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The Diridon Station of San Jose

My Alphabe Thursday theme—Places I've Been
The Husband and I were waiting for Amtrak at the San Jose Diridon Station this afternoon. We weren't going anywhere, other than back home, jiggity-jigg. We were picking up my godmother who had been up in Sacramento. Sitting alongside the track gave me the wanderlust. Sigh.


Once upon a time, the Diridon Station was called the Southern Pacific Depot and Cahill Depot. Built in the mid-1930s, it's a gorgeous brick structure designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. The depot was restored in the 1990s and renamed after a Santa Clara county supervisor. I'm guessing Diridon was the guy who made the big push for getting the funds to bring back the station's beauty.


According to Wikipedia, the station's platform was used to represent a Connecticut train station in the movie Marnie by Alfred Hitchcock. As the Husband and I sat by Track 4, I wondered if trains used to stop closer to the building.


Today, the Diridon Station is a hub for two passenger railroads—Amtrak and Caltrain, which primarily runs between San Jose and San Francisco. Santa Clara County light-rail and bus stops are nearby. One day, the Bay Area Rapid Transit, aka BART, will stop at Diridon.

It's quite a hopping place. The station has over 600 parking spots and all were taken. Not one by us. I think if we were to take a train on a weekday, we'd ask someone for a ride or take the bus.


If I were to take the train right now, I'd like to ride Amtrak between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. It goes by a stretch of the California coastline that you can't see other than by train.  You go by the Vandenberg Air Force Base where I read you may be able to see the SpaceX Launch Facility, which might one day slingshot people towards Mars. Where would you want to take a train to?


It's Alphabe Thursday with the lovely Jenny Matlock. To read what other bloggers have written about the letter D, please click here.

Comments

  1. These are great pictures and I love trains. I have taken train rides in Europe and that is where I would go. 3 rides are beautiful-The train ride through the Brenner pass (connecting Austria and Italy). A beautiful train ride between Salzburg and Innsbruck through the mountains. I saw many old castles perched on hill tops. The 2rd is the train ride between Graz and Vienna-right on the side of mountains-beautiful!

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    Replies
    1. I'd go on those rides with you, Birgit. I'm already imaging old castles on hilltops. My first big train adventure was going from a mountain town above Venice to Florence. That sold me on riding trains for travel.

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  2. Oh, i used to get to ride the train back and forth between San Francisco and San Jose . . . those were good days.

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    Replies
    1. How cool! You must know the Diridon Station well. While look for a gas station, we came across the neat neighborhood next to it. Now we know where another Whole Foods is, if we ever need to shop at one.

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  3. Trains ~ there is something very special to me about traveling on a train. Not something we do here in TX though.

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    1. Probably, in general, we don't use railroad trains like they do in Europe. I suppose it's a catch-22. Not enough riders to keep the price down and more routes and times available, so few people care to take it.

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  4. That's a real beautiful station !

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    1. It sure is. I'm glad they renovated. I would've liked to have seen it before though. I bet it's beauty still shown through.

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  5. I adore trains stations! My dad worked for Southern Railroad and I would get to travel on the passenger trains for free! I think your photos depict the flavor of a westrn train station.

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    Replies
    1. Neat, Mrs. C! It would be fun to check out train stations throughout the U.S. and see how they are same and different.

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  6. I love trains and they often induce wanderlust in me, too!

    I always thought it would be fun to rent a private car and take Grandkids for a long, long train ride.

    What a delightful link for the letter D.

    It's fun to read the variety of links each week.

    A+++

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    Replies
    1. Hi, Jenny. I love the idea of chug-chug-chugging along in a private car with my favorite people and Molly the Cat.

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