More BART Secrets!

It's time once again to hunt for fun facts on the BART system that you may not know!

[rayofsunshine]

8:16 fun fact, the reason that San Joaquin trains often have a single comet 1b (single deck car) on them is because they run on BNSF tracks who’s signals require a certain number of axles to trigger them, so Amtrak is required to put on the extra train cars even though you can’t board them! The double heading I’m not sure about but it’s very unusual so glad you caught that!

[Luxicar]

Union City was my home station for a while. Those fences were always such a pain after long rides coming back home.

[alexsortovlog]

I had never noticed the one about el Cerrito. Good one!

[thesynthguy_]

7:55 The first sign shown is the correct way to spell del, since it just means “of the”

[awesomemana]

3:55 wow there’s a BART train on the left side of the screen that’s separated from its cab, that’s cool!

[ac]

2:38 What makes it worse is 23/35/36/44/52 only mentions Bosworth/Diamond without mentioning Glen Park BART! However the J does have a stop named Glen Park Station. Bus lines 8/8BX/43/54 that serve Balboa Park BART do mention Geneva Ave/Balboa Park BART. For 29/49 on Ocean Ave, official stop name is Ocean Ave/I-280 On-Ramp but announce Balboa Park Station on the bus. Of course none of the downtown bus stops announce BART or Station.

[Unmannedperson]

Secrets of the Amtrak: that train at the end was a San Joaquins (to Bakersfield). You can tell these from Capitol Corridor trains (to Sacramento) as the SJ trains have single-level Comet cars and CC sticks to the bilevel California cars. Why? Because SJ runs through the Central Valley on BNSF tracks, and BNSF requires a bunch of axles to trigger crossing gates, so SJ has some extra cars to make the trains longer, but single level to reduce weight (the passenger capacity isn’t needed).

The CC runs entirely on UP tracks and UP has a smaller axle requirement, so CC can get away with just one engine and 4 California cars on almost all consists.

[shreychaudhary]

5:51 I hate this layout so much. I was heading down from college in Berkeley to Milpitas early in the morning on a Saturday so I took all-nighter buses (851/1T/801) down to Union City and then took the first BART train down to Milpitas. I had a while before my train so I was trying to find the bathrooms and it took forever and I had to ask the station agent

[weirdfish]

I think the smaller train car for the Amtrak train at the end of the video is actually a baggage car.

[rediband]

Before malls, downtown Oakland was one of the main places to shop in the East Bay. I recall going to Capwells and Sears all the time. There were wall-to-wall stores all the way down Broadway. We went to the Christmas display at Capwells every year (was it on the roof?). When the malls came, Oakland City Hall thought they didn't need any since they dominated East Bay retail. They never did build a competitive mall - Eastmont mall was the only one, but their department stores left thirty years ago. For years Oakland had no department stores. A Walmart and a Target opened, but have had to be closed for their employees safety. By any measure, the Oakland City government is an abject failure. Some of the best land in the Bay Area, and most of it is a slum.

[CqtzYT]

the coveted double t... wonder who found that 😂

[AxiMonstr]

tomo tawa linja meaning "moving building line"?

[shazmosushi]

the lack of consistency with spelling is low-key hilarious

[karkrashew]

Warm Springs/South Fremont(t) station representation hell eayh