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CEMOF
One of the most astonishing back stories of Caltrain’s
“reinvention” is that the railroad has achieved its dramatic
successes without a modern facility to maintain and
repair rail equipment.
That will change in the summer of 2007, when the
much-awaited, much-needed Centralized Equipment
Maintenance and Operations Facility opens in San Jose,
just north of the Diridon station.
Construction began on CEMOF in 2005 and, when it
is complete, the facility will bring together maintenance
and operations functions that now take place in several
different locations in San Francisco and San Jose, and
some out of state. The $140 million project includes
repair and maintenance buildings, a state-of-the-art control
center to direct
and monitor train traffic, and storage
yards for Caltrain’s fleet of locomotives and passenger cars.
The three-story maintenance shop will enable mechanics to
work in much better conditions. Currently, mechanics work
outside and have to crawl underneath cars to work on them.
The new shop will include a train lift and two 800-foot-long
service and inspection pits where mechanics can stand while
working under the trains. The building also includes a
massive overhead crane to lift heavy parts from one area
to another.
For the first time, Caltrain will have on-site fuel storage,
which will reduce fuel expenses and the risk of service
interruptions because staff will not have to coordinate tanker
truck arrivals with train layovers.
Another exciting feature will be a new train washer that
will allow trains to get a thorough cleaning every day.
Currently, crews are only able to give trains a thorough
washing and scrubbing twice a year.
The 20-acre CEMOF site will provide Caltrain a long
overdue “home” as the railroad continues its dynamic
evolution for the demands of a new century.
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