Toot Toot

Today our Regional Transportation Committee celebrated the purchase and public ownership of the 32 mile Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line. It took more than ten years of negotiation with Union Pacific to acquire this corridor, so excitement ran high. There was live music, history exhibits, and much speechifying--and a free train ride for a couple miles up the coast. The hope is that the acquisition of this corridor will allow multi-use transportation options--dinner and excursion trains, freight trains, and a bicycle/pedestrian trail.

Visible to the left of Engine 82 is a black and white mural of the ocean and lighthouse, painted on the long smooth surface of an old warehouse. The sun was gracious enough to appear just in time for some complementary color action.