Short trip to Sacramento and a visit to the California Railroad Museum and Old Town Sacramento. I didn’t know the original streets were raised due to river flooding in the 1870s. I’m still not convinced the fill wasn’t just so much BS running downhill to the waterfront from the Capitol building.

The big event today: I got to pet the fake HSR. It seems slick and kind of, you know, cheap. The folks at Disney did much better with the monorail cars they have. What the heck, those trains really haul passengers. I felt like I was sneaking into the enemy camp when I went through the mock-up.

I also got to sit in one of the seats. Uncomfortable. Not big enough for me and I’ll bet many other people. Take the ergonomic junk back and try for a real seats. Something soft and cozy. What they have seems too much like a sci-fi idea for a movie set. Maybe they are seats used in Japan or Europe. Whatever, they just plain stink. Even the “Star Trek” shuttlecraft seats look more comfortable.

Of course, the best idea yet is not to have the HSR at all.

In case you missed it, the California High-Speed Rail Authority board has changed the construction schedule again. Now they want to start in San Francisco and go to Bakersfield first. Originally they wanted to start in Los Angeles and go to Bakersfield. So I’ve got to ask, why would anyone from L.A. or San Francisco want to visit Bakersfield anyway? Doing so might violate the Proposition 1A requirements. That they have even started construction without funding in place appears to violate what we voted on, too.

Just read an article in the San Jose Mercury News. They reported a few things that make this whole deal even more suspicious. Try this one: “Getting even a significant portion of the project built early – by 2025 – would help its political survival.” In other words: If it gets far enough along, it cannot be stopped. Boy, is that a reason to build it, or what?

There were also a few other items in that report that could be almost laughable. Like this gem: “The unemployment rate in the Central Valley is twice the amount as the rest of California, and this is going to provide such opportunities for workers throughout the Central Valley and then a way for travelers to get from the Central Valley to jobs in Silicon Valley.”

Let that last statement sink in a little. Think of the demographics of the unemployed folks. I’m sure Silicon Valley needs skilled workers, but do they need farm workers, heavy equipment mechanics and operators and folks who are extremely necessary to the Central Valley but might not have a place in the electronics industry? Maybe the CHSR Authority will also provide training for those who need it for the commute.

Not that there is much nepotism and corruption within the CHSR Authority, but the new station in San Jose is named (I’m not making this up) Diridon Station, after the past chairman of the CHSR Authority and who is now Director Emeritus at Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University.

Diridon has some choice words for us folks in the Southland. He stated: “L.A. lost because there was so much opposition in the San Fernando Valley and north Los Angeles County … by a very small group of horse and cattle owners in the area.”

Small group, Mr. Diridon? Try the city of San Fernando and the city of Santa Clarita. Glendale, Sun Valley, Sylmar, Acton, Agua Dulce, the Sierra Club and many others are also part of that “small group.” Have you ever considered visiting Southern California? You might try it someday. Your comments are reprehensible in the extreme.

California State Rail Museum, Sacramento

So this is what it comes down to: Some rich guy in San Jose who got a railroad station named after him wants to shove his plan for high-speed rail down on us few “horse and cattle owners” in Southern California. Of course he forgets the many farmers, ranchers, cities and counties in the Central Valley that have also voiced opposition to the project.

I wonder if I can get something named after me? How about the boys’ privy behind Felton School in Mentryville? Yes, the “Darryl Manzer Outhouse.” I’ll bet Mr. Diridon would find it appropriate for this former cattle and horse owner in Southern California.

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. His older commentaries are archived at DManzer.com; his newer commentaries can be accessed [here]. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].