NWP latest

From North Bay Business Journal:
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NORTH BAY – The North Coast Rail Authority expects to have limited freight trains running from Windsor through to Lombard at American Canyon where the tracks meet the national rail exchange by October of this year.

The NCRA has nearly completed repairs to 55 crossing signals and bridges in the wake of a settlement in October with the city of Novato, which had challenged the construction. NCRA also has completed levee repairs near Schellville.

“Our goal is to have the 62-mile section repaired to class three by August,” said Mitch Stogner, executive director of the NCRA. The class three rating will allow freight to travel up to 40 miles per hour on the tracks.

The last part of the Novato settlement agreement is an area of 13 quiet zones in the city. This is required to be complete by Dec. 31, 2011. It includes improvements to the crossing gates and signage that will allow trains to travel through the crossings without sounding the train horn.

In addition, they will install welded rail to further mitigate noise, fencing to discourage trespassing, landscaping to minimize glare from train lights, and purchase state-of-the-art locomotives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Until these agreements are met, said Mr. Stogner, they are limited to three round trips per week, and only during daylight.

The goal is to eventually have three round trips per day.

Meanwhile, the rail authority has requested $36.3 million from the federal stimulus American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for repair on the Northwestern Pacific rail line from Windsor to Willits.

The request was made through Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and details three sections in the bill that potentially could provide funding for the NCRA projects.

The request also details the four phases to make the repairs. The repairs would create a 142-mile short-line railroad.

“Once we got past the Novato settlement, everything has gone smoothly,” Mr. Stogner said. “What is important to me right now is to get stimulus money because our goal is to get to Willits. The trains are good for the economy, good for the environment and good energy policy.”

“We need to take advantage of the rail corridor as it is already in public ownership,” he said. NCRA also said it had completed its environmental impact report.

“It is late, but it is complete,” Mr. Stogner said. The $3 million report was due out in February but is now set to be released March 9, he said.

It is not just the NCRA that is interested in the repairs. The tracks will eventually be shared with Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit. On the part of the tracks owned by NCRA, the transit district has an easement and vice versa for the tracks owned by SMART.

The two entities are in meetings to figure out how best to work together so the track upgrades NCRA is making will benefit SMART when it begins its work, which will upgrade the tracks for passenger trains moving up to 80 miles per hour.

“We have started meeting with SMART on these issues as everything we do will benefit them,” said Mr. Stogner.

 

more

Sonoma SUN, dated MARCH 6,2009.

"Work is underway to get the 62 miles of track running from Windsor to Lombard operational by the end of this year, according to Mitch Stogner, executive director of North Coast Rail Authority. The work includes laying new ties and fixing bridges, among other repairs. The track runs south from Windsor down to Ignacio, where a section cuts east through Schellville to connect to Lombard, near American Canyon. The construction team currently has equipment at its staging ground near Schellville and plans to be laying ties this week. Once improvements are complete, the NCRA will lease the track to the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company (NWP). The NCRA board approved a five-year contract with NWP as the rail service operator in September 2006." Yep, we've heard it all before. Operational by the end of the year, I truly doubt it. The BIG question is still.....Where is the traffic? Inbound grain for dairy and chicken farms (Petaluma), lumber for local building supply and construction (Schellville and Windsor), and possibly with fingers crossed a contract to haul out Sonoma County Trash. Mr. Stogner also expects to outbound some wine traffic. So, again,....where is the traffic? Marketing the line and studying the possibilities for growth as far as traffic is concerned is a major point, because without growth, the freight business will be a real cash drain. Whether or not the freight business is profitable or not the tracks will be in place thanks to the SMART system years in the future from Novato north. By then, the tracks from Lombard to Novato may not exist. If by chance a lumber reload is organized in Willits, a gravel quarry is developed at Island Mountain, and a container port is constructed in Eureka, then someone will be whistling dixie, but man I'm not gonna lay any O' my money on the table. I would say the best guess would be rails to Cloverdale, ....and beyond that, well...let's just say ....Mr. Stogner, we hope you still have a job in a couple of years down the road. We will now see if the pedal will hit the metal, cause the ball is rolling.

 

Glad to hear of the line being repaired. I fear that since there has been no rail service in several years freight traffic has been lost to trucks.
The railroad is going to have to be aggresseve in going after customers.
Hopefuly RailAmerica won't get to be the operator.

 

two more

Many reports from railfans have work continuing. Tie replacements, bridge repairs, crossing repairs, etc.

Here's two more articles:

Railroad authority says rail not dead

Jessie Faulkner/The Times-Standard
Posted: 03/11/2009 01:28:49 AM PDT



With enthusiasm fueled by a soon-to-be-opened 60-mile stretch at the south end of the railroad, North Coast Railroad Authority representatives outlined their hope for a localized tourist route at Tuesday's Humboldt County Board of Supervisors' and encouraged the supervisors' continued support.


Railroad authority board members and staff were in Humboldt County for today's NCRA board meeting.

”Our goal today is to give you an update,” NCRA board Chairman Allan Hemphill said. “It's an exciting one.”

Hemphill noted that for the first time in years, the NCRA is on the verge of opening a 60-mile section on the south end of the Russian River division that runs from Lombard to Willits. The long-awaited movement forward spilled over to the railroad authority's commitment to a passenger tourist train from Eureka to Samoa.

John H. Williams, president of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Co., reiterated, as did others present, that the tourism train is definitely a possibility and will attract tourists. It's long been an aspiration of the Timber Heritage Association. The main route would run from Eureka around Humboldt Bay.

Timber Heritage Association board members told the board they've begun the process of clearing brush from the tracks. Gerry Tomczak said volunteers have cleared about two miles of track thus far.
At the same time, NCRA representatives restated their commitment to reopening the north end of the public-owned railroad stretching from South Fork to Samoa. Rail freight would be an important part of that operation, Williams said, moving gravel, construction material and logs.


No one said reaching that goal would be easy,
”There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle to make it work economically,” Williams said.

In a PowerPoint presentation, Williams reported that it would cost some $30 million to repair or install grade-crossing signals, fix the track and restore bridges and culverts on track in the Humboldt Bay area, defined as South Fork north to Samoa.

Equally important is pinpointing the best use of the resurrected railroad.

”We want to bring back a railroad that makes sense for the area,” Hemphill told the board.

One of the sensible uses, the NCRA board chairman stressed, is starting with a railroad that doesn't have a link with the Eel River Canyon.

Well aware of the gap between railroad supporters and those who want to establish a trail around the bay within the railroad right-of-way, several railroad officials stated their willingness to cooperate.

Rail and Port Infrastructure Task Force (RAPIT) member Marc Matteoli urged the board's continuing support.

”Please support the railroad,” he said. “I think we can work with the trail people.”
RAPIT focuses on bringing rail service back to Humboldt County, revitalizing the harbor and creating living-wage jobs, according to the organization's Web site.

Eureka attorney Bill Bertain agreed, noting the environmental challenges can be met, the funding located and the trails accommodated. Accommodation, however, does not equate to capitulation.
”A lot of people I know in the Timber Heritage Association are also advocates for the trail,” said board member Bryon Barker, “but not at the expense of the rail.”

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NCRA to restart freight service to Willits

The Willits News
Posted: 03/11/2009 11:09:11 AM PDT




Special for The Willits News


The draft environmental impact report for freight train operations on a 142-mile stretch of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad line between Napa County and Willits was released Monday, according to North Coast Railroad Authority Chairman Allan Hemphill.

Some $35 million in state funds already has been invested to repair the first 62 miles of the line from the national rail interchange near American Canyon in Lombard to Windsor, with freight service scheduled to begin in October. NCRA has applied for $36 million in federal economic stimulus funds to continue repairs north to Willits.

Monday's draft EIR submittal begins a 45-day comment period under the California Environmental Quality Act, which allows the public to respond to NCRA's plans to restart freight service. A public hearing on the draft EIR has been set for 6:30 p.m. on April 15 at the Petaluma Community Center.

Before railroad operations commence, the NCRA board of directors must respond to public comments and incorporate responses in a final board-certified environmental impact report.

The two-volume document cost $3.5 million to complete "and painstakingly analyzes every potential impact of train service on the Russian River Division between the interchange with the Union Pacific in Lombard and Willits," Hemphill said.
"What's clear from the DEIR is that trains will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, take trucks off [Highway] 101, save energy and provide a cost-effective
means to ship goods in and out of the North Coast."


The draft EIR projects three round-trip freight trains per week, shipping feed grains, building materials, wine and other general merchandise, increasing to three roundtrips per day by the second or third year of operations.
The public can review the executive eummary of the DEIR on the NCRA website http://www.northcaoastrailroad.org.

 

and more

Quick progress being made for freight rail service through Novato

Brent Ainsworth
Posted: 04/06/2009 03:39:06 PM PDT

A crew works on the train tracks in Novato's Black Point area on April 6. (IJ photo/Frankie Frost)


FREIGHT train service through Novato is coming down the tracks faster than expected: By early May, a locomotive will cruise through the city for the first time since 2001 as part of a detail to replace railroad ties.


"I'm very pleased with the progress, and I'd say we're ahead of schedule, maybe by a month," said project manager David Anderson, who works for the North Coast Rail Authority.
Construction crews will be upgrading tracks, trestles and bridges over the next six months. Trains about 15 cars long are scheduled to start rolling in October, operated by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad and hauling a variety of goods between Napa and Windsor, in Sonoma County. The tracks, used since the early 1900s, were rendered unusable because of flood damage in 1997-98. Service resumed in January 2001 but only lasted nine months until the operator ran out of money.


Mitch Stogner, executive director of the North Coast Rail Authority, emphasized that train service is good for the economy and the environment. A draft environmental impact report released in March concluded that most impacts of rail service would be "less than significant with mitigation." A few results, such as noise and vibrations near the tracks, were considered "significant and unavoidable."
The draft EIR listed benefits such as improved air quality from the reduction in truck emissions, highway traffic mitigation and improved public safety (from fewer trucks on the roads). State-of-the-art locomotives can move a ton of goods more than 436 miles on one gallon of fuel, according to a 2008 report by the Association of American Railroads.


Anderson said vegetation has been cleared on tracks, and electronic upgrades have been made at crossings. More than 50,000 railroad ties and 60,000 tons of ballast for the tracks are being replaced. Repairs are being made to two bridges over Novato Creek - one near Novato Community Hospital and one near StoneTree Golf Course at Black Point - as well as the Black Point Bridge that carries the rail cars between Sonoma and Marin counties over the Petaluma River.

The Black Point Bridge, built in 1911, rotates from the middle of the river, as opposed to a draw bridge or a fixed bridge. When not in use, a portion of the tracks is in a parallel position to the river so boats can get through; when activated, it swings into a perpendicular position to connect the tracks on both sides of the river.

"It's a relic, really," the NCRA's Stogner said. "It used to be that somebody had to row out into the river to swing the tracks into place. Plans are to modify the mechanics and electrical system on the bridge so it can be turned from the land."

As part of a 2008 lawsuit settlement with the city of Novato, rail service will be restricted to no more than six one-way daytime trips per week with no more than 18 cars in the early phases of operation. If things go well and "quiet zone" noise reduction and landscaping efforts are made, trains could run two round-trips per day six days a week with the number of cars up to 60. The trains will not stop in Novato.
Some Novato residents who live near the tracks are OK with the resumed rail service.

Robert Desimone, a retired construction worker who since the 1960s has lived a few houses away from the tracks in downtown Novato, said it's a good idea to transport goods on freight trains.

"I was always surprised how I got used to the sounds. It doesn't bother me one way or another," Desimone said. "I think it's great that they're going to try to keep the noise down."

Robert Grosso, who lives on Olive Street, said the only time he noticed the train noise years ago was when he was watching TV and he had to turn up the volume. "I sort of missed the trains when they stopped running," he said.

Like Desimone and Grosso, the home of Clifford Tanaka on Elmwood Court is sandwiched between the train tracks and Highway 101. "The highway is going to be noisier," he said. "Having Whole Foods open (in the nearby Millworks building) is going to have a bigger impact on traffic than the trains."

In addition to the freight service, the same stretch of track in Novato will be used for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit passenger trains as early as 2014. SMART was approved by voters in Marin and Sonoma counties in November 2008 and construction is due to begin in 2011.
"We're so in love with our cars and the independence they give that it's going to be hard for people to get used to trains again," Desimone said.

 

Here is another update I found elsewhere.

 

Doing well so far

By all reports, track reconstruction is a month ahead of schedule. They are about the Sears Point to Black Point area now.

 

Thanks for the welcome!

Other NWP news. North end.

I'm in charge of clearing the row, to get things going for the speeder runs, which we hope to have this summer, and eventually the tourist train. So far we have Samoa to 1st crossing in Manila cleared.

 

I definately look forward to getting back up to the north end.

Gotta get over to Schellville for a shot of the WV unit too. When I shot her in Oregon the pic turned out horrible. If the CFNR gensets get to American Canyon by the time I do then it will be a nice little trip.

 

Spent a little part of the morning today watching reconstruction going on, east of Black Point bridge. Enjoyed conversation with a fellow railfan there. Even got to see the locomotive come up with a railcar of ties. I had to leave before they crossed over in to Black Point. Though grossing over the hwy bridge, I was able to look over, and see the MOW equipment staged, waiting for the bridge to swing, just after 12noon. Ties should of been dropped off in Black Point.

It isn't far from there, to Novato Creek trestle, and this is only Monday. Should be able to hit there this week.

 

I have some photos here http://capdiamont.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/novato-black-point-schellville-and-brazos/

 

Work train made it to Petaluma yesterday. The hopper cars were bad ordered, so they couldn't be moved, to the engine ran light back.

 

Probably age, and vandalism. Some say FRA bad ordered them. I'm not sure they would of been out there yet.