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By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Pieces of rail each longer than five football fields were unloaded Friday along the SMART line in Santa Rosa, the steel bending in long arcs as it slid off a special train onto the ground.
The first new rails for the SMART train arrived in Santa Rosa on Friday, July 6, 2012. (JOHN BURGESS/ PD)
“When you look at a piece of rail that is a foot long, it is very stiff, but over 1,600 feet, it is like a noodle,” said Keith Tarkalson, project supervisor for the construction firm Stacy and Witbeck, one of two firms rebuilding the line for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit agency.
That flexibility allows the rail to be delivered in long lengths, which lessen the number of joints in the line for a smoother and faster train ride.
“It has no seams, so you don’t get the clickety-clack of a rail car. It minimizes the number of welds we do; it is just a better product at the end of the day,” Tarkalson said. “This is specific to heavy rail, to commuter heavy rail.”
The $360 million commute line is scheduled to open in late 2015 or early 2016 from Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa to downtown San Rafael and to be extended north and south in future years.
The rail was manufactured by Evraz at its Pueblo, Colo., steel plant. The long lengths were delivered by Progress Rail Services of Albertville, Ala., on a special welded rail train that stretched almost a half mile and was comprised of 30 rail cars.
The unloading process is simple. The end of the rail is chained to the existing track and the train then moves down the track, sending the steel sliding to the ground on both sides of the track.
However, each piece of rail weighs 30 tons and any twist along the 1,600 feet length could cause the steel to move unexpectedly and injure workers, Tarkalson said.
“It is not overly complicated, but you just have to do it right,” Tarkalson said.
The shipment of 50 pieces of rail were unloaded beginning at Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa as the train moved south at walking speed south. The first shipment of rail will be enough for 7.5 miles of track.
You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat.com.
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It is interesting how they use such long train track pieces to make for a smoother ride… that is a nice touch!
SMART was passed by your neighbors – the vters- get over it – and – READ before you make inane remarks of where the rails were manufactured or it will inrease crime in Santa Rosa – you have plenty without it -so stop puting out misguided, untruths unless you are brave enough to admit that it is your personal fears and opinions
Thank you Pressdemocrat for keeping us so informed of the smart train progress.
The little smart train to nowhere laying down track made in China? The train cars made in Japan. The computer system running the train made in Germany. The labor comes from Mexico. Tickets will be printed in Poland. Customer service will come from India.
Any food will be catered by a company in Hong Kong and any beverages will come from North Korea. This vendor has had a lot of experience with a captive audience and the politics are in tune with the elected officials in Sonoma County.
The smart train will primarily be used to transport illegal aliens from Marin to Sonoma County to work in the kitchens, hotels and fast food joints in Santa Rosa.
This will be more comfortable and not as cruel to pack 30 in a van and speed them northward.
And all of this for a mear $1.7 billion or so of our tax monies. Isn’t it great that we live a rich country that can afford this high subsidized transportation for all.
Kay and others –
The underlying goal of SMART has never actually been the train or mass transit of any kind. Where do you think the 800 jobs are going to come from? Why do you think that the construction industry is SMART’s #1 backer? Why do you think that the construction industry fought like mad against the recall SMART petition drive?
The real goal of SMART is to build an ungodly amount of high density housing (that we don’t needs and don’t have the infrastructure to support) near the train stations that SMART themselves and nobody else requires. If you look at SMART in this light, all of their sociopathic actions are completely understandable. They still don’t make sense, but you can see exactly why they did what they did. They simply don’t care what happens after all those houses are built.
Sonoma County is overbuilt already as to the number of residents it can support. The construction industry is crying because there simply isn’t a need for them in the quantities that existed during the building boom of the last 25 years. SMART is nothing more than an end-around to circumvent zoning laws and Urban Growth Boundaries and an actual need for housing in Sonoma County.
Rails and trails instead of roads. How long will it be before you will be searched to ride a train the same as when we get on a plane? They can’t search people who drive. The three bridges they’re planning to destroy in Yosemite are also roadways that will no longer be usable. The abandonment of road maintenance in Sonoma County pretty much reveals the true intent of our rulers now. They want ONLY public mass transit at some point. Roads and access are being cut off. Wilderness “untrammelled by man” are driving out the Oyster Farm at Drake’s Bay. The PD falsely claimed that the Oyster Farm land was already a designated wilderness. It’s not yet, but accuracy in reporting is not a big concern for the PD obviously.
Even though millions of Americans are now aware of UN Agenda 21 implementation marches forward. The green mask of environmental concern is being removed but it may already be too late to stop it. Now total information is being gathered and supplied to foreign entities like ICLEI and many other NGOs, drones can monitor and surveil our every move. Why aren’t more people trying to do something to stop this?
ICLEI has the STAR Community Index that cities sign onto and allow them to compile data on the people as well as everything in the environment. The US is becoming a police state. It’s hard to say it but the unthinkable is happening. Total information means total control. Every dictator does it.
As globalization occurs, our country must be brought down to a condition where individuals no longer have Constitutionally guaranteed rights. The Agenda 21 deniers are helping to create the New World Order. These useful idiots will be used to attack those telling the truth, later to be discarded when they’re no longer needed. What a shame.
Clay, you should have that analysis published. Send it to the various news outlets and see who will be honest and responsible enough and to give it airing.
And/or ask the PD to run a Close to Home written by you in which you discuss that analysis and invite people to read the actual report online?
@ Jim Bennett:
The SMART Train is part of the Agenda, Agenda 21 and ICLEI. For some to scoff is fairly ludicrous, as UN Agendists and ICLEI enthusiasts are very real.
Thought you might like some truth. This is a link to Rio plus 20 that happened last month. The doubters may take a look too.
ICLEI at Rio+20 http://local2012.iclei.org/fileadmin/files/ICLEI_at_Rio_20.pdf
‘It’ll create jobs’.
Coming from the same traitors that say OneBayArea won’t effect property rights.
Same people.
Same ‘Plan’.
Same oppression.
Lies, lies, lies.
‘Eric Newman’:
- ICLEI rail crashes coffers.
- Fox is mainstream propaganda news.
- ‘Peak oil’ was contrived.
- ‘Global Warming’ was contrived.
‘Problems’ which will invariably require more tax, more control, expense.
- The world is round.
- They say Elvis died.
- There’s plenty of land (5% of the U.S. is developed, have you flown lately?)
- There’s plenty of water.
- There could be plenty of food.
- There could be plenty of energy.
- There should be plenty of currency.
The controlling cabal with which our public officials have aligned orchestrate, engineer and contrive ‘problems’.
911, ‘peak oil’, ‘global warming’.
Soon it’ll be pandemics for which we’ll be required to get a vaccine.
If you feel proud of your conviction, why not use your real name?
Agenda 21 is a plot.
Smart Train is part of it.
@Eric Newman-
One more time, you show that you clearly don’t understand economics.
SMART removes upwards of $25M from the local economy each year (which has an economic power of 4-5 times that as it circulates through the local economy), and eventually puts a small percentage of it back into the project locally.
How much? They don’t exactly say, publicly. But a chunk goes to Colorado, a chunk goes to Washington, a chunk goes to Illinois, a chunk to Japan, Missouri and Alameda, and then a few bucks get put back in to the local economy.
THAT IS NO ECONOMIC STIMULUS for the local economy. Period. Government does not create prosperity- it can manipulate markets and redistribute money, but government does not create wealth. And this is a perfect example.
How much of a drag is the train tax putting on the local economy? Unfortunately, that is not being discussed- if it was, we would be able to accurately measure the potential benefit of this project. Instead it’s all slogans and selective statistics.
And I hate to break it to you, but a diesel train running mostly empty provides NO savings in oil usage, no traffic congestion and no meaningful reduction in GHG emissions. In fact, when you factor in the energy usage required to pour the concrete platforms and construct the stations, the project actually will use MORE energy (hence more GHG emissions) than the no-build option over the 20 year life of the tax.
Really- instead of knee-jerk support for a sub-par project, you should do your research and get the facts. I have- the analysis of GHG emissions that I reference was conducted by a PhD transportation planner, and has had some peer review done. It’s credible- it’s fact based. And it’s been stifled by SMART at the special interests that stand to benefit financially and politically from this project.
@Eric Newman.
Yes the train is coming and there’s not a thing we can do about it.
But, if you look at any transit system that works well the layout resembles a spider’s web.
SMART is merely a very expensive worm that will sap money from the poor, K-12 schools and the elderly for decades to come as taxpayers will be even less willing to raise taxes based on pie in the sky promises.
The same goes for the even larger worm that is high speed rail.
More pieces to a picture that should no longer puzzle us.
Rail, ’roundabouts’, regions, restrictions, road closures, ruining rural life.
Your back yard isn’t in the picture.
In fact your single family home isn’t in the picture.
Your freedoms in terms of where and how you live and your transportation options aren’t in the picture.
In fact, whatever you were picturing for your life, the kids life…
isn’t in the picture.
See, all this isn’t about your picture.
This is what One World Government globalists picture. Your containment.
Your being controlled. Monitored.
It’s not a pretty picture.
Picture how you’ll feel looking back on this chapter, knowing that you just watched, did nothing.
Picture staring your public officials in the eye and asking THE QUESTION.
I hear the sound of sour grapes being squeezed to make whine. One more time folks: SMART will provide an economic stimulus now, in the midst of a severe downturn, and it will be a valuable alternative regional transit resource as we enter the the post-peak oil period. Oh that’s right, in Fox News world, global warming is a liberal plot and peak oil is a myth…and the world is flat and Elvis is alive!
@Former Puebloan-
No, we’re suggesting that politicians need to be up front and honest about the realities of a project like this when they are looking for taxpayer dollars. For example, Jared Huffman, Noreen Evans and Steve Kinsey all signed a ballot argument in favor of the Train Tax in 2008 that stated “Every dollar will be spent locally in Marin and Sonoma Counties.”
Really? Every dollar? Are they clueless, liars or simply willing to say whatever they need to to get people to vote for the tax?
They absolutely should get the materials from the best, cheapest and most reliable source. THey just shouldn’t pander with inane platitudes that don’t come close to resembling the truth. May I remind you that Mr. Huffman wants to represent a many of us in Congress- I’m still waiting for either an apology for misleading the public so forcefully, or an explanation of why he was so wrong. I suppose that he signed the statement, hoping to get the credit for backing the measure, but so far hasn’t been willing to take responsibility for it’s false content.
@Joseph Donegan- The only way to get a train close to the bridge is to take it right through Sausalito- do you really think there is any chance of that happening? Have you driven their streets? Or better, tried to park? There is no way that you can shoe-horn it in. Let’s face it- what we’re getting is a train from Coddingtown to San Rafael, with the promise of future expansion northward and to Larkspur. Please stop trying to sell dreams- it’s unseemly, and it’s how we got ourselves into this mess.
@Jim- To be precise, several rail systems in Asia do more than pay for themselves- but people ride like sardines, and they are all on densely populated island nations (Japan, Hong Kong, etc). They even hire pushers:
http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000axfu8TDec9k/s/750/750/Newton-SJ002.jpg
I don’t think that would fly here- It’s hard to enjoy your glass of merlot when riding like that! ;)
Why do the politicians continue with the gibberish about “putting people back to work”? This is complete rubbish. Wasting billion of dollars on a train to nowhere to “create” some overpaid union construction jobs (these are prevailing wage jobs) doesn’t make sense financially. The train, if it is ever completed, will be an endless expense for taxpayer money to subsidize. Ridership won’t support it, no train on the planet runs without subsidies.
The whole “putting people back to work” rhetoric somehow cons the sponge-headed voters. Obama loves to babble about hiring teachers. Read the Wall Street Journal piece on teachers (link below). Funny, those facts are NEVER mentioned by the media. Jerry Brown claims the money pit “bullet” train will “create jobs”. No one will ride it. It won’t be completed until mid-century. Imagine the laughing stock the politicians and voters will be 30 years form now when a few miles of track located somewhere in the middle of the state deteriorates, while the debt continues to be paid out of a $100 billion budget deficit.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303734204577465413553320588.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
It is so very nice to see the improvements being made. Just think there is old right a way all the way to the golden gate bridge. This has such great potential for the regions future growth.
What is this fetish with commuter rail in a rural county?
If some tunnel was constructed under the bay to connect Sonoma County with downtown SF, well, that would be something. Of course that’s not happening. Instead Sonoma County will be connected with Larkspur. Well stop the f-ing presses, an easier way to get to Larkspur. To get on a Ferry to SF???
This project is a total fiasco, no matter how it’s spun.
So you think that SMART is going to be the savior and make Santa Rosa just like a big fun city? Hmmmm…how is BART working out for Antioch, Vallejo, Dublin, etc? Have you noticed, as public transportation moved in, those with jobs moved out. It is like a sewer line bringing trash in. However, I am sure those on the left will say “oh not here we are peace loving fun people”, of course, until they are shot, raped, robbed, or just read Oakland times and fill in the blank. You fight every damn business and then allow transportation to allow more “intense low income housing” and more people. However, these people are coming from where and to where on SMART? I can tell you now, no one in their right mind is going on no train that is going to take 2 hours to get to work in SF then work min. of 8 hours and ride back here for another 2 hours. Santa Rosa had a couple of things going for it and that was low crime and the ability to own an affordable home with land. Now, it is just growing to be another homeless pit with more government assistant welfare cases robbing your house as you work with their ignorant kids slowing down the class and crime escalating. It is sad, but once the market improves to at least break even from my house, I will leave Vallejo East, aka, Santa Rosa, and read someday how the “little town of Santa Rosa” is now the crime capital of the North Bay. If you cannot see the writing on the wall now, you are either in a 420 cloud or in a delusional state…either way, that cloud will burst. Thanks to the lovely’s like Gorin and Jacobi and Wysockey for making Santa Rosa become Vallejo East…let’s give them a big round of applause and let’s not forget to vote for them…because a vote for them is a vote for another job leaving the county.
20/20, I grew up in Pueblo, Colorado. My family still lives there, and my father worked at this steel mill. Are you suggesting that we build a steel mill in Sonoma County to make these rails? In steel mfg. terms, this is a locasource company. From their web site: “Established in 1881, EVRAZ Pueblo (then known as the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company) helped to build the American west by providing affordable steel and iron to the western territories and the nation’s expanding rail systems. Today, EVRAZ Pueblo is a Specialty Product mini-mill that produces the finest steel products available, including rail, seamless pipe, rod and coiled reinforcing bar. We also offer high-quality semi-finished products that can be delivered to each customer’s exact specifications.”
SMART is going to look even worse as the State cuts monies to counties to fund an even bigger white elephant, High Speed Rail.
All the Democrats on the steering committee voted against it and gave speeches against it, nonetheless, the Unions got their way.
You can read that here as it was in the PD paper edition but is not on their website:
http://www.mercurynews.com/california-high-speed-rail/ci_21022882/all-aboard-california-approves-high-speed-rail-project?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com
Now TWO white elephants that will destroy budgets for decades to come.
Remember, the pension bubble was driven by Union over reaching and pliable Democrats buckling under.
Not that voters will remember.
Same ol’ same ol’ in this insane State.
Keep the feel good SMART Train stories coming.
@Ruth Summers – Yep, you got it. This is just more of OUR money being spent out of the region on products and labor. And the PD kinda forgot to mention the fact that the other rail authority just spent $3 million fixing these same tracks.
By the way, PD. Why didn’t you put the story about SMART considering a Petaluma north station at the former Old Adobe Lumber site here on Watch Sonoma County? Just curious since it’s actually a good idea. And as the very first good idea that SMART has ever had, it deserves some sort of platform for recognition.
Ruth, the job is being performed by local members of Operating Engineers Local #3 who are doing the work as promised by SMART. You can go out and ask any of the 30 or so workers who have just started on the surveying part. As they promised as soon as the job and construction ramps up,additional workers hired will be local workers.SMART has kept their promise and is putting our community back to work. Thanks SMART!
Just as the Smart board and their director promised, the work is being done by local contractors using more than 900 employees.
Wait, wait, the article doesn’t mention anything about local contractors performing the work and I only see a handful of employees working on the track gang.
Were we lied to by SMART again?