Questions on California/Nevada 'Corridors' (Trenches)

Question 1: The Alameda Corridor has been up and running for a few years - I remember visiting the line before it was trenched, and I admit there was a lot of tracks running down the ROW... Anyway, I remember several businesses located along the route which recieved local rail service (I guess mostly in City of Industry), and wonder if and how they still receive service (I remember seeing early studies on the Corridor which showed one at grade local line alongside the corridor - does this exist in some form?
Question 2: There are/were plans for another Corridor/Trench project, this time east of LA (I remember seeing a web-site on this recently). How is this progressing, if indeed it is. Is this near the route of the planned Gold Line East LA extension
Question 3: There was yet another corridor (apparently corridors are becoming quite popular out west) called the Reno Trench - is this completed yet, and does everyone (more or less) think its a good idea.

Well, OK, Question 4... Anymore corridors rumored for out-west?

I'm not aware of any switching at this time along the Alameda Corridor. I'm also not aware of any other corridors being trenched here in the LA area. The Gold Line has been up and running for six months now. The Gold Line uses the old Pasadena Subdividion of the Santa Fe. It goes out to about the Rose Bowl. I don't know if anything is going on in the Reno area as far as trenchs go, nor have I heard anything about anyother corridors being developed.

The S.P. Caboose wrote:I'm not aware of any switching at this time along the Alameda Corridor. I'm also not aware of any other corridors being trenched here in the LA area. The Gold Line has been up and running for six months now. The Gold Line uses the old Pasadena Subdividion of the Santa Fe. It goes out to about the Rose Bowl. I don't know if anything is going on in the Reno area as far as trenchs go, nor have I heard anything about anyother corridors being developed.

Um, Dude, here's what I have so far, and I was asking the questions (OK, I know that sounds way to snippy, sorry)...

Question 1:
http://www.railwaypeople.com/rail-proje ... sa-33.html

The improvements include depressing the two main line railroad tracks approximately 30 ft (below grade) between vertical concrete walls to be located 47 ft apart. Within the trench limits, a 12-ft-wide maintenance road will be provided. The main cross streets will be constructed on short bridges over the trench. The distance to the tracks below grade would provide for future railroad electrification. An at-grade drill track would be provided to maintain rail service to industries situated along the corridor. The lowered railroad will be provided with proper security fencing and access for emergency response.

My question - what happened with this drill track?

Question 2: OnTrac (I think)
http://www.ontrac-jpa.org/pb2.html - apparently also called the Orange County Gateway, among other things - here's kinda a map http://www.ontrac-jpa.org/map/Orange_Co ... te_map.pdf - what I want to know is where does this project actually stand, as opposed to the 'happy-talk' on the website?
Edit: Oops, I missed the Gold Line Foothill extension notice: http://www.metrogoldline.org/index2.html which goes from Pasandena to Montclair (heh, we had enough problems here with our own 'Montclair' NJ Transit re-alignments)... but even that wasn't it - I was thinking about the Gold Line Eastside Light Rail Extension (perhaps the 'Gold Line' name was only recently tacked on): http://www.mta.net/projects_programs/ea ... efault.htm.
However, this seems still pretty far from Orange County's OnTrac project.

Question 3: Reno Trench (also called ReTrac)
http://www.cityofreno.com/gov/retrac/
OK, supposedly this is supposed to be completed Fall this year, but as a New Yorker we don't take any completion date seriously ("it's done when it's done") - just check that Calverton Long Island spur...
How far have they gotten (have they even started construction yet).
What stinks on that website I posted is that the pictures don't enlarge when you click on them - loved to have seen the current views and layouts a little more clearly.

oh, and for Question 4:
http://www.cement.org/bookstore/profile.asp?id=2337

Era of the Railroad Trench - Item Code: PL317 - Date: 2002

Yes, apparently we are now offically in the 'Era of the Rail Trench'! RA!
Well, anything's far better than still being in the era of 'Conrail recklessly abandoning critically useful secondary lines to prevent any hint of competion whatsoever'[/url]

Hello,
I am a construction worker on the ReTrac project and would be happy to answer any questions you may have. If I can't answer a particular question I will do my best to find the answer.

A few facts: The trench is open, but the walls are load-bearing. In the future structures can and will be built over parts of the trench. The first structure will be a park from Virginia Street to West Street. The trench is approximately 2.5 miles long from west of Keystone street to just west of Sutro street and will be 30 feet below grade most of the distance. There will be two tracks plus an access road for maintenance along the way. The "old" Amtrak station will be opened with escelators and an elevator to a platform in the trench. The track will be laid in a gravel bed atop what is called an "invert slab" so construction is progressing nicely and all reports put train traffic in the trench by Thanksgiving 2005. This is a facinating project to work on as parts of the trench are actually lower than the Truckee River. To overcome the groundwater a seal slab 5 feet thick in some places was poured while pumping water out of the excavation. There are also two pump stations being built to move water out of the trench. I hope this answers a few questions

Chris

chriswalker wrote:Hello,
I am a construction worker on the ReTrac project and would be happy to answer any questions you may have. If I can't answer a particular question I will do my best to find the answer.

Thank you for the info.
Thanksgiving of this year? - this is stunning to us Jaded North Easters, as you may have gathered from reading the LIRR, New York, SEPTA et al forums.
Just wondering, if there were any rail-served businesses along the line that were still rail served until construction began (as opposed to former warehouses that are now Condos or Casinos, for example).

The businesses that use rail servise in Reno are mostly served by the line coming out of the yard in Sparks. There was a lumber yard, an iron works and a UP yard that have been closed before the construction along the path of the trench.
We make good progress because this is a "Design-Build" project. We get pretty creative when it comes to solving unforseen problems along the way. Everyone from laborers to the superintendent is given an opportunity to give input and while there have been aome half-baked ideas, there have also been some great ideas to come out of the "trenches" so to speak.

Hi All,

First off, it is nice to see that things are happening and not stagnating. In point of fact, the Gold Line is expanding and will be heading towards Little Tokyo fairly soon. There already is an overpass for the line, right over the 101 Freeway. And that makes Los Angeles Union Station, LATC, a through station for the Gold Line, not a terminal. The Gold line for those not in the know is a Light Rail Vehicle line, streetcars. Amtrak and Metrolink still terminate at LATC, Los Angeles Transit Center, or LAUS.

pennsy wrote:Hi All,

First off, it is nice to see that things are happening and not stagnating. In point of fact, the Gold Line is expanding and will be heading towards Little Tokyo fairly soon. There already is an overpass for the line, right over the 101 Freeway.

Aha, but that is not a trench, is it now?
Actually I have the impression that this extension the Gold Line will be a U shaped route, with LAUPT at the bottom (west-most point).
What ever did happen to the whiners along the Gold Line in Pasadena.

And since this thread has been resurrected after 16+ months, did the Reno Trench ever get finished, and did the Orange Trench ever get started? (The linl I originally posted seems to point to an Ad redirect page now - not a good sign).