Tag: trains
Martinez author’s book recalls ‘The Railroad That Never Was’
MARTINEZ, Calif. – In an era when railroads throughout the United States were merging, two companies were so confident their merger request would be approved, they began painting locomotives and rolling stock in the bright, new logo pattern. After two years of consideration, the Interstate Commerce Commission denied the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe […]
Open house turns parking lot into model railroaders’ delight
MARTINEZ, Calif. – From massive outdoor garden-scale layouts to tiny but detailed N-scale railroads, model train exhibits will be filling the parking lot in front of Just Trains for its annual open house. Just Trains, owned by Jim Anthony, is aptly named. It’s one of the few San Francisco Bay Area stores catering to model […]
Councilmember seeks relief from trains blocking roads
MARTINEZ, Calif. – A Union Pacific train blocked Ferry Street for an hour and 45 minutes one morning earlier this month, and another train blocked the street another 45 minutes in the afternoon, prompting Councilmenber Noralea Gipner to suggest the Martinez City Council form an ad hoc committee to look into the situation. Councilmember Debbie […]
Martinez’s short-lived railroad club kept SP 1258 in town
MARTINEZ, Calif. – A majestic black steam locomotive, Southern Pacific 1258, sits prominently in Martinez Waterfront Park, and is a landmark for those arriving at the local Amtrak station. Many longtime residents remember playing on the locomotive when it sat at Rankin Park. But at one time, the city considered letting go its own locomotive, […]
Train derailment …
Operations remain normal at both Shell Martinez Refinery and the main railroad tracks through Martinez despite the derailment at 2:45 a.m. Tuesday of two tank cars on Union Pacific property parallel to Marina Vista Avenue along the Tracy Subdivision just outside the refinery, according to both refinery and Union Pacific Railroad spokespersons. The cars, which […]
