Santa Rosa prepares for return of freight trains

PD FILE, 2009
A freight train runs along the Northwestern Pacific Railroad line near Infineon Raceway in 2001. Sonoma County has not had regular freight service since 1998.

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 1:00 p.m.
After being derailed for 12 years, freight trains could begin rumbling through Santa Rosa by next month, and city officials want to make sure residents are ready.

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The long lapse in service means many people aren't used to locomotives lumbering along the tracks, and officials don't want any surprises.

“It's safe to say most of us aren't aware of trains or as familiar with trains as we should be, so that's one of our concerns,” Tony Gossner, division chief for the Santa Rosa Fire Department, told the City Council on Tuesday.

There hasn't been freight service on the former Northwestern Pacific Railroad since 1998, when federal regulators shut the lines. The North Coast Railroad Authority has spent $68 million in state and federal funds repairing 62 miles of track between Windsor and Napa. If they get the OK from federal inspectors, trains could return by mid-April, said Mitch Stogner, executive director of the North Coast Railroad Authority.

In the first year, trains of 15 to 20 cars are expected to run three round-trips a week. They are expected to carry grain, aggregate, timber or other bulk material, said John Williams, president of Northwestern Pacific Co., the company ready to run freight service on the line. Trains will run at about 25 mph, he said. As business grows, trains could grow to up to 60 cars in length, Williams said.

Various city departments are poised to reach out to the community to make sure that homeless people, pedestrians and motorists are aware the trains are returning and to take precautions.