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March 28
1934 - Bouquet Canyon Reservoir, replacement for ill-fated St. Francis Dam & reservoir, begins to fill with water [story]
Bouquet Reservoir


Now and Then in the SCV | Commentary by Darryl Manzer
| Monday, Aug 10, 2015

darrylmanzer0215I think our gasoline prices are so high because Gov. Jerry Brown wants us to get out of our cars and into his high-speed rail boondoggle.

Here is more high-speed-rail lawsuit information for you to think about:

Kings County has brought suit against the California High Speed Rail Authority because it cannot use the funding method required by Proposition 1A and because the train cannot achieve the travel time of 2 hours 40 minutes that was voted on by us, the citizens.

It’s all a huge scheme to build a legacy for the governor. He would love to say, “I built the high-speed train that gets you from L.A. to San Francisco faster than a car.” A slow car.

You see, the route isn’t decided. What was to be a route of all high-speed rail is now a mixed-use rail system that could be used for regular trains and for high speed. This slows the “high speed” to that of the current Amtrak system. Maybe 80 mph at best.

Without a decision on the route, the speed of the train cannot be determined. Somewhat of a problem to advertise a 2-hour, 40-minute travel time if you don’t even know where the tracks are going to be. There are some urban areas where the speed limit for the train will be 125 mph. Already approved speed limits.

This is a classic bait-and-switch tactic. Sell them what they want and give them what the CHSRA really wants to give them. We voted on the high-speed plan and it is a high-speed rail system. Of course it will take about five hours to do what a plane can in two, and only an hour less if we drive our own car.

hsr bullet trainI pity the poor fools who come from San Francisco and arrive at Union Station only to discover that Disneyland is a two-hour wait at Union Station and then there is a taxi ride and … I can hear it now: “Gosh, honey, we should have driven the car after all, because in all the time it has taken, we could have a lot more time on vacation and not on the train.”

Or you leave Union Station and head toward San Francisco. Yep, looks like a freeway and streets. Gee, it got dark through the tunnels. Palmdale looks like it always has looked.

The next mountain crossing hasn’t been determined yet, but imagine the great views when you get to Bakersfield and Modesto and Stockton and whatever else. Miles of flat, high-speed rail with a view of farmland. (Dried up farmland because we have to save the delta smelt fish).

You won’t get much “high speed” time because in each of those cities, the speed is restricted. And there is a delay at maybe 10 stops along the way. How long is each stop? They don’t know yet. Five minutes? Ten? See how time flies when you’re on a high-speed train.

Of course we’ll have to drive to Burbank or Palmdale to get on the train. When we voted, we thought it might stop in our little valley. Nope. It may pass through and in doing so, lower property values, disrupt water wells, block wildlife habitat and generally be an ugly and long-running sore through our valley.

They don’t talk about the driving time to a station. Oh, there is also a TSA check, just like the airport. And parking for your car and renting a car at your destination and getting your baggage and … what time savings?

Can the city of Santa Clarita join in the lawsuit with Kings County and folks in Modesto and Fresno? If so, let’s do it. If not, let’s start our own legal battle.

We took the bait before. Let’s not let them set the hook and reel us in. Stop the boondoggle. Stop the train. We want to get off.

 

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley, where he serves as executive director of the SCV Historical Society. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com. His older commentaries are archived atDManzer.com; his newer commentaries can be accessed [here]. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].

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22 Comments

  1. Kraut says:

    This author is so out in left field it is ridiculous. He doesn’t back anything with references and just lies.

    First he tries to say, “Without a decision on the route, the speed of the train cannot be determined”, but then totally contradicts himself by stating “Of course it will take about five hours to do what a plane can in two, and only an hour less if we drive our own car.” Can’t have it both ways bud. Besides, HSR is mandated by law to travel from LA to SF in 2 hours and 40 minutes. As for the car travel time comment, have you ever been on the freeways in LA and SF? It is a parking lot. It will take you hours just to get across the LA basin in a car.

    Then he goes on to say you wont get much speed in the central valley because the speed is restricted through the cities, along with the delay of stopping at all the cities. Total BS. HSR has no speed restrictions through cities and apparently DARRYL MANZER has never heard of, or just can’t comprehend what an EXPRESS train is. Not all trains stop a all stations.

    Darryl then complains about the possibility of not getting a HSR station. That’s funny, because all the articles you write bash HSR and how it should be stopped. Again, you contradict yourself.

    And one of the last lies he states is that HSR will have a TSA check. WRONG. Not even the Acela Express on the east coast has TSA checks. Then goes on to state “And parking for your car and renting a car at your destination and getting your baggage and … what time savings?”. Well Darryl, what do you think you do now when flying? HSR will bring you to downtown city centers, unlike flying.

    It is time for this author to take his head out of the sand. Darryl needs to get a grip and stop making up lies about HSR and get over being bitter because the vote on Prop 1A did not go the way he wanted.

    High speed rail is a great alternative to flying and driving.

  2. BOONDOGGLE! Word of the year!

  3. Beth Lopez Beth Lopez says:

    He should worry more about our water shortage …then a dumb bullet train ….Water is more imprtant. …Governor Brown. .

  4. I agree, we should join the lawsuit, or make our own.

  5. Maybe the bullet train can just be used to bring in the water

  6. Jerri Brown?
    Never heard of her.

  7. This poor person hasn’t got a clue. Bless his heart.

  8. Carol Clark Carol Clark says:

    May want to get some fact checker on this before you look like a fool.

    • Before he looks like a fool? He’s proven that ages ago!

    • Before he looks like a fool? He’s proven that ages ago!

    • Derek Koonce Derek Koonce says:

      Carol, have you looked at the plans on the high speed rail web site? There is about 50 combinations of routes planned. And check out the stops. Also, to travel from San Fran to LA, you probably will have 2 transfers as well. Thankfully the baggage cannot get lost in Timbuktu. :-) Based on what I see, it would be faster and simpler to just drive.

    • Carol Clark Carol Clark says:

      Yeah, it may be simpler to drive now, but population is growing. Traffic is increasing, gas prices are climbing. Roads can not keep expanding. We need infrastructure in this country and it is always met with resistance at first. We are significantly behind many developed countries.

  9. Someone needs some tinfoil

  10. Someone needs some tinfoil

  11. This has been a fraud since day one for sure. What else is knew coming from Moon Beam.

  12. This has been a fraud since day one for sure. What else is knew coming from Moon Beam.

  13. Wes Towry Wes Towry says:

    —- brown does not get it.

  14. Wes Towry Wes Towry says:

    ok high speed rail transport water.???? think about it.?

  15. First sentence is so moronic it makes reading everything that follows way too much of a chore. Here’s some 411: The governor of California has no more control over the prices at the pump than the president does.

    • Derek Koonce Derek Koonce says:

      Recent report I heard on the news is that one organization says that the summer gas blend is when the oil companies make the biggest profits in California. They have a “captured” customer. Years ago when the summer blend was started, I commented to several friends that for the 15% reduction in emissions, it costs us that much in gas mileage. I still see a reduction in my MPG during the summer blend season. So, if we cut emissions by 15%, but have to burn 15% more gas, is it really worth it? It is for the oil companies. I say cut the summer blend out and use gas that we can share with neighboring states when the CA refineries have to do maintenance or repairs after an accident.

    • Carol Clark Carol Clark says:

      Derek Koonce, most of the recent costs in California is in tax that has been imposed on the driver and the refinery. I don’t have a problem paying this as it is necessary to keep my air clean but it isn’t going to get any better. We need to end the dependence on oil.

  16. Derek Koonce Derek Koonce says:

    It is a big Feinstein push for the route is to be put through our representative’s property. Gee, does that sound like a bias.

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