Disappointing News:

On December 15, just after the Federal Surface Transportation Board finally put its stamp of approval on the purchase of the 32-mile Santa Cruz Branch line rail corridor by the RTC (hooray!), the Sierra Northern Railway (Sierra Railroad Company—the current operator of the line) announced that it “will not be extending its lease of the Santa Cruz Branch line from Union Pacific Railroad when its lease expires on December 31, 2011.” A copy of the letter is here. Really depressing news. What happens now is anyone's guess. Perhaps another branch line operator may be interested.

Take a ride on the train

The video below is the first of twelve—a playlist—taken from the set of 32 made by Dave Wright of Friends of the Rail & Trail on December 1, 2011. They run from ten miles north of Watsonville to ten miles south of the end of the line at Davenport. (We'll be adding the rest of the videos before long. All 32 of Dave's videos are posted on the Friends of the Rail & Trail website.)

Cliff Walters of Sierra Northern Railway drove the train, with the camera mounted on a flat car in front of the engine. You'll notice that at some street crossings, the train stops and a flagman (Wes Swift) walks into the intersection to stop the traffic, since the gate fails to function. (This happens when the tracks are rusty. After the train runs over the tracks the gates work fine again.)

To watch a particular video, click on the icon to the left of the “snowflake” at the bottom of the display after you start the first video. (Otherwise it will just play through the list of twelve.) Watch them in the Full screen mode to get the best experience. Will this be the last ride along the track?

Issues regarding the Santa Cruz County Rail Corridor

The Santa Cruz County Rail Corridor could be a great asset

Santa Cruz County is remarkably fortunate to have an operational rail line that runs for 32 miles along the coast from Watsonville (where it connects with the main line and Amtrak) to Davenport. Currently used only for occasional freight trains, it has the potential to facilitate travel for large numbers of individuals, and to provide much needed alternatives to the use of the private automobile for both local and regional trips. The image at the right shows this rail line not far from the Bayview Hotel in Aptos. Further information is available from Friends of the Rail & Trail.

The line passes through three of our four cities (Watsonville, Capitola and Santa Cruz), in addition to other unincorporated communities such as La Selva Beach, Rio Del Mar, Aptos, Live Oak and Davenport. It also passes through or near several state parks and beaches—Manresa, Seacliff, New Brighton, Twin Lakes, the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Natural Bridges, Wilder Ranch, and the newly acquired Coast Dairies property.

Furthermore, it connects with the rail line that extends north up the San Lorenzo River to Henry Cowell State Park and Felton. To the south, it provides the potential for trips around Monterey Bay to Marina, Seaside and Monterey.

Aquisition of the Union Pacific Rail Corridor may be almost complete

After more than ten years of extensive due diligence and negotiations, on May 6, 2010 the RTC unanimously decided to purchase the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line from Union Pacific for $14.2 million. On January 19, 2011, the RTC secured approval and funding from the California Transportation Commission for purchase of the Branch Line. The RTC has opened escrow and on December 14, received the final step of approval from the Federal Surface Transportation Board. Meanwhile, the RTC, with the help of able consultants, has been conducting well-attended public workshops aimed at designing a rail trail—a path adjacent to the tracks—for the use of pedestrians and bicyclists. Such a path would attract both recreational and commuter use. This proposed project has broad community support.

Further details may be found by clicking on this link.

There are numerous examples of successful Rails-With-Trails

There are many examples of Rails-With-Trails (RWTs) that have been constructed elsewhere and enjoy broad popular support. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy now lists over 140 existing Rails-With-Trails in the US, up from 61 only a few years ago. Many RWTs exist in quite narrow corridors (like our own).

Among those recently constructed are RWTs in Portland, Oregon, Madison, Wisconsin, and Victoria and White Rock in British Columbia. At the left is an image of the Springwater Corridor Trail in Portland. (The barrier between the rails and the path could be more attractive.)

Some existing rail trails exist in narrow rights-of-way. The image at the right shows a popular path in downtown White Rock, near Vancouver, British Columbia, where the path is within a busy freight corridor. In some sections, rail and trail are separated by gravel buffers or landscaping only.

Additional images of successful RWTs may be found here.

Of particular interest is a collection of images (more of which are displayed here in a nice slide show format), showing the E&N (Esquimalt & Nanaimo) Rail Line in Victoria, BC, which received $11.3 million in funding in August, 2007 from the Canadian government for the construction of a Rail-with-Trail within this narrow active rail corridor.

In some sections (such as shown in this image of the E&N rail line in Victoria) the corridor is already in regular use by bicyclists and pedestrians. This new trail is expected to be completed in time for the Olympic Games in 2010. In many respects, this project is similar to our own proposal for the Santa Cruz Branch Line, so it's worth tracking.