On-Board Amtrak San Joaquins Train

Описание: Taken: January 26, 2023

Rolling Stock: Siemens = Siemens Charger SC-44 Locomotive #2106. St. Louis Car Company = 5 Comet IB Coach Cars (ex-Arrow I EMU, ex-NJT). EMD = AMTK NPCU (ex-F40PH) #90225 is in the rear.

Shoutout to the friendly conductor for her clear announcements and her greeting as I exited off at Turlock-Denair. Also, I apologize for the crappy angling for some of the video clips. I am not used to recording with my phone's camera as much anymore.

Similar to my first ride overall on this trainset, this train was powered by a Siemens Charger SC-44 (it was #2102) and compared to my second time (in August 2022, when I went to Merced, it was powered by F59PHI #2007), this unit definitely has a better horn, even though it is a Raised Letter K5LA.

Alright, guys, while I have a decent chunk of Amtrak videos from my early 2023 trip to Fresno, California, those will be a while to be released since I have not found the spare memory card, but rest assured, I will get to those when I am able to. Unfortunately, similar to the ridealong video I recorded to Merced, I reached to the station after the train pulled in, but it won't be a problem.

Since I was in Fresno to visit the family for a big ol' reunion, I decided to use one of the free days to do some railfanning within a different station: Turlock-Denair. Even though there is not much to do since the station is remote, I decided to go for it and to try it out.

One of the highlights was being able to ride in the vestibule, similar to how I sometimes do on New Jersey Transit. Unlike the California Car/Surfliner trainsets, there is plenty of room between in the vestibule and because this is not a Bi-Level train, the vestibule is a lot closer to the tracks, hence allowing the clattering of the wheels against the rails to sound louder. Since the Venture trainsets have open gangways, you wouldn't be able to do this on them.

Unfortunately, because I was busy the week prior to the trip, I was unable to free enough space on my memory card and I had tried to do so on my way to the station. I guess the information didn't update, so I had to switch over to my phone, so I apologize for the sharp decline in quality, but I had to make a quick decision.

Similar to how the San Joaquins Siemens Venture trainsets are, the Comet IB trainsets were never equipped with Café cars and as a result, Car #3 had a table filled with various boxes of mini water bottles and prepared snack boxes for customers to help themselves to on their way to their destination. Obviously, since this video was recorded, complimentary snacks and beverages have certainly evolved since more options are available.

With that being said, this was my third and possibly final time riding aboard a Comet IB set as they will remain in southern California as spare cars for the Surfliner trainsets until they end up being officially retired. It was a good experience getting to ride them, but all good things must come to an end, right? If you guys enjoyed the video, feel free to drop a like, comment, subscribe, share the video with everyone you know, and I will see you all on the next one! :D