December 26th—Christmas is over for another year, which means, for us, time for the annual Christmas / New Year’s vacation trip. Once again, our destination is the Oregon Coast and, this year, points south as well as we have two weeks plus available. And, as it turns out, we happily miss some wicked winter weather by the skin of our teeth!

Heading south on I 5, we run into very icy conditions around Ferndale, WA. It has rained, then cleared, and frozen. This section of I 5 is like a skating rink, lots of vehicles being pulled from the median and the ditch, but this condition clears quite quickly. The rest of our drive to Astoria, Oregon, is quite (thankfully) uneventful. We head slightly further south to Seaside, and settle in for our first nights. The weather turns rainy and stormy, but will some breaks at least each day for exploration of the beaches along the way.

And that’s what this trip is mostly about—but for our WCRA News readers, we note some of the railway sights along the way.

Wheeler, OR—where the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad appears alongside highway 101, the stations remain intact and the railway itself has had much track improvement work done. Near Wheeler, on a siding, sits a consist of SD9 / RDC 1 / GP9 #101, which must see occasional passenger service that seems to operate occasionally along the line. At Garibaldi in the park, Rayonier 2-8-2 #90 and wooden business car (where the Garibaldi Lions meet) are still cared for, and decorated for Christmas.

The next rails appear north of Coos Bay, where the Central Oregon & Pacific line from Eugene meets its coastal terminus. Lots of freight in the yard, with a unit doing yard work. It doesn’t get close enough to be visible for number or identity confirmation. The Oregon Coast Railway Museum looks about the same as it did a year ago—Coos Bay Lumber 2-8-2 #104 (taken from the park in nearby North Bend) in a fenced area between highway 101 and the CORP line.

New Year’s 2004 is celebrated in Gold Beach, OR and then we head on south New Year's day. At Eureka, CA things also look the same as last year, with the tracks in place around the bay to Samoa. Efforts continue to acquire Pacific Lumber Co. steam locomotive #37 with fundraising well along and plans to eventually operate a steam excursion train on the line. In Eureka, the North Coast Railroad remains dormant and the string of five GP9’s sits deteriorating and looking quite sad. This line quit after its connection south at Willits quit, although some plans are continuing to possibly restore the line between Willits and San Francisco, the former Northwestern Pacific.

Enjoying the drive south in mixed rainy and sunny conditions, we have dodged a time of particularly bad weather. E mail’s advise us of snow in Vancouver and Squamish, and we see TV coverage of major snow problems in Portland, OR and closed I 5 through the Siskiyou summit area. On the coast, we have experienced temperatures around 5 to 8 degrees Celsius, and seen some heavy rain showers and winds. The waves are spectacular!

Our next stop is Fort Bragg, as we have chosen the real Pacific Coast route, California Highway 1 towards San Francisco. Fort Bragg is the home base for the California Western Railroad, the base for the Skunk tourist trains that have operated for years between Fort Bragg and Willits, CA. using both steam and diesel railcars. Unfortunately, the loss of the rail connection at Willits ended freight service on the line, and its has quit in bankruptcy with the last trains running a year or so ago. However, that looks like it is about to change as the Sierra Railroad has recently bought the line (which is complete and intact) and hopes to start the tourist trains again by May 2004.

The railway’s shops are behind fences at the huge (and also dormant) lumber mill, but several of the passenger cars and a caboose, as well as the "Skunk" railcar are evident in the yard and looking to be in very good condition. Locomotives are not visible, but assumed to be in the two stall engine house.

Saturday, January 3—we have moved through the Bay area and are at Fairfield, CA. A morning walk (it is finally a real sunny day, albeit cool in the morning) around Suisan harbour is enjoyed, followed by a visit to the station on the UP mainline, where we see an eastbound freight behind a pair of GP38-2’s, followed by both northbound and southbound Capitol trains. This Amtrak California Capitol corridor service is very successful, with as many a twelve trains each way weekdays. The ones we see are a four car Oakland bound train behind and Amtrak P-40 unit, and a Sacramento bound train with five cars pushed by an Amtrak California B 32 unit.

Next stop later this same morning is the Western Railway Museum, operated by the Bay Area Electric Railway Association. We get there just in time to enjoy the first "interurban" ride of the day, aboard car #63 along the former Sacramento Northern electric railway line. It is a most enjoyable ride with an amiable crew and just us and another couple aboard. Following the ride its time for a few photos, and while dong that BAERA chair Bill Kluver is spotted. He is surprised to see us, but immediately gets into tour guide mode and we are treated to the "cooks tour" behind the scenes, in the shop to see their major project restoring Sacramento Northern car #1005 (a project of proportions reminiscent of our British Columbia job).

The museum’s new visitor center has been completed since our last visit there some years back, and the building is impressive. It serves functions much as our station does at the Heritage Park, and is fashioned as a typical California mid sized railway depot. Inside is the admissions desk (their admissions have risen this year from $5 to $8 US), a very nice gift shop, washrooms (outside access) and snack bar (also outside access). Bill takes us into the library and archives—what a job they have done here. A proper climate controlled facility with great organization work has been done—and their fabulous archival collection is a joy to behold. They operate with all volunteers, and Bill says that having the new library and archival facility has spawned a whole new group of volunteers for them, and what a job they have done. This is something we should take a good look at.

On to Sacramento, and after arrival a walk around old town. The Sacramento railway station has become a very active place, with the Capitol trains coming and going as well as the Amtrak California Zephyr and Coast Starlight trains each way daily. In addition, a constant parade of union Pacific freight traffic heads along the double tracked mainline. The westbound California Zephyr is seen with a pair of P 40 units, baggage car, and 8 Superliner cars—transition sleeper, three coaches, Sightseer Lounge, diner, two sleepers, and three Express boxcars trailing.

We are joined by ARM President Paul Hammond and his partner for dinner in Old Town, and who else should turn up but fellow ARM board member Brian Norden from southern California, who also happens to be passing through the area on his way home from a New year’s trip. Its an enjoyable get together in Sacramento!

Sunday, January 4, and TV has noted that the Great American Train Show is in town. We head over to the Cal Expo grounds to check it out. Opening at 1100, there was a fair crowd waiting to enter, and we joined them. The show was a disappointment to this writer—mostly sales tables for all kinds of trains and hobbies, but woefully poor from the point of view of operating layouts of any sort. The price—$7.00 US—and Western Rails is a far better show! We lasted less than an hour, then left for other endeavours in the area.

Later Sunday afternoon, it was time to take a ride on the Sacramento Regional Transit light rail trains. We bought a basic pass ($3.50 for unlimited day riding), and headed out on the Watt / I 80 line. The equipment (all of the newest variety this Sunday) was very nice, quiet and smooth. The line followed a railway right of way to the north east. We returned by riding all the way to the other end of the line, Mather Field / Mills, an end to end run of around an hour. Then it was back to the 16th Street Station where we transferred to the newest line to Meadowfield. While the ride from a technology point of view was great, the clientele left lots to be desired as we coped with loud young people, another group talking about how they had just got out of jail, and a drunk who was eventually evicted from the train in a well executed move by the driver linking with a Transit policeman. Interesting was that a private company security person rode every train!

The weather reports for the Northwest continued to look not so good—"a snow situation" they labeled it for the north Oregon Coast, Portland and Seattle (and Vancouver, although Canada never seems to get mentioned in the US News unless its for some bad reason). So, we decided to stay another day and enjoy the beautiful sunshine we were having. A day trip to Oakland was decided upon, we hadn’t tested Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor trains yet. So, a round trip ticket in hand ($30 each), we headed for the Sacramento station Monday morning.

Train 527 arrived from Roseville right on time, and a good crowd boarded. We had Amtrak P40 #68 for power, then three Amtrak California double deck cars and a Superliner coach for consist. Departed on time at 0740 for a very pleasant ride. The only delay was to meet train 526 at Emeryville, but we rolled into Amtrak's’ Oakland Jack London Square station on time.

It is sunny and beautiful—the nicest day yet—as temperatures roll into the 50’s, and we explore Oakland and the Jack London Square waterfront area. It seems like there are always trains rolling down Embarcadero Street to divert the attention. Oakland has really transformed its downtown and we enjoy five hours of on foot exploration interspersed with an excellent seafood lunch on the waterfront. Observed running late at 1400 departing Oakland southbound, was Amtrak's’ Coast Starlight. It was a long train with P 40’s 114 / 116 for power, followed by a baggage car, then a 13 car Superliner consist—transition sleeper, three revenue sleepers, the Pacific Parlour Car lounge, diner, sightseer lounge, five coaches, and transition sleeper.

Our return train was Amtrak 538, which originated at Oakland but runs all the way to Auburn, CA. This consist was Amtrak B 32 #503 and four Amtrak California cars. The snack bar was open before departure, service was friendly and , once again, the trip very pleasant. We departed on time at 1530, and arrived back at Sacramento at 1735. The day was capped off with dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory, which is located in the former Western Pacific station on J Street in Sacramento. To make us feel at home, two Union Pacific freights rumbled by creating real railway ambiance for the surroundings.

Tuesday, January 6, and we’re going to start heading back for home. At Willits, CA we stop and look at the sad remnants of the Northwestern Pacific, several passenger cars boarded up or with windows broken, a Central California traction RS 1 and Southern Pacific SD 9 and some freight cars. It appears unlikely that any of this equipment has much of a future. Not a lot else new to be seen, as we overnight in Eureka, CA. At Coos Bay the next day we see Central Oregon & Pacific GP 38 #3803 at the yard, but no activity on the line. The remainder of the trip home was uneventful railroad wise. No space for photos, perhaps next issue.