Month: September 2009

  • TRACKING RAIL NEWS

    . . . PHOTOS . . . and Commentary by Russ Jackson . . . October 1, 2009. (Photo right) California Zephyr waiting to depart Sacramento station. . . . On Time Performance and other Amtrak news: . . . Good news for travelers! . . . Amtrak Guest Rewards is offering double points on…

  • 1st Annual Central Coast Railroad Festival

    Family Fun Event with Activities from Paso Robles to Santa Maria – October 8-12, 2009. A variety of free events and activities will take place at numerous railroad, historical and educational locations throughout San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara Counties. See their website announcement at www.ccrf.com The Central Coast Railroad Festival will be a…

  • Any Excuse Is Good For A Train Trip

    Report and Photos by Noel T. Braymer Recently I had a free Saturday afternoon. Since I like to go for rides and I always need more photos for the Newsletter it was a good time for a train ride. Metrolink has a weekend train that leaves at 2:10 PM out of Oceanside to Los Angeles…

  • LOSSAN BREAKTHROUGH?

    Commentary by Paul Dyson, RailPAC President The September 9th LOSSAN Board meeting at Oceanside may well be regarded as a turning point in bringing some rationality and common sense to the governance and operation of this corridor. And it perhaps was appropriate that the meeting was held at Oceanside, the site of the “Berlin Wall”…

  • TRACKING RAIL NEWS . . .

    . . . PHOTOS and Commentary by Russ Jackson . . . California. . . . The Solano County city of Vallejo had some good economic news this month when Caltrans announced that Althom will open a Mare Island facility in October to overhaul all 66 California cars on a $13.1 million contract. Door replacement,…

  • CA Corridors Stats for July and August

    Reported by Eugene K. Skoropowski Managing Director, Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority I apologize for the ‘combined July and August reports’. Future reports should return to their usual month-by-month issuance. Ridership numbers in California and across the nation continue to be lower than a year ago (2008).However, upon further comparison to 2007, the 2009 numbers…

  • Be Careful What You Ask For, You May Not Like It

    Editorial By Noel T. Braymer This August there have been many news stories about opposition to the construction of High Speed Rail in Northern California. This opposition has even led a Judge in Sacramento to order a revaluation of the Environmental Impact Reports for the High Speed Rail Project between Gilroy and San Francisco. There…

  • San Francisco Bay Bridge reopens

    What was the effect on Amtrak? September 9, 2009. Report by Gene Poon The closure of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge over the Labor Day weekend for scheduled construction forced Amtrak to make adjustments to all of its schedules that utilize Thruway Bus service to reach San Francisco from Oakland or Emeryville. Normal Thruway service…