NWP reconstruction for commuter rail

[Buslist]

Of course they got the photo captions wrong as it's been the Transportation TECHNOLOGY Center for 19 years now. Oh well.

[MikeF90]

Buslist

There were some photos recently on Facebook of their DMUs in test at Pueblo (almost identical to the Toronto airport cars.

Thanks for the heads up since I avoid FB like the Plague, the link is here.

narig01

... The US 101 corridor north from San Francisco to Santa Rosa is very heavily travelled ...

A classic understatement! Having grown up across the bay and passed through many times to visit relatives, I have few nice thoughts about the over-the-top ecoNIMBYs who have obstructed completion of the freeway between Novato and Petaluma.

[narig01]

SMART is building a line from The Larkspur ferry terminal in the south to Cloverdale in the north. Most of the right of way still exists and they are putting in a new track for the distance. If it starts to get used it may outgrow the currently planned service in short order. 

         The US 101 corridor north from San Francisco to Santa Rosa is very heavily travelled and has needed this since before WWII. Originally much of the development in Marin county was on account of the NorthWestern Pacific RR commuter line that was discontinued in 1941.

Rgds IGN

[Buslist]

There were some photos recently on Facebook of their DMUs in test at Pueblo (almost identical to the Toronto airport cars.

[MikeF90]

Somehow I missed the topic about the 'abandoned railroad' along Hwy 101 in northwest California. This is the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, and most of the original line was purchased by the North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) from Southern Pacific in 1995.

North of Windsor the line is currently embargoed. Freight service might be restored to Willits eventually but there seems no economic justification (customers) to rebuild this section. In spite of the obvious, the hysterical greenies keep pounding the NCRA with lawsuits that threaten operations over the entire property. In their twisted brains 'someone' wants to pay for rebuilding the line through the Eel River canyon north of Willits.

South of Windsor the line is still active - the current private freight operator (NWP Inc.) is regaining customers and the taxpayer funded commuter agency 'Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit' (SMART) is upgrading the line to San Rafael and then to the Larkspur ferry (not yet funded). SMART's mission also includes extending service north to Cloverdale, home of the Lonely Train Station.

Now to 'the rest of the story'. I just came across this YouTube posters recent and excellent aerial videos of the railroad reconstruction:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1dSve32uDI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t04TDTxIl8A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzFMQ_Fhcsk

If I find anymore relevant videos I will link them.

SMART web site with many project updates:

http://www.sonomamarintrain.org/