Monday, March 18, 2002, was the inaugural run of morning Amtrak San Joaquin Train service from Bakersfield to Sacramento, Train #701, and late afternoon return service from Sacramento back to Bakersfield, Train #704.

• Mar 18, 2002 Inaugural Morning Run From Bakersfield to Sacramento - TrainWeb's Non-Travelogue
• Mar 12, 2002 Amtrak's Press Release
• Feb 21, 1999 Inaugural Run From Sacramento to Bakersfield - Travelogue & Photos
• Photos from March 18, 2002 Train 701 Inaugural (Post at Trainorders.com)
• Reno? Sacramento? No, we're going to Hanford (Lodi-News Sentinel: March 16, 2002)
• First rail passengers got off in Lodi by mistake (Lodi-News Sentinel: March 16, 2002)
• The train is coming! (Lodi-News Sentinel: March 16, 2002)
• You won"t go hungry on Amtrak (Lodi-News Sentinel: March 16, 2002)
• Amtrak maintenance workers know every nut and bolt (Lodi-News Sentinel: March 16, 2002)
• Amtrak employees move fast, keep busy, enjoy people (Lodi-News Sentinel: March 16, 2002)
• Amtrak arrives Monday (Lodi-News Sentinel: March 16, 2002)
• Finding historic train ticket proves a daunting task (Lodi-News Sentinel: March 13, 2002)
• Downtown Lodi parking garage scheduled to open Monday (Lodi-News Sentinel: March 13, 2002)
• City plans party to welcome Amtrak (Lodi-News Sentinel: February 23, 2002)
• GrapeLine may offer rides to wineries from train depot (Lodi-News Sentinel: February 23, 2002)
• Amtrak's latest start date for Lodi is March 18 (Lodi-News Sentinel: February 02, 2002)
• Light at end of tunnel may be Amtrak (Lodi-News Sentinel: December 06, 2001)
• Amtrak is getting on a roll in the Valley (The Modesto Bee: January 05, 2002)
• Valley City Gets New Amtrak Service (TheKCRAChannel.com: March 15, 2002)

We expect to post additional photographs of the train and events of March 18, 2002 within the next two weeks. Please check back to this page later. If you have photographs or further information about this inaugural run that you would like to share with TrainWeb visitors, please e-mail them to steve@trainweb.com. Proper credit will be provided for all materials provided. If you know of any newspaper articles about this inaugural run that are posted online, or know of any other URLs relevant to this event, please forward them to us. Thanks!