Report and photos by Marcia Johnston, RailPAC Sacramento Director

Ceremonial cake created by Toni Tidman, CC Rider, in honor of Bob.

I attended the Robert F. Conheim, aka “Lord Mayor,” Auburn Station Dedication on Friday, March 14, 2006.

I boarded Capitol Corridor train 536 at the Sacramento station with the CC Riders Group to participate in their annual St. Patty’s Day Celebration. That afternoon both the California Zephyr and an outbound Capitol train to the Bay Area were in the station at the same time as train 536 due to some problems with the I Street bridge. Trainsets were all over the place.

The St. Patty’s Day party on the train was a favorite of Mr. Conheim’s, so the 536’s café car was decorated with shamrocks and wreaths and crepe paper, along with a band playing Irish tunes. Many of the CC Riders were decked out with the “wearing of the green,” that included wearing a photo pin of Lord Mayor at one of their former parties.

Under the direction of CC Riders leader, Chuck Robuck, monies were raised to honor Bob with a plaque at the newly named Auburn-Conheim Station.

Bob was known as a passionate passenger-rail advocate who first started taking the Capitol Corridor from Auburn to Sacramento in 1991. He was fond of giving the statistics on his vehicle usage once he became a committed “CC Rider.” Both Bob and Chuck designed a lapel pin along with a special ceremony to induct the rider into “CC Riderland as follows:

Our Philosophy
Life is not just a journey To the end of the trip
With the Expectation of Arriving Safely and Securely
Better to skid in broadside,
Thoroughly used up,
Totally worn out,
And loudly proclaiming-
“Wow! What a Ride!”

The Oath of a “CC Rider”
I (state your name)
solemnly swear
To uphold the traditions Of the CC Riders,
To party hard,
to party often,
As long as I shall live.
So help me

Bob Conheim passed away from cancer in July 2007, and the Placer County CC Riders raised the money to place a plaque at the station in his honor. The Auburn City Council voted a month after Bob’s passing to rename the Station the Robert F. Conheim Train Station.

The program was held after the arrival of Train 536 with the following speakers:

Eugene Skoropowski, Managing Director, Capitol Corridor JPA, known as “St. Gene, Patron Saint of the CC Riders,”
Kevin Hanley, Auburn City Council Member,
Jim Holmes, Chair, Placer County Transportation Agency Board and Chair, Placer County Board of Supervisors,
Chuck Robuck, CC Rider aka the “CC Riders’ Fearless Leader.”

Mrs. Conheim thanked attendees for the plaque honoring her late husband.

Here is the plaque: