I was up at Davenport on Tuesday and had an opportunity to see Sierra Northern move 32 LPG tank cars that are in storage along the coast. They backed the cars to the end of the line adjacent to the closed Cemex Plant and sorted out 15 non-Hazmat (scrubbed) tank cars from the string. The remaining cars were returned to storage area 1 along the coast and the 15 scrubbed tank cars were taken to Watsonville.







Normally you can only see 5 tank cars at a time be moved between Watsonville and the Wrigley plant because of the 5 car Hazmat limitation for excepted track. There are no limitations on scrubbed tank cars so I was able to photograph a string of 15 tank cars at Manresa Beach on their return to Watsonville.



It was good to see switching activity again at Davenport and I also saw Sierra Northern added new mileposts at mile 31 and 32. These mileposts are styled after the mileposts from the Yosemite Valley Railroad and add character and personalize the branch line. I am very pleased to see the direction Sierra Northern and their employees are taking with their management of the branch line and expect to see only more improvements and increased activity going forward. I wish them all the best in 2011 and beyond.