Trains Return to the Santa Cruz Branch

WATCH IN HD
On April 17th of 2015 trains returned to the Santa Cruz Branch for the first time in almost 2 1/2 years after multiple bridges were either rebuilt or replaced. The La Selva Bridge was completed on January 30, 2015 and was reopened for trains on February 26th. You can see our video of that event here • Santa Cruz and Montere... . The train was made up of Mount Hood Railway #89 as well as 4 empty tank cars that were used to test the track and grind down the rust so the crossing signals could then operate reliably. As you will see in this video the signals have not been used in a while so most of the crossings needed to be flagged. However on the way back some of the crossing signals began to work. It was truly great to see trains back on the branch and we look forward to all the future hold for the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Ry. and the Santa Cruz Branch. 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!

[@mr_doggard]

Can't wait to see more trains down there, its a beautiful line worthy of a beautiful railroad!

[@orgcoast]

Many years ago I had a cab ride in #89 from Parkdale back to Hood River. Good to see her still in service.

[@MobileRailSpotterRxR]

Nice! This reminds me of a spur track up here in Sacramento that was out of service for 7 years that came back into service in February 2016. The first few runs when the short UP line came back into service the crossings were malfunctioning a lot after the train passed them but now since their being used they don't malfunction as much anymore.

[@cladbuckets7128]

What spur track was that? Id Love to know so I could go and visit it!

[@bigtrees2600]

Awesome video its great to see trains return to santa cruz once again. And it most sure is better as a railroad than a bike path. keep them rolling

[@alexilauto1419]

It's nice to know that a little of what's left of the Santa Cruz and Felton Railroad is being used :)

[@ashleyroachclip1]

yes the right of way and the tracks must never be removed because once that happen they will never return .great video lived in davenport 23 years and i missed the trains when the cement plant closed

[@ShoresRailfan]

I lived in Capitola for two years during the mid 1950's and remember the Suntan Special that crossed that magnificent trestle on weekends in the summer. Typically it was pulled by a pair of light 2-8-2 Mikados due to weight restrictions on several trestles along the route.

[@NorthBay43]

That track needs to get rebuild for passenger and freight train services again

[@jtc1947]

Outstanding! Glad to see trains running again! B\Very Depressing to see abandoned tracks!

[@brianbower7303]

Extremely well made video. Good content and superb photography. Makes the viewer feel like he is there in person. Lets hope the trains see much more use along the coast. Hopefully they can relieve some of the traffic congestion along hwy 1 too.

[@colmet979]

It was so beautiful seeing it go through Capitola. I've been by there twice, the first time around March/April 2017, the most recent time being two or three weeks ago, I actually saw a train coming into Watsonville, I thought it was just a local train, maybe I was wrong... I remember thinking it would be impossible for a train to run that line again, especially it looking too old and steep for any train to pass in New Brighton, I dont know how that train made it, but I'm super glad it did. This was a sight to be seen, and I sure hope it's the first train to start running through these towns again again

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

To everyone who has commented and watched this video, thank you! I would like to inform everyone that Brian Peoples is not telling the truth in his comments. He wants to tear up the tracks from Manresa to Santa Cruz so he can have his dream of a bike path only. He tells lies and makes assumptions about people's position on the rail and trail and thinks that everyone likes his idea and it's one or the other. It is important everyone knows that there will be both a train and a trail. There are a lot of problems with ripping up the track. The corridor was bought with state rail funds so the county would have to pay the $14 million back to California and there is property on the line that would revert back to the original owners if it is not used as a railroad. The idea of commuter rail is attractive to a lot of people and there were no commissioners that said they thought a train was a bad idea. Brian makes assumptions and tells lies and doesn't back any of his conclusions up with facts. The majority of his claims are outright falsities and he does not know anything about how a railroad in the county would work. I support both the rail and the trail and eventually both will come to reality.

[@johndoe-zk1yu]

+Treefrogflag Productions tearing up rails for trail as i have been told is straight out of the un agenda 21.Anything connected to the un is not good for anyone in the U.S..

[@arandomtrip8082]

Is Brian a snowflake because it sounds to me like he is just like the ones trying to prevent the railroad to be repair in up north in eureka

[@frankrimiccijr.3742]

@@arandomtrip8082 He is not the only one, there is a vocal minority Who dont want it in Their backyard. They are fighting tooth and nail yet there is only one highway through the county.

[@NorthBay43]

They need to put new railroad crossings

[@cadespencer6320]

Now if only we could see the trains return to Monterey

[@W7DSY]

Good video. I was a SC resident until 2000.

[@midlandcompound]

Hello from Ireland. Enjoyed your video very much. Thank you. Here in Ireland the "rails to trails" or "greenways" brigade as they are called have their eyes on a lot of railway lines. We must be careful that we are not left with a very basic rail network if they have their way.

[@tsgmultimedia]

Nice program, Trevor!

[@the_darkgameryt]

why didn't it make it all the way through?

[@MikeSiordia]

Why railroad crossing dosen’t work

[@DelayInBlockProductions]

Amazing video! I subscribed.

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

+Delay In Block Productions Thank You!

[@jonbowlerbowler7366]

@@TreefrogflagProductions What Days Does This Train Run

[@jre617]

Thanks for the footage. Nice to see a train on that branch again. I wish you had shot it at the boardwalk. Your description of La Selva Bridge is confusing: "fell into great disrepair," needed to be rebuilt, trains were again allowed over it, but no trains ran west of it.... huh? Why didn't the GP9 make it all the way to Davenport? What's the intent with branch line? Tourism? Hard to imagine public transit being worth the cost.

[@davidbowman8008]

the la selva bridge was rusted and no train had run west of it since it had been reopened because there was no reason to, the train didn’t make it to davenport because there is a big sand dune over the row about 2 miles from davenport, now since 2016 no train has run along the branch line except for the scbg beach train which uses the line to the boardwalk, hopefully under the new operator, the st. paul & pacific a washout near harkins slough in watsonville will be repaired and the line will start to be operated again

[@anatolib.suvarov6621]

Hope they repair that Wig Wag at Seabright Ave. I would love to see it operating!

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

Bruce R. Gadbois Maybe one day, but I don't think it'll be Iowa Pacific that does that.

[@matthewcheng428]

Does anyone know what might come of the branch line down to monterey? It hasn't been used in a long time, although there were plans to run commuter rail on it from santa cruz to monterey and have an interchange with Caltrain service at Watsonville.

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

The Monterey Branch Line is currently abandoned. Parts of it are still very much in tact while other parts would need a lot of work to see a train of any type. Parts of the line closer to Monterey have been turned into a bike trail. Monterey has been talking about some sort of light rail vehicle to run on the line. It would be a long way off but it'll be interesting to see what comes of that.

[@F59PHItrainfreak]

Those are nice us and crossing gate mechanisms

[@jnnmlchr91]

Hey Treefog what music did you use for you Intro just asking

[@cambridgeh.lutece6658]

I thought the Northern portion of the line from the Wye to Davenport was constructed by the Southern Pacific to rival the Ocean Shore Railroad's Santa Cruz to Swanton line. I pass by the area of the northern section of track a lot, and it seems it has deteriorated with the rails rusting severely and bushes and grass growing all over the line.

[@RailyardProductions]

Great Video

[@carlzipperman6689]

Awesome Leslie rs3l let me tell you. Leslie's are so rare these days, and a treat to hear. Hope they keep them and don't follow national trend of the Nathan k invasion!

[@TedNewkirk]

Really enjoyed this, keep up the good work! Will any kind of train be running all the way to Davenport? If not, how far do they intend to go? Any industrial uses or just tourist trains west of Santa Cruz? Thanks!

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

+Ted Newkirk Currently nothing is operating on the branch. That will hopefully change next year.

[@fhowland]

Amazing how much condition better unused track stays in California than up in the north where there's freeze and thaw cycles. What will the railroad be used for now?

[@freebrickproductions]

Former UP trackage? Some of the crossing equipment looks to be from 'em.

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

Yes it is.

[@booda51]

U need a cab ride along the whole route of the rail line that would be cool

[@melissasueh.]

I noticed that the 30th Avenue signals activated when the train hit the island circuit, so part of that signal circuit was working.

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

The whole circuit was working. The problem was that the rail was so rusty on the parts the cars didn't drive over that the signals wouldn't turn on due to bad electrical contact between the rails and the wheels of the rolling stock.

[@melissasueh.]

I was surprised to see that wig wag signal on the return trip. I didn't know any of those still existed outside of a museum.

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

There are 3 in Santa Cruz still serving their original line. The one on the Santa Cruz Branch and 2 on Roaring Camp Railroad's beach train tourist line. All of them are in their original placement from the days of Southern Pacific. You can see one of Roaring Camp's Wig Wags in operation in this video we did. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZ_ToGyEjricoasm57s

[@michaeldougfir9807]

Allyssa Andrews: Yep I was waiting to see it activate. Disappointed.

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

You're disappointment will go away soon. The Polar Express started service on this railroad this week. The wig wag still wasn't operating but the signal maintainer found the problem. It should be up and running next week and there will be footage of it in our Polar Express video!

[@gregburrell6244]

Allyssa Andrews Raton pass w/amtrak has wig wags with semaphores!

[@MrJTPEPPER]

Me too you don't see them very often any more.

[@frankrimiccijr.3742]

Please anyone Who favors the line being restored to please comment to SCCRTC. We only have one highway and the NIMBY People want this resource converted to Trail only.. Thanks

[@nathancorcoran5347]

17:37 Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific tourist line.

[@Spawn674]

Is this in service again or gone to the scrappers? Any updates on its status?

[@JoyceLund]

Mt hood sennic railroad?

[@kevinkraszczyk7122]

Very cool vid. ☺👍👍

[@jayfmiller]

How much re-bonding of rail was needed after some shine was created to get all the signals working? I noticed that some of the signals started working after the motive power and a couple of the cars bridged the gaps.

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

+jayfmiller No work has been done on the track or the signals since the recording of this video. The only thing that has changed is there are now new signals at Pacific Ave in Santa Cruz, but those were put in by the city.

[@robertgift]

Well done. interesting video! Thank you TFFP. Why did it not make it to Davenport?One can discern what is wrong with some grade crossing signals by how they react to the train's presence.Other signals systems are turned off.

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

There was a sand dune in the way. Therefore the train could not make it any further than Bonny Dune.

[@oregonwesternrailroadprodu5239]

yay Mt hood 89 I was wondering where she went

[@markswasey4301]

Awesome!

[@mahmoodkohatiPakistan]

Best beautiful ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@notyou6950]

Signal service got a lot to do to get this working

[@ibazulic]

The intro song is from a croatian kids series called Smogovci :-)

[@yoboyteengohan7242]

Why did the trains come back?? Awesome and trying to find out why

[@brianpeoples7519]

Teen Gohan ssj2 It was part of the California funding agreement. Santa Cruz is pulling the tracks and building a bike / pedestrian trail in 2016.

[@yoboyteengohan7242]

Paul Nolan Huh well when I went to the boardwalk on the bug dipper they had a classic pic of two SP steamies doubleheading Steam is lucky to be preserved, y'know?

[@yoboyteengohan7242]

Paul Nolan The best known is CSM in Sacramento

[@yoboyteengohan7242]

Paul Nolan yep. My Favorite Model Railroad Museum is the SDMRM

[@brianpeoples7519]

The passenger train Feasibility Study will be released on June 4. We know it will be too expensive to run passenger trains so RTC will vote to build bike trail instead of train. Tracks will be removed. We would like Roaring Camp to move their pickup to under West Cliff Trestle.

[@freighttrainsahpassing9790]

Wow all the way from Mt Hood Railway. I thought it looked familiar. I was once given a tour on that railroad as a present by my grandmother for my 16th birthday. Great ride. Question, are there going to be freight trains along this route? Will there be freight trains near the Boardwalk? I remember living in the Scotts Valley area in the summer of 07, and always finding myself wondering about the usage of those rails near the ocean ad well as near hwy 17. I couldn't help noticing when I looked at the area outside Scottsvalley that the railroad track has been severed : (

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

+freighttrainsahpassing Currently there are no freight trains running past Watsonville. This may change next year as Probuild which owns the Thompson Street Lumber Yard in Capitola as well as the lumber yard in Felton was bought out by a company that ships by rail. At the present time however Roaring Camp is still running their Beach Train to from Felton to the Boardwalk so trains are still running there 4 times per day during the summer.

[@nxtyrjrslm]

IFyou cannot see many jobs potential, and viable train industry, for major passenger trains, I CAN, if fact best tourist destination, in North America!

[@trainandtruckmodeler786]

The Libby's still let these classics run?

[@2quintly]

Interesting, . . . .

[@mutanay77]

Did this train go through the boardwalk too? or is that not a functioning part of the track?

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

Yes this train did. Roaring Camp's Beach Train passenger service travels on that part of the track as well.

[@joshuatoro8977]

I heard they getting their rights again to be able to run trains down there I heard the city was going to turn into a bike path but they lost is that true

[@trainsontape6531]

Is it still active

[@davidbowman8008]

Matt Dibenedetto Fan not currently, there is a washout near harkins slough in watsonville that needs to be repaired and there’s a sand dune covering the track near davenport

[@davidbowman8008]

but hopefully under the new operator, the st. paul & pacific the line will be repaired and operating soon

[@SpotterofTrains]

Great Video - Please sub as I live near Santa Cruz. I enjoy the fact that there are so many different unique locomotives out here in the Bay Area.

[@microbusss]

teardrop bell & wig wags! I WANT!!!!

[@microbusss]

I hope the crossings have been fixed

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

+microbusss No trains have run over the line since the recording of this video. There is a good chance that trains will operate on it again soon but currently no work has been done to the line.

[@TrainMike2013]

+Treefrogflag Productions Is that a wigwag at 11:15?

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

+TrainMike2013 Yes it is. Due to the lack of trains on the line, the wig wag has not been maintained and is currently not operating. It will be back in operation soon. If you would like to see what it looked like when it was operating take a look at this video I did from when Iowa Pacific brought their handsome F units into Santa Cruz for their Inaugural Run. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6HNeZJ8m7J2q9U

[@DuckZone246]

Why aren't the crossings working? Great video btw!

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

Some of the crossings were still turned off. However, most of the crossing circuits were not making good electrical contact because the rail was so rusty.

[@DuckZone246]

Thanks for the info

[@kevinmayle1919]

How Freaking Cool 😀😃😄!!!

[@jazzbutterworth]

Anyone have a video of the wig wag crossing in action?

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

We actually have two videos on the channel of this wig wag in action. First is a video from when Iowa Pacific ran their inaugural passenger train into Santa Cruz (kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6HNeZJ8m7J2q9U). Second is an earlier video from the last time a Union Pacific freight train ran on the Santa Cruz branch (kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXSVXoNurLaBrrc). Enjoy!

[@Ferromexfan4081]

10:09

[@Brian_rock_railfan]

and same thing like the s.m.a.r.t. train or brightline trains or same other commuter rail train like caltran

[@MrRedSoldier1000]

Any rail activity recently?

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

No there has not been. But hopefully later this year we may see some. Stay tuned on our channel!

[@thesierrastandard7281]

Will they make this into a trail? I hope not. I don't think the museum would donate they're history so it can be ruined. Why can't they make it like the one up in placerville? They build the trail along the railroad so they can enjoy the history and ride their bikes. They're trying to make a trail in Sacramento my home city but its gonna cost millions so I don't think they're gonna do it. Plus a supportive museum owns it.

[@kevinmayle1919]

I thought it was hauling people ????

[@geepeerces]

man, those are some noisy and very high polluting engines.

[@barryscottNEED]

Best letter ever by Linda Rosewood, March 27, 2015 to the SCCRTC: "Keep the Rails" Dear RTC, Somehow I was put on a mailing list called "Aptos Rail-Trail" so I am well educated in the point of view that the "rails must be pulled" so that the right of way is for walkers and bikers only. This group also proposes that the right-of-way be returned to private property owners and the cities along the way. I find theres two goals to be parochial, ableist, classist. The right-of-way is a regional asset that will allow people to travel by rail comfortably the length of our county. It will be available to people who can not walk or ride their bikes. And it will be available to people who don't live in the immediate Aptos neighborhood. They affirm that the right-of-way being too narrow for both rail and trail is the reason why the rails must be pulled. the trail can simply be diverted to surface streets and then returned to the rail right of way. Let's move on. The rail is there, it is a treasure, and the bike trail is simply a derived benefit. Linda www.sccrtc.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/additional-pages.pdf

[@thesierrastandard7281]

lol u spent all that time making that what a waste of time loser

[@Mr_rice12345]

It’s 2024 and the only trains there are the roaring camp ones

[@Trainlover1995]

Hopefully this means Roaring Camp will be able to haul lumber again.

[@brianpeoples7519]

BNSF1995 Where do you think they will haul lumber to? From where?

[@Trainlover1995]

There's a lumber distributor in the Felton yard across the way from the narrow-gauge shops.

[@brianpeoples7519]

BNSF1995 That is ProBuild and they have no plans to ship / receive lumber via train. In order for freight to be economically viable to a business, you need 1000s cars per year and transit needs to be over 500 miles. Where do you think supplies are going from and to?

[@cartersol38]

+Brian Peoples Mr Peoples, you seem to have been quite misinformed about what constitutes a profitable railway. While I enjoy all this interaction between yourself and others of us, what is it you don't like about trains? Why don't you come right out and tell us? Take a little time and read about some of the short-lines in the US, and just how profitable they have become! Some even engage passenger train traffic on occasion, and are doing extremely well. It boils down to good management, a reasonable number of on-line customers and dedicated employees. There was some casual mention made of running a commuter train operation? If run in conjunction with a tourist line, sure Insurance then becomes an issue, but seems to me there are a number of operations in the Continental US doing this very thing! Wouldn't it be interesting to see 'who' and 'where' and how successful they are? Trains are what made this country Mr. Peoples-not people riding bicycles!

[@melissasueh.]

+Brian Peoples There are lumber yards where I live that receive only 2 or 3 train cars a week. If other operations are running on the line, like the Beach Train, they can easily pick up and drop freight cars by running a mixed train or making a separate freight run. There is a steam railroad in the eastern US that has one freight customer for whom they move only 3 grain cars a week, in and out. They do it as an addition to their tourist trains. It can be done and is being done. As for where the lumber comes from, where do the trucks that deliver the lumber now come from? Most likely they are getting it from mills in the Sierras or north in the Cascades and the Oregon coastal mountains. It is delivered to the Bay area on train cars and transferred to the trucks there for the trip over the mountains to Felton. It would be easier and cheaper to run the train cars all the way to Felton. It is 30% less expensive to move freight by train than it is by truck. That is why Intermodal operations are all over the place.

[@franceselainethurston1606]

What ever happened to those gates? They should be working, and none of them are. Poor.

[@Brian_rock_railfan]

should be steam trains running on this rail line soon Iowa pacific stopped running the passenger trains for same reason don't know why ?

[@TreefrogflagProductions]

IPH is broke. That's why. First the line has to reopen. There's a pretty good sized washout on it right now near Watsonville. Until that's fixed don't expect to see anything on the line.

[@F59PHItrainfreak]

I made a model of this train in ho scale

[@tracyavent-costanza346]

that would be Bonny DOON not Bonny Dune.

[@eoinpkav152]

Eww! A low hood gp9

[@albertcyphers1532]

And I'll bet all the people living t