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[OT] Old train station in the bay area ??


fredus

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Hi there !!

 

I was looking at some train pictures the other day and found some

very breathtaking. It gave me the urge to try myself !! :-) I live in

San Jose,CA and I've never an old abandonned train station but who

knows ... !!! Could someone recommend a good place to start ??

 

Thanks !

 

Fred

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I don't know about abandoned, but there are some that are not used like the CalTrain

station in Santa Clara. I think that one goes back to the 1860s. The rail line that's now

CalTrain goes back to 1863 - when Abraham Lincoln was president.

www.citysnaps.net
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<p>The ghost town of Drawbridge contains an abandoned train station and is just across a bridge from SF bay national wildlife refuge in Alviso. You can get a brief glimpse of it if you ride the Caltrain from Pleasanton to San José. There are also sporadic and infrequent public tours of the ghost town — see <a href="http://www.sfbws.org/train.htm">this announcement</a> for a past example. Other local examples such as Wright or Loma Prieta are either harder to obtain legal access to, or much less well preserved.</p>

<p>

If you're interested in photographing old railway artifacts, you might also want to check out the <a href="http://www.roaringcamp.com/">Roaring Camp Railroad</a> near Felton.

</p>

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<p>

<center> <img src="http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=2248567&size=lg"> </center>

<center> <i>old oakland train station</i> </center>

<p>

I can't quite remember the address of this station but it's in Oakland and a couple of years ago was still accessible (drove right up to it). <a href="http://www.acme.com/jef/photos/d3816/d3816i0027.html">same station</a>.

<p>

You might want to check out this <a href="http://www.acme.com/jef/photos/archaeology.html">web site</a>, a bunch of info regarding industrial archeology in the bay area and beyond.

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Drawbridge is supposed to be interesting - I live virtually next door to it in Fremont, but haven't gotten around to sneaking out there (it is a reserve and people aren't supposed to wander in).

 

There is an old train station in the Niles section of Fremont you could check out.

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<p>

Steve Chan wrote:<br>

<I>Drawbridge is supposed to be interesting - I live virtually next door to it in Fremont, but haven't gotten around to sneaking out there (it is a reserve and people aren't supposed to wander in).</I>

</p>

<p>

The problem isn't that the town is in a preserve. The preserve is open, and there is convenient parking at the <a href="http://desfbay.fws.gov/directions.htm">environmental education center</a>. The problem is that you need to cross a somewhat busy railway bridge to get from the wildlife refuge into the ghost town. For this reason, I suggest joining one of the infrequent public tours.

</p>

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<center><img src="http://www.spirer.com/images/tracks.jpg"><br><i>Drawbridge Tracks, Copyright 1998 Jeff Spirer</i></center><p>

I've been to Drawbridge twice, I believe this is the station. Unfortunately, the last photo tour was in 1998, and the current tour (in the link above) doesn't really give any time to do reasonable photographic work.<p>

 

<i> but haven't gotten around to sneaking out there</i><p>

 

I would recommend strongly against sneaking out there. You can't hear the trains as they approach (the photo tours had front and back spotters), the ground is muddy and quicksand-like in places. The insides of the structures are filled with boards that have a slime covering. If something happens, it's difficult to get emergency vehicles out there.<p>

 

If you can find a licensed guide who can take you into Drawbridge, it's worth the trouble, but I don't know if it's allowed any more.<p>

 

<center>

<img src="http://www.spirer.com/images/bennett.jpg"><br>

<i>Drawbridge, Copyright 2000 Jeff Spirer</i></center>

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You guys are AMAZING !!! I wasn't expected so much answer to my question ! Wow ! I need to go through all the material you've posted so far ... Stations, trains, I'm interested in everything !!

 

THANK YOU !!!

 

Fred

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Thanks for the link. Last I heard, there weren't really any regular tours, which is why I was thinking of "sneaking" out there. But I poked around at the link posted and found that there will be a tour May 29: http://desfbay.fws.gov/Tideline/Activity.htm#Drawbridge

 

Maybe we should have the photo.netters soak up all the reservation slots and force the guides to give us time to photograph stuff...

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