Well, not a negative article. We've seen plenty of those. But I wonder what kind of steam engine was hiding under that diesel shrouding? As it blew it's "whistle"..... Boxcab E50
So that's what the Willamette loco is doing in this area! I saw it in Oakland a few weeks back... I like the dog! Not sure I understand about the hoppers...were they in (or near) Petaluma already? Or taken out there recently?
I rather doubt it. The opposition were pretty much white-picket-fence types, not anarchists. There are some terminally stupid folks in Marin, though. There always are...
While it is a resumption of rail service and is better than nothing the limit of trains to 18 cars is redicuelus. I suspect the truckers are allowed as many trucks as they please and can use their jake brakes at any hour of the day.
The truce that was reached was on the train length and frequency until noise mitigation and crossing safety is addressed. Welded rail, quad gates, etc. I don't like to see the railroad restricted from an interstate transportation perspective, but some kind of deal had to be reached or it would just stay in the courts forever. On the humor side, it seems to me that back in the 1840's there was some bizarre law that any train passing through the streets of some major city (Boston? New York?) had to be preceded by a barking dog. You don't suppose.....?
I think it will take a little while to build up the traffic anyhow. NCRA has been installing preemptive(?) circuits in the crossings anyhow, which they say is needed for quiet zones. I would think a railroad would want to go welded rail anyhow, less joints to worry about.
Some photos were posted today on Railpictures... http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=287950 http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=287948
NCRA press release PRESS RELEASE – Ukiah - June 30, 2009 North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) Chairman, Allan Hemphill, announced that today marks the first time a locomotive has rolled on the Northwestern Pacific (NWP) rail line from Petaluma to Windsor in over 10 years. This morning, a locomotive pulling flat cars loaded with new railroad ties began distributing the ties along the line, which parallels US Highway 101 in Sonoma and Marin Counties, as part of the $39 million state-funded project to repair 62 miles of the historic railroad, from the interchange with the Union Pacific South of Napa (Lombard), to Windsor. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) stopped freight service on the NWP line in November 1998 for safety reasons. In 2006, the NCRA began making repairs with funds allocated by the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to address the FRA concerns. Work was delayed for almost all of 2008, while NCRA battled a lawsuit filed by the City of Novato, which was settled last November. Since that time, NCRA has completed over 90% of the repairs to the signals and bridges, and will be finished with the trackwork by the end of July, according to Hemphill. Hemphill said the projected October start-up date will be delayed 2-3 months to address permit requirements for 3 bridges that require work in the water. “All of the bridge work and FRA certification of all of the required repairs will be complete by the end of the year, and you will see freight trains in operation between Lombard and Windsor by early next year,” he said. Hemphill, a resident of Cloverdale said that “NCRA freight service will be the warm-up act for SMART.” “We will acclimate North Coast residents to the rebirth of trains in this rail corridor and set the stage for SMART commuter service,” he said. NCRA will also certify its Russian River Division Environmental Impact Report, which evaluates the impacts and benefits of freight trains between Willits and Lombard, prior to service start-up. Hemphill said that the NCRA anticipates adoption of the EIR by the end of the year. “One rail car takes 4 trucks off of the highway. One gallon of diesel can move a ton of freight over 400 miles,” “It’s about time we return to green goods movement on the North Coast,” said Hemphill.
Freight trains return to Sonoma County By STEVE HART THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Published: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 4:31 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 4:31 p.m. Rail fans waved and snapped photos as a work train rolled through Petaluma on Tuesday, marking the Northwestern Pacific Railroad’s return to Sonoma County after an eight-year hiatus. “It was exciting,” said Lynda Ammons, who watched the train rumble by Petaluma’s vintage 1914 rail depot. “The ground shook. I got chills.” The work train is fixing a 62-mile stretch of track between Napa County and Windsor, preparing for the resumption of freight service early next year. The work train could reach Windsor next week, said Mitch Stogner, executive director of the North Coast Railroad Authority. “People are going to get used to seeing trains again,” said Stogner. “So far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.” On Tuesday, people gathered at Petaluma train crossings to watch a giant diesel locomotive pull three flatcars loaded with replacement railroad ties. The engineer blasted his horn and flagmen stopped traffic as the train crossed Southpoint Boulevard. At Corona Road, cows in a nearby pasture scattered as the train approached. Rail buff Roger Graeber of Sebastopol recorded the event on video for the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society. He said it was good to see a train back on NWP’s tracks. “It’s about time,” Graeber said. Workers pushed heavy wooden ties off the flatcars and onto the railroad right-of-way. Another crew will fit them under the rails. About 10,000 new ties will be installed between Novato and Windsor, Stogner said. The Northwestern Pacific has been closed since 2001, when storm damage made it unsafe for cargo trains. The railroad authority is finishing about $50 million in state-funded repairs before reopening the southern end of the line. State lawmakers created the railroad authority in 1989 to keep cargo trains running on the NWP, a former branch of Southern Pacific Co. Freight trains would share part of the route with Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, which plans to operate commuter service starting in 2014. “NCRA freight service will be the warm-up act for SMART,” said authority chairman Allan Hemphill. Cargo trains were scheduled to start in October, but the launch has been delayed until early 2010 because the authority needs special permits for repair work on three bridges, Stogner said. Service would begin with three round-trip trains per week, but could later expand to two round-trips per day with up to 60 cars per train. Trains would carry building materials, animal feed, wine and other commodities, according to the authority. They could also replace trucks used to haul Sonoma County’s garbage to out-of-county landfills. The NWP connects to the national rail network at Lombard, south of Napa. The authority has contracted with a Palo Alto firm, NWP Co., to operate the cargo trains. Freight service could be extended to Willits by 2011 and eventually to Eureka, according to the authority.
MOW train is in Santa Rosa tonight report on NWPRRfan list "The GP35 and 2 centerbeams are sitting at the depot in Santa Rosa for the night. I talked to a guy who said he thinks they will head south in the AM. Going on duty around 7am. ?Jamie"
Empire Report Editor>Trains Return to Santa Rosa photos http://picasaweb.google.com/empire.report/TrainsReturnToSantaRosa#
I wonder if I'll get lucky and see the train tomarrow. I haul mail out of the post office facility in Petaluma, near the Corona Road crossing. I get off work about 8 am. It'd be nice to see a train up here again.
On my way home this morning, about 9 am, I saw the crew working on the trackage just north of Wilfred Ave.
Good to see the line getting work and trains rolling again. Might have to take a trip to the north bay.
