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Caltrain

Rocks, lots of rocks, railroad rocks!

by Scott Loftesness on December 31, 2009

in Hidden Menlo, Transportation

Railroad ballast - Menlo Park

RoadbedStockpile 2 27Dec2009 Rocks, lots of rocks, railroad rocks! Along the railroad tracks that parallel Chilco Street in Menlo Park is a large supply of rocks – railroad ballast to be precise.

Ballast is used as a bed for railroad tracks and provides track stability, drainage and support for trains. Wikipedia notes that “a good ballast should be strong, hard-wearing, stable, drainable, easy to clean, workable, resistant to deformation, easily available, and reasonably cheap to purchase.”

About a year ago, Caltrain announced that it would begin receiving railroad ballast at the site which it would use for ongoing maintenance and future construction projects.

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Santa and snow arrive on the 7:25

by Chris Gulker on December 5, 2009

in Caltrain, Entertainment, Events, Holidays 2009, Transportation

Santa and Mrs. Claus arriving at the Menlo Park Caltrain station - December 6, 2009

Santa and Mrs. Claus, arrived at the Menlo Park Caltrain station  about 7:25 this evening where a  large crowd – mainly parents with their preschoolers – had gathered for the festivities. A holiday tradition of sorts (with some years more elaborate than others), the six car, non-passenger train was festooned with decorative lights and included a flatbed filled with carolers in Santa hats.

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New “gotchas” on the Caltrain horn blasts

A regulator valve that precisely sets the volume has been installed on all of Caltrain’s operating locomotives and cab cars – an action taken to reduce the noise volume of the horns to their previous level.
But this latest fix comes with a number of “gotchas” for residents of Menlo Park neighborhoods, who according to Caltrain, [...]

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Add jack hammering to the tweets and toots

Beginning tonight and continuing through Thursday (August 27), Menlo Park neighborhoods adjacent to the Caltrain tracks will hear new noises about the time the louder tweets and toots are put to bed for the night. Work on Caltrain’s Grade Crossing Improvement Program at Encinal, Glenwood and Ravenswood Avenues will take place from 8:00 pm to [...]

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Menlo Park’s Train Station – Oldest in State

Thumbnail image for Menlo Park’s Train Station – Oldest in State

Looks like the winner for oldest building still standing in Menlo Park is the train station, which now serves Caltrain passengers.  It was constructed in 1867 by the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad Company and is the oldest railroad passenger station in California.
The Victorian ornamentation was added in the 1890s when the station was [...]

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Keep the tweets and toots, decrease the volume

Label it the “big wake up call” of the summer of 2009. Beginning in late July, Menlo Park residents – and not just those close to the train tracks – noticed that the Caltrain horns were considerably louder. Officials at the agency confirmed that residents weren’t just hearing things. Their trains had flunked a recent [...]

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