Elk Grove train routes (Sacramento, Bakersfield: living, Amtrak, road)

[aneye4detail]

I live at Laguna and Bruceville and I can hear train horns (which I love). I'm thinking they're coming from old Elk Grove. But I know there are also train tracks in Laguna West. I'm just wondering which ones I'm hearing and how far away they are. I wonder how loud they are to people living even closer!

[wburg]

At Laguna and Bruceville, you're right in between the Southern Pacific line to the east, that run through Elk Grove, and the Western Pacific tracks to the west. Both are owned by Union Pacific now. Both are used for freight, but the Southern Pacific tracks also carry the Amtrak/Caltrans run "San Joaquin" commuter trains from Sacramento to Bakersfield. There is also a third set of tracks along the river, the Sacramento Southern, an old Southern Pacific subsidiary, but those tracks have not been used regularly since the 1970s except for the three miles closest to the Railroad Museum. There is a plan to extend the Museum's line to the Zoo, and set up a second tourist line that runs from Freeport to Hood, potentially more of a "Wine Train" style ride than the existing CSRM Sacramento Southern expedition trains.