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==Sprinter trains== ==Sprinter trains==
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Revision as of 06:53, 28 January 2008

Contents

Sprinter trains

breaking

Transit district gets orders to clean up its act. Water board wants pollution stopped http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080110/news_1m10order.html

Creek problems rise near Sprinter tracks in Oceanside http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01/08/news/top_stories/1_04_471_7_08.txt

Many find Sprinter noise tolerable; Vista withholds judgment http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01/06/news/top_stories/19_24_361_5_08.txt

Sprinter is finally ready to connect coast, inland http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20071224-9999-1n24sprinter.html

Thugs beware. Transit cops will aggressively patrol the new Sprinter line when it opens in mid-January, officials with the rail line said this week. http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/12/17/news/top_stories/23_05_3112_16_07.txt

Sprinter follows historic route built more than century ago http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/11/25/news/top_stories/26_07_0811_24_07.txt

Inaugural Sprinter ride is for VIPs only. Start date up in air for regular service http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20071121/news_1mc21sprint.html

Sprinter cars, crews begin 10-mile trial runs

November 15, 2007 There was no lurching at all. As the operator eased the gleaming new Sprinter passenger train from the blocks at the Escondido Transit Center on a test run to San Marcos, it accelerated smoothly and quietly.

071115sprinter.jpg
NORTH COUNTY – There was no lurching at all. As the operator eased the gleaming new Sprinter passenger train from the blocks at the Escondido Transit Center on a test run to San Marcos, it accelerated smoothly and quietly.

Inside the train, riders didn't need to raise their voices to be heard over the two diesel engines that power each car. The horn, which the operator sounds before each crossing, could barely be heard inside.

Sprinter trains have become more visible since Sunday, as operators have begun testing and learning on 10 miles of track between the Escondido Transit Center and Buena Creek Road in Vista.

The North County Transit District took possession of that section of track this week and turned it over to Veolia Transportation, which will run the new Sprinter for the district.

The move is a step toward starting passenger service by the end of next month, said Don Bullock, the transit district's project manager for the Sprinter. “We're pushing hard and it's looking a lot better than it did a couple weeks ago,” Bullock said. “At this point we're feeling pretty good about it.”

The Sprinter's arrival marks the first time since the late 1940s that scheduled passenger trains will operate between Escondido and Oceanside. The transit district rebuilt 22 miles of freight rail and added a 1.7-mile loop that will serve California State University San Marcos.

The construction contractor is completing work on the western 12 miles of track so the transit district can begin operating trains there, Bullock said. He said he hopes that happens by the end of the month.

Transit district spokesman Tom Kelleher said the operators are not just learning the track and vehicle, but also are simulating actual runs.

“We're trying to operate under real-world conditions as best we can,” Kelleher said. “They're trying to see if under real-world conditions they can adhere to the schedule that has been laid out for the system.”

He said Veolia's dispatchers are directing the trains through the corridor for the first time. Safety systems also are being tested.

Operators were at the controls Monday, familiarizing themselves with the new vehicles and the track. They communicated directly with Veolia's dispatch center in Escondido, taking care to slow at low-visibility curves and watching for a stray pedestrian or car that might venture into the right-of-way.

Operators sounded the horn and a louder squawk box when necessary to attract attention to the speeding train. They slowed noticeably to ease the two-car train over the banked bridge that crosses state Route 78 at Woodland Parkway in San Marcos.

The legendary clickety-clack of metal wheels on steel rail wasn't heard as the train glided along a seamless ribbon of track.

As he watched the San Marcos landscape slide by from behind a large picture window, Kelleher said he is looking forward to seeing the train full of passengers.

“Right now,” he said, “everything is focused on start-up day.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20071115-9999-1mi15sprint.html

Rail problem throws wrench in Sprinter testing

Rustlike 'mill scale' can prohibit crossing gates from operating properly

October 04, 2007 NORTH COUNTY -- A rustlike substance on the Sprinter's new metal rails is the latest in a string of problems threatening to keep the light-rail line from opening in December, transit officials told the North County Times on Wednesday.

The Sprinter's tight construction schedule called for the entire 22-mile line from Escondido to Oceanside to be ready for testing by Monday. However, trains still aren't moving all the way from Escondido to Oceanside.

When asked about the situation Wednesday, transit district executive director Karen King said workers were trying to iron out kinks in the Sprinter's electrical signaling system.

The district has a few weeks to solve the problem to keep the Sprinter's launch date on schedule, King said, adding that she was confident workers can accomplish that goal.

"If we get to Nov. 1 and we're still not there, then that's a different story," King said.

King said there were delays installing the signaling system that have kept Sprinter trains confined to a relatively short section of track in Escondido and eastern San Marcos.

When rail engineers thought they had all of the system's bugs squashed, she said, a new problem appeared. Workers found that a brown rustlike coating called "mill scale" attached to the Sprinter's steel rails was reducing its ability to conduct electricity.

Project manager Don Bullock said that the Sprinter's $480 million metal rails are a critical component in sending signals to railroad crossing equipment.

"When the train passes over a certain detector in the track, it sends a message to the crossing that tells it to drop the gates and start the bells and all the other things that we have to do when a train is coming," Bullock said. "The (mill) scale was stopping the signals from getting there."

Bullock said the district used wire brushes to remove the scale, but it didn't fix the problem. He said a specialized piece of equipment arrived Tuesday and immediately got to work grinding away the mill scale.

"We've got the equipment for the next four days, and we're going to do as much of the rail as we can," Bullock said.

King said waiting for the equipment had significantly delayed the Sprinter's construction schedule.

"If we could have gotten a grinder here a month ago, we could have gotten past this milestone already," King said.

Signaling has been an problem for the Sprinter in 2007.

In January, the San Diego Association of Governments warned that if the project's contractor did not increase the number of signal workers on the job, the project would not open in December. Designs for signals at some of the crossings also had to be reworked as those crossings were modified.

The Sprinter's original construction schedule called for a three-month period designed to give new train operators, dispatchers and security personnel time to find and fix problems before the first passengers climb aboard.

That time frame has already been significantly reduced and is shrinking daily -- a factor that is cause for concern, King said.

"You don't want, on your first day out there, to have the train break down or have a major accident because a signal fails," she said.

However, the transit district chief said she believes the Sprinter will be able to make due with a much shorter testing period and will open in December.

"We won't begin service to the public if we don't believe the service can be operated reliably and safely," King said.

She said the train's operating schedule remains the largest unknown entity between now and opening day. Today, that schedule is only theoretical. Until conductors can begin running east and west on a complete rail line, they will not know whether the proposed schedule of arrivals and departures at each of the 15 stations will work.

"We need to make sure that the trains perform and that the drivers can keep these schedules as they are written," King said. "They need to have as much practice as they can get, and they need time to get to know every inch of the new right of way."

Warren Flateau, a spokesman for the Federal Rail Authority, which governs the nation's rail activity, said Wednesday that there is no prescribed amount of testing time for new rail lines.

"They should take as much time as is necessary to ensure the safe operation of the service," Flateau said.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/10/04/news/top_stories/22_01_5310_3_07.txt

Sprinter's rail installation complete

August 02, 2007 NORTH COUNTY -- Transit officials said the Sprinter light-rail line reached a significant milestone Thursday with all 22 miles of rail installed and significant progress made on the $460 million project's signaling equipment.

Don Bullock, capital projects manager for the North County Transit District, said the Sprinter's general contractor, West Coast Rail Constructors, stands to earn a hefty bonus if the work was completed by Thursday. Bullock said an initial inspection Thursday showed that the contractor likely hit the mark, but added that a progress report will not be ready until next week.

"We are still doing inspections, but it looks like they hit that deadline," Bullock said.

In May the district's governing board approved a $12.2 million settlement with West Coast Rail to compensate for design flaws in the project that have delayed construction. The settlement agreement also included a $3 million "incentive" plan that allows West Coast Rail to earn bonuses provided that it completes remaining Sprinter work on schedule.

Bullock said he expects West Coast Rail to earn about $800,000 of the $3 million total bonus for having rail and signal equipment installed. A more significant date, Bullock said, is Oct. 1, when the contractor must transfer ownership of the railway to the district.

"At that time we will be able to begin end-to-end testing," Bullock said.

Though all of the Sprinter rail is installed, the project is still far from completed.

Crews continue to work on the project's 15 stations, paving parking lots and installing electronic signs, ticket machines and video cameras on new concrete train platforms.

Karen King, the transit district's executive director, said Thursday that installation of all Sprinter rail is significant, even though the project isn't finished.

"It's nice, after struggling over the course of the project, to finally be able to see the results of our labor," King said. "We really are shifting from construction to gearing up for operation."

The district announced Thursday that it will extend Sprinter testing, which previously stretched from Escondido west to the San Marcos Civic Center, to Las Posas Avenue. Trains are scheduled to begin traveling to Las Posas and back on Monday. In addition to normal drop-down gates, warning bells and flashing red lights, workers with flags will initially be stationed at each railroad crossing to warn traffic of approaching trains.

In San Marcos, two concrete bridges carry the Sprinter tracks over Highway 78. But Bullock said the trains will not use the bridges Monday.

"We will be using a bypass track between the bridges for awhile. But we should see them in use in a few weeks," Bullock said.

The Sprinter project is the first in the United States to use a particular type of diesel engine-powered trains.

King said that the modern-looking blue vehicles, which can reach speeds of 50 mph, are common in Europe. But because they are new in the U.S., they must undergo more rigorous testing than other, more established designs might. She said the California Public Utilities Commission recently certified the braking systems for the Sprinter's 12 trains, after a long series of tests where steel ingots were loaded into passenger seats to simulate stopping with a full load of riders.

"That, in my mind, was a major milestone for us that hasn't received that much attention," King said.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/08/03/news/top_stories/1_37_818_2_07.txt

Now, Vista explores sites for quiet zones

1_01_315_18_07.jpg
Dave Berg, right working in the hole, and Broc Rowley, left, install a new cantlever at the Escondido Avenue and the Sprinter crossing in Vista Friday.

May 19, 2007 NORTH COUNTY -- Now that North County Transit District has agreed to pay Vista more than $2.2 million to effectively turn down the volume on the Sprinter light-rail line, the city is turning its attention to pinpointing the best places to create so-called quiet zones, officials said Friday.

The transit agency, which is building the 22-mile line that will stretch from Oceanside to Escondido, announced an agreement with Vista Thursday to provide money for noise reduction measures in city neighborhoods along the track.

Michael Cowett, the district's general counsel, said the agreement was the result of two studies that concluded that Vista neighborhoods would be adversely affected by train noise and a long-held community expectation that it would get relief from the agency.

The $440 million passenger train is scheduled to operate in December.

However, noise relief won't arrive until the middle or latter part of next year, city officials said. That's because the community won't realize the full extent of the impact until Sprinter trains start running, and because it will take time to design a strategy and apply for federal approval.

"Our intent is to use that money primarily for quiet-zone crossings," said Vista Mayor Morris Vance. The Sprinter is going to "cut right through the middle of our town, so we want to do as much as we can. It's going to cause some consternation."

In places, tracks are less than 50 feet from homes.

A quiet zone is a relatively new option for addressing train noise, something that stems from a rule the Federal Railroad Administration adopted on June 24, 2005. Through the rule, the agency laid out what it considers to be an appropriate way to silence train horns without compromising public safety.

For much of railroad history, whistles and horns have been the primary vehicles for warning people that trains are approaching. And when Florida adopted a statewide whistle ban in the early 1990s, train-vehicle collisions rose dramatically, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.

After studying the issue for several years, the agency determined that silent trains would not significantly increase danger if crossings were beefed up with other warning equipment.

As a result, quiet zones in Vista will be likely to entail equipping crossings with four sets of gate arms rather than two, and raised medians to prevent people from trying to drive around gates. As well, horns may be posted on either side of crossings and aimed at the cars approaching the tracks.

"I hope it works well for at least some of the neighborhoods that will be (affected) by the Sprinter," said Vista Councilman Bob Campbell, the city's representative on the North County Transit District board of directors.

But Campbell said the money from the transit district was probably not enough to create quiet zones at all of the city's eight crossings, and not every one of them will be suitable places for such zones.

Where tracks curve and cross streets at an angle, placing horns on crossing posts could result in their being aimed directly at houses or apartments, Campbell said. The Mar Vista Drive crossing, with homes close by, is an example of one that might not work, he said.

In some places, he said, walls or landscaping might be better tools for reducing sound.

Cowett, the district's attorney, said the other cities along the rail line -- Oceanside, San Marcos and Escondido -- are welcome to seek quiet zones as well. But he said the district has no intention of providing money for such zones.

"We have limited financial resources to be doing this for everybody," he said.

Cowett said the district decided to write a check for Vista because tracks run closer to back walls of houses there than in the other communities.

"Vista is in a very, very unique situation there," he said. "It just has to do with the proximity of some of those neighborhoods to the right of way."

Vista filed a lawsuit against the district in 1997 seeking to block the Sprinter's construction. In 1998, the parties settled the suit, with the district promising to work to obtain federal and state funding to mitigate environmental impact of the rail project in Vista.

San Marcos sued in 2004 to stop the district from carrying out a plan to close Shelly Drive to pave the way for the Sprinter's arrival there, but the city lost.

Karen Frostrom, a San Diego attorney who represented about 30 Walnut Hills homeowners in San Marcos in a complaint against the district at about the same time, said the San Marcos fight over Shelly Drive was "a very different kind of case" and can't be compared to Vista's victory.

Still, Frostrom said "it would be unusual for (the Vista monetary award) to foreclose San Marcos or Oceanside or Escondido from seeking the same relief. It would seem that they all have the right to seek their own relief ... unless Vista is a unique position somehow."

With homes near the tracks, Cowett maintains that Vista is indeed in a unique position.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/19/news/top_stories/1_01_315_18_07.txt

The trains may not start on time

N. County rail link estimates now at '08

January 20, 2007

Regional transportation officials are concerned that the North County Transit District may be unable to start passenger train service between Oceanside and Escondido by the end of this year.

But district officials said yesterday they still can hit that date.

Jim Linthicum, a San Diego Association of Governments project manager, told the association's Transportation Committee yesterday the project has fallen two months behind schedule and may not begin service until February 2008. Linthicum said the original December 2007 start of passenger operations on the line remains “achievable,” but to make that date, the prime contractor “needs to be more creative and more aggressive.”

“I think he can do it,” Linthicum told the committee. “My concern is he's not being aggressive enough.”

Tom Lichterman, the transit district's director of rail services, said yesterday in an interview that Linthicum is basing his statement on a computer program that evaluates work tasks and projects completion dates.

Track construction is on schedule, and construction of a maintenance facility is ahead of schedule, he said.

Electrical signaling and communications systems are lagging, but the district is working with the contractor on that, Lichterman said.

The Sprinter rail project involves rebuilding and modernizing 22 miles of freight rail to handle passenger service during the day and freight trains at night.

The project budget, originally approved at $351.5 million in 2002, was recently increased to $484 million by the Federal Railroad Administration, although the transit district said it can finish the project for $440 million.

The Federal Railroad Administration also approved a startup date for train service of July 2008, but the transit district said that is pessimistic.

Peter Aadland, the transit district's director of communications and business development, said yesterday the district is still aiming to begin service at the end of December or the first two weeks of January.

It was the first time a transit official publicly deviated from a December date.

“We are proceeding with all of our operational plans to begin late this year or early next year,” Aadland said. “At this time we believe that is doable.”

Del Mar Councilman David Druker, a member of the transit district board and the SANDAG committee, questioned district staff about the possible delay at Thursday's board meeting.

“NCTD and the contractor need to get working on a recovery plan,” Druker said yesterday in an interview.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070120/news_1m20sprint.html

Sprinter hits 55 mph for first time

18_01_7012_13_06.jpg

December 14, 2006 SAN MARCOS ---- After years of planning, the Sprinter finally began to sprint, reaching its top speed of 55 mph on a short section of track Wednesday.

"We've never had it over 15 mph, but they were up to full speed today," said Don Bullock, capital projects manager for the North County Transit District that is building the $440 million Sprinter light-rail line from Oceanside to Escondido.

The significance of Wednesday's milestone was not lost on Bullock, who has been involved in the Sprinter project since long before the $50 million contract for the Sprinter's 12 vehicles was awarded to Siemens Corp. of Germany in December 2003.

"It's pretty amazing," Bullock said. "We started looking at these vehicles years ago, and, to get to the point of finally seeing them run, is significant."

Yesterday was also the first day motorists might have encountered a passing train as they drove down a series of public streets in west Escondido and east San Marcos. Before, Sprinter testing was confined to a short section of track between Hale Avenue and Andreesen Drive, where the Sprinter's main rail yard is located.

But Wednesday, the modern-looking, diesel-powered Sprinter train left the rail yard heading west into San Marcos. After passing through a half-dozen public intersections, the vehicle arrived at a section of freight track between Woodland Parkway and West San Marcos Boulevard in San Marcos.

The stretch of track bridges either end of the Sprinter's loop, which dips south of Highway 78 to stop near Cal State San Marcos before coming north again to cross the highway and enter Escondido. It is here that all 12 Sprinter vehicles will be tested to make sure they perform as specified in the transit district's purchase contract. Testing will continue on the section of track until Dec. 22 and will resume full time after the first of the year.

Bullock said the rail has a few characteristics that make it ideal for testing.

"It's a long stretch, almost a mile, with no crossings," he said. "It's relatively flat and does not curve too much."

On Wednesday's trip out to the testing track, the train stopped at each railroad crossing before easing across the public right of way with cars stopped on either side of the dropped gates. Flagmen were present in case the newly installed gates failed to drop and keep traffic out of the crossing as the train passed. Bullock said it will be a while before Sprinter conductors leave the rail yard in Escondido and gun the engines for San Marcos.

"We are not up to the point where we are going to run at full speed through these intersections yet," Bullock said.

The Sprinter is expected to begin carrying passengers in December 2007.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12/14/news/coastal/18_01_7012_13_06.txt

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20061214-9999-1mi14sprint.html

Sprinter trains take first local trip

October 28, 2006 ESCONDIDO ---- It was only a half mile, but it was still history. For the first time, two Sprinter trains rolled onto a short section of the rail line's main track Friday for a calibration run between Hale Avenue and West Valley Parkway. The trains repeatedly accelerated to 20 mph before hitting the brakes, bringing the 135-foot-long, diesel-powered vehicles to a rapid, squealing halt.

[View A Video]

Friday's trial trips, conducted next to the Sprinter's 40,000-square-foot maintenance facility on West Washington Avenue in Escondido, were necessary to make sure that the trains' internal computer systems were functioning properly.

Helen Bueno, general manager for Veolia Inc., the company hired by the North County Transit District to operate the Sprinter on a new 22-mile line from Oceanside to Escondido, said the preliminary results were positive.

"So far, from the data we have received, they are operating within specs," Bueno said.

Each of 12 Sprinter trains contains a computer very similar to the famous "black box" recorders installed on every commercial airliner. Sprinter manager Don Bullock explained that the computers keep a constant recording of each train's speed, braking and other vital statistics.

"In an accident situation, it is important to have all of that information," Bullock said.

But before the transit district begins breaking in its new fleet of Sprinter trains, it must make sure that the computers are working correctly. Friday's testing simply consisted of driving up and down the rail and making sure that the computer accurately recorded the trains movements.

Brakes and computers were not the only equipment tested Friday. As the trains approached Hale Avenue, conductors repeatedly tested their warning horns. The volume is of interest to anyone who lives near the Sprinter tracks, because the horns must be blown every time a train approaches a railroad crossing. A video recording of the Sprinter underway, which includes a short warning horn blast, can be found under the audio-video section of nctimes.com.

The Sprinter trains were built by Siemens Inc. in Germany and were brought to the United States by ship. Transit district spokesman Tom Kelleher said Friday that Siemens will continue to own the vehicles until final acceptance testing is finished. Each of the 12 Sprinter trains cost about $4.3 million. The $52 million total purchase price for Sprinter trains is about 12 percent of the rail line's $440 million budget.

Wolfgang Husemann, a supervisor for Siemens Inc., came to North County with the new trains to oversee testing. Husemann said each Sprinter train has two 400-horsepower diesel engines made by Mercedes Corp., have never been run in America. The train style, called a diesel multiple unit, is much more popular in Europe, where more than 600 are currently in service.

He said California's stringent air quality laws required some modifications to the European design.

"These trains make less smoke," Husemann said. "They are designed special for California."

The width of American rails also requires Sprinter trains to have somewhat narrower wheels than their European counterparts. The transit district also ordered additional air conditioning units for each train because North County summers tend to be hotter than those in Europe.

The Sprinter is scheduled to begin public operation in December 2007. Longer testing runs west as far as Rancheros Drive in San Marcos are scheduled to begin in two to three weeks.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10/28/news/top_stories/22_55_5510_27_06.txt

http://www.nctimes.com/movie/sprinter/viewer.html

High Speed Trains

High-speed rail called dead

June 10, 2007 More than a decade after a state agency was given the task of designing a 700-mile high-speed rail system for California, not a single mile of track has been laid and there is growing speculation the $40 billion project never will get built.

With the state forging ahead with a $20 billion campaign to rebuild California's freeways and trade corridors, the dream of a speedy train that would pick up passengers in San Diego and drop them off in San Francisco 3 1/2 hours later has been put on the shelf.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed to give the agency $1.6 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1. That's barely enough to keep the doors open and the lights on at the California High-Speed Rail Authority's offices, with its staff of six.

Tens of millions more are needed to keep on track environmental and design contracts the agency's board approved in January.

"A long time ago I thought it was dead," said Temecula Councilman Ron Roberts, board chairman for the six-county Metrolink commuter rail system, in a recent interview. "And I still think it is dead."

Lake Elsinore Mayor Bob Magee, a Riverside County transportation commissioner, agreed.

"I don't think we're going to see high-speed rail in my lifetime."

Despite the temptation for many to write the project's obituary, Schwarzenegger's staff insists he is not out to kill it.

And a prominent Democratic lawmaker from San Diego, Sen. Christine Kehoe, maintains the project is not dead ---- at least not yet.

"It's going to live to fight another day," Kehoe said.

Kehoe said Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, are determined to boost the authority's budget by $50 million to $60 million.

Still, even if the agency gets enough money to keep contracts on schedule, the bigger question of where funding for construction will come from may remain unanswered.

Several years ago, Sacramento passed legislation to place a $10 billion bond on the November 2004 ballot to jump-start construction of the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco leg of the system. But the measure was moved to the 2006 ballot, and then to one in 2008.

Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, a project opponent, said his guess is the bond will be pulled yet again.

"The state's finances are going to have to improve at a pretty remarkable clip to make it attractive to go out for a big bond for something that would be completely new," Hollingsworth said.

Sabrina Lockhart, the governor's deputy press secretary, said Schwarzenegger would prefer to see a measure that provides all of the $40 billion needed for the project.

"He has serious reservations about asking taxpayers to mortgage $10 billion when the rail authority hasn't determined where the full funding will come from," Lockhart said. "That is why he is asking for a delay in the bonds."

Kehoe suggests the uncertainty about high-speed rail's future is the result of the governor's uncertain leadership, underscored by delays.

"The governor is sending a very mixed message on the high-speed rail, unfortunately," she said. "We need leadership that says California is committed to this project. And we don't have that yet."

On the contrary, Lockhart said, the governor is trying to prevent California from ending up with a partially built project.

The construction funding issue aside, there are concerns the rail authority's ongoing planning efforts could ground to a halt next year.

Deputy Director Dan Leavitt said the agency requested $103 million, including $66 million for design and environmental studies and $37 million for land purchases. Leavitt said the land buys could be put on hold, but the studies must stay on track or consultants who recently won contracts will go elsewhere.

Without those contracts, there would be little for the staff to do next year, he said.

"Our main purpose is to oversee contracts and consultants, so what would we be overseeing?" Leavitt asked. "All the work that we have started would come to a standstill."

Kehoe said the Democratic leadership is determined to keep the studies on schedule.

Whichever direction the debate ends up going, area transportation officials say one thing's clear: The chance high-speed rail will reach San Diego and Riverside counties is so remote, and so far out into the future, planners must turn to other solutions to the swelling inland congestion.

The rail authority's plan calls for taking the San Diego-to-Los Angeles leg of the network through Escondido, Temecula and Riverside. And transportation planners had been counting on it to deliver relief to commuters on jammed Interstate 15.

But Lake Elsinore's Magee said officials have no choice now but to forge ahead with other options that could be completed decades earlier. For example, he said, the region should explore extending Metrolink tracks south along Interstates 15 and 215 from Riverside to Temecula and Escondido.

"Metrolink is taking congestion off the 91 Freeway," Magee said. "Ridership continues to go up. Metrolink is a success and we need to continue to build on that."

Roberts, of Temecula, said, however, that bus rapid transit would work better between Temecula and Escondido because of the mountainous terrain.

The stage is being set for a fast bus system. San Diego Association of Governments is building exclusive lanes in Rancho Bernardo and Escondido for buses, car pools and toll-paying drivers, and is exploring the idea of extending those lanes north to the Riverside County line.

Solana Beach Councilman Joe Kellejian, a longtime fan of high-speed rail, said the enormous cost of building a railroad through steep terrain is precisely why the region should not give up on the statewide project. He said the state would be in a better position than local agencies to cover that cost.

"In the areas south of Temecula, we have very steep grades," Kellejian said. "And, so, there is going to be a lot of tunneling and you're going to have bridges."

Despite the project delays, Kellejian urges patience. He maintains high-speed rail will eventually arrive.

"I remain optimistic that it will be built," Kellejian said. "Once you start looking at gasoline pushing $4 a gallon ---- while you're sitting in traffic ---- it's going to make a lot of sense."

Rail authority board member Lynn Schenk of San Diego and former chief of staff for former Gov. Gray Davis has been a proponent of high-speed rail since the 1970s. And she, for one, is not giving up.

"This is a huge undertaking and so it is going to take awhile," Schenk said. "I hope it is going to happen in my lifetime, and I am fairly confident that it will."

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 740-5442 or ddowney@nctimes.com.

Public officials, residents and community leaders had a few things to say about the likelihood that California's proposed $40 billion, 700-mile high-speed rail system will be built:

"Because of the cost, I am skeptical that it will ever be built. The high-speed rail concept is a good idea. But I don't know how the taxpayers are going to be able to afford it." ---- Jim Waldorf, Encinitas

"A long time ago I thought it was dead. And I still think it is dead." ---- Temecula Councilman Ron Roberts

"If there was a high-speed rail system between the Temecula Valley and San Diego, I'd definitely use it. It'd be nice to have. But I just don't think it will happen. I don't think our government's committed to it, personally. If they were committed to it they would be planning it, they would be doing it." ---- David Kennedy of Murrieta, who commutes to San Diego

"I don't think we're going to see high-speed rail in my lifetime." ---- Lake Elsinore Mayor Bob Magee

"I remain optimistic that it will be built. Once you start looking at gasoline pushing $4 a gallon ---- while you're sitting in traffic ---- it's going to make a lot of sense." ---- Solana Beach Councilman Joe Kellejian

"I think high-speed rail is the next generation of transportation, and it is critical to the economic success of California. I think it has to get built because, fundamentally, our highways are constrained, our airports are at capacity and our railroads are at capacity. If we want to keep moving people and goods, our next choice is going to be high-speed rail." ---- Escondido Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler

"Why would you ride on a train for 3 1/2 hours to San Francisco when you could hop on a plane and be there in an hour?" ---- State Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta

"A lot more study needs to be done to determine if it is truly cost-effective versus using funds for other transportation infrastructure, such as freeway expansion and completion of intracity light-rail projects. Also, can high-speed rail compete with airlines like Southwest?" ---- Scott Barnett, former Del Mar councilman and president of TaxpayersAdvocate.org

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/10/news/top_stories/23_28_006_9_07.txt

A streetcar with a past - Negaunee group reclaims a rolling piece of history

NEGAUNEE — A recently discovered electric streetcar, probably built sometime around the mid-1800s, was set to find its way to a new home at the Negaunee Senior Center today. If all goes according to plan, it may one day carry passengers again between the cities of Ishpeming and Negaunee.

According to Dan Landmark, a Negaunee resident who secured the streetcar on behalf of the Negaunee Historical Society, the car was found in the backyard of a local resident who had been using it as a storage shed for a number of years. After a little convincing, the owner was willing to donate the car to the society.

Landmark said the streetcar is much like the cars that used to operate with the Negaunee and Ishpeming Railway and Light Company, which ran from 1892 until the company closed in 1927, forced out of business by America’s growing infatuation with the automobile.

http://www.miningjournal.net/stories/articles.asp?articleID=6428

links

other interesting trains

Aerotrain http://www.carofthecentury.com/the_aerotrain.htm

Market on the Railway Tracks http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php?blog=5&title=market_on_the_railway_tracks&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

rail fan

http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/index.shtml

photos, ads, postcards

http://www.fruitfromwashington.com/cards/ffw4/index.php

http://shastaroute.railfan.net/home.html#Postcards

museums

National RR Museum

Skunk Train

Orange Empire Railway Museum

California State Railroad Museum

Western Pacific Railroad Museum and Collection

California Zephyr Virtual Museum


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