A 1950s Lionel train advertisement shows a father, mother, little girl and boy peering into a window display featuring a model train going through a city, over a bridge and into the mountains. The father appears to be the most interested -- head cocked, hand on his chin, ready to help his child build the toy train set. An adjacent Lionel Train advertisement shows a father sitting on the ground assembling a train set, while his son sits in the background frowning. California State Railroad Museum's "Some Assembly Required" exhibit, which opened today, featured a somewhat similar scene. Many families were in the museum, but the historical toy exhibit seemed to strike the strongest chord wi

"When are the Operators going to get a furlough day?" Hearing that question from one of Regional Transit's Admisistrative staffers who happens to be a close friend of mine, I had to pause and chuckle. The powers that  be at Regional Transit have taken on the arduous task of bridging a 9 Billion dollar budget defecit, and that ain't no easy fix.  Furloughs, hiring freezes, unfilled vacancies....the list goes on and on but makes nigh a dent......See, the problem lies with how Regional Transit recieves, and in turn allocates funds from the Fed's and the State. Why are we facing service cuts and possibly layoffs?  Simply put, our Operational bucket is almost empty while our Capital Bucket

The Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday night to accept the recommendation of Sacramento’s Preservation Commission, rescinding a 2007 resolution to move the 1926 historic passenger depot and approving the “Don’t Move the Depot” alternative as part of the city’s Intermodal Transportation Facility Project. Last night’s decision marks the latest transformation of the Intermodal Transportation Facility Project, which has changed a number of times since 1999. The facility is intended to serve as a multi-use transportation hub, including access to car, city bus, intercity bus, light rail, commuter train or long-distance train. The project has been the subject of heated debate among local pol

On Thursday night, Sacramento's Preservation Commission held a special meeting to review plans to expand and refurbish Sacramento's historic passenger depot. The depot's environmental impact report includes two alternatives: a "move the depot" option that would involve rolling the historic building 400 feet north to meet the new track alignment, or a "don't move the depot" option that would build an expanded station between the current depot and the new track alignment. The commission was asked to provide their recommendation to City Council as to whether the city should move the station or not. Union Pacific's railroad tracks adjacent to the depot currently form a sharp S-curve that limi

If you heard a "chug chug" and a different sounding train whistle through Sacramento this morning, you were most likely hearing Union Pacifics UP844 passing through in route to Oakland. We caught up with UP844 passing over the I street bridge coming into West Sacramento. Within the past hour, UP844 has passed through Benicia where the train was greeted by large crowds and signs as well as being paced by a news chopper through Emeryville. If you missed this historical steamer, you will have a chance to catch it again as it comes back through in the next few days. See schedule below or go to www. up.com and search UP844. UP844 Heritage Tour Schedule, California • Monday, April 20 o Depart

At 8 a.m. today, the historic Union Pacific steam locomotive 844 will move through Sacramento in route to Oakland where it will be on display. The Steamer has been in Roseville at the UP Yard for the past couple of days. Saturday, UP844, along with other UP locomotive memorables were on display for general public and Sunday they were held for a private showing accessed only by UP friends and family. If you are looking for good photo ops to catch old UP844 puffing down the tracks, it will roll out of Roseville and will be highly visible through the wetlands near CalExpo, You should also be able to see the puffer rolling through the downtown Amtrak station and over the "I Street" bridge.