Derek Whaley Wrote:
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> I can also clarify some. The 1982 storm basically
> ended rail operations to the nearer of the two
> quarries north of Felton. The quarry at the end of
> the line closed in the 1960s. The track is the
> last part of a line that once crossed over to Los
> Gatos. When the line shut down in 1940 (also due
> to storms), the quarries were both still in use,
> so the more northern quarry ended up being the
> end-of-track. There were no businesses operating
> the rest of the line to Los Gatos except for a few
> seasonal lumber companies that were already
> switching to truck transportation anyway. After
> the storm of 1982, Southern Pacific sold the line
> to Roaring Camp, so RC got stuck with the entire
> track, including the two miles north of Felton.
> For the most part, they abandoned the track but
> made sure it remained in light-use operating
> condition. Lately, they've been taking some trips
> up there for various special excursions. The
> scenery is different than elsewhere on the line
> (more chaparral than redwood) and there is a
> scenic old cast iron truss bridge that the train
> passes over on the route (as well as a more
> modern, also scenic bridge over Bean Creek). From
> what I hear, they actually have been improving
> that track a bit over the past two years and plan
> to use it for some purpose or another.
>
> Cheers!
> – Derek Whaley
> www.santacruztrains.com

Would be nice to see RC use the line more. Whats the possibility of building farher north, to the Atomic Vault?