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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,…
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RailPAC writes Amtrak COO William Crosbie re Southern California Issues
13th July, 2009 Dear Mr. Crosbie: Many thanks for taking the time for a meeting with me last Thursday (8th July, 2009). I have written today to Mr. Boardman concerning the Sunset route and RailPAC’s support for positive steps by Amtrak. I’d like to expand upon some other topics that we covered briefly. Regarding the…
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Rail Safety Improvement Act will save lives
By Robert Manning, RailPAC Director Printed in The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, February 8, 2009 Sometimes it takes a major tragedy to provide something good. And that is exactly what happened this past September when the Metrolink train crashed into the Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth, killing and injuring people. As a result of…
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Rail Photos for Christmas
From Phoenix, Arizona; Santa Fe, New Mexico, Dallas-Ft. Worth Texas, and California. Comments by Russ Jackson, RailPAC Secretary-Emeritus. Photos by contibuting photographers with our thanks. This year’s Christmas tree is from Phoenix on December 13. (Photo by Gene Holmerud) After the tree lighting ceremony “the second act was free rides that left the Central &…
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RAILPAC CAMPAIGN TO IMPROVE SURFLINER WEEKEND SCHEDULE SUCCEEDS
October 4, 2008 After more than two years of nudging and cajoling by RailPAC, Amtrak has finally rescheduled the weekend 798 Surfliner train and reduced the running time by over 30 minutes. Currently the 798 waits at Moorpark for Metrolink trains over the single track from Simi Valley. No Metrolink trains run on Saturdays and…
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The Lesson of Chatsworth: Better Signaling Needed
Editorial By Noel T. Braymer We know that on September 12th the engineer of Metrolink Train 111 failed to acknowledge or apply brakes for both a yellow and red signal. He even failed to apply brakes before running into a local UP Freight on a single track segment just outside of Tunnel 26. What we…
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THE BALKANIZATION OF LOSSAN: A Commentary
By Paul Dyson, RailPAC President 3rd September, 2008 THE BALKANIZATION OF LOSSAN – WHAT HAPPENED TO A REGIONAL VISION? Imagine that Southwest Airlines is run by a public board, and members of that Board includes say the Mayor of Yuma AZ, and the Mayor of Rancho Mirage, CA. Because of their power on the Board,…
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RailPAC writes Caltrans re new Amtrak California Timetable
30th June, 2008 Mr. William Kempton Director, California Department of Transportation P.O. Box 942873, Sacramento, CA 94273-0001 AMTRAK CALIFORNIA TIMETABLE Dear Mr. Kempton: RailPAC’s Board met on Wednesday 25th of this month and directed me to write to you to express our deep disappointment with the new Amtrak California timetable. While we can all have…
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Coast Rail Coordinating Council June Meeting Report
COAST RAIL COORDINATING COUNCIL POLICY COMMITTEE – Meeting, June 20, 2008 Santa Barbara Reported by Paul Dyson, RailPAC President The meeting was well attended. Clem Bomar, Division of Rail, Pete Rodgers and Tim Gillham, SLOCOG, Mike Powers SBCAG, Rob Dayton, (staff) and Council members Helene Schneider and Roger Horton of RailPAC member city Santa Barbara,…
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My California Rail Pass Adventure Trips 1 and 2
Report and PHOTOS by Noel T. Braymer For $159 dollars with the California Rail Pass you can travel on Amtrak trains and buses in California for 7 travel days over a period of 21 days! I had wanted to use the rail pass to travel around California for some time and the April 19 RailPAC/NARP…