Western Railroad Discussion > Track Relocation- SERA, CFNR, UP Affected

This would mean bye bye to the Fremont Trestle and the West Valley Subdivision between Davis and Woodland. Could this really happen?

http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/sunday-best/plan-to-take-the-train-out-of-town-and-the-tracks-with-it/

Jake Miille
Chico, CA
Jake Miille Photography

Seems typical of Davis style dreams. Spend 50 million when such a solution could be found for a lot less. The old SP and SN did cross eighty years ago in Woodland a few blocks of track could be put back for a connection. Or on the northeast side of Woodland a connection could be made in the industrial area. Spending 50 million for two to three trains a day is a big waste of money.

That sure seems extreme! It would seem to me that it would be just easier to replace the trestle.

Matt Starman
Greenleaf, ID

Personally, I like trains going thru town. It shows business at work. Moving everything away is a waste of money.

The simple solution here is to allow SIERRA NORTHERN trackage rights on the UP / CFNR from Davis to Woodland, then build a connecting track in Woodland. This way they can remove the trestle, but completely avoid an expensive new rail line. Use the assets you currently have and be efficient. The line from Davis to Woodland is under-utilized anyways, so use it more!

usmc1401 Wrote:
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> Seems typical of Davis style dreams. Spend 50
> million when such a solution could be found for a
> lot less. The old SP and SN did cross eighty years
> ago in Woodland a few blocks of track could be put
> back for a connection. Or on the northeast side of
> Woodland a connection could be made in the
> industrial area. Spending 50 million for two to
> three trains a day is a big waste of money.

I give them bicycle lovers in Davis an "A" for effort, but an "F" for getting the most for their money. The one thing I noticed was the "parked railcars that are at least a visual blight" are all autoracks in the photo. Are those for waiting for interchange to CFNR or just stored there? If just parked there, then those cars would remain no matter what realignments were done.

BNSF6400 Wrote:
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> I give them bicycle lovers in Davis an "A" for
> effort, but an "F" for getting the most for their
> money. The one thing I noticed was the "parked
> railcars that are at least a visual blight" are
> all autoracks in the photo. Are those for waiting
> for interchange to CFNR or just stored there? If
> just parked there, then those cars would remain no
> matter what realignments were done.

Just parked there for the short term (like a day or two). Benicia has limited space to work with, so they will park empty auto racks at Davis and/or Tolenas for later pickup by an eastbound auto train.

This proposal has one problem it is, the west valley line, is owned by the Union Pacific and the new route would back up to my family's property on the west side of the Yolo By pass just south of the Davis sanitation station. The levy would need extensive reconstruction if this was to happen.
I me sure the UP would rather not remove the Y in Davis as well. Also what if the UP chooses to run through trains on this line in the future?

There are two chances of the West Valley sub thru Davis going away.,.Slim and none.,.The wooden bridge is getting tired after years of use...But in the end it would be wiser to tie both the Serra and Cal Northern together at Woodland as they are only about three blocks from each other....

They actually do (or at least did) have a connecting track. It sorta wanders around but
it did connect both at one time, though not for interchange service.

czuleget Wrote:
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> This proposal has one problem it is, the west
> valley line, is owned by the Union Pacific and the
> new route would back up to my family's property on
> the west side of the Yolo By pass just south of
> the Davis sanitation station. The levy would need
> extensive reconstruction if this was to happen.
> I me sure the UP would rather not remove the Y in
> Davis as well. Also what if the UP chooses to run
> through trains on this line in the future?


Yep, I think czuleget is right. That's the ex-SP West Valley Line, for years, even into Amtrak, hosting long distance passenger trains, and now owned by UP. If they go, there goes UP's secondary outlet to Oregon. They probably won't allow it.

Stan