1.
Amtrak
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Founded in 1971 to take over most of the remaining U. S. passenger rail services, it is partially government funded yet operated and managed as a for-profit corporation. Amtrak serves more than 500 destinations in 46 states and three Canadian provinces, operating more than 300 trains each day over 21,300 miles of track, some track sections allow trains to run as fast as 150 mph. In fiscal year 2015, Amtrak served 30.8 million passengers and had $2.185 billion in revenue, nearly two-thirds of passengers come from the 10 largest metropolitan areas, 83% of passengers travel on routes shorter than 400 miles. Its headquarters is at Union Station in Washington, D. C, the name Amtrak is a portmanteau of the words America and trak, the latter itself a sensational spelling of track. From the mid-19th century until about 1920, nearly all intercity travelers in the United States moved by rail, historically, U. S. passenger trains were owned and operated by the same privately owned companies that operated freight trains. About 65,000 railroad passenger cars operated in 1929, from 1920 into the later 20th century, passenger rails popularity diminished and there was a series of pullbacks and tentative recoveries. Rail passenger revenues declined dramatically between 1920 and 1934 because of the rise of the automobile, in the same period, many travelers were lost to interstate bus companies such as Greyhound Lines. However, in the mid-1930s, railroads reignited popular imagination with service improvements and new, diesel-powered streamliners, such as the gleaming silver Pioneer Zephyr and Flying Yankee. Even with the improvements, on a basis, traffic continued to decline. World War II broke the malaise, passenger traffic soared sixfold thanks to troop movements, in 1946, there remained 45 percent fewer passenger trains than in 1929, and the decline quickened despite railroad optimism. Passengers disappeared and so did trains, few trains generated profits, most produced losses. Broad-based passenger rail deficits appeared as early as 1948, and by the mid-1950s, by 1965, only 10,000 rail passenger cars were in operation,85 percent fewer than in 1929. Passenger service was provided on only 75,000 miles of track, the 1960s also saw the end of railway post office revenues, which had helped some of the remaining trains break even. The causes of the decline of rail in the United States were complex. Until 1920, rail was the practical form of intercity transport. By 1930, the companies had constructed, with private funding. In 1916, the amount of track in the United States peaked at 254,251 miles, some rail routes had been built primarily to facilitate the sale of stock in the railroad companies, they were redundant from the beginning. These were the first to be abandoned as the financial positions deteriorated
2.
Fairfield, California
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Fairfield is a city in, and the county seat of, Solano County, California, United States. It is located in the North-eastern part of the Bay Area, Fairfield was founded in 1856 by clippership captain Robert H. Waterman, and named after his former hometown of Fairfield, Connecticut. It is the home of Travis Air Force Base and the headquarters of Jelly Belly, with a population of 108,321 at the 2010 census, it is slightly smaller in population than Vallejo. Other nearby cities include Suisun City, Vacaville, Rio Vista, Benicia, and Napa. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 37.6 square miles. The total area is 5. 65% water, the city is located within the California Coastal Ranges. The city is centered directly north of the Suisun Bay and northeast of the San Pablo Bay, much of the Suisun Bay contains the Suisun Marsh, the largest saltwater marsh on the west coast of the United States. According to the City of Fairfield website, Native Americans, such as those from the Ion culture, settled in the Rockville, the first European contact came in 1810 when the Spanish army was ordered to attack the Suisun Indians. In 1835 the Mexican General Vallejo was so magnanimous in victory over the Indian Chief Sem Yeto that the later became his ally in conflicts against other tribes. In 1837 the Indian Chief Solano received the Rancho Suisun Mexican land grant and this grant eventually came into the hands of a clipper ship captain from Fairfield, Connecticut named Robert H. Waterman. He not only parceled out the town in 1856, but also, in a shrewd move, entered Fairfield in the race for Solano County seat in 1858. As an inducement he granted 16 acres of land for the construction of county buildings, in 1903 Fairfield was incorporated as a city. The 2010 United States Census reported that Fairfield had a population of 105,321, the population density was 2,798.5 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Fairfield was 48,407 White,16,586 African American,869 Native American,15,700 Asian,1,149 Pacific Islander,13,301 from other races, and 9,309 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 28,789 persons,21. 2% of Fairfield is Mexican,1. 1% Puerto Rican,1. 0% Salvadoran,0. 5% Nicaraguan,0. 3% Guatemalan,0. 2% Cuban, and 0. 2% Peruvian. The Census reported that 102,832 people lived in households,1,221 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, there were 2,052 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 237 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 6,802 households were made up of individuals and 2,500 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.98. There were 25,843 families, the family size was 3.42
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Union Pacific Railroad
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The Union Pacific Railroad is a freight hauling railroad that operates 8,500 locomotives over 32,100 route-miles in 23 states west of Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana. The Union Pacific Railroad network is the largest in the United States and it is also one of the worlds largest transportation companies. Union Pacific Railroad is the operating company of Union Pacific Corporation. Union Pacific Corporations main competitor is the BNSF Railway, the second largest freight railroad. Together, the two railroads have a duopoly on all freight rail lines in the U. S. The original company was incorporated on July 1,1862, under an act of Congress entitled Pacific Railroad Act of 1862. The act was approved by President Abraham Lincoln, and it provided for the construction of railroads from the Missouri River to the Pacific as a war measure for the preservation of the Union. It was constructed westward from Council Bluffs, Iowa to meet the Central Pacific Railroad line, the line was constructed primarily by Irish labor who had learned their craft during the recent Civil War. The two lines were joined together at Promontory Summit, Utah,53 miles west of Ogden on May 10,1869, hence creating the first transcontinental railroad in North America. Under the guidance of its dominant stockholder Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, the namesake of the city of Durant, Iowa, the first rails were laid in Omaha. It built or purchased local lines that gave it access to Denver, Colorado, to Portland, Oregon and it also owned narrow gauge trackage into the heart of the Colorado Rockies and a standard gauge line south from Denver across New Mexico into Texas. UP was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal, exposed in 1872 and its independent construction company the Crédit Mobilier had bribed congressmen. The UP itself was not guilty but it did get bad publicity, the financial crisis of 1873 led to financial troubles but not bankruptcy. The company was reorganized as the Union Pacific Railway on January 24,1880, the new company declared bankruptcy during the Panic of 1893. When it emerged in 1897 it reverted to the original name, the corporate headquarters of the Union Pacific Corporation were located in New York City from its initial founding in the 1860s until Drew Lewis became CEO in the mid-1980s. He relocated it to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, later the headquarters was shifted to Dallas, Texas, before relocating to Omaha to join the operating headquarters. From the ICC annual reports, except 1979 is from Moodys, on December 31,1925 UP-OSL-OWRN-LA&SL-StJ&GI operated 9,834 route-miles and 15,265 track-miles. At the end of 1980, Union Pacific operated 9,266 route-miles and 15,647 miles of track, Moodys shows 220,697 million revenue ton-miles in 1993 on the expanded system
5.
Island platform
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An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on twin-track routes due to pragmatic and cost-effective reasons, an alternative arrangement is to position side platforms on either side of the tracks. The historical use of island platforms depends greatly upon the location, the island platform layout is a popular, cost-effective and practical solution in modern railway systems. Island platforms allow facilities such as escalators, elevators, shops, toilets and this is essential for wheelchair accessible stations. An island platform makes it easier for users and the infirm to change services between tracks. Additionally, an island platform layout eliminates the need to construct a crossover or subway between two platforms, however, island platforms may become overcrowded, especially at busy stations, and this can lead to safety issues such as Clapham Common and Angel on the London Underground. However, for the tracks to diverge around the platform, extra width is required along the right-of-way on each approach to the station. Track centers vary for rail systems throughout the world but are normally 3 to 5 meters, if the island platform is 6 meters wide, the tracks have to slew out by the same distance. While this is not a problem on a new line that is being constructed, in addition, a single island platform makes it quite difficult to have through tracks, which are usually between the local tracks. A common configuration in busy locations on high speed lines is a pair of island platforms, high-speed trains can therefore pass straight through the station, while slow trains pass around the platforms. This arrangement also allows the station to serve as a point where trains can be passed by faster trains. The purpose of this design was to reduce unnecessary passenger congestion at a station with a high volume of passengers. Many of the stations on the Great Central Railway were constructed in this form and this was because the line was planned to connect to a Channel Tunnel. Island platforms are a normal sight on Indian railway stations. Almost all railway stations in India consist of island platforms, in Toronto,29 subway stations use island platforms. A slight disadvantage is that crossovers have to be rather long, in southern New Jersey and Philadelphia, PATCO uses island platforms in all of its 13 stations, to facilitate one-person train operation. Most elevated stations in Singapores Mass Rapid Transit system use island platforms, the exception is Dover MRT Station, which uses side platforms as it is built on an existing rail line. The planned Canberra MRT Station will also use side platforms, as it also be built on an existing rail line
6.
San Jose Diridon station
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San Jose Diridon is the central passenger rail depot for San Jose, California. It also serves as a hub for Santa Clara County. The station is on the Union Pacific Coast Line tracks at 65 Cahill Street in San Jose, the depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its Italian Renaissance Revival style architectural and historical significance. The station is served by Caltrain, ACE, VTA light rail and this is in addition to bus services by California Shuttle Bus, Amtrak Thruway Bus, Monterey-Salinas Transit, San Benito Transit, Santa Cruz Metro, SMART, local VTA and employer shuttles and buses. It is to have Bay Area Rapid Transit service when the Silicon Valley BART extension is complete and is to be preceded by a Downtown San Jose BART station, the Cahill Depot opened in December 1935. The opening of the depot was the culmination of a 30-year effort to relocate 4, the new depot replaced the Fourth Street lines station. The Cahill Depot was a stop for several Southern Pacific passenger trains, including the famous San Francisco–Los Angeles train, other named trains that used the station were the all first-class Lark, and the Del Monte. Amtrak took over long distance train service in 1971. Restoration of the station was finished in 1994, when the station was renamed Diridon Station after former Santa Clara County Supervisor Rod Diridon, in 1996, Santa Clara County voters approved a half cent sales tax to fund the 1996 Measure B Transportation Improvement Project. Part of this project was the construction of the Vasona Light Rail extension which included a VTA light rail platform at the Diridon train depot, the passenger platform was featured in the opening scene of Alfred Hitchcocks Marnie as representing the Hartford, Connecticut, train station. Of Amtraks 74 California stations, San Jose was the 19th-busiest in FY2010, the depot is in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, with a three-story central section flanked by two-story wings. The building, a compilation of rectangular sections, is 390 feet long and 40 feet to 78 feet wide, the central section, which contains the passenger waiting room, measures 40 by 80 feet and is 33 feet high. The high center pavilion housing the room is constructed of steel columns. The side wings are framed with wood, the exterior walls are clad with tapestry brick or varied colors and arranged in an English bond pattern. The depot is in an area formerly dominated by warehouses. Several vernacular sheds, a tower, butterfly passenger sheds. This depot is one of only four Italian Renaissance Revival style depots in California, the only other large depot built in California during the 1930s was the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal. The high-speed rail track and platform locations have not been determined yet, the BART station will be called Diridon/Arena and planned to be a subway station adjacent to the train station and Santa Clara Street
7.
Capitol Corridor
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The Capitol Corridor is a 168-mile passenger train route operated by Amtrak in California. Capitol Corridor trains operate between San Jose and Sacramento, roughly parallel to Interstate 880 and Interstate 80, one train a day continues through the eastern Sacramento suburbs to Auburn, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Capitol Corridor trains started in 1991, the Capitol Corridor is named because it links the location of Californias first state capitol, San Jose, with the current location, Sacramento. The rail route also travels near historical state capitol locations of Vallejo, at the start of the 1990s three Amtrak trains operated in the Bay Area, the long-distance California Zephyr and Coast Starlight, and the short-distance San Joaquin. Only the Coast Starlight ran once a day between San Jose and Sacramento, and at inconvenient times, the last local service between the two former capitals was the Southern Pacifics Senator which ran between Oakland and Sacramento until May 31,1962. In 1990 California voters passed two propositions providing $105 million to expand service along the route, the new service, named Capitols, debuted on December 12,1991 with three daily round-trips between San Jose and Sacramento. Of these, a single round-trip continued to Roseville, an eastern Sacramento suburb, the service was later renamed Capitol Corridor to avoid confusion with the Capitol Limited, which runs between Washington, D. C. and Chicago. In 1998 there was one round trip train that ran as far as Colfax, today, most eastbound Capitol Corridor trains terminate in Sacramento, with Amtrak Thruway bus connections to destinations farther east. Only one daily train runs as far as Auburn, new stations have been proposed along the route at Hercules, Benicia, northern Fairfield/Vacaville and Dixon. The northern Fairfield–Vacaville station is being developed by the cities of Fairfield and Vacaville near the corner of Peabody Road, the station is being planned and paid for by BART and the city of Union City. Preliminary work had started to add second pair of tracks between Oakland and San Jose, which would enable most trains to run from Sacramento to San Jose, an expansion to Truckee, California and Reno, Nevada on the UP line over Donner Pass has been considered. Revenue in FY2012 was $27,927,540, an 8. 6% increase over FY2011 and it is the fourth busiest Amtrak route by ridership, surpassed only by the Northeast Regional, Acela Express, and Pacific Surfliner. As of 2013 Sacramento is the busiest station on the route, the Capitol Corridor is used by commuters between the Sacramento area and the Bay Area as an alternative to driving on congested Interstate 80. Monthly passes and discounted tickets are available. Starting on August 28,2006 the Capitol Corridor had 16 weekday trains each way between Oakland and Sacramento, up from twelve in 2005 and three in 1992, according to its management, ridership on the Capitol Corridor trains tripled between 1998 and 2005. Starting August 13,2012 the Capitol Corridor dropped from 16 to 15 weekday trains each way between Oakland and Sacramento, as of February 2013 no weekday trains run the full length of the line between Auburn and San Jose. The single departure from Auburn runs to Oakland Coliseum, of the 14 westward departures from Sacramento seven run to San Jose, seven trains run San Jose to Sacramento, six downtown Oakland to Sacramento, one Coliseum to Sacramento and one Oakland to Auburn. When the Capitol Corridor debuted in 1991, it used Amtrak F40PH locomotives, Dash 8 locomotives were also used as they were brand new at the time
8.
Davis station (California)
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Davis, formerly known as Davisville, is a train station in Davis, California. In 1871 the Cal-P was taken over by the Central Pacific Railroad, in 1914 the Central Pacific built a second depot, which was remodeled in 1986. The depot was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, of the 74 California stations served by Amtrak, Davis was the seventh-busiest in FY2012, boarding or detraining an average of about 1220 passengers daily. Today, the depot is in use by Amtrak and is maintained by the City of Davis, other ownership is the Union Pacific Railroad
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Media related to Fairfield–Vacaville station at Wikimedia Commons
