I am documenting a little history. The G&O ran many trains on Feb. 6, 2016 to bring fans to the 50th Super Bowl game that was held in Santa Clara at the 49ers Levi's Stadium. The G&O is the primary passenger railroad serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The G&O's Depot Station is just 20 miles from Levi's Stadium and 10 miles from Super Bowl City in downtown San Francisco.
Demand for space was so heavy that the G&O had to borrow engines and equipment for other roads including the Polar Express.
Here are photos of the many special trains. A G&O special powered with a borrowed N&W Class A crosses the Golden Gate Bridge and heads for the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Bronco Fans charted a Milwaukee Road train to bring them to the game because of the Milwaukee's orange color scheme. The Panthers charted a blue Amtrak California consist to match their team colors. Just like the quarterback matchup, it was old versus new and Orange versus Blue.
Given the results of the game, the Panthers probably should have gotten an old reliable steam engine to haul their special.
We caught G&O extra 706 rounding the famous Coupler Curve early the morning heading toward the Bay Area. We caught the extra later in the day crossing Norris Falls as it turns toward Depot Station.
The Polar Express was brought out of winter storage to help meet the demand for space.
Here is a lineup of the specials at the G&O's Depot Station in San Leandro after the crowds have departed for the game. The G&O held a great Super Bowl party at the G&O's headquarters in San Leandro.
The next step will be to reverse all the trains to take the happy Bronco fans and the sad Panther fans back home.
