Western Railroad Discussion > MRVSJ Through Alviso (California)

Union Pacific stopped running the MRVSJ (Manifest, Roseville to San Jose) back in September, when they also eliminated the counterpart, MNWRV (NW = Newark Yard), and the MRVMI/MMIRV pair (Roseville <--> Milpitas) and combined those trains into the MRVWS/MWSRV pair (WS = Warm Springs Yard, near Fremont, CA).

Locals that originated in Milpitas and Newark migrated to Warm Springs, but that's another topic for another day.

Railfans living in and around the Silicon Valley (a.k.a. "South Bay") could catch the MRVSJ running through the marshes of Alviso quite easily, from Mountain View, Santa Clara, to Milpitas, using the time MRVSJ takes to do the Newark Yard setout to drive to Alviso. That was really important, because MRVSJ was the only freight train that ran reliably in the area, usually in daylight from Sunday to Friday, with Saturday off.

MRVWS doesn't run through Alviso, so the daily routine is no more.

Here's a recent look back at the MRVSJ, in two video clips. First clip was taken on July 3, where the train led by SD59MX UP 9916 is running through a popular railfan location through the marshes. Second clip was taken on August 14, and I had no clue that MRVSJ had about 2 weeks left before being abolished. Earlier in the day, an eyewitness posted on Yahoo! group headsupnorcal that the leader was a recently repainted SD70M (UP 4560), so I decided to document it.

Years from now, UP can once again change things around and MRVSJ might come back, but for now, I consider it a memory.

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

That SD70 looks great on the 2nd train. Great S curve action at Alviso. It is really the only south bay spot with a long line of sight.

Thanks for sharing. Railroading in the South Bay, especially on the Coast Line, has diminished substantially since I moved here 12 years ago.

I live in Burlingame, and there are still 2-3 locals running down the Peninsula in the evenings. Do these run to Warm Springs now to interchange, or do they pick-up cars in San Jose that another local sets-out from Warm Springs? I assume the days of seeing UP power tied down across from the Santa Clara depot are gone?

Sean

Back to those locals ... does the Permanente Local now orginate in Warm Springs?

Stan

Nice video Charles.

That was a great train to photograph, even when it mostly stopped running via Altamont.

Also doesn't seem to be as much power laying over at Milpitas these days as there used to be.

Jim B