SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission took no action Thursday on a proposal to seek abandonment of a branch line that a tourist train operator said could doom its operation, instead instructing Executive Director Guy Preston to engage in further talks with Roaring Camp Railroads. Meanwhile, in a separate action Thursday, […]
WASHINGTON — The California Coastal Commission is asking the Surface Transportation Board to order mediation in the long-running dispute between it, the city of Del Mar, Calif., and the North County Transit District over the transit agency’s plan to build a safety fence along its rail line on the Del Mar Bluffs. The transit district […]
FILLMORE, Calif. — Sierra Railroad of Davis, Calif., announced today it has purchased the majority of the remaining locomotives, rolling stock and other assets from the former Fillmore & Western Railroad operation in Ventura County. The Montalvo-to-Piru line, owned by the Ventura County Transportation Commission, has been operated by Sierra Railroad’s Sierra Northern Ventura Division […]
A Southern Pacific PA-PB-PA set leads the westbound City of San Francisco at Davis, Calif., in June 1951. D. W. Johnson photo […]
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – A group has formed to try to save a 133-year-old former Southern Pacific railroad station in Bakersfield, and is asking the public’s help in convincing the city to extend a lease on the structure while it mounts its preservation efforts. The Bakersfield Californian reports the Save the Sumner Station Working Group […]
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — A California tourist railroad has stepped up its campaign against potential adverse abandonment of the branch line connecting it to the national rail network, calling the railbanking effort under consideration by a local agency “a fantasy” and saying it places its tourist operation under threat. Roaring Camp Railroads, which operates the […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific will purchase 20 battery-electric locomotives to test in yard service, the largest commitment to date for the technology by any rail operator. In separate announcements Friday, the railroad announced purchase of 10 Wabtec FLXdrive locomotives and 10 of Progress Rail’s EMD Joule locomotives. The railroad said the cost of the […]
LOS ANGELES — The LA Metro board of directors on Thursday approved construction of a 19.3-mile light rail line, following a former Pacific Electric route, to connect downtown Los Angeles to the southeast LA County city of Artesia. The Los Angeles Daily News reports the new line, called the West Santa Ana Branch, will cost […]
Three of Pacific Electric’s big interurban cars, known as “Blimps” for their great size, lay over at Long Beach circa 1950. Linn H. Westcott photo […]
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is considering a forced abandonment of a branch line owned by Roaring Camp Railroads as part of a move to railbank the line for possible future commuter-rail use — a move opposed by Roaring Camp. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports Roaring Camp, which operates […]
DEL MAR, Calif. — After a lengthy but unsuccessful effort to negotiate an agreement, the San Diego’s North County Transit District has voted to proceed with plans to install a safety fence along its tracks on the coastal Del Mar Bluffs. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports the district board voted 7-0 on Jan. 20 to […]
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has responded to Union Pacific criticism of his policies, which it says play a part in much-publicized thefts from intermodal containers, by suggesting the railroad doesn’t do enough to protect its trains. The South Bay Daily Breeze reports that Gascon, in a letter to UP […]
