SMART Train Top 10 for Sonoma County

I grew up in the shadow of the railraod business in 1950's E. St. Louis where I was told there was more rail on the ground per squqre mile than any other town in the country. It was a hub and a hump (look it up), and my Dad started his career at the Alton & Southern railroad right out of WW2 as a messinger boy, eventually working his way up to director of personnel 25 years later before they sold the company to Alcoa.

I love hearing Petaluma drivers complain about being stopped by a train here. It always makes me chuckle inside when I think about how, back in grade school, our family of 8 packed into a '56 Ford wagon would be stopped three, four, five times a day in the sweltering heat or the bitter cold.

Whiney heinies. :-)

To break up the monotony and keep the kids at bay in the car, Dad would make us try and add up the serial numbers on the freight cars as they sped past the windshield. My older sister was the best with numbers. I was always the worst.

Back then, a conmpany "fireman" was required to stand on the back porch of the caboose and be waving a lantern as the train cleared the intersection. All the kids waited in anticipation to see if the fireman was going to be doing his job or sitting down with his feet up as the train passed right in front of our car... a car with the railroad's director of personnal sitting behind the wheel. These poor guys would jump up and fall all over themselves when they saw my Dad, knowing their would be hell to pay the next morning back at the office. We laughed 'till we cried.

Hearing the distant howell of the locomotive whistles here in Petaluma makes me feel good... and the news of the SMART Train coming to Sonoma County makes me feel even better. This old railroad baby was blessed last month with a proposal from Petaluma's own Mr. Chris Stevick (I call him the Trolly Czar) who arranged a ride down the rails from Novato to Petaluma on one of those modified rail-riding street vehicles. We captured some of the of the incredible back country views on video while the driver of this high-rail vehicle talked about the ecological, financial and business benefits of the SMART Train for Sonoma County.

Thank you Mr. Stevick aka Trolly Czar and, yes, it CAN be saved.

The result of our high-rail field trip is this Petaluma Pete "Top 10 Reasons" video for Sonoma County citizens who would lik e to know how and why the arrival of the SMART Train is a good thing for all of us.

All aboard :-)