Re: Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line Update
Author: Howard
Date: 06-27-2020 - 18:11
FUD Wrote:
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> Late hit, but thanks, also, for the renewed
> coverage.
>
> I wonder: is that lumber yard in SC that previous
> operators used for equipment storage still there?
> Seems like that and (if anybody is still there)
> out on the north side are the only likely freight
> outside of Watsonville, unless Roaring Camp can
> talk their neighbor into receiving cars again. But
> then, if the county wants to run doodlebugs
> between SC and mid-county they might not want the
> bother of freight in SC anyway. Plus - the new
> bridge in La Selva is probably fine, but can the
> Capitola trestle really handle 286K cars without
> major reconstruction?
>
> (BTW, people weigh more than cars. If the line
> were made a trail and no limits placed on the
> number of people on the bridges, some might exceed
> structural capacity. The GG Bridge had that happen
> (it survived, but engineers looking at the photos
> of that day weren't happy with what they saw). And
> it also caused some rethinking of a few highway
> bridge replacements where the old bridge was to be
> left for pedestrians.)
The San Lorenzo Lumber Thompson Ave yard is still there and the spur is too. The Capitola Bridge has one of its five sections that needs work and, but the bridge engineer said it might be acceptable to bring up Roaring Camp’s CF7’s if load testing is conducted first.
As the marketing manager for the St. Paul & Pacific I met with all interested businesses and land developers regarding rail services for Santa Cruz County. The need is currently limited in the Santa Cruz area, but there was significant interest by one large company should market needs change.