Everyone's Blog Posts - Northwestern Pacific Railroad Network2024-03-19T07:39:06Zhttps://nwprr.net/profiles/blog/feed?xn_auth=noSupport the SKUNKtag:nwprr.net,2024-03-12:3290209:BlogPost:2690272024-03-12T18:42:29.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>I have been advised by the owner that there is a meeting this coming Thursday of the California Coastal Commission in Sacramento wherein a discussion will occur regarding the restoration of rail service on the Calif. Western RR line. Specifically the rebuilding of the collapsed tunnel.</p>
<p>The agenda and meeting details are posted here: <a href="https://www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/agenda/#/2024/3" rel="noopener" target="_blank">CCC Meeting Agenda</a> (Click on the Thursday, March 14,…</p>
<p>I have been advised by the owner that there is a meeting this coming Thursday of the California Coastal Commission in Sacramento wherein a discussion will occur regarding the restoration of rail service on the Calif. Western RR line. Specifically the rebuilding of the collapsed tunnel.</p>
<p>The agenda and meeting details are posted here: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/agenda/#/2024/3" rel="noopener">CCC Meeting Agenda</a> (Click on the Thursday, March 14, 9:00am tab and scroll down to 8a). Be sure to select the "Thursday" tab.</p>
<p>You cannot Zoom in but you can send a quick letter to the Commission supporting the RAILROAD. Important you do this.</p>
<p>And any Deadheads on this w-site, include that fact in your letter. The Chair of the Commission is Micky Hart's wife Carlyn. </p>3 GPs, 1 missingtag:nwprr.net,2024-02-20:3290209:BlogPost:2687712024-02-20T19:56:07.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>When I opened this w-site today a picture of those beautiful locos popped up. In it there were 3 pulling an unseen consist with 3844 on the point. I have seen the two that collided up in Willits and the Calif. Western has wisely salvaged the trucks from one of them. Anyone know where the third GP9 ended up?</p>
<p>When I opened this w-site today a picture of those beautiful locos popped up. In it there were 3 pulling an unseen consist with 3844 on the point. I have seen the two that collided up in Willits and the Calif. Western has wisely salvaged the trucks from one of them. Anyone know where the third GP9 ended up?</p>CCJPA Phase 2 study does not recomended, Vallejo as the new crossingtag:nwprr.net,2024-02-16:3290209:BlogPost:2689892024-02-16T21:59:17.000ZGabriel Rhttps://nwprr.net/profile/GabrielR
<p><a href="https://www.capitolcorridor.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Feb-21-2024-CCJPA-Board-Meeting_Slide-Presentation_Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CCJPA slides</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Looks like SMART will be running east west service alone and not picking up the benefit of Capital Corridor sharing Vallejo to Fairfield. Smart should explore buying the tracks and taking over freight operations to allow better coordination with passenger service.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.capitolcorridor.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Feb-21-2024-CCJPA-Board-Meeting_Slide-Presentation_Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CCJPA slides</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Looks like SMART will be running east west service alone and not picking up the benefit of Capital Corridor sharing Vallejo to Fairfield. Smart should explore buying the tracks and taking over freight operations to allow better coordination with passenger service.</p>Track tunnel and bridge upgrades set for CWRXR Skunk linetag:nwprr.net,2024-01-29:3290209:BlogPost:2685572024-01-29T17:30:00.000ZRobhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RobK
<p><strong>The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Jan. 29 announced that its Build America Bureau has provided a $31.4 million Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan to Sierra Northern Railway (SNR) and Mendocino Railway (MRY) to expand and rehabilitate rail infrastructure in the Central Valley and Mendocino County, Calif.</strong></p>
<p>By providing RRIF and Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans, the…</p>
<p><strong>The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Jan. 29 announced that its Build America Bureau has provided a $31.4 million Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan to Sierra Northern Railway (SNR) and Mendocino Railway (MRY) to expand and rehabilitate rail infrastructure in the Central Valley and Mendocino County, Calif.</strong></p>
<p>By providing RRIF and Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans, the <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/buildamerica/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Build America Bureau</a> helps communities expedite infrastructure projects and reduce project costs.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">USDOT</a>, the loan finances nearly 100% of the planned improvements, including <a href="https://www.sierranorthern.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SNR</a> expansion of 6.7 miles of Oakdale Branch track for engine and carriage storage, MRY rehabilitation of Noyo Canyon Tunnel No. 1, and 27 bridges and 40 miles of track.</p>
<p>“USDOT is pleased to support this important project in California that will increase safety, reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and improve freight service benefitting the entire region,” said Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg. “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to investing in clean transportation and enhancing supply chains.” </p>
<p>According to USDOT, the project should be complete in 2027 and will provide many benefits to the community, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>“Increased safety, operating capacity, efficiency.</li>
<li>“Reduction of derailments and grade-crossing incidents.</li>
<li>“Reduced congestion and air pollution on local roads and highways.”</li>
</ul>
<p>The RRIF program, USDOT says, maintains a $7 billion set-aside to support small railroads like SNR and MRY. This is the Build America’s Bureau’s first loan to a Class III railroad since it was created in 2016. In total, USDOT has closed $7.6 billion RRIF loans, $39.8 billion in TIFIA financings, supporting more than $143 billion in infrastructure investment across the country.</p>
<p>“Sierra’s and Mendocino’s RRIF loan will help modernize the rail line, which will greatly enhance existing freight service and make the railroad more attractive to new freight customers.” said Build America Bureau Executive Director Morteza Farajian, Ph.D. “We are pleased that a short-line railroad has been able to take advantage of our low-interest financing and deliver improvements that might not have been possible otherwise.”</p>
<p>“We appreciate the Bureau and all their hard work helping us with the RRIF loan,” said Sierra Northern Railway President Kennan H. Beard III. “This project will provide the region with new construction jobs and greatly benefit the Central Valley.”</p>
<p>“The RRIF loan helps enhance our freight and passenger services in Mendocino County by providing additional jobs, improving safety, lowering emissions, and advancing our regional transportation options,” said Mendocino Railway President Robert Jason Pinoli.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.progressiverailroading.com/short_lines_regionals/news/Sierra-Northern-Mendocino-short-lines-obtain-31M-RRIF-loan--71132">https://www.progressiverailroading.com/short_lines_regionals/news/Sierra-Northern-Mendocino-short-lines-obtain-31M-RRIF-loan--71132</a></p>Ferryboat Eureka Possibly Coming to Mare Islandtag:nwprr.net,2024-01-07:3290209:BlogPost:2683182024-01-07T15:52:19.000ZDave S.https://nwprr.net/profile/dms
<p></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: Lora, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -1.08px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Brendan Riley’s Solano Chronicles: Slow boats to Mare Island</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: Lora, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -1.08px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"><img src="https://www.timesheraldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/CHRONICLES.jpg?w=293" alt="The Balclutha and other historic San Francisco ships are coming to Mare Island. (B. Riley photo)"/></span></p>
<p>From 2024-01-07 Vallejo Times-Herald, including photo, above.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Bolded</strong></span> text below pertains to the Eureka.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">At least one of four historic ships from the National Park Service’s fleet in San Francisco was expected at Mare Island in late 2023. But the no-show doesn’t mean plans for mooring the ships at the former Navy base are on the rocks. All four are now due by June.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The first to reach Mare Island, possibly by March, should be the iconic Balclutha, an 1886 square-rigged sailing ship, and the Eppleton Hall, a 1914 paddlewheel tug. They’ll be followed by the C.A. Thayer, an 1895 lumber schooner; and the Hercules, a 1907 steam tug.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The Hercules was supposed to be the first to make the 25-mile run from the Park Service’s century-old Hyde Street Pier to Mare Island, by last November or December, but remains in an Alameda drydock where it’s undergoing needed repairs.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The vessels will tie up along the Mare Island seawall for at least two years while the deteriorating Hyde Street Pier is replaced. The Park Service and its San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park leased the seawall space in mid-2023 from the Mare Island Co., the developer that now owns much of the old shipyard.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">“We anticipate that by the end of spring or early summer to have all four ships at Mare Island,” San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park PIO Dale Dualan said when contacted about the delay. “Our hope is that it will be soon – the sooner the better.”</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">By late summer or fall, the Park Service also hopes to provide public access to some of the ships, similar to what’s now offered at the Hyde Street Pier.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Other vessels in the Hyde Street Pier fleet, the largest of its sort on the West Coast, include the 1891 scow schooner Alma and the <strong>1890 steam ferryboat Eureka. The Eureka is due for a major rebuilding but the location for that multi-million-dollar job hasn’t been determined.</strong> The Alma will remain on the San Francisco waterfront.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">All six ships are important relics of a significant period in American nautical history, and all but the Eppleton Hall are National Historic Landmarks.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Congress already has approved $102.3 million for the Maritime National Historic Park project. Half the money will be spent on replacing the Hyde Street Pier. The rest will pay for the maintenance and relocating of the historic ships and <strong>restoration of the Eureka, at 299 feet in length reportedly the largest existing wooden ship in the world.</strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The four vessels coming to Mare Island can remain there until mid-2026 but that would be extended for a year or more if there’s any delay in completing the Hyde Street Pier work, which should begin in early 2025. The Mare Island lease is for 1,300 feet of seawall and an adjacent 10,000-square-foot maintenance yard.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The ships will tie up to the north of the operations-maintenance facility for the San Francisco Bay ferry fleet. The seawall space extends to the historic Coal Sheds, where the Mare Island Brewing Co. is located.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">“We understand there has been a delay,” said Kent Fortner, co-owner of the brewing company and also president of the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation. “But both the foundation and the brewing company are thrilled to have them at Mare Island – whenever they get here. We will be ready.”</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The historic ships now at the Hyde Street Pier draw millions of tourists every year. Mare Island and Vallejo, just across the Napa River, would benefit from even a small fraction of that tourism traffic while the ships are at Mare Island.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">There also are clear benefits for the Maritime National Historic Park fleet. Compared to Hyde Street Pier’s location near the mouth of San Francisco Bay, there’s less water turbulence in the Mare Island Strait – the name for the stretch of the Napa River that runs between Mare Island and Vallejo. Also, the river water, while brackish, isn’t as salty and corrosive, and there’s less of a problem with teredos or other wood-boring marine organisms that can damage wooden hulls.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">In terms of maritime history, Mare Island is an ideal location. The shipyard was established in 1854 as the Navy’s first on the West Coast. By the time it was shut down in 1996 due to federal budget cuts, Mare Island had produced more than 500 ships and submarines including the battleship USS California and the cruiser USS San Francisco. Its central industrial core, with many pre-Civil War buildings, has been designated a National Historic Landmark.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong>The Park Service and Mare Island Co. had discussed whether the shipyard’s historic Drydock No. 1 could be used for the keel-up rebuilding of the Eureka. That’s not included in the lease, although those talks could continue.</strong> The earlier discussion involved issues such as permits, dredging, liability questions, and potential problems and high expense in activating machinery that hasn’t been used in decades.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The concerns had been mentioned by Mare Island Drydock Co., which now operates the old shipyard’s No. 2 and No. 3 drydocks and would like to expand to the nearby Drydock No. 1. <strong>But the Eureka rebuilding in Drydock No. 1, a designated National Historic Landmark, would take three or more years – much longer than the typical time frame for ships in the company’s hands for maintenance and repairs.</strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">— Vallejo and other Solano County communities are treasure troves of early-day California history. My “Solano Chronicles” column highlights various aspects of that history. If you have local stories or photos to share, contact me on Facebook.</em></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-xg-p: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16.5px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: inherit; color: #000000; letter-spacing: -0.165px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #fbfbfb; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"></p>WSJ: Biden’s $3.1 Billion Train Ticket to Nowheretag:nwprr.net,2024-01-02:3290209:BlogPost:2682022024-01-02T22:48:40.000ZDave S.https://nwprr.net/profile/dms
<h2 class="css-jiugt2-Dek-Dek e1jnru6p0"></h2>
<h2 class="css-jiugt2-Dek-Dek e1jnru6p0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --headline-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); --headline-link-hover-color: var(--color-blue); margin: 0px; color: var(--secondary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-size: var(--typography-subheading-standard-m-font-size); line-height: var(--typography-subheading-standard-m-line-height); font-family: Retina, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: var(--typography-subheading-standard-m-font-weight); font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The White House announces an award to California’s stalled ‘high speed’ railroad.</h2>
<p>By Wendell Cox, WSJ, 2024-01-01</p>
<p></p>
<p><img src="https://images.wsj.net/im-907083/?width=700&height=467" alt="image"/></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The McCombs Avenue grade separation under construction during a high-speed rail project in Kern County, Calif., April 19, 2022. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS</span></p>
<p></p>
<p>It didn’t get a lot of attention, but last month the White House awarded $3.1 billion to the California High-Speed Rail project. This was supposed to be a bullet train connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles in less than three hours. Instead, its costs keep rising even as the state scales back the plan. Since 2008, when California voters authorized a $10 billion bond issue for the train, they’ve been sold a bill of goods.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The original total estimated construction cost to taxpayers was $33 billion. That’s risen to at least $100 billion. The authority decided to offer service between San Francisco and Los Angeles in Phase I, then eventually extend the train service north to Sacramento and south to San Diego. Phase I was to have been completed by 2020.</p>
<div><p></p>
<p>Within five years of the bond approval, costs had soared so high that the California High-Speed Rail Authority had to adopt an emergency plan to contain them. One idea was to slow down the trains by having them share tracks with conventional commuter trains in parts of the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. That reduced projected costs by billions of dollars—but made a mockery of the “high speed” rail claim.</p>
<p></p>
<p>In 2019 newly inaugurated Gov. Gavin Newsom declared that because of construction complications and cost overruns, the train would initially travel only down a 171-mile segment between Merced (a 130-mile drive from San Francisco) and Bakersfield (110 miles from Los Angeles). That segment was to cost $22.8 billion.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Then the California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Committee dropped another bomb: The San Francisco to Los Angeles phase would take another 15 to 20 years to build, would cost three times as much as projected, and would be unable to meet legally mandated trip times.</p>
<p></p>
<p>About the same time, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office highlighted a $10 billion to $12 billion funding shortfall for the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment, though only a year before the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s 2022 Business Plan had said “revenues would be roughly equivalent to costs.” The federal grant will pay for less than one-third of the year’s cost overrun.</p>
<p>In legislative testimony, Louis S. Thompson, chairman of the Peer Review Committee, put the Phase I funding gap at $93 billion to $103 billion. He also noted there is at least an $8 billion increase that hasn’t been counted in the Southern California segment. “Even with a realistic share of new federal funding,” he said, “the project cannot get outside the Central Valley without added state or local funding.” The Legislative Analyst’s Office agreed.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Future cost escalation seems likely on the San Francisco and Los Angeles legs of Phase I, with massive tunneling through the Tehachapi Mountains toward Los Angeles and below the Coast Range toward San Francisco.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The committee concluded that “there is no existing federal program anywhere near the scale or sustaining level needed. There will need to be significant and sustained additional State funding on a predictable and adequate level.” But the Legislative Analysts’s Office has announced a $68 billion deficit, slamming that window shut for now—unless more federal money is on the way.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Meanwhile, Florida has a new rail system up and running between Orlando and Miami, with all private financing. Florida also has a state budget surplus.</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>Mr. Cox is a senior fellow with the Committee to Unleash Prosperity and principal of Demographia, a St. Louis-area public-policy and transportation research firm.</em></p>
</div>
<p></p>SMART board meeting today via Zoomtag:nwprr.net,2023-12-20:3290209:BlogPost:2680492023-12-20T19:03:39.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>Under discussion will be the extension to Windsor. I plan to speak on the need to reconnect the old spurs on that extension.</p>
<p>Here are the Zoom-in specs:</p>
<p>Webinar ID: <strong>861 1724 9784</strong><br/> Passcode: <strong>742217</strong></p>
<p>Under discussion will be the extension to Windsor. I plan to speak on the need to reconnect the old spurs on that extension.</p>
<p>Here are the Zoom-in specs:</p>
<p>Webinar ID: <strong>861 1724 9784</strong><br/> Passcode: <strong>742217</strong></p>California Wants to Ban Your Choo-Chootag:nwprr.net,2023-11-19:3290209:BlogPost:2679392023-11-19T17:30:00.000ZDave S.https://nwprr.net/profile/dms
<div id="__next" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="layout-grid css-x70i5i e1wkb4h47" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: grid; grid-template: 'top top top' 'main main main' 'footer footer footer' / 1fr auto 1fr; --slimlineheader-height: 54px; --scrollbar-width: 15px; --article-direction: ltr;"></div>
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<div id="__next" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="layout-grid css-x70i5i e1wkb4h47" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: grid; grid-template: 'top top top' 'main main main' 'footer footer footer' / 1fr auto 1fr; --slimlineheader-height: 54px; --scrollbar-width: 15px; --article-direction: ltr;"><div class="article-container css-1fasr7 e1wkb4h45" style="box-sizing: border-box; grid-area: article; display: grid; grid-template: 'article-header .' 'article-body aside' / 640px 320px;"><div class="crawler css-symnra eui4bu21" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;"><div class="media-layout css-gly1v4-Layout-baseCss ertdlv30" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: var(--primary-background-color); width: 620px; margin: 0px 32px 22px 0px; clear: both;"><img src="https://images.wsj.net/im-889093/?width=700&height=467" alt="image"/></div>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Gavin Newsom<span> </span>wants to be President, but in some respects the Governor already is, as the Biden Administration lets California impose its climate rules on the other 49 states. In the latest example, the Environmental Protection Agency has green-lighted Sacramento’s plan to outlaw diesel locomotives.</p>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The California Air Resources Board (CARB) in April approved a regulation that would require railroads to replace diesel with “zero emission” locomotives. Diesel locomotives typically have a useful life of 40 years or more, but the regulation would bar those that are 23-years or older from running in the state after 2029.</p>
<div class="paywall css-1u1nl00-PaywalledContentContainer e1qcjy9n0" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Passenger locomotives made in 2030 or later would be required to “operate in a ZE [zero-emission] configuration” in California. By 2035 new locomotive engines for long-haul freight trains would also have to be ZE. Railroads don’t switch locomotives when they cross state lines, so California’s mandate would cover trains nationwide.</p>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">CARB’s plan dovetails with its ban on internal combustion engines in cars and heavy-duty trucks. Aside from their high cost, EVs have a limited battery range and extended charging time. Zero-emission battery-powered locomotives will have the same problems—if and when they are brought to market.</p>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; display: unset;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/WAB" class="css-1h1us5y-StyledLink el06won0" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--interactive-text-color); text-decoration: underline;">Wabtec</a><span> </span>Corp. recently unveiled the world’s first battery-powered, heavy-haul locomotive for mainline service, which would operate like a hybrid car. It would recharge its battery through regenerative braking and could also tap diesel engines for fuel. But a freight train entirely powered by batteries is still a dream.</div>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Replacing diesel fuel with batteries in long-haul trains is impractical because of their enormous weight and size. Battery components can also overheat and cause explosions that release toxic gas.<span> </span></p>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; display: unset;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/NSC" class="css-1h1us5y-StyledLink el06won0" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--interactive-text-color); text-decoration: underline;">Norfolk Southern</a>’s East Palestine derailment last winter would have been worse had the trains been powered by batteries.</div>
<div class="ad-portal" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Even if the technology for zero-emission locomotives eventually arrives, railroads will have to test them over many years to guarantee their safety. CARB tacitly acknowledges this by requiring railroads to set aside billions of dollars each year to finance future purchases of zero-emission locomotives.</p>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad estimate that each railroad will have to deposit $700 million to $800 million a year in a special spending account. These costs will be passed on to customers nationwide, meaning retailers, farmers and other businesses.</p>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">The railroad lobby has filed a lawsuit challenging CARB’s diesel locomotive ban, arguing that the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act pre-empts state and local regulations that have the effect of managing rail transportation. The Clean Air Act also expressly prohibits states from setting emissions standards for new locomotives.</p>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">CARB conceded in 2005 that state regulations “designed to reduce emissions from railroad locomotives” or “affect how the railroads are permitted to use and operate [their] locomotives” were likely pre-empted by federal law. But the EPA this month finalized a rule that would let California apply for a federal waiver to regulate<span> </span><em class="css-i6hrxa-Italic e1ofiv6m0" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">non-new</em><span> </span>locomotives. EPA says the Clean Air Act’s bar on state regulation of new locomotives means California can still regulate older locomotives in operation. That’s highly questionable. But even if it’s true, CARB is regulating new locomotives by requiring all engines built in 2035 or later to be configured to produce zero emissions.</p>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Even as California’s climate goals prove to be unattainable and costly, its progressive regulators charge ahead while the Biden Administration removes the brakes.</p>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></p>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;">From WSJ, 2023-11-17</p>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-diesel-locomotives-gavin-newsom-biden-administration-c4838adf?st=3z0c57w369r1sg2&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink">https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-diesel-locomotives-gavin-newsom-biden-administration-c4838adf?st=3z0c57w369r1sg2&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink</a></p>
<p class="css-k3zb6l-Paragraph e1e4oisd0" style="box-sizing: border-box; --summary-font-color: var(--secondary-text-color); --summary-bullet-small-font-color: var(--primary-text-color); color: var(--primary-text-color); direction: var(--article-direction); font-family: var(--article-font-family); font-size: calc((17 / var(--article-base-font-size)) * var(--article-text-size-scale) * 1rem); font-weight: var(--article-font-weight); line-height: calc(1.58824); margin: 0px 0px 1em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"></p>
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</div>HO Scale Northwestern Pacific C30-1 Caboosetag:nwprr.net,2023-11-05:3290209:BlogPost:2676762023-11-05T17:30:42.000ZStephen E. Dreeshttps://nwprr.net/profile/StephenEDrees
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12285891471?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12285891471?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12285891471?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12285891471?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>Healdsburg turntable still theretag:nwprr.net,2023-11-02:3290209:BlogPost:2676902023-11-02T21:38:37.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>A few years ago there were some postings here including from me, of the turntable up in the Healdsburg yard. At that time the whole assembly was covered with brush. Much to my surprise when I was up there last weekend, I found this. Someone has cleaned it all up and it looks to be in amazingly good shape.</p>
<p>Richard</p>
<p>A few years ago there were some postings here including from me, of the turntable up in the Healdsburg yard. At that time the whole assembly was covered with brush. Much to my surprise when I was up there last weekend, I found this. Someone has cleaned it all up and it looks to be in amazingly good shape.</p>
<p>Richard</p>Union Pacific Profit Declines As Freight Demand Weakenstag:nwprr.net,2023-10-20:3290209:BlogPost:2675672023-10-20T16:30:07.000ZDave S.https://nwprr.net/profile/dms
<p><img alt="https://images.wsj.net/im-871677?width=700&size=1.6558861578266495" src="https://images.wsj.net/im-871677?width=700&size=1.6558861578266495"></img></p>
<h2 class="css-jiugt2-Dek-Dek e1jnru6p0">The railroad beat expectations on earnings but signaled dimming strength in industrial, intermodal businesses</h2>
<p>from WSJ 2023-10-20, p. B2…</p>
<p><img src="https://images.wsj.net/im-871677?width=700&size=1.6558861578266495" alt="https://images.wsj.net/im-871677?width=700&size=1.6558861578266495"/></p>
<h2 class="css-jiugt2-Dek-Dek e1jnru6p0">The railroad beat expectations on earnings but signaled dimming strength in industrial, intermodal businesses</h2>
<p>from WSJ 2023-10-20, p. B2</p>
<p class="byline" style="margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 5px 5px 5px 10px; color: #666666; font-size: 0.9em !important; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="Fid_16" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;">BY DEAN SEAL</span></p>
<p class="abody" style="margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px; font-size: 17.6px; color: #333333; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em !important; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;">Union Pacific’s</span><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;"><span> </span>profit fell 19% in the third quarter to $1.5 billion, beating expectations, while the company reported declining freight rail volumes and revenue across key industrial commodities.</span></p>
<p class="abody" style="margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px; font-size: 17.6px; color: #333333; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em !important; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;">Earnings slid to $2.51 a share from $3.05 a share in the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting $2.41 a share.</span></p>
<p class="abody" style="margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px; font-size: 17.6px; color: #333333; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em !important; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;">Overall quarterly revenue of $5.94 billion was down 10% from $6.57 billion last year and below FactSet’s consensus forecast of $5.96 billion.</span></p>
<p class="abody" style="margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px; font-size: 17.6px; color: #333333; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em !important; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;">The Omaha, Neb.-based freight railroad, a bellwether of the industrial economy, saw revenue fall back from the third quarter of 2022 in industrial commodities, including coal, metals, industrial chemicals and energy products. Carloads of forest products fell</span><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;"><span> </span>13%, a likely result of the weak U.S. housing market.</span></p>
<p class="abody" style="margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px; font-size: 17.6px; color: #333333; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em !important; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;">Home sales have trended sharply lower this year as mortgage rates rose to the highest level since 2000.</span></p>
<p class="abody" style="margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px; font-size: 17.6px; color: #333333; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em !important; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;">“We faced many challenges in the quarter, including continued inflationary pressures</span><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;"><span> </span>and a drop in carloads,” said Chief Executive Jim Vena.</span></p>
<p class="abody" style="margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px; font-size: 17.6px; color: #333333; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em !important; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;">The railroad also saw business demand deteriorate in its intermodal operations, which have been hit by inventory destocking and sagging consumer demand for goods. Union Pacific’s volumes in</span><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;"><span> </span>that business segment, which hauls sea containers and truck trailers, fell 6% from the same quarter a year ago and revenue fell at an even steeper pace as average revenue per car, a measure of pricing strength, declined 13%.</span></p>
<p class="abody" style="margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px; font-size: 17.6px; color: #333333; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em !important; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;">Pricing and volume in that segment also declined from the second quarter, a sign of the muted peak season that freight industry executives have forecast for a period when volumes typically increase ahead of the end-of-year holidays.</span></p>
<p class="abody" style="margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px; font-size: 17.6px; color: #333333; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em !important; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;">Union Pacific shares closed up 2.1% at $210.33 Thursday.</span></p>
<p class="abody" style="margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px; font-size: 17.6px; color: #333333; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em !important; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: bold; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;">J.B. Hunt Transport Services,</span><span class="Fid_9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; font-family: 'Chronicle SSm', serif !important;"><span> </span>a major rail customer in intermodal operations, said this week that its intermodal revenue and average revenue per load both fell at a double-digit pace in the quarter ended Sept. 30.</span></p>SMART latest newstag:nwprr.net,2023-10-06:3290209:BlogPost:2676102023-10-06T23:44:00.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>This is the URL to access the latest SMART newsletter:…</p>
<p></p>
<p>This is the URL to access the latest SMART newsletter:</p>
<p><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: 'Graphik Web', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-weight: 400; color: #004e56;"><a target="_blank" href="https://mailchi.mp/sonomamarintrain/on-track-newsletter-fleet-week-healdsburg-extension-expanded-train-schedule" id="OWAe06dc013-e5e7-4481-74a1-499eaaee5f4d" class="OWAAutoLink" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration: none; margin: 0px; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor; text-align: left; color: #004e56;" name="OWAe06dc013-e5e7-4481-74a1-499eaaee5f4d">https://mailchi.mp/sonomamarintrain/on-track-newsletter-fleet-week-healdsburg-extension-expanded-train-schedule</a></span></p>
<p>Some good info about extension construction.</p>SMART considering GGRM Railbikes Operationstag:nwprr.net,2023-10-05:3290209:BlogPost:2676032023-10-05T06:42:44.000ZMikehttps://nwprr.net/profile/MikeJohn
<p>5.6mi round-trip from Cloverdale Yard to Tunnel #2. Beautiful scenery paralleling the Russian River and Hwy-101. The expected price per seat is $45, running weekends and holidays only.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">(SMART Presentation:) …</span></p>
<p></p>
<p>5.6mi round-trip from Cloverdale Yard to Tunnel #2. Beautiful scenery paralleling the Russian River and Hwy-101. The expected price per seat is $45, running weekends and holidays only.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">(SMART Presentation:) </span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.sonomamarintrain.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Agenda%20Item%2010%20-%20GGM%20Rail%20Bikes%20Presentation.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.sonomamarintrain.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Agenda%20Item%2010%20-%20GGM%20Rail%20Bikes%20Presentation.pdf</a></p>SMART going to Healdsburgtag:nwprr.net,2023-09-26:3290209:BlogPost:2675942023-09-26T21:28:18.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>SMART has issued this press release and it is also front page news in today's Press Democrat that they have received the funding to rebuild the Russian River rail bridge along with ther required PTC equipment.…</p>
<p></p>
<p>SMART has issued this press release and it is also front page news in today's Press Democrat that they have received the funding to rebuild the Russian River rail bridge along with ther required PTC equipment.</p>
<p><a href="https://mailchi.mp/eb8a99282255/smart-awarded-32m-in-federal-railroad-administration-funds-7124595?e=609185adf4&fbclid=IwAR3nCJqfrIVyDr3wQ2QWunwovEJS0Jfa24Xk0UMO89nDBabztFKAqgddvQ8%C2%A0">https://mailchi.mp/eb8a99282255/smart-awarded-32m-in-federal-railroad-administration-funds-7124595?e=609185adf4&fbclid=IwAR3nCJqfrIVyDr3wQ2QWunwovEJS0Jfa24Xk0UMO89nDBabztFKAqgddvQ8 </a>;</p>Some recent photos from the GGRM Schellville yardtag:nwprr.net,2023-08-22:3290209:BlogPost:2669842023-08-22T15:21:55.000ZAl Merkrebshttps://nwprr.net/profile/AlMerkrebs
<p>I was at the Golden Gate Railroad Museum Schellville yard recently and wanted to share these two photos.…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202096899?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202097866?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202097866?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
<p>I was at the Golden Gate Railroad Museum Schellville yard recently and wanted to share these two photos.</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202096899?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202097866?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202097866?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202096899?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202100275?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202100275?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202096899?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202099681?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><br/></a> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202096899?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202098283?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><br/></a> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12202096899?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><br/></a></p>SMART Train, Haystack Bridge, Petaluma, Californiatag:nwprr.net,2023-07-03:3290209:BlogPost:2671002023-07-03T23:43:18.000ZDave S.https://nwprr.net/profile/dms
<p>Very cool professionally produced video that I don't think anyone has mentioned previously, though it is 6 years old. Many cameras and angles. Very well done, short, fun watch!</p>
<p></p>
<p>Credit to Tom R. He also has a video on the Windsor Roundabout taken in March, 2023.</p>
<p></p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FDGiH6xEKlo?wmode=opaque" allowfullscreen="" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>
</p>
<p>Very cool professionally produced video that I don't think anyone has mentioned previously, though it is 6 years old. Many cameras and angles. Very well done, short, fun watch!</p>
<p></p>
<p>Credit to Tom R. He also has a video on the Windsor Roundabout taken in March, 2023.</p>
<p></p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FDGiH6xEKlo?wmode=opaque" allowfullscreen="" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>
</p>Contact McGuire to keep the NWP line alivetag:nwprr.net,2023-05-13:3290209:BlogPost:2662772023-05-13T03:54:06.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>This is a repeat of a response I posted on the "6 axel" string of another post so you can go there for details. But it so important for all of you to do right now if you love the old NWP line as I do. The freight based revenues for SMART are limited and you need to read this below and act.</p>
<p></p>
<p>"For my fellow members of this w-site, send an email to Mike McGuire and tell him to support funding for new low emission Tier 4 locomotives for SMART freight service success. We will…</p>
<p>This is a repeat of a response I posted on the "6 axel" string of another post so you can go there for details. But it so important for all of you to do right now if you love the old NWP line as I do. The freight based revenues for SMART are limited and you need to read this below and act.</p>
<p></p>
<p>"For my fellow members of this w-site, send an email to Mike McGuire and tell him to support funding for new low emission Tier 4 locomotives for SMART freight service success. We will lose these wonderful videos if we don't support SMART freight. <strong>And importantly, because he is now running for state-wide office, tell him you are a California registered voter and you support freight rail service.</strong></p>
<p>McGuire: <a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:senator.mcguire@senate.ca.gov">senator.mcguire@senate.ca.gov</a></p>North Coast Rail Trail Project Now Fully Funded with Recent Federal Lands Access Program Grant Award for Phases II and IIItag:nwprr.net,2023-05-06:3290209:BlogPost:2661492023-05-06T19:14:29.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>Santa Cruz County has received federal funding to create a trail alongside the rails from the city of Santa Cruz north to Davenport.</p>
<p>SCCRTC.org</p>
<p>Santa Cruz County has received federal funding to create a trail alongside the rails from the city of Santa Cruz north to Davenport.</p>
<p>SCCRTC.org</p>CALL TO ARMS, THREAT TO THE SKUNKtag:nwprr.net,2023-04-01:3290209:BlogPost:2663082023-04-01T17:17:08.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>THE VERY SERIOUS THREAT IS THAT WE HAVE A PERNICIOUS STATE SENATOR (MIKE McGUIRE) WHO DISLIKES RR'S AND HE HAS SET UP A GROUP TO REMOVE THE RAILS AND CONVERT THE ROW NORTH OF CLOVERDALE INTO A TRAIL. EVEN WORSE HIS GROUP HAS FILED THIS PETITION WITH THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD (STB): "Adverse Abandonment - ) AB 1305 (Sub-No. 1)<br></br>Mendocino Railway in Mendocino )<br></br>County, CA "</p>
<p>THIS PETITION ASKS THE THE STB TO FORCE THE CLOSURE OF THE CAL WESTERN (SKUNK) FROM FT. BRAGG TO…</p>
<p>THE VERY SERIOUS THREAT IS THAT WE HAVE A PERNICIOUS STATE SENATOR (MIKE McGUIRE) WHO DISLIKES RR'S AND HE HAS SET UP A GROUP TO REMOVE THE RAILS AND CONVERT THE ROW NORTH OF CLOVERDALE INTO A TRAIL. EVEN WORSE HIS GROUP HAS FILED THIS PETITION WITH THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD (STB): "Adverse Abandonment - ) AB 1305 (Sub-No. 1)<br/>Mendocino Railway in Mendocino )<br/>County, CA "</p>
<p>THIS PETITION ASKS THE THE STB TO FORCE THE CLOSURE OF THE CAL WESTERN (SKUNK) FROM FT. BRAGG TO WILLITS! YES UNBELIEVABLE!</p>
<p>THERE ARE SEVERAL GROUPS INCLUDING ONE I BELONG TO WHO HAVE MADE FORMAL SUBMISSIONS TO THE STB OPPOSING THIS PETITION BUT IT IS A REAL BATTLE. </p>
<p>IF YOU LIVE NORTH OF THE GG BRIDGE AND MCGUIRE IS YOUR STATE SENATOR, SEND HIM A LETTER AND WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER PROTESTING THE SHUTDOWN OF THE SKUNK. </p>
<p>WE ALL NEED TO PRESSURE HIM AS VOTERS TO CHANGE COURSE ON THIS ABONDONMENT!</p>The current status of the CWR/NWP rails?tag:nwprr.net,2023-03-30:3290209:BlogPost:2663022023-03-30T20:33:53.000ZEmilio Galohttps://nwprr.net/profile/Theduckmstr1
<p>So,</p>
<p>I'm wanting to know. Is CWR still safe or are they under a threat currently? A friend just informed me that the trail agency is seeking a hostile abandonment of the CWR in it's entirety in retaliation for announcing that they wanted to go north about 16 miles to use the line to move freight. Is this move even legal in the slightest? <br/>Also, what's the deal with all the equipment from the Willits yard being suddenly moved down to the NWP/CWR interchange? </p>
<p>So,</p>
<p>I'm wanting to know. Is CWR still safe or are they under a threat currently? A friend just informed me that the trail agency is seeking a hostile abandonment of the CWR in it's entirety in retaliation for announcing that they wanted to go north about 16 miles to use the line to move freight. Is this move even legal in the slightest? <br/>Also, what's the deal with all the equipment from the Willits yard being suddenly moved down to the NWP/CWR interchange? </p>Ignacio Ytag:nwprr.net,2023-03-14:3290209:BlogPost:2656862023-03-14T18:49:23.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>Anybody seen or heard the condition of the tracks at the Y?</p>
<p>Anybody seen or heard the condition of the tracks at the Y?</p>ART Planing for the future Extensionstag:nwprr.net,2023-02-24:3290209:BlogPost:2649822023-02-24T06:28:02.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>If you are an NWPRR member who is seriously interested in the future of the restoration of the NWP rail line for both passengers and freight you must read this presentation made last week by the new SMART GM.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sonomamarintrain.org/sites/default/files/Documents/02-15-2023--Item8--BOD.pdf">https://www.sonomamarintrain.org/sites/default/files/Documents/02-15-2023--Item8--BOD.pdf</a></p>
<p>While they do not have the funding to implement all of these ideas, at least…</p>
<p>If you are an NWPRR member who is seriously interested in the future of the restoration of the NWP rail line for both passengers and freight you must read this presentation made last week by the new SMART GM.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sonomamarintrain.org/sites/default/files/Documents/02-15-2023--Item8--BOD.pdf">https://www.sonomamarintrain.org/sites/default/files/Documents/02-15-2023--Item8--BOD.pdf</a></p>
<p>While they do not have the funding to implement all of these ideas, at least they are under consideration including to reconnect up to Willits where there is so much history sitting on quiet rails.</p>
<p>Please support this campaign and tell your friends. It is what we have all dreamed of seeing and not just a model board.</p>SMART moving north towards Healdsburgtag:nwprr.net,2023-02-12:3290209:BlogPost:2649482023-02-12T23:41:32.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>If you are interested in where the railroad is going on the old NWP RoW you can Zoom into the SMART board meeting next Wed at 1:30 to hear the new, fresh GM detail latest status. You can also ask to speak to the board.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sonomamarintrain.org/sites/default/files/Documents/SMART%20Board%20of%20Directors%20Packet_02.15.2023.pdf">https://www.sonomamarintrain.org/sites/default/files/Documents/SMART%20Board%20of%20Directors%20Packet_02.15.2023.pdf</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>If you are interested in where the railroad is going on the old NWP RoW you can Zoom into the SMART board meeting next Wed at 1:30 to hear the new, fresh GM detail latest status. You can also ask to speak to the board.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sonomamarintrain.org/sites/default/files/Documents/SMART%20Board%20of%20Directors%20Packet_02.15.2023.pdf">https://www.sonomamarintrain.org/sites/default/files/Documents/SMART%20Board%20of%20Directors%20Packet_02.15.2023.pdf</a></p>
<p></p>Incredible train wrecktag:nwprr.net,2023-02-04:3290209:BlogPost:2651062023-02-04T21:01:54.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>This is off subject but it is an incredible capture.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/04/ohio-train-derailment-fire-evacuations-east-palestine/11186069002/" rel="noopener">https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/04/ohio-train-derailment-fire-evacuations-east-palestine/11186069002/</a></p>
<p>This is off subject but it is an incredible capture.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/04/ohio-train-derailment-fire-evacuations-east-palestine/11186069002/" rel="noopener">https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/04/ohio-train-derailment-fire-evacuations-east-palestine/11186069002/</a></p>North to Windsor and Healdsburgtag:nwprr.net,2023-01-26:3290209:BlogPost:2648022023-01-26T17:19:04.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>Re our full sized RR the judge overseeing the Regional Measure 3 funding has tossed out the challenge from the Howard Jarvis group. This lawsuit tied up the funds that were already allocated to SMART to build north to at least Windsor.</p>
<p>Highball!</p>
<p style="margin: 0.1rem 0; line-height: 1.0;"> </p>
<p>Re our full sized RR the judge overseeing the Regional Measure 3 funding has tossed out the challenge from the Howard Jarvis group. This lawsuit tied up the funds that were already allocated to SMART to build north to at least Windsor.</p>
<p>Highball!</p>
<p style="margin: 0.1rem 0; line-height: 1.0;"> </p>Flooding on the Ignacio Wyetag:nwprr.net,2023-01-19:3290209:BlogPost:2647812023-01-19T23:04:24.000ZKai Bachtigerhttps://nwprr.net/profile/KaiDarioBachtiger
<p>The water got to 3-4 feet deep</p>
<p><a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/gbGXgNW8P-c?feature=share">https://youtube.com/shorts/gbGXgNW8P-c?feature=share</a></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10945304278?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10945304278?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>The water got to 3-4 feet deep</p>
<p><a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/gbGXgNW8P-c?feature=share">https://youtube.com/shorts/gbGXgNW8P-c?feature=share</a></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10945304278?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10945304278?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>NWP Power 2005 missing and the Yellow in the cagetag:nwprr.net,2023-01-13:3290209:BlogPost:2645782023-01-13T07:04:21.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>I stopped by the now SMART Cage in Schellville cage to look for the red NWP star 2005. I did not have time to look in the dead line but not in the cage. What did find was the 2511 Genset sitting in the cage.</p>
<p>I had been told that she was being rebuilt with a new set of axles.</p>
<p>I looked thru the fence but saw no sign of any new wheels even though there was a crane at he back end,</p>
<p>Again sorry for the pict thru the cage wire.…</p>
<p>I stopped by the now SMART Cage in Schellville cage to look for the red NWP star 2005. I did not have time to look in the dead line but not in the cage. What did find was the 2511 Genset sitting in the cage.</p>
<p>I had been told that she was being rebuilt with a new set of axles.</p>
<p>I looked thru the fence but saw no sign of any new wheels even though there was a crane at he back end,</p>
<p>Again sorry for the pict thru the cage wire.<a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10930051880?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10930051880?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>Report washoutstag:nwprr.net,2023-01-04:3290209:BlogPost:2646292023-01-04T07:17:09.000ZRichard C. Brandhttps://nwprr.net/profile/RichardCBrand
<p>With these heavy rain events, please report here on the site any damage to the ROW as a result.</p>
<p>Videos welcomed.</p>
<p>R</p>
<p>With these heavy rain events, please report here on the site any damage to the ROW as a result.</p>
<p>Videos welcomed.</p>
<p>R</p>schellville in the early 2000stag:nwprr.net,2022-10-21:3290209:BlogPost:2641862022-10-21T18:26:55.000ZNathan bauerhttps://nwprr.net/profile/Nathanbauer
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10846973281?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10846973281?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10846973281?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10846973281?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></p>NWP in Trainz Simulatortag:nwprr.net,2022-10-06:3290209:BlogPost:2633722022-10-06T06:09:51.000ZMikehttps://nwprr.net/profile/MikeJohn
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457653?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457653?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457853?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457853?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457871?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457871?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img> C</a>urrently have been making this route for some time. As of late runs from Schellville…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457653?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457653?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457853?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457853?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457871?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10835457871?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/>C</a>urrently have been making this route for some time. As of late runs from Schellville Junction to Wingo on the mainline and runs as far north as Vineburg on the Sonoma Branch. Station is a temporary stand in for anyone curious about the 'Beaumont' name. The current goal is to reach Petaluma and stop to focus on detailing the scenery, end goal being Willits and the interchange with the then North Coast Railroad.</p>