Santa Cruz County passenger rail a long-sought but uphill track

[Smooth Ride]

Why do they keep talking to pro-trail lobbyists about train operations? They're clearly going to paint the rosiest picture possible in their quest to get their hands on the ROW for their trail. They have zero real interest in trains. The moment the line is bought, they'll be crying about the big mean trains needing to stop because they run too close to "their" trail.

As for the Sonoma-Marin train mentioned, that agency recently admitted the funding they were basing their grand plans on wasn't panning out and they would have to rethink things. Naturally the Sentinel didn't mention that. The Monterey light rail boondoggle is an even worse example. Currently the rails only extend from Castroville into Sand City and end in a Costco parking lot. The rest of the line beyond there into Monterey itself (you know, whre people woud actually want to go) was turned into a trail decades ago. The same pro-trail people hoping to get federal funds to build a bike path there will be screaming the loudest that their old trail can't be altered to unearth the rails again. Articles in the Monterey paper noted there is already opposition mounting under the guise of 'saving the view'from being blocked by the train cars. Good luck with that.

[celebrate subversity]

Theryl McCoy wrote:

These difficult economic times are temporary and will pass, just as they always have, only to boom and blossom again.
There is another rail corridor that runs through Felton up Zayante canyon that will never become a rail trail due to the broken up parcels. We can not let this happen to the current rail-way. This rail-zone is invaluable and essential to the community and we should not scoff at such a prime opportunity to have it. Think about how much it would cost if we ever needed to take back the rail-way via eminent domain?
If you ever decide to ride your bicycle along a rail-way corridor then you will know that it is an enjoyable, peaceful, easy and safe way to ride a bike.

Then by all means, buy it....nobody's stopping you. Just don't force those who realize what a joke and waste of money it is to pay for it.

I'd like to have a fine dining and bar boat/ferry that travels between the Monterrey and Santa Cruz wharfs....just 'cuz it sounds like fun. You want to buy and maintain it for me?

[Auto Dreams Die Hard]

richinrio wrote:

I also have a dream. That dream? For these simpletons who are in love with railroads to move to areas that have one in place.
Maybe if the 139 people who desperately crave this fiscal boondoggle were regular patrons of a light rail system elsewhere in the country, that light rail might start coming closer to paying for itself.
Why in the world are we allowing a handful of these coercive Utopians to shove this white elephant down our collective throats?
How ironic that the Pied Piper himself ( Mr. Sawhill ) would choose to have his photo taken next to a light rail on the VTA line.
Would Mr. Sawhill care to share with the voters the original cost estimates of the VTA? Would he care to share with the voters the ACTUAL costs?
How about the wildly optimistic predictions of ridership? How about the reality?
How about the projected operating expenses for the VTA? How about the real number?
I thought not.
Typical nonsense from squeaky wheels who want to impose their vision of mass transit while forcing others to foot the bill for their fantasy.
Is there no end to this madness?
Do people not care about snake oil salesman who ride into town with smooth talk of a magic pill that will solve all of their problems?
P.T. Barnum was right.

In case you hadn't noticed, we already have a rail system in place. The tracks are there sitting idle. In America there's millions of miles of unused/under-utilized railroad tracks sitting out there rusting in the rain. We should be using the stuff.

[Auto Dreams Die Hard]

Hey I know wrote:

How about taking that same money and opening a third lane between Morrissey and Bay? The work done on the fish hook has helped TREMENDOUSLY with the traffic despite what naysayers say. But if you could open a third lane all the way to the three lanes even to Larking Valley, the burden would be tremendous. ALot of santa cruz people against growth blame south county for the traffic (ie, implying Watsonville, but the truth is, most traffic eases by the Del Mar exit. That is mid county. So if you can open up more traffic lanes and add a car pool that would help.
Oil is poised to sky rocket again and people really might start carpooling more. And as we loose more and more jobs, there will be less people affording to run cars and more willing to carpool.

I respectfully call complete B.S. to your argument. Americans would rather have a large cold enema jammed up their rectums than carpool my friend, much less get off their cell phones while driving. When gasoline hits $5 dollars a gallon again, it'll be interesting to see people running around going crazy like chickens with their heads cut off whining like babies. Remember this is the "me" culture with hyper-individualism.

The widening of Highway 1 accomplished nothing more than moving the bottleneck 1/2 mile further down the road. THAT was a complete & utter waste of money.

[Smooth Ride]

Auto Dreams Die Hard wrote:

<quoted text>
In case you hadn't noticed, we already have a rail system in place. The tracks are there sitting idle. In America there's millions of miles of unused/under-utilized railroad tracks sitting out there rusting in the rain. We should be using the stuff.

Actually, we have a rickety 10mph for freight Industrial Lead (in UP parlance)featuring ancient lightweight jointed rail and decaying bridges. Any upgrades for efficient passenger use beyond a slowly swaying dinner train would entail a from scratch ground up rebuild of the route at millions of dollars per mile.

[Yankee Doodle]

1) A coastal commuter train would ultimately take quite a bit of strain off of Highway 1. In a town that rarely looks to its future, preservation of this track right-of-way is a vital investment in the future.

In the meantime, Buck has the right idea:

"Purchase a set of wheels that mount onto a commuter van. Most Union Pacific service vehicles have them attached to their bumpers and I'm sure they can tell you where to purchase."

Dedicate these vans to the tracks and install passing areas sized for passenger trains as track maintenance funding becomes available.

2) What is sorely needed is a train link from San Jose to Santa Cruz. This would cut down on Highway 17 traffic and encourage smart growth, as opposed to choking the region to death under a pile of cars. However, in the blind urge to avoid growth in Santa Cruz County, the nay-sayers are going to choke Santa Cruz in particular in a pile of its own emissions.

Amazing how the environmentalists don't want to admit how much less fuel is used and how little carbon emissions result from rail rather than road travel.

[My Take]

What are the alternatives to making a rail line? We either are stuck in the same rut that the oil companies put us on by their purchase of public transportation lines then making them artificially fail so they could sell their form of snake oil.
The voters of California voted to have a high speed rail system & maybe we should vote on the county rail system here in Santa Cruz; if we haven’t already?
To have a rail corridor would take some traffic from highway one; how much is uncertain. I’ve ridden BART & the metro in NYC. Those systems work because of the concentration of population. Santa Cruz’s system would certainly have to be subsidized & the routes to the major lines are limited. I know that the rail lines shortest route is probably to Watsonville/Gilroy because the terrain is relatively flat. I can’t see the line going up the coast & tying into BART in Daily City or South San Fran.
Basically though, if we are to mitigate pollution & fossil fuel consumption, drastic costly measures have to be taken. There will be the NIMBYs that bought their homes next to the train track & now are complaining that the people are looking back to the rail system as part of a resolve for traffic & environmental concerns. The seniors who don’t want to fit the bill on their watch because they will not be around to get the benefits of a rail system. There will be the oil company interests who will be against rail system development for the obvious reasons. There will be some hard fought battles. It took money to wrestle the idea of mass transportation by the oil companies in the early 20th century & it will take 100’s times more money to get that mindset back.
No, rail won’t be cheap but for environmental concerns & the health of future humans that people keep reproducing & putting on the planet; it will be worth it.

[The Accountant]

Crazy wrote:

Theryl, are you series? In this economic times, you actually propose subsidizing a massive program such as this with local taxes? Are you NUTS? Do you not realize that income taxes and sales taxes are plummeting? How about when unemployment continues to rise? What then? What about when UCSC is forced to start massive layoffs next year as Chancellor Blumenthal has hinted at? Where will that tax base from to fund this program? And when the Federal government starts to deal with the massive, MASSIVE, deficit we are running up, how do you think this would go in the future? Don't expect non local money to come from anywhere.

Relax, the Obama led recovery is happening!! We need to look at the long term not just today and next week.

[My Take]

Auto Dreams Die Hard wrote:

<quoted text>
I respectfully call complete B.S. to your argument. Americans would rather have a large cold enema jammed up their rectums than carpool my friend, much less get off their cell phones while driving. When gasoline hits $5 dollars a gallon again, it'll be interesting to see people running around going crazy like chickens with their heads cut off whining like babies. Remember this is the "me" culture with hyper-individualism.
The widening of Highway 1 accomplished nothing more than moving the bottleneck 1/2 mile further down the road. THAT was a complete & utter waste of money.

…And, I was completely against it. It was put to a vote & the voters were against it. Then all of a sudden there was money available that didn’t have to be put up by tax revenue so they crammed that highway widening project down the throats of the Santa Cruz community anyway.
I went up with a group from People Power, to Sacramento, met with Assembly member John Laird. We rode the public transportation the whole way. We took off from Santa Cruz via the Cal Trans bus or the 17 commuter? Then it was light rail until we were able to get on the Cal Train. It took us a while to get there but we did it.

Most of us went to the podium to tell the legislature to use the money for something better than the widening or merge lanes. We had a couple of women who seemingly made the trip under a higher class mode of travel; probably a Mercedes, Lexus or similar facsimile.
All the highway widening will do is move the problem elsewhere along the highway. The problem is there are too many cars on the road & to alleviate the problem would be to offer a public transportation alternative. It has worked in different areas in the world with the same density of population as here. The problem would be that we were swayed by the same forces that are trying to knock us off of the idea today.
Thankfully, the Mayor of San Francisco shot down the idea of the Embarcadero interchange that Ronald Reagan was hoping that the City would grasp for; we need that mentality today…..

[Seabright person]

70 years ago, one could board a train in Santa Cruz, go over the SC mountains, and be in San Francisco, without ever leaving said train. A staggeringly beautiful trip, by the way.

That direct line through the mountains is long since dismantled and will never be rebuilt, but there is still the junction at Pajaro (Watsonville).

On May 18, 1996, Caltrain made a special one-time trip from SF to Watsonville, connected with our SC line, and ended up at the Boardwalk.

Here's the proof:
http://www.yesteryeardepot.com/CLTSNTN1.JPG

It did not cost them millions of dollars, years of studies, or any particular effort at all to do this. They just did it.

If they could do it that once, with no major expense, I absolutely don't understand why they can't do it again. Or every day, for that matter.

Very few people seem to remember this day.

In any case, it's absurd that in 2009 the only public transportation out of this city is the Highway 17 Express.

[Dan Young]

Wow, I missed that part in my deed: railroad in backyard. Maybe that is why I got such a good price on my house.

[celebrate subversity]

Seabright person wrote:

70 years ago, one could board a train in Santa Cruz, go over the SC mountains, and be in San Francisco, without ever leaving said train. A staggeringly beautiful trip, by the way.
That direct line through the mountains is long since dismantled and will never be rebuilt, but there is still the junction at Pajaro (Watsonville).
On May 18, 1996, Caltrain made a special one-time trip from SF to Watsonville, connected with our SC line, and ended up at the Boardwalk.
Here's the proof:
http://www.yesteryeardepot.com/CLTSNTN1.JPG
It did not cost them millions of dollars, years of studies, or any particular effort at all to do this. They just did it.
If they could do it that once, with no major expense, I absolutely don't understand why they can't do it again. Or every day, for that matter.
Very few people seem to remember this day.
In any case, it's absurd that in 2009 the only public transportation out of this city is the Highway 17 Express.

I wasn't around for the train, but I've hiked it's path over the past 50 years. I grew up in the mountains above Soquel...born in '54 and lived in the area until I moved just a few years ago. There's still remnants of the old track...and even the stone arches and about 20 yards of the Wright Station tunnel can be found, if you know where to look. Much of the town of Wright's Station is gone, but there's a lot of signs of the once bustling town, including the beams from the original wooden sidewalk. I used to find all kinds of cool stuff on the old town sight. Antique glass, bowls, plates, etc...even coins. The town of Lexington is almost covered with water, but when the reservoir is low, you can still see all the old foundations toward the back on the way to Aldercroft.

There's great history up in those hills and I have fantastic memories of hiking all though the old Ghost towns. When I started having kids, I showed them much of that old stuff....and the trails that connect from Mt Madonna all the way to Saratoga Springs. However, the last time I went up to Wright Station (& Lake Elsman, if you know it), it was painfully obvious it had been discovered by the masses. Spandex-clad neon yuppies on there over-priced mountain bikes had made it practically impossible to enjoy a peaceful, quiet and safe hike. Hmmf....flatlanders.

[Smooth Ride]

Seabright person wrote:

On May 18, 1996, Caltrain made a special one-time trip from SF to Watsonville, connected with our SC line, and ended up at the Boardwalk.
Here's the proof:
http://www.yesteryeardepot.com/CLTSNTN1.JPG
It did not cost them millions of dollars, years of studies, or any particular effort at all to do this. They just did it.
If they could do it that once, with no major expense, I absolutely don't understand why they can't do it again. Or every day, for that matter.

I was on that train, and it was a ridiculously slow and wobbly 2 hour run from Watsonville Jct. to the Boardwalk. A fun rare mileage trip to have experienced, but not a viable form of transportation for more than a recreational excursion. It was a special run meant to drum up support and public money for purchase of the branch. Southern Pacific was in dire financial straits and it had $$ signs in its eyes. It was basically a big advertisement, not unlike similar runs on the Monterey Branch and the Coast Route mainline. Monterey County took the bait, the state passed on the mainline, and here we are still talking about the Santa Cruz Branch under successor UP's owenership.

[Lets see]

Buck wrote:

Dear County,
Purchase a set of wheels that mount onto a commuter van. Most Union Pacific service vehicles have them attached to their bumpers and I'm sure they can tell you where to purchase.
Drive commuter van onto tracks. Exit wherever on your route is desired. Re-enter tracks and repeat.
You already own the commuter vans, so just mount the track ready wheel sets that attach to the bumpers. Low cost commuter rail service, ready to go and your "trains" are road worthy.
Thank-you.

Amen!

[over the hill]

Is there a route survey for hooking up a rail link from San Jose to Santa Cruz?

Or did the rail link go through Ye Olde Lexington Reservoir?

[Smooth Ride]

Yankee Doodle wrote:

2) What is sorely needed is a train link from San Jose to Santa Cruz. This would cut down on Highway 17 traffic and encourage smart growth, as opposed to choking the region to death under a pile of cars. However, in the blind urge to avoid growth in Santa Cruz County, the nay-sayers are going to choke Santa Cruz in particular in a pile of its own emissions.
Amazing how the environmentalists don't want to admit how much less fuel is used and how little carbon emissions result from rail rather than road travel.

I find it hilarious that the same sort of "progressives" that are touting the rail trail and high density housing along the corridor today were over the past decades responsible for a myopic "no growth" derailing of any plans for rail based alternatives and infrastructure improvements.

[anybody remember]

Eccles and Eastern?

[rail gear]

Here's a picture of what Buck is talking about, a so-called hy-rail or railgear setup.

http://www.mitchell-railgear.com/products/151... (courtesy http://www.mitchell-railgear.com/ )

There are even hobbyists who enjoy driving privately owned vehicles on out-of-service track. http://www.narcoa.org/

It would not be a big deal to run a regularly scheduled commuter van service on this track using hy-rail equipment and experienced bus drivers. Running such a service would be excellent practice for moving up to rail. As the rail in question is single tracked, coordination of use is necessary (i.e. a portable red / green traffic light system as used by County Roads). However, with maximum speeds of 20mph, the odds of an accident are low and the consequences limited.

The benefit is being able to skip heavily congested traffic on Highway 1 during commute hours, plus the novelty value of an unusual form of travel. Look at San Francisco's cable cars for an excellent example of how such novelties can become cold hard cash.

[Theryl McCoy]

Yeah it's kind of like the neighbor who suddenly decides to build a second story on their house and inadvertently blocks your ocean view. Would you be that neighbor if your family needed the extra space? Would you buy a house near a hwy that might need widening? I wouldn't because of the possibility that "someday" a giant sound wall might be erected above my fence. Train tracks are for trains. Surprise!

Dan Young wrote:

Wow, I missed that part in my deed: railroad in backyard. Maybe that is why I got such a good price on my house.

[Robbie]

What world does the Regional Transportation Commission live in? They sit knowing that there is $150 million in deferred maintenance on County streets and roads .. pot holes, cracked sidewalks, bad crossings, etc. and yet they somehow see fit to spend tens of millions of OUR dollars buying an operating freight line that by their own study loses over $300,000 annually. Then they think that there will be a trail alongside the operating railroad but studies here in the County show such a trail will cost $3 to $5 million PER MILE and there is no money available. Further, they ignore the huge maintenance cost to keep the 37 bridges and trestles maintained/repaired/replaced (check out the La Selva Beach trestle sometime .. scary). With the County broke, the State broke, the Feds in deep debt, the brainiacs on the RTC somehow, in a twisted mindset .. with NO economic study at all .. squander taxpayer money on a railroad boondoggle. And once they buy the railroad they are obligated by law to continue to operate it .. losing money is not a reason for abandonment. Are the inmates running the RTC asylum? I think yes. If they actually have a public meeting I hope all disillusioned (but sane) people will attend and complain.