With this chatter about the Eccles and Eastern, it seems appropriate give some background information. At one time, I was the number 3 stockholder in the E&E. At no time were we ever going to "take over" the Santa Cruz Big Trees and Pacific. The initial idea was to purchase the almost never-used segment from Felton to end of track at one-time Eccles. We had envisioned resuming rail quarry service, as there were over 1000 daily truck trips going over the hill and choking traffic on Hwy 17. The plan was to initially go the long way through Watsonville as SP had done since the abandonment of the track over the hill. The other component was to rebuild the over-the-hill portion of the line. It made sense due to a shorter route and only a small amount of upgrade routing. The hope was that if someone rebuilt the line, the local governments would find an interest in passenger service. Based on the conditions of the time, we could have returned our investment in 20 years with only the freight. It was the local politicians that shot us down even though they attempted to seem supportive. We were given lip service to our faces, but NIMBYs in the Glenwood area prevailed behind our backs. We had shippers lined up, but when the County found out about the imminence of real operations and their inability to stop the railroad (federally regulated), they threatened the would-be shippers with jerking their quarry permits if they chose to ship by rail. E&E would have used trackage rights over the SCBTP, not ousted Mrs. Clark. Even though SP and UP killed off most of the local freight in SC County, there are still very good possibilities if a small intermodal yard could be established between Sahnta Cruz and Davenport. Removing truck traffic on Hwy 1 between Watsonville and Santa Cruz in favor of containerized rail shipment could make a substantial improvement on congestion in that corridor. Local freight service could make a rebound on the branch if the right moves are made. The likelihood of that happening is questionable due to the same politics and capitulation to NIMBYs in the corridor that contribute to local politicians. The false perception that railroads are antithetical to environmental concern will undoubtedly continue to be an influence on decisions that will be made. Yes, the E&E will never rise again, but the basic premise that made it feasable still persists.