The "Golden State" is a land of great variety, from snow covered mountains in the north and east, blazing hot deserts in the southeast, spectacular beaches along the Pacific Ocean on the state's western edge, large cities centering urban areas and a massive amount of farmland. One of the most overlooked areas, even among many in the state, is the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta region, in which those two rivers spread out as they drain into the Pacific via the Bay Area. And it is here, in the heart of the Delta, that the late afternoon sun glints off the side of westbound Amtrak train 710, a San Joaquin heading from Oakland to Bakersfield, as it crosses the bascule bridge at Middle River, one of three bascule bridges on the railway's Stockton Subdivision across the Delta.
Traveling through so much of the state, passengers aboard the train have thus far seen the Bay Area's sights, and now the Delta, and shortly this train will enter the verdant San Joaquin Valley to Bakersfield, passing through the nation's "breadbasket" region filled with endless farms and ranches supplying more food to America than most realize. (Trull, California – June 21, 1988)
