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Now and Then in the SCV | Commentary by Darryl Manzer
| Monday, Aug 4, 2014

darrylmanzer_blacktieWe’re building a train that will be able to travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco in three hours. It will someday pay for its own operation. It will be a “world class” and “state of the art” high-speed rail system.

An appeals court has given the green light to the sale of bonds necessary to start construction. Let’s start that construction. Hell, we don’t even know where the tracks are going to be laid, but let’s start now.

One of the proposed routes is right through Acton and Agua Dulce. Those two communities are going to be severely impacted, along with Sand Canyon in the city of Santa Clarita.

Now, Acton has some identity issues when it comes to the SCV. You see, many folks in Acton tend to go to Palmdale or Lancaster to shop, since those cities are so much closer. The most-read newspaper is the one from Antelope Valley. So it is logical that they tend to lean toward the AV when it comes to issues that the state is causing.

EXCEPT FOR HIGH SPEED TRAINS.

I don’t think the folks planning the state-built railway could find a route that disturbed more people than the one being planned for the route through the Soledad. It will uproot homes, business folks and a few historical sites, too. It will run far too close to a school and divide all three areas of Acton, Agua Dulce and Sand Canyon on its ill-advised rumbling through our valley.

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The thick blue line is what they’re planning. The swath of yellow is where the city of Santa Clarita would prefer that it go.

Acton and Agua Dulce can expect no help from Palmdale or Lancaster. Those two cities can’t jump on the bandwagon fast enough to support the railway. So I think it is time that those two communities, via their respective town councils, ask the city of Santa Clarita to join in the effort the city is making to stop the train from destroying the Soledad.

They have helped with another project before. Both communities have assisted Santa Clarita in fighting the Cemex mining operation. I’m sure they’ll want to jump aboard on this problem, too.

High-speed rail? It will be non-subsidized. If so, it will be the only high-speed rail system in the world to run without subsidies. We know government is so very good at operating things like railroads.

The fact remains that if it were a viable idea that could run without subsidies and actually pay for itself, the major railroads would already have built it. Those same railroads, Union Pacific or Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, all had historically great passenger trains. They have profitable freight train operations. If they could make a few million running passengers, they would do so.

But it ain’t going to happen. No way and no how.

I feel sorry for the folks who are going to buy the bonds for the Rail Authority. They might want to save some money to invest in moon colonies and perpetual motion machines. They can sell $10 million now thanks to the courts? I know what it said in a news story, but even if it is $10 billion, it wouldn’t be anywhere near what is needed to start the project.

This is not a project that the government should build anyway. Now, many will say the government built the railroad linking East and West all across the continent. That railroad was built because the railroads were given land that they then sold. The Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads were able to raise the money to build and operate. Any money they got from the federal government was paid back with interest in short order.

Will the Great State of California be able to build the rails as they were once done? Not along the alignment they have so far proposed.

The city of Santa Clarita and, I hope, the communities of Acton and Agua Dulce shall work together to make them add a few miles of tunnel under the San Gabriel Mountains and bypass the Santa Clarita Valley in total.

Maybe we should march at every meeting being held concerning the railway. “Save the Soledad. Slow Trains Only.” Or, “Hey, Jerry, take your train and shove it.”

I like the second sign because I could tell our fair governor exactly where he could shove his train.

How many agree with that?

 

 

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. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com and his commentaries are archived at DManzer.com. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].

 

 

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70 Comments

  1. Cathy says:

    Hi Darryl,
    I’m going to have to disagree with you on this one. The trains that you speak of are not your grandparents clickity-clack noisy trains. They are smooth fast and quiet. We need to look forward on our transportation problems because they are only going to get worst. My husband and I traveled while in Europe on one of these trains. We went right through the French countryside. The horses, cows and what other farm animals we saw were completely oblivious to the train. So the point the Acton residents have that it will scare their animal is not valid. The traffic on The 5 & 99 freeways are full of trucks hauling our states commerce. To add to it there are the people vacationing hauling boats and campers, besides all of the cars, making it a very dangerous combination. The last holiday weekend we were driving back to S.C.V. from S.F. we were driving 95 – 100 miles an hour the whole way home. Mind you that was just to keep up with traffic! We have taken the traditional Amtrack train up to Ore. It took 10 hours just to get to S.F. Being able to save time like that,(8 hours) with out the frustration of driving will be terrific. Times change and we must move forward. All I ask is that they use workers and materials made in the U.S.A.

  2. Keith says:

    Why not feel sorry for all the tax payers who will pay the interest on the bonds and the eventual subsidies required to keep this train operating?

    Wouldn’t it be money better spent to see that we have a drought resistant supply of water in Southern California?

    What a waste of time and money!

  3. Jason Govier says:

    I would like to see the train come through. The transportation to San Francisco is difficult now. 3 hours would be great.

  4. Jason Govier says:

    I would like to see the train come through. The transportation to San Francisco is difficult now. 3 hours would be great.

  5. Kim Sloan says:

    A fast train to Las Vegas would be very profitable as well.

  6. Kim Sloan says:

    A fast train to Las Vegas would be very profitable as well.

  7. Chris Hulse says:

    And you can keep your doctor as well as your plan, I have a bridge to sell as well!

  8. Chris Hulse says:

    And you can keep your doctor as well as your plan, I have a bridge to sell as well!

  9. this train will be grossly over budget, never pay for itself and will take longer and cost more than a plane flight. Too many stops along the way prevent it from reaching its top “high speed”

  10. this train will be grossly over budget, never pay for itself and will take longer and cost more than a plane flight. Too many stops along the way prevent it from reaching its top “high speed”

  11. I would use it all the time. What year is completion scheduled?

  12. I would use it all the time. What year is completion scheduled?

  13. Chris Rider says:

    This is all BS. The train will never make it in three hours it is a waste of money

  14. Chris Rider says:

    This is all BS. The train will never make it in three hours it is a waste of money

  15. I’ll be the first one to ride it but at most it’s a liberal pipe dream. We will unfortunately never see this train.

  16. Why are you lying it will not be 3 hours. And appeals court did not green light. It will also not be high speed as it will use use existing rail lines.

  17. Read this for a more truthful account on the appeal court decision

  18. They should spend the nearly 70 BILLION on water reservoir so we don’t have drought issues

    • Paul Ellis says:

      And what do you propose to fill the reservoirs with? If there’s no rain or snow melt runoff to fill them with, all the reservoirs in the world do you no good. It’s called a “drought” for a reason.

    • Paul Ellis says:

      And what do you propose to fill the reservoirs with? If there’s no rain or snow melt runoff to fill them with, all the reservoirs in the world do you no good. It’s called a “drought” for a reason.

  19. John Diego says:

    Uh who rides a train?

  20. I would love this.

  21. The SCV preferred route may mean eminent domain takes my home or at a minimum puts a loud train within easy hearing distance. The state preferred route puts it through sensitive wild animal habitat. Either way, it stinks.

  22. Jim Oge Jr says:

    Build it I want it

  23. Malcolm Dann says:

    This boondoggle is the answer to a question that nobody is asking. Based on the information that we currently have the travel time will be more like five hours and there is not the ridership to support it. Unless bailed out by the tax payer this is doomed to bankruptcy. It will certainly NOT be high speed as much of the route is through areas where high speed would not be allowed or would use existing rails. Why would anyone take a train for a five hour trip when a plane takes one hour?

  24. This is a another money rip off!

  25. Ed Halterman says:

    I’ll bet it doesn’t even get going in my lifetime…..

  26. Noise, environmental damage, loss of homes, way to much money, not to mention what will it due to the earthquake faults… This state could spend the money on better things that we really need.

  27. HUGE waste of time and tax payers $$$

  28. There is no form of public transportation in the world that pays for itself. They are all heavily subsidized.

  29. Shane Greedy says:

    Hmm….much faster and cheaper to fly….hugh waste of our money.

  30. Doug Pearson says:

    Think of Jerry brown as a contractor on the Winchester mystery house and Obama is old crazy mrs Winchester. California wants to do this because they only get the federal money to build it if they build it no matter if it goes anywhere or is usefull at all. Maybe he’ll sell off the right of way like he did to the proposed 126 freeway to the 14

  31. Doug Pearson says:

    Think of Jerry brown as a contractor on the Winchester mystery house and Obama is old crazy mrs Winchester. California wants to do this because they only get the federal money to build it if they build it no matter if it goes anywhere or is usefull at all. Maybe he’ll sell off the right of way like he did to the proposed 126 freeway to the 14

  32. Doug says:

    Think of Jerry brown as a contractor on the Winchester mystery house and Obama is old crazy mrs Winchester. California wants to do this because they only get the federal money to build it if they build it no matter if it goes anywhere or is usefull at all. Maybe he’ll sell off the right of way like he did to the proposed 126 freeway to the 14

  33. Complete waste of tax dollars…why not water and other more critical issues???

  34. Complete waste of tax dollars…why not water and other more critical issues???

  35. D Petras says:

    In theory, it’s a good idea. But when you start looking at the specifics it’s really BAD! It’s not truly linking LA to SF. It costs too much. The state needs to consider other options like the Hyperloop. It would cost MUCH less than that of the so called high-speed rail and less intrusive on the communities. http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/hyperloop

  36. this will help to create jobs that are despritly needed

  37. plus help the eviroment

  38. Carl Boyer says:

    The one thing that concerns me most is the route being set but the state failing to buy the properties involved in a timely fashion, or buying them and letting them rot for a long time as was the case with the route of the 105 freeway. Don’t believe for a moment, however, that it was take longer than a flight. Take an hour to reach LAX, another hour to check in and wait, fifteen minutes delay in the schedule, a 75-minute flight and a half-hour to collect baggage, plus an hour to get to downtown San Francisco. Do the math! I’ve taken the TGV in France rather than fly, cheaper and faster.

  39. Spend the money on desalinization. We need water way more than we need a “bullet” train that won’t ever fire.

  40. Secure the border with the money. Imagine the state savings then

  41. Secure the border with the money. Imagine the state savings then

  42. From what I remember during the original debate the ridership estimates used too support the argument for this boondoggle, was that every single person in California would have too take a round trip ride on this train twice a year in order for it too be profitable. Not a likely scenario is it.

  43. From what I remember during the original debate the ridership estimates used too support the argument for this boondoggle, was that every single person in California would have too take a round trip ride on this train twice a year in order for it too be profitable. Not a likely scenario is it.

  44. The same negative things were probably said when LAX was built, when I-5 was built, the L.A. River concreted, etc. Monumental projects like these are never pretty or cheap. But it’s time we put ourselves on the map and advance into modern times like other countries have. Let’s look into the future and lead for once. California has been shamefully stagnant with transportation far too long. 30 years from now we’ll look back and be glad we took the steps to make this happen. Or one can look at it this way too…. We throw all our money away anyway when it comes to the state. May as well enjoy a nice railroad out of it.

  45. The same negative things were probably said when LAX was built, when I-5 was built, the L.A. River concreted, etc. Monumental projects like these are never pretty or cheap. But it’s time we put ourselves on the map and advance into modern times like other countries have. Let’s look into the future and lead for once. California has been shamefully stagnant with transportation far too long. 30 years from now we’ll look back and be glad we took the steps to make this happen. Or one can look at it this way too…. We throw all our money away anyway when it comes to the state. May as well enjoy a nice railroad out of it.

  46. Like any new technology it is expensive in both dollars and energy at first. As the technology is improved it becomes less so. As for California leading; if other countries have a train aren’t we following? Seriously, how many people are using public transportation now? Why would it improve with one bullet train?

  47. Like any new technology it is expensive in both dollars and energy at first. As the technology is improved it becomes less so. As for California leading; if other countries have a train aren’t we following? Seriously, how many people are using public transportation now? Why would it improve with one bullet train?

  48. Paul elis all water goes down stream you idiot. Desalination plant in San diego. Hello !!

    As for no rain part you jack ass. Nearly all rainfall that we get we do not keep any of it because it all goes to the ocean. They have a model of it at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

    Again it is not high speed so as to your question what does it matter if we’ve been on one. If you use mostly existing rail lines then it will never be high speed.

  49. But main thing you should know is it will not be a one stop line. You will have to get off and on at least 3 or 4 times. It will not be high speed so the supposed 3 hours would actually be more, a lot more

  50. Another thing no money! !!!!!!!!

    Forget everything I’ve said so far !!!!! There is no funding source. If they build this stupid thing there is no private funding source.

    No private institutions have jumped because they know it’s a horrible plan. And federal funding won’t kick Inn unless California gets there side of the cash.

  51. This is the model showing the water run off. When you press the button water falls showing how much water just goes down into ocean most of it just goes back into the ocean. So even if it rain a little doesn’t matter because we don’t keep any of it.

  52. No a complete waste of money. I will never ride it.

  53. Secure our borders! That’s what needs money

  54. Japan has had the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto for years. It is hugely successful, and yes, much cheaper than flying.

  55. Cristie we are not in Japan and the train was made as a High speed rail. Not a somewhat fast here and slow here rail. It will never be 3 hours to San Francisco and it will not be affordable.

    If it had private funding to back the federal funding, and it was really high speed rail. Sure why not build it. But none of those things will happen they already said it. So therefore if none of those things will be met then why build it.

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