fredus Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_ Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will_woodford1 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Those are some rough train tracks....it doesn't surprise me that they date to 1863. There's an old ex-Train Station in Los Altos but it's not abandoned: it's an antique store! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbq Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I'd recommend having a look around Union City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_s5 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 <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> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edmo Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 <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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_chan5 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_s5 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 <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> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 <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> Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanford Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Take a ride over the hill to Roaring Camp near Santa Cruz, they have everything you are looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I don't know about that, Roaring Camp is a tourist trap. I didn't see anything there I would bother with, since it was so obvious. Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanford Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 OK Jeff, you've forced me to dig through my old files and see if I can find at least one non-touristy, artistic shot of Roaring Camp - to be posted later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanford Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Roaring Camp Old Train<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I thought he asked about stations. The trains at Roaring Camp seem original, but that's different than the question. Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanford Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 My train stations shots at Roaring Camp all look a little, well, touristy. They do have a cool train barn and junk yard there. Worth a 30 minute ride from San Jose if you've never been there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredus Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_chan5 Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 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... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirk_thompson Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 I like Steve's idea - or maybe just ask that they organize a photo tour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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