Mistertower Wrote:
> About 1991 an Amtrak Supervisor of Opertaions
> named Bob Bonham began dubbing these as the
> "Garden Tracks" because of the hedges and other
> plants on the outer edge that you would find in
> someone's garden. He thought the name would be
> a good fit, but it was more of an effort to have
> his named assocatied with the tracks in R.R.
> history. I guess he thought he would be looking
> forward to telling his Grandchildren someday that
> the name came from him.

I'll personally vouch that the old railroad term "garden tracks" used specifically at LAUS predates Amtrak's formation on May 1, 1971. "Katellus Corp." is spelled with a "C" instead, was Santa Fe Pacific's mostly industrial real estate initially, and on September 15, 2005 agreed to merge, becoming part of Prologis (NYSE: PLD). To be picking more nits the "(passenger) tracks one and two" were express tracks. In later days tracks 3, 4, 5, and 6 were chosen to be run-through tracks since the busway needs clearance to run under the higher numbered tracks. A coming baggage ramp to cross the Gold Line extension at grade will make any run-through a significantly tougher problem. If that ramp ran under the Gold Line then it would have preserved a far simpler run-through option but at the prices quoted, I wouldn't expect to see a run-through any time soon anyway. The currently-final (NOvember 2005) EIR from the FRA requires tracks 3, 4, 5, and 6 to be raised five feet to permit 16.5 feet clearance for busway traffic. [www.fra.dot.gov]

[www.catellus.com]