Amtrak Stations in Stockton

[Dengor]

From what I had read, I thought that *all* Amtrak trains in Stockton, CA stop at the San Joaquin Street Station at 735 South San Joaquin Street. The Amtrak time table shows the San Joaquin trains between Oakland and Stockton stop at the San Joaquin St. Station. The Amtrak code for this station is SKN.

I am taking a southbound San Joaquin train from Sacramento to Stockton and the e-ticket has a different code, namely SKT.

The Amtrak time table shows the San Joaquin trains between Sacramento and Stockton stop at the Downtown station, Aurora & Webber Streets in Stockton. This location is very near the ACE train station at 949 East Channel St.

[SIZE=12pt]So, does Amtrak use *two* stations in [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Stockton[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]? Do the [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]San Joaquin[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] trains between [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Sacramento[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] and [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Stockton[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] stop at the same station as ACE trains?[/SIZE]

Thanks for any help.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Only 2 San Joaquin Trains from SAC stop @ the Downtown Station (SKT), #702 and #704.

Two other "trains" from SAC are Thruway Busess that stop @ SKT and all other San Joaquin Trains run from Oakland via Emeryville,Richmond,Martinez,Antioch-Pittsburgh and into the San Joaquin St. Station(SKN), they do not go to SAC.

You do NOT want to walk between the 2_Stations, especially @_night. There are Thruway busses between the 2_Stations that take 5-10 minutes depending on the traffic.( usually not much!)

All ACE Trains from San Jose run to the Downtown Station.(SKT) and the Thruway Busess to San Jose and the 1 Daily Bus to/from San Francisco stop @ both Stations.

Confused? Take another look @ the Schedule, that's how it works, it's Amtrak.

 

[zephyr17]

The ACE/SKT station is the old Southern Pacific station, since the San Joaquin trains to Sacramento switch from BNSF (ex-Santa Fe) to Union Pacific (ex-SP) at the site of old Stockton Tower about a mile east of the Santa Fe station, which is the main (SKN) Amtrak station.

Also seconding what Jim said, you REALLY do not want to walk between the two stations, or wander about the immediate area.

 

[SubwayNut]

I've walked between the two stations about 3 times (mostly in daylight) and never felt Unsafe. It's just your standard sad struggling downtown that you find in so many places in America. On one layover there I had a cheap and good Mexican breakfast from a hole in the wall place.

From my Blog:

Stockton Trip 1 - A visit to Stockton's two train stations

Stockton Trip 2 - ACE

Stockton Trip 3 - From Sacramento to S.F. via Stockton to ride the Comets

 

[Bob Dylan]

Subway Nut: I read your blogs and notice that it's been almost 2 1/2 years since you were in Stockton.

I was there last Winter and poor Stockton has continued to go downhill. China Town, which is between the San Joaquin St. Station (ex-Santa Fe) and Downtown is almost empty, it seems like a ghost town.

As you get closer to downtown there are groups of people hanging out on the streets and drinking out of paper sacks,( I was offered drugs and asked for cigarettes and money) and the houses and most of the buildings are boarded up, or look like Forts with bars over the windows and doors.

There were several Police Cars stopped by one group of people close to China Town and I heard several Sirens on the walk to downtown.

Once you reach downtown ( there wre lots of people on the streets) and head South towards the ACE Station ( ex-SP), the same sad conditions are present, but the streets seem empty with almost no traffic.

I would not walk this @ night (I'm not easily intimidated) and can honestly say there is not anything worth seeing in Stockton AFAICT! ( I notice you said you didn't recommend Stockton)

I didn't see any places open to eat except in the downtown area, mostly mom and pop type Cafes.. ( I noted your $9 Mexican Breakfast in a Hole in the Wall joint) There were several convienence type stores along the street between the San Joaquin St. Station and Downtown.

Basically there is nothing around the ACE Station, and after the last Train and Bus leaves in the evening, the Station is locked up and it gets spooky with the empty streets and nothing open.

 

[BCL]

You can check out the printed schedule:

http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/50/616/San-Joaquin-Schedule-071315.pdf

For the southbound train from Sacramento, it indicates that the 704 stops at the "Downtown Station, East Channel Street", which is SKT. All other San Joaquin trains stop at the "San Joaquin Street Station", which is SKN. Apparently there's also a bus that connects from SKN-SKT for the 704.

Also - I saw that the description of SKN is that they have a ticket office. There's no LD train stopping there and no specific connection to LD trains (like SFC), so I'm wondering if there are others.

 

[dengor]

Thanks to everyone for the information about Stockton and the link to the schedule.

The plan is:

1. arrive on Amtrak San Joaquin # 704 from Sacramento into Stockton at 5:51 PM.

2. walk from the Downtown Station (SKT) south to Weber St then west along Weber St. to the Howard Johnson Hotel at the corner of Center & Weber. Total walk is just under a mile.

3. the following morning walk back to SKT station to catch the 6:40 AM ACE train to San Jose.

I will only be carrying a duffel bag with clothes. I hoping that with reasonable “street smarts” and not being foolish I can get there safely. If anyone feels otherwise I would appreciate knowing that. Thanks again.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The Motel looks fine, it did get mixed reviews on Trip Advisor but for the price it seems fine! You should be OK since you're not going through the rough parts of town!

The early ACE Train to San Jose will probably be crowded, try to get there a little early to snag a seat!

 

[calwatch]

The Downtown Stockton station area is much better than the desolate main Amtrak Stockton station. Neither are especially great places to be if you are carrying stuff but Downtown Stockton has more activity nearby.