FUD Wrote:
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> I'm pretty sure there were 4 SJ round trips/day by
> the mid-1990s when I was living in Fresno.
That is correct, it was the mid-1990s when the 4th round trip from Oakland to Bakersfield began, I just don't remember the year.


> Would
> occasionally use it for meetings in Sacramento, on
> the bus connection to Stockton. They were talking
> about a direct Sacramento train for much of the
> 1990s but it didn't happen until after I moved
> away.
>
> The buses in those days were not the luxury
> specials Amtrak uses now. They were whatever the
> charter operator could scare up, some of which
> were pretty antique. They'd have 2 buses,
> generally, from Stockton, one stopping in Lodi and
> the other direct via I-5 to Sacramento. Was on one
> of the latter that couldn't get over 50 mph
> heading north into a stiff wind, with the driver's
> "music" blaring from his ghetto blaster. Eh, we
> got there. Didn't make up much time that day,
> though.
>
> Then, there were the early days of the F59PHIs
> when they seemed to break down as much as they
> ran. A couple of times, the train ran with a BNSF
> on the point after a breakdown, and we were late
> those days because the train was limited to 70
> with a freight engine on it. And I got the same
> consist on the way home (last train in the
> evening) - I guess they turned the whole thing in
> Oakland and sent the BNSF home to Bakersfield the
> same way it came.
>
> The Olde Dayze ... leave Fresno at 0700 for a day
> of meetings, return (if lucky and we didn't break
> down or run into anything) about 2200. Still,
> better than driving on 99, especially in winter
> fog, and (if on time) only about an hour longer.
>
> And yes, that was Amtrak, not ACE. I know. Funny,
> though, Amtrak considered the SJ to be a "commuter
> train".
Yes, lots of Amtrak Personnel referred to it as a long distance commuter train, but that was not really what it was, but yes, there were lots of people that used and still use it for commuting.