Santa Clara, California — Santa Clara Tower
The 1926 Harriman tower still watches the Peninsula–Mulford junction
Santa Clara, California — Santa Clara Tower
Caltrain Peninsula Corridor at Santa Clara Tower — junction of the Peninsula Line (San Francisco) and the Mulford Line (Oakland) · Santa Clara, California, United States
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A railcam run by the South Bay Historical Railroad Society from the Santa Clara Interlocking Tower at 1005 Railroad Avenue, looking north over the junction where the Peninsula Line to San Francisco parts from the Mulford Line to Oakland. Caltrain, Amtrak's Capitol Corridor and Altamont Corridor Express all work the platforms below, with Union Pacific freight on the tracks beyond.
About this cam
The camera belongs to the South Bay Historical Railroad Society, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit incorporated in 1985 whose volunteers, in their own words, "work on the renovation and preservation of the Santa Clara Railroad Depot, the Santa Clara Tower and the two maintenance-of-way buildings" at 1005 Railroad Avenue. The same site houses the Edward Peterman Museum of Railroad History. The mount is the structure the stream is named for. SBHRS state that "The Santa Clara Interlocking Tower is one of two unmodified Harriman Standard # 4 towers in California and was built in 1926", and that a signal-system change delayed it so that it "was not put into operational service until the fall of 1927". On its upper floor sits "a General Railway Signal Co. Model 2, unit-lever type electro-mechanical interlocking machine", which the Society says "controlled many switches and signals from the north end of the Santa Clara yard to the junction switches and signals controlling the tracks to and from both San Francisco (Peninsula Line) and Oakland (Mulford Line)". After 65 years of continuous service the tower went dark on 17 July 1993, when "control of all switches and signals on the Peninsula line was transferred to the Control Center at the San Jose depot". The depot in the foreground is older than the tower by six decades. Its historical marker calls it "an original waystation on the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad Line" and "the oldest passenger depot still in use in California"; SBHRS record that "In 1985, the depot was placed on the National Register of Historic Places." The building runs roughly 50 by 225 feet across four sections — former passenger area, original freight house, freight house extension and the former Acme Freight Company office. Today the junction is worked by Caltrain on the Peninsula Corridor, Amtrak's Capitol Corridor and the Altamont Corridor Express, while Union Pacific freights use the tracks north-east of Track 1. The Society does not publish a train count for the camera, so none is claimed here.
What to watch for
The view is north from the tower, across the throat where the Peninsula Line to San Francisco splits from the Mulford Line to Oakland — the exact switches the General Railway Signal machine upstairs used to throw until 1993. Three passenger operators share the platforms: Caltrain on the Peninsula Corridor, Amtrak's Capitol Corridor working through to Oakland and Sacramento, and Altamont Corridor Express trains coming off the Tracy line. Watch for the Capitol Corridor and ACE sets diverging onto the Oakland route where Caltrain carries straight on toward San Jose Diridon, four kilometres south. Union Pacific freight uses the tracks north-east of Track 1, so a manifest can pass behind a stopped commuter train. On the ground in frame: the 1864 depot, on the National Register since February 1985, and the Harriman Standard #4 tower itself — one of only two unmodified examples left in California. The Society has not published a trains-per-day figure, so treat frequency as the published Caltrain, Capitol Corridor and ACE timetables allow, not as a claim.