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Filed under: Mendocino, NCRA, Northwestern Pacific Railroad, Railroad, SMART, Willits, bicycle, trails
Some sad news this week.
Willits news: Ruth Rockefeller: Community loses a venerable citizen
After her retirement from teaching, she took on the failing Northwestern Pacific Railroad; preserving the railroad became her passion. She was the first woman to be elected chairman for the North Coast Railroad Authority in 1998 when she was 80 years old. The plaque she received for this honor was presented to her by the board of directors chairman, who said: “Whoever thought an 80 year old school teacher would be actively managing the NCRA, but there’s nothing like this little old schoolmarm.”
Ruth was very proud of that award and worked diligently to the end of her life to save the railroad.
Former Tiburon mayor and rail backer Ellman dies
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit booster George Ellman died last month, but he is not done with the rail project just yet.
His ashes will be on the first SMART train scheduled to roll down the tracks in 2014, a request made by Mr. Ellman before his death.
NorCal History Blog: Getting to work at Falk
I talked to Bill Rich yesterday, and the folks at HSU are getting ready to start digging at the historic town site of Falk.
Cloverdale seeks to link downtown to the train station
Cloverdale is considering building a bike and pedestrian path to its rail station in anticipation of eventual commuter train service.
The path is being proposed as a way to link the downtown to the station on the opposite side of the freeway.
The bike/pedestrian path, dubbed the Cloverdale Greenway project, could replace two of the four vehicle lanes on Citrus Fair Drive that run under Highway 101 and connect the west of town to the station on the east.
Not local related, but still a little fun. World’s smallest model train.
Thanks, all for your support. It was one of those things that was hard to get, was good info on the railroad. Every monthly meeting they have a presentation with photos of progress on the railroad. However, they haven’t posted a single 2009 presentation yet. I keep saying, they need to show what they have done, it is a pr thing.
Willits Woodstock appears to be defunct – Ukiah Daily Journal.
Nash Gonzales, county planning and building services director, said Thursday he still had not received any kind of documentation from Rosco Smith or anyone involved with the Monsoon Entertainment’s proposed ReBirth festival meant to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Woodstock in Willits.
“I’ve gotten no communications from them, not a thing,” said Gonzales. “I was waiting. It’s been forgotten I guess. I was hoping they’d come in and we could at least talk, but at this point I think it’s not going to happen.”
CalTrans gives up on full mitigation in Little Lake Valley – The Willits News.
When CalTrans planned to mitigate the environmental impact of the Willits bypass on Little Lake Valley wetlands, it apparently failed to look at the valley during the rainy season.
Due to this oversight, CalTrans no longer believes it can create enough new seasonal wetlands inside Little Lake Valley to properly mitigate all the wetland impacts the bypass will cause and must now seek mitigation properties elsewhere.
Whether these issues can be resolved and permits obtained to meet current construction deadlines is not yet known.
Visiting Roots – The Willits News.
In the misty afternoon of March 4, the kids from First Steps Daycare and their accompanying adults visited the Roots of Motive Power facility, rode a historic train and toured the Mendocino County Museum.
…
The group was able to board one of Roots’ antique trains, complete with a coal-burning stove and viewing deck. They rode the train around the baseball fields located on the north side of Commercial Street.
The kids gleefully laughed and were sometimes startled with the train’s creaks, jerks and “chugga-chuggas” as it made its way around the track.
Mitigation concerns over bypass – The Willits News.
While the mechanical design and right of way acquisition for the Highway 101 Willits bypass is on schedule to allow the contract to go out for bid early next year, the environmental mitigation has hit a snag.
CalTrans has only located 27 of the 65 total acres of replacement seasonal wetlands that must be mitigated before the project can move forward as planned.
Health report says Remco made Willits sick – The Willits News.
A report published by the University of California, San Francisco, concludes Willits is sicker than both Mendocino County and California as a whole, and Remco the machine shop and chrome plating facility that operated in the center of town from 1946 to 1995–is the cause.
By Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer
Posted: 12/12/2008 12:05:17 PM PSTWith November rains less than hoped, the Willits water reservoirs dropped to 391 acre feet as of December 1, raising concerns that water rationing may be required in the near future.
In a Phase 2 emergency, all Willits water system customers are requested to voluntarily cut monthly water consumption by at least 10 percent and imposes restrictions on outdoor irrigation.
Water waste is prohibited and can be enforced by turning off water to an address.
Chief Water Operator Denny Caine told the council one of the biggest water wasters is people running water to keep their pipes from freezing. He advised them to insulate the pipes and save the water.
Filed under: Eureka, Humboldt, Mendocino, North Coast Railroad, Railroad, Willits
This was brought up in the Altamont Press railfan board. I’d looked through Chris Guenzler’s site before, just not his old trips. A nice photo graphic journey through the Eel River canyon on a excursion passenger train, though regularly scheduled.
Nice photos of the railroad and Roots of motive power.
A&MR RR 104 Willits, CA
The A&MR RR 104 is shown, the sister to the 101 being restored up here. Category/label of railroad here. Be sure and follow her links to his overflow blog for additional pictures on the subjects.
Update: thanks for the tip Kym, I thought I kept it gender neutral, but didn’t.
By Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer
Article Launched: 06/20/2008 12:22:58 PM PDT
Click photo to enlarge
ALCO Metals crew tearing up the ruined railcars removed from the Willits rail… (The Willits News)Dismantlers have taken out five severely vandalized and burnt out railcars from the Willits rail yard, removing part of what had become a hangout for transients and area teens alike.
Willits issued a Notice of Nuisance to the North Coast Railway Authority in January following a series of fires including a near tragic situation where a homeless man was trapped in one of the burning cars.
The NCRA immediately established a working committee to work with the city, which included hiring a grounds keeper to secure and patrol the rail yard. The first order of business involved a general debris cleanup and boarding up the unsecured cars.
Willits police officers and firefighters have expressed satisfaction with the change observed at the yard once Willits resident Rod Whitney began taking charge of the site for the NCRA. “We now have someone from the railroad willing to sign a complaint,” cited one officer.
At a recent Willits City Council meeting, several council members expressed satisfaction with the recent progress including the removal of the burnt out cars and the other efforts being made in the yard, although they did not consider the issue fully resolved.
The NCRA contracted with ALCO Metals to salvage the five cars. ALCO paid $22,500 for the salvage rights, which the NCRA had to send back to the state transportation fund, says NCRA Executive Director Mitch Stogner.
The NCRA intends to gather the remaining cars together and fence off the site to secure
them.
