Nascar Express Train (Sacramento to Sonoma, CA)

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This is very interesting! Not to mention, there will be some extremely rare mileage for those who ride this train.

As best as I can tell the likely route will be:

  • Normal Capitol Corridor trackage until Suisun/Fairfield.
  • Just past the Suisun/Fairfield station, the train will turn due-west and travel the California Northern tracks toward Cordelia Junction, and follow CA12 toward American Canyon/Napa.
  • Once in American Canyon, the train will follow the California Northern Schellville spur.
  • At Schellville, the train will wye onto Northwestern Pacific tracks and travel the last few miles to the raceway.
I'm not a NASCAR fan so I'll not be ponying up the $199 to take the train and go to the race, but it will be mighty interesting to see the train on tracks which have not seen revenue passenger service in over 50 years! Get your cameras ready!
 
Does anyone know if those rails see regular traffic and to what standard the trackage is maintained? Regardless this seems like it will be a nice ride, though I'm sure most of the people will be more interested in getting to the race fast!
 
roadman3313 said:
Does anyone know if those rails see regular traffic and to what standard the trackage is maintained? Regardless this seems like it will be a nice ride, though I'm sure most of the people will be more interested in getting to the race fast!
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I believe that the NWP is considered FRA Class 2 track at the very best. The line between the UP main in Suisun to American Canyon is probably Class 3, where-as the Schellville spur is probably Class 2 again.

Everything from American Canyon westward toward NWP is dark-territory with the exception of the signals indicating draw bridge conditions (there are several along this route.)

Class 3 is 60mph for passenger max.

Class 2 is 30mph for passenger max.
 
Wow! Just....Wow! As someone wildly mad about trains and mildly interested in cars married to a guy who is wild about cars and mildly interested in trains, this could be fun! Also, we were both raised in the upper Napa Valley and frequently traveled this route--by auto, of course. It would be great fun to see it from the window of a train. I'm sure my Dad told me stories of this route and I wish I had listened to him better.

Now if we can justify spending $400 for a day of pure joy, this might work! (Don't hold your breath!)
 
Well... we will see what the consist is like... just can't be the spare weekend set in Sacramento alone as it now states there will be 2 cafe cars. Maybe they will just hook two of the consists together like they do at Thankgiving to make 1 long one for that trip? Sounds like someone paid for track upgrades (or at least restoration) to make this happen.

Of course it never says AMTRAK... seems like the CCJPA was the pioneer with Nascar on this deal and they have their branding on it... probably be a nice shift to try to snag for the Amtrak Crew if they like Nascar!
 
It's not the CCJPA or Amtrak, but down here in SoCal Metrolink runs special trains (commuter equipment consists) from L.A. out to the Ontario Motor Speedway for a couple NASCAR events a year; platform adjacent to the racetrack entrance.

One year bad weather delayed the race and led to a major snafu with the trains returning to L.A.
 
It is a bit... but the roadways up there get packed on the way to and from. I had a friend who went to a race and it took almost two hours to get out the parking lot and onto the highway! The roadways leading out there are two or four lane highways that funnel to a freeway a few miles away so any traffic mitigation is badly needed.

Capitol Corridor has really tried to tap into the sports market audience with building the Oakland Coliseum station adjacent to the home of the Oakland A's Baseball Team and Oakland Raiders football team and has formed partnerships and a "tailgate" train with the teams. It is an interesting business strategy that hopefully will pay off at the end of the day in boosting off-peak ridership.
 
WhoozOn1st said:
It's not the CCJPA or Amtrak, but down here in SoCal Metrolink runs special trains (commuter equipment consists) from L.A. out to the Ontario Motor Speedway for a couple NASCAR events a year; platform adjacent to the racetrack entrance.
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.. and in NorCal, Caltrain runs special trains (and even regular trains serve) for San Francisco Giants, 49ers and San Jose Sharks games. Those gameday trains are a nightmare for regular commuters like myself, filled with loud, ill-mannered, drunk sports "fans" creating an absolute ruckus, plus having no idea (or sense of surrounding being so drunk) how to board and de-board from a train, every stop takes inordinately long, delaying the train's schedule badly... but hey, if it gets extra revenue to Caltrain, I am willing to sacrifice.. on those days I just drive to work and leave the train to the obnoxious crowd :D
 
*sighs*
What is/are the date(s) on this? I use the plural since a lot of tracks do two NASCAR races per year.

And yes, this would make me go to a race for the first time in almost 15 years.
 
Not that much of a NASCAR fan, but I've been stuck on the Sear's Point Road a few weekends when there were races. Its one long parking lot. The pakage includes a grandstand seat ($95) so I would think it's worth it. It's 130 miles round trip by car from Sacramento.
 
boxcarsyix said:
Not that much of a NASCAR fan, but I've been stuck on the Sear's Point Road a few weekends when there were races. Its one long parking lot. The pakage includes a grandstand seat ($95) so I would think it's worth it. It's 130 miles round trip by car from Sacramento.
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And figure that parking probably costs another $20 or so. (Of course that would be divided up among your carload)
 
roadman3313 said:
It is a bit... but the roadways up there get packed on the way to and from. I had a friend who went to a race and it took almost two hours to get out the parking lot and onto the highway! The roadways leading out there are two or four lane highways that funnel to a freeway a few miles away so any traffic mitigation is badly needed.
Capitol Corridor has really tried to tap into the sports market audience with building the Oakland Coliseum station adjacent to the home of the Oakland A's Baseball Team and Oakland Raiders football team and has formed partnerships and a "tailgate" train with the teams. It is an interesting business strategy that hopefully will pay off at the end of the day in boosting off-peak ridership.
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Isn't there also a discount? Apparently requires the code H230 when booking.

http://www.capitolcorridor.org/special_offers/2013_oakland_baseball.php

Of course it doesn't work well for night games. Or Warriors games that are mostly at night.
 
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Since I have business on Saturday along the North Coast, I'll have to make a small detour to check out the tracks across from the Sonoma Raceway. No station or platform facilities have ever existed here, so I'm scratching my head at what is planned for a boarding platform and where it will be located. It's just a single track on ballast with bushes and grass on either side. A two-lane highway (that will be insanely thick with rabid race day fans and infuriated drivers caught in the traffic) separates the NWP tracks from the actual raceway.

Either way, I'm sure the logistics are well-planned out. If it turns out to be a success (and I really hope it does) maybe next year they will have two trains; one from Sacramento and a second from the Bay Area.
 
My brother lives in Sonoma and I visit every Summer (2 Zone AGR Awards! :) )and have been to several Races @ this Track (NASCAR/SCCA and Drags) and can personally vouch for the Fact that Traffic is Insane during Race Weeks! :help:

Running Trains up from SAC and the Bay Area is a Brilliant Idea, wonder why it took so long to start this???? :unsure:
 
Blackwolf said:
Since I have business on Saturday along the North Coast, I'll have to make a small detour to check out the tracks across from the Sonoma Raceway. No station or platform facilities have ever existed here, so I'm scratching my head at what is planned for a boarding platform and where it will be located. It's just a single track on ballast with bushes and grass on either side. A two-lane highway (that will be insanely thick with rabid race day fans and infuriated drivers caught in the traffic) separates the NWP tracks from the actual raceway.
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Here is a screenshot from Google Maps Street View showing the track at Sonoma Raceway-

7QZ0Lnt.jpg


That does not look in a very good condition :( I wonder if they will just put those tiny yellow tables on the floor and make the people just get down on the ground.
 
I was in Sonoma last month. The roads from the freeway to the track are

not high capacity roads. If I recall correctly, the railroad track is near the

main entrance to the track. Perfect for the train.
 
So, just got back in after taking a "fresh look" at the area around the racetrack and the railroad. I highly doubt that simply stopping the train adjacent to the entrance is going to happen... For a variety of reasons. There is about a 10' difference in elevation between the road servicing the racetrack and the railroad, with a culvert between them, as well as tons of brush and grass and all the uneven terrain an injury lawyer could ever dream of. Not going to happen there unless they build an ADA-compliant level-boarding platform from nothing in the next two months.

BUT! On the south side of CA37 (basically, 180* from where the picture above was shot from the Googlemobile as it went over the grade crossing) there is a very flat dirt road on what I would presume to be private property running adjacent to the tracks for a good quarter mile. If the train was ran over to this section and stopped, a shuttle system of sorts (trams or charter buses?) could then pick up the passengers and bring them to the raceway with ease. If I were a betting man, I'd wager something like this is the plan. If this thing ends up being a roaring success, maybe an actual station facility could emerge in future years?
 
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While I think the train is a great idea, I'd hate to see tax money poured into building a station that will be used a handful of times

each year. There are certainly other projects in the area more deserving. If the racetrack owner pays for it, that's a different story.

Or if regular service is established along the line.
 
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