BART - Colma Station

[JR East]

20 hours ago, bill937ca said:

Its a small world!  I was in San Francisco in May 1976.  Along the way I took a photo San Francisco Municipal Railway's red, white and blue GM bus 3210. A very identifiable symbol of the year.

 

 

Here are some pictures my father's shot in Aug 1976 (I'm the small kid on some photos)

 

 

A couple of buses of which some are in "bicentenial" layout

 

 

 

 

 

A scenic train somewhere (https://www.roaringcamp.com/)

 

 

 

 

Some streetcar, one in special bicentenial edition

 

 

 

And probably the same model shot in 2012 when I was in SF (I let the experts saying the truth)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by JR East

[chadbag]

I've ridden BART a couple times in the mid 201x and later 200x when at Apple's WWDC.  Can't say I was impressed but more by the condition of the trains and the poor behavior of the riders.  Smelled like urine and many of the people were badly behaved.

[cteno4]

Bart has been on par with the other us metro systems I’ve been on. Like most transit systems it has its bad actors here and there and also it’s financial up and down times.

 

jeff

[bill937ca]

BART may suffer because of the carpet in the cars. As a side note their carpets were tested in Toronto's subway during my youth.

[cteno4]

Yes and fabric seat cushions as well. It was designed more as suburban to urban commute system than a subway system so was designed swanky. He le room in the early cars was impressive (a my height I notice these things even when young).

 

jeff

[bill937ca]

It's not the world it used to be. The modern world can be cruel to amenities like carpets and cushioned seats.

[cteno4]

And knee room, here on dc metro I have to sit sideways in row seats as there is about 4” of knee room to squeeze my long legs into. I try to ride off hours when I can take up 2 seats or get wall or front seats.

 

jeff

[serotta1972]

On 1/17/2023 at 1:11 PM, cteno4 said:

I remember riding BART the first public day as a kid. I grew up in Oakland until 1971 and we moved just down the coast to Monterey and we visited the Bay Area all the time, so got to watch a lot of the construction as it went up. Later lived in Berkeley and Oakland for many years so much bart riding. I loved the original sloped front cars, was a very look modern for us trains. When I would get bored on a visit to the Bay Area I use to just go and ride bart around for a few hours.

 

jeff

@cteno4Are you going to get the Rapido BART Models?  I'm still on the fence but very likely will pre-order especially now that I live next to a BART station, haha.  

Edited January 21, 2023 by serotta1972

[serotta1972]

On 1/18/2023 at 2:50 PM, bill937ca said:

BART may suffer because of the carpet in the cars. As a side note their carpets were tested in Toronto's subway during my youth.

The carpet and cloth seats have recently been replaced with some sort of vinyl that is easily cleaned and sanitized.  

[serotta1972]

@JR East Thanks for sharing your pics.  That's really cool that you and @bill937ca were in San Francisco in 1976.  

[cteno4]

10 hours ago, serotta1972 said:

Are you going to get the Rapido BART Models?  I'm still on the fence but very likely will pre-order especially now that I live next to a BART station, haha.  

@serotta1972 I’ve vowed not to stray into HO scale! It helps that it’s at $1500 for a 8 car train. Was a bit tempted at the end car display model with the display case, but even that is a tad much for me. I’ll see how well temptation is kept at bay. But that sloped nose is a strong childhood memory,

 

jeff

[serotta1972]

@cteno4 Here's a good watch about the BART Legacy Fleet and Rapido's model.

 

 

[cteno4]

You are evil junior, pure evil!

 

jeff

[katoftw]

On 1/14/2023 at 12:05 PM, marknewton said:

I wasn't being entirely serious, but having said that, this is the view from my kitchen window. It's Waterfall station, which is also the depot I work out of:

 

 

And guess who is often a few minutes late for work? 🙄

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

Out ya gate.  Turn left.  Accross the bridges.  Through carpark.  Into depot.  Close.

[serotta1972]

The end of an era - today is the last day of service for the Legacy Fleet. No fanfare here but I was lucky enough to ride on one today on my way home from a bike ride. I was able to get a video as it left the station and got a little sentimental. I been on the fence about ordering the Rapido BART models but I will be ordering it now. 😁

Edited September 10, 2023 by serotta1972

[cteno4]

Bummer! Blast from my childhood. I grew up in Oakland and watched it all being constructed. The old class A end cars with their sloped noses and angular but slightly rounded features were so futuristic in its day. They are pretty. Bye bye…

 

jeff

[bikkuri bahn]

As we're reminiscing here...I lived in the mid-Peninsula as a small child, so most memories are of the Espee peninsula commute service (scarlet and gray Geeps, gallery cars and my favorites, the Subs), but my first ride on BART must have been around 1976, a kindergarten field trip from Daly City to Oakland.  All I remember was going through the transbay tube, wondering how long it would take, and a picnic at Lake Merritt (it was cloudy that day).  I think that was the only time I rode it until I became an adult, as my family moved to SoCal shortly afterwards.

[serotta1972]

@bikkuri bahn My 1st ride on BART was also for a field trip to a Museum in Oakland in Elementary school. Going through the transbay tube was quite an experience for a young kid. 

[cteno4]

I remember riding bART in the opening day. We had moved down to monterey a couple years before it opened and went up especially to ride the first day as we had watched it for years being built. In 4th grade (around 1970 last year of school in Oakland) we had a school field trip down to the port of Oakland where the trans bay tunnel came in and we for to walk in a couple hundred yards while they talked about all the features. I remember the first trans bay trip on opening day thinking I wonder what the fish think of this… probably nothing as most of it is buried. In a trench. Or filled over the top.

 

jeff

[maihama eki]

Those BART trains looked so futuristic when it launched.

 

After all these years, I finally rode it in 2022. I was happy to be able to see those original trains, but they were in pretty rough shape.

 

At the SFO station.

[cteno4]

The concept for the original BART trains was sort of comfort and class, but as an interurban/suburban transport that took its toll over the years. Newer cars were engineered for the usual more urban transport.

 

Jeff

[maihama eki]

A nice, short news blurb "BART legacy fleet phased out to make way for ‘Fleet of the Future’ "

 

 

I really want the Rapido HO BART, but I have zero excuse to actually own it. Rapido claims it will ship toward the end of the year.

 

[N-Osoi]

Love the look of the BART, the trains and some of the stations. Had a ride when I visited USA in early 2008.

[Zeether]

I remember a program on PBS called Tracks Ahead had a segment on the BART and it looked so futuristic at the time to me...something about the way those old fleets looked with the sloped ends I guess

[cteno4]

Yes when I was a kid in Oakland and Bart first starting they just looked like some scifi show! They were very nicely designed and the brushed stainless looked very nice in person. So nice they looked like real scifi not some cheesy movie prop trying to look scifi,

 

jeff