Most Sacramento light rail service restored

Logo of Sacramento Regional Transit

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Most Sacramento light rail service was restored this afternoon (Monday, Feb. 5), following power outages and other storm damage that hit the Sacramento Regional Transit system on Sunday. An advisory on the Sacramento RT website says Blue Line service was restored at 2 p.m. with Green Line and a portion of the […]

Read More…

California storms disrupt Amtrak, Sacramento light rail service

Amtrak logo.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Winter storms in Southern and Central California have impacted rail service in a number of areas today (Monday, Feb. 5). Today’s Coast Starlight trains will run abbreviated routes. The train scheduled to depart Los Angeles this morning will instead originate in Emeryville, Calif., while the train departing Seattle will terminate in Emeryville. […]

Read More…

Officials announce plans to build wall to deal with San Clemente slide

Train passing retaining wall in beach area

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — The Orange County Transportation Authority will build a wall to protect Surf Line tracks at the site of the landslide that has halted passenger rail operations since Jan. 24, OCTA and Metrolink announced on Friday. The decision comes a day after a state emergency declaration made $10 million in funding available […]

Read More…

Pacific Surfliner extends slide-related schedule changes to at least Feb. 9 (updated)

Cab car leads passenger train along track next to ocean

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — With heavy rains forecast over the next several days and no long-term solution for the latest landslide in the San Clemente area, Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner has extended its revised schedule of cancellations and bus-bridge service through at least Friday, Feb. 9. Meanwhile, the state of California issued an emergency declaration Thursday […]

Read More…

Freight traffic resumes through San Clemente; passenger moves still halted

Train passing retaining wall in beach area

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — BNSF Railway has resumed freight operations through the location of the latest landslide on Southern California’s Surf Line, which remains closed to passenger traffic following a Jan. 24 incident near the San Clemente Pier. The Orange County Register reports BNSF began freight movements with a 10-mph speed restriction between 9 p.m. […]

Read More…

A brief encounter with Northwestern Pacific

Two steam locomotives handle passenger train cross river bridge

More than a few times, photographs in the Kalmbach library have sent me searching for railroads and places I’ve never encountered, and a few weeks ago some 8 x 10 prints lined up perfectly with travel plans. The destination: Mendocino, Calif., the charming old lumber town up the coast 155 miles from San Francisco. My […]

Read More…

Northern California short lines receive $31.4 federal loan

Train with two locomotives on low wooden bridge

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation has extended a $31.4 million Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loan to the Sierra Northern Railway and Mendocino Railway for infrastructure improvement work, DOT’s Build America Bureau announced on Monday. Funding will finance almost 100% of work including expansion of 6.7 miles of Sierra Northern’s Oakdale Branch for […]

Read More…

Officials unsure when rail service through San Clemente, Calif., will resume (updated)

Passenger train on single track next to palm trees and beach

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Officials have no estimate when rail service might resume past the site of a landslide near the San Clemente Pier, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. A Wednesday, Jan. 24, slide destroyed a bridge on a pedestrian trail, sending debris and parts of the bridge onto the Surf Line tracks below. The […]

Read More…

Slide issues again halt Surfliner, Metrolink service through San Clemente, Calif.

Train passing retaining wall in beach area

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink commuter rail service has once again been suspended in the San Clemente area because of landslide concerns, a long-running issue in the area over the last two years. The advisory page on the Surfliner website says tracks have been closed near the San Clemente Pier “until […]

Read More…

California offers first look at possible high speed rail interiors (updated)

Two-by-two seating facing a table

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Premium seating with “cocoons,” as well as pods that wouldn’t be out of place in first-class on a long-distance flight. Play areas with a beach décor. And at least two concepts — “comfort” or “flex” — for conventional seating. All are contained in a series of renderings released this week by the […]

Read More…

Restored Fairbanks Morse switcher debuts in Southern California

Black switch engine with silver stripes

PERRIS, Calif. – After sitting dormant for more than 30 years, a rare Fairbanks Morse H12-44 switcher made its public debut on Saturday, Jan. 20, following a multi-year restoration at the Southern California Railway Museum. Built in 1956, ATSF No. 560 was part of an order of six H12-44s built for the Santa Fe. They […]

Read More…