cab of a steam loco, distributing and collecting freight, and making short trip runs to nearby yards. Freight operations in Wolsztyn disappeared within a few years after that, and that kriegslok is long gone as an operating locomotive. I have a bit more HD and analog content of Wolsztyn steam to share in the upcoming months.
Yes, unfortunately when we visited, the on-board catering was closed. I hope that maybe someone will invest in the food and beverage service after the northern extension is built. At that point, the end-to-end trip will approach a couple of hours, and refreshments would be welcome.
Hi "BR"- I am sending you CZECH trains in 2023 - launching new trains reached already 150 pcs of RegioPanter electric units, and already started deliveries of 160 pcs of RegioFox diesl units, a train revolution for such a small 10M country Pendolino - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-N3Ov2jAhwqA.html - Super city train InterJet - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--5FNuR3aWZo.html (new lokos, new wagons) - last year video - new wagons, lokos not yet - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rfOVq4u0YsM.html RegioPanter - in Pilsner region livery - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FtJL34h7aMg.html RegioPanter - in standard ČD livery - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_1Nj88AaenE.html RegioShark - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hszEm7kPDiw.html TRAINS AVAILABLE IN OTHER REGIONS: RegioPanter "Moravia" - in South Moravian region livery - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-q2nhjeDDC1g.html RailJet - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-M0Gmu_7_MmM.html - international tran Czech republic - Austria (the Czech one is better than Austrian, also much bettr food) RegioJet - regional unit for Ústí nad labem region (Ústecký kraj) - in that reagion green livery - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Tj2VfShB1Bo.html LeoExpress - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xQsxtmvdiMA.html Push-Pull - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4MegGpbQRAg.html LATEST DELIVERY ON CZECH TRACKS - SINCE !!!now!!! 309/2023 - ordered 160 units RegioFox - in PID livery (Prague and Central Bohemia) - outside ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oyJTJfvg9_8-.html 2 inside ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HfO2SzJHsZE.html RegioFox - in Pardubice region (Pardubický kraj) livery - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LXN1clPWZso.html (I dont like this livery) RegioFox - in standart ČD livery - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5Cr3Do1HbLI.html - actual delivery to Czech republic NEW DELIVY SINCE 1Q/2024 - FOR INTERNATIONAL LINES - ALREADY ON TESTING ComfortJet - www.ceskedrahy.cz/en/press-center/press-releases/first-comfortjet-train-set-has-arrived-test-circuit-velim - Prague - Dresden - Berlin - Hamburg - Kiel - (Copenhagen) - Prague - Brno - Bratislava - Budapest - Prague - Brno - Vienna - Graz - Villach
This is needed in a lot more places. DMUs are quicker with starts & stops than loco-hauled trains, and can be built for "multi-mode" with overhead or third-rail electrical where available.
I'm glad to hear about your great memories. Our trip was very enjoyable, and I'm glad to have made this video for others to see and, hopefully, experience this service for themselves.
