Passenger Trains Return to the Santa Cruz Branch

After a long absence of trains, the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railway prepares for the first ever Santa Cruz Polar Express. This was an unforgettable time as the Santa Cruz Branch saw it's first regular service in 4 years as passenger trains return to the Santa Cruz Branch.
You can find Mount Hood 89 and its 2015 test train video here: • Trains Return to the S...
So enjoy this Treefrogflag Production and make sure to watch in HD and like, comment and subscribe. And make sure to like the Treefrogflag Productions Facebook Page at / treefrogflagproductions . Thanks for watching and enjoy!

[@MrBionicVision]

Very enjoyable, thanks for making this.

[@thomasviano8720]

I was on that 1996 Suntan Special revival excursion!

[@DuckZone246]

Good to see trains on this line again!

[@maxblinkhorn]

An excellent video - great to see it documented so well.

[@johnm.evangelis693]

Good job guys!!!

[@Brianrockrailfan]

STEAM TRAINS should run on the line also wine trains dinner trains

[@NorthBay43]

Why those the WChayes e bell sounds weird

[@lukehartel6978]

Hope progressive rail does some excursions

[@barryscott7175]

We really enjoyed the Polar Express and love that passenger rail service is in our future on the branch line! We need alternatives to traffic congestion. Sign our petition to keep the tracks! www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/749/754/291/

[@deltanine6497]

I'd like very much to support this Barry but unfortunately this is one of those petitions that exclude a good many stakeholders due to residency requirements. " By signing this petition, you agree that: ·You live in Santa Cruz County." Which is a total bummer as I live near SFO. Good luck with your petition nonetheless.

[@barryscott7175]

I can't take credit for the design of the survey, and I agree that far many more people than Santa Cruz county residents are impacted. That requirement, however, is driven by the intended target agency, the county regional transportation commission. Thank you for the comments.

[@Brianrockrailfan]

maybe golden gate railroad museum could move to the rail line and run steam trains wine trains dinner trains also commuter trains could run on the line like they do on nwp rr

[@robertgift]

Nice video. But I am frustrated thathe camera is not turned as the engine passes by. We naturally want too see what is ahead but you do not allow it.

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

Robert Gift We don’t really believe in panning here at TFF. The problem is that we use DSLR cameras, which use all manual settings. When you pan, usually your exposure and area of focus changes. It is not possible to adjust these settings and pan at the same time without making it look totally sloppy. In general panning looks fairly sloppy unless you have a really good tripod. So we try to avoid it.

[@Brianrockrailfan]

IOWA PACIFIC RR STOP RUNNING PASSENGER TRAINS FOR SAME REASON ?

[@calpeninsularailfan]

yes. the line is taken out of service now.

[@Trainlover1995]

Iowa Pacific doesn’t even exist anymore. The entire company was a hot mess. As for the line, it’s been at the center of a legal fight. Two organizations, Santa Cruz Greenway and Trail Now, attempted to sway the Santa Cruz RTC to have the line torn up in favor of a bike trail. Greenway is at least civilized, but Trail Now is run by a local serial control freak named Brian Peoples, who has engaged in misinformation on social media and harassing opponents on the Altamont Press message boards. Trail Now claims to be pro-cyclist, but in reality, is nothing more than an anti-rail NIMBY group. I am convinced Mr. Peoples genuinely hates trains. This legal fight seriously threatened Roaring Camp, as the closure of the branch would have threatened the Beach Train. Mr. Peoples knew this, and met with the RTC behind closed doors to discuss revoking Roaring Camp’s common carrier status so they could go ahead with the removal of the branch. Mr. Peoples also engaged in aggressive misinformation against Roaring Camp, accusing them abusing common carrier rights to operate an “amusement park ride” over state highways, referring to current Roaring Camp CEO Melani Clark as “Daddy’s Little Girl” and painting her as a greedy miser, and referring to any prospective freight along the branch as “Dream Freight”. In the June primaries, there was a ballot measure, Measure D, to authorize the demolition of the line in favor of a bike trail. It failed miserably. Now, Mr. Peoples has engaged in increasingly-unhinged rhetoric on Facebook, claiming that the Coastal Commission will never allow any work to occur on the branch for one reason or another.