I've written on these pages about taking the race train from Richmond to Rockingham in 1966 and 1967. A race train also ran from Richmond to Darlington and in the 1980s a race train ran from Roanoke, Virginia to Martinsville.
Now comes word from the Sonoma Index-Tribune there is a sold out race train running in California to this weekend's Sonoma / Sears Point race. Glad to hear it is sold out. Maybe there's hope yet to save our sport.
Take a train to NASCAR
By Bill Hoban
INDEX-TRIBUNE MANAGING EDITOR
Jun 20, 2013 - 07:51 PM
The vast majority of the more than 100,000 fans at Sundays Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway will arrive by car, pickup, bus or RV. But for the first time, about 500 will arrive by train.
Thats right, by train.
A special Capitol Corridor train, the NASCAR Express, will pick up fans in Sacramento, Davis and Suisun City, deposit them right across the road from the track and take them back after the race.
The trip is sold out.
Among the 500 riders will be a group of about 40, some of whom arent necessarily NASCAR fans, who are railroad rare-mileage collectors riding because the stretch of track from Suisun City that passes by Sonoma Raceway hasnt had passenger traffic in decades.
Ive been looking out my window at the tracks for 22 years, said Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president and CEO, thinking, What a wonderful way to deliver people.
But the trip didnt come together overnight.
Weve tried to plan this for as long as Ive been here, Page said.
There were lots of obstacles to overcome, not the least of which was the condition of the deteriorating tracks.
But a couple of years ago, when the SMART Train was formed, the Northwestern Pacific Railroad rebuilt the tracks from the Schellville Junction to Cloverdale. While SMART will be running trains along the 101 corridor, the tracks from Schellville were upgraded to haul freight traffic in and out of cities along the corridor and connect with the California Northern Railroad in American Canyon.
This has been an interesting project, Page said, naming most of the entities that had a hand in it, including SMART, Amtrak, the Capitol Corridor, the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, the federal Railroad Authority, the California Northern Railroad and all the respective insurers and risk management teams.
Raceway workers started putting together a platform on Monday.
Weve been fairly bullish about the project, Page said. The challenge has been getting it off the ground.
One of the rare mileage collectors who will be riding the train is Bill Crawford, who is flying in Saturday from Boston to make the trip.
Crawford has been a serious mileage collector since about 1967 or 68. I want to ride every mile of track in the world, he said with a laugh.
But hes serious about his hobby. Hes been a railroad fan most of his life.
My family didnt own a car until I was 7, so we went everywhere around Philadelphia by public transportation trollies and trains, he said. And my older brother dragged me around when I was a kid.
He said some people are content to just walk along the tracks. But I dont count it unless its a steel wheel on a steel rail, he added.
The furthest hes ventured is Japan, where he traveled on business several years ago, and managed to squeeze some extra time in riding the rails.
Even on our honeymoon, my wife and I got 21-day Eurail passes, he said.
But though hes been a mileage collector for around 45 years, Crawford hasnt yet sat down to figure how many miles that entails. I have lots of paperwork, including a Rand McNally Rail Atlas, he said. Ive marked the lines and color-coded them by the railroad.
He estimated there are probably about 50 of what he would consider hard-core rare mileage collectors nationwide, and probably another 300 who are avid collectors.
No website lists special train runs over abandoned or little-used track, but since its a fairly close-knit group, members are in contact with each other and share information.
With the Internet, its simple, he said. It was tougher 40 years ago when youd have to wait for the latest issue of Trains magazine to see about charter trips.
While Sundays NASCAR Express may be the first of its kind, Sonoma Raceways Page is hoping itll be around for a long time.
If I didnt have to be at the track so early, Id be riding the train, too, said Page.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM