by Head-end View
As it turned out the light rail experience in San Jose was a disappointment largely for the obvious reason; you can't see out the front. I rode it from Mountain View (yes, a nice town) thru the cut by Moffett Field, (one of those big hangers looks like it rebuilt into an office building?) past all those new office parks around Sunnyvale thru downtown and all the way to Santa Teresa, where the line ends in the middle of nowhere.
On the return trip it started to rain. And the rain continued for a few days, screwing up my plans. Just my luck, the first rain in months, supposedly? And it happens the week I fly there. Never underestimate the power of coincidence. Luckily I had sunshine the last 2 days I was out there.
Does anyone know why VTA designed their trolleys with a solid wall cab partition? Doesn't even have a window in the cab door.
If I'd known that, I might not have bothered. This is the first light-rail system I've ever ridden where you can't see out the front. On San Francisco Muni, San Diego Trolley, Denver and metro NJ (HBLRT and River LIne) you can see out. So why not in San Jose?
But I guess it was good to tour the system once anyway. I was going to return a second day via Caltrain to S.J. Diridon station to ride the lines I missed the first day, but I didn't bother. I'd lost a day to the weather and wanted to ride Caltrain, BART and the cable cars. I'll post my reports on the BART system and my good Caltrain experiences in the next few days.
If anyone else is planning to tour VTA, there is a McDonalds and a Denny's conveniently located at the "Karina" stop. Also, if you park in the Caltrain lot at the Mountain View station, you have to pay the $3.00 fee, 24/7 unless I misunderstood. And, at one of the Sunnyvale stations,I got to see three police officers attempting to arrest a drugged-out looking homeless kind of young woman on the platform and she was steadfastly resisiting, even though handcuffed. Looked like a scene out of the "Cops" TV show.
On the return trip it started to rain. And the rain continued for a few days, screwing up my plans. Just my luck, the first rain in months, supposedly? And it happens the week I fly there. Never underestimate the power of coincidence. Luckily I had sunshine the last 2 days I was out there.
Does anyone know why VTA designed their trolleys with a solid wall cab partition? Doesn't even have a window in the cab door.
If I'd known that, I might not have bothered. This is the first light-rail system I've ever ridden where you can't see out the front. On San Francisco Muni, San Diego Trolley, Denver and metro NJ (HBLRT and River LIne) you can see out. So why not in San Jose? But I guess it was good to tour the system once anyway. I was going to return a second day via Caltrain to S.J. Diridon station to ride the lines I missed the first day, but I didn't bother. I'd lost a day to the weather and wanted to ride Caltrain, BART and the cable cars. I'll post my reports on the BART system and my good Caltrain experiences in the next few days.
If anyone else is planning to tour VTA, there is a McDonalds and a Denny's conveniently located at the "Karina" stop. Also, if you park in the Caltrain lot at the Mountain View station, you have to pay the $3.00 fee, 24/7 unless I misunderstood. And, at one of the Sunnyvale stations,I got to see three police officers attempting to arrest a drugged-out looking homeless kind of young woman on the platform and she was steadfastly resisiting, even though handcuffed. Looked like a scene out of the "Cops" TV show.
