As an update, work began in late fall to replace the track and subgrade embedded in Glascock with new rail, ties and ballast, after which new asphalt is spread. Work is proceeding from south to north, and as of early December is finished about half-way to 29th Avenue. It will continue northward until completed.

"The name of the Trib reporter is CECILY Burt, not Cynthia. How can we trust anything else you tell us, Rich?" Well, so it is. I guess that changes everything, right?

The name of the Trib reporter is CECILY Burt, not Cynthia. How can we trust anything else you tell us, Rich?

A new article by Cynthia Burt titled "There are tracks. And yes, there will be trains" has been published in the Oakland Tribune. Here's the URL for online edition: http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_12021395 (You may have to cut-and-paste it to your browser.)

Here are some answers to your questions: <> "Will the retrofit work permanently close the rail bridge?" I'm not sure which bridge you're referring to, since no bridge is involved. <> "I would like to know if there is a way to get moe information on the Caltrans plan." Your best source for information would be to contact either the office of Mayor Dellums or Councilman De La Fuentes. You can find their email addresses and phone numbers on the official city web site at www.oaklandnet.com. Follow the links in the right-hand column. You can also find information on the project by typing "glascock" in the search feature. <> "If the train on Glascock is temporary, till the retrofit is complete, it could be work edout by the residents. But a permanent use of the Glascock Spur is quite distressing to the fact that Caltrans has no regards for residents." The resumption of rail traffic on Glascock is related to the I-880 Oak to 5th retrofit project, as it will be necessary to remove the existing rail line that extends south from 5th Avenue between Embarcadero and the freeway because Caltrans needs to use that right-of-way for the temporary freeway during the project. While Union Pacific operates the trackage, it and the associated land is owned by the Port of Oakland. Any unneeded land will be returned to the Port upon the completion of the project. Under the current plan, the rail line along Embarcadero would not be restored. Rather, improvements would be made to the street and the area would be re-landscaped. Thus, Glascock would become the permanent route. <> "I would like to be on a mailing list 9if there is any) about this issue." I encourage you (and your neighbors) to make your concerns known to your city officials, so mutually agreeable solutions can be formed prior to work beginning - BEFORE it's too late!

I am new to this issue and new to the Jingletown Neighbrhood. I would like to know if there is a way to get moe information on the Caltrans plan. If the train on Glascock is temporary, till the retrofit is complete, it could be work edout by the residents. But a permanent use of the Glascock Spur is quite distressing to the fact that Caltrans has no regards for residents. I would like to be on a mailing list 9if there is any) about this issue.

"Rich Sievers -- You clearly do not have your facts straight and are probably working for the railroad. We heard from residents tonight at the community meeting who were here when the trains used to run who explained what the experience was like." Please please examples of what I've posted that is not correct.

Rich Sievers -- You clearly do not have your facts straight and are probably working for the railroad. We heard from residents tonight at the community meeting who were here when the trains used to run who explained what the experience was like.

I believe your observations and comments are spot on. I might add that we can draw some comparisons if we look at Glascock in Oakland and Clement Street in Alameda. Both have railroad tracks embedded in them. However, the Clement Street line will never be used again. We can see this by looking at the line on both sides of the Fruitvale railroad bridge. Rails have physically been removed, indicating abandonment. Such has never been the case with the Glascock line. Now, there's no question that a resumption of service on the Glascock line will negatively effect the residents. But instead of taking an adversarial and confrontational posture, they should explore ways to mitigate the issues - BEFORE rail service resumes (and like it or not it WILL eventually resume, since ConAgra and the other customers are entitled to rail service if they desire it and Union Pacific as a Common Carrier is required to provide it or to obtain the services of a secondary contractor). So if I were a Glascock Street resident, I'd be rallying my neighbors to get the Oakland City Council to "get on the stick" and do the following: (1) Pass an ordinance that prohibits railroad movements along Glascosk during nighttime hours - say, from 8 PM to 7 AM - which will be a much better deal than having trains rumbling down the street in the middle of the night. (2) The City should facilitate the installation of radio-activated gates to allow the trains to pass through the Cemex property without having to stop on Glascock to manually open and close them, as is now required. (3) The grade crossing at 23/29th Avenue is currently protected by nothing more than wooden cross-bucks. The City should begin the process of installing upgraded crossing protection consisting of flashing lights and gates, with lighted advance warning signs on the 23rd Avenue approach near Nikko's restaurant. Doing so will reduce the likelyhood of grade crossing collisions, which would really tie up traffic. I urge the Glascock Street residents to work with the City, Caltrans and Union Pacific to arrive at mutually satisfactory solutions. You might not get everything you want, but some are better than none. If you don't, you are sure to be disappointed with the results should the parties go to litigation.

Thanks Rich. I could not have said it any better. While I believe that projects and project proponents should mitigate the adverse effects of their projects, I also believe that people have an individual responsibility to complete their due diligence when purchasing or renting a property. The fact that there are railroad tracks adjacent to a residential structure should be a red flag to anyone considering to purchase or rent space in that structure. Unless a railroad line has been abandoned and the tracks have been removed, there is always the possibility the line will be reactivated for freight or passenger use and with such use will come noise and possibly idling trains. This is particularly true since there is now a greater emphasis towards mass transit. Unused or abandoned tracks are being purchased in various parts of the country and reactivated for passenger service. To blame Caltrans or the railroads for using an existing line that has not been abandoned seems a bit misplaced particularly since the railroad line was there long before the residential structures. It is possible that the developers had a duty to disclose the existence of the railroad tracks to prospective buyers/renters because it is a material fact that affects the value and desirability of the property. However, that duty may be offset or negated because the tracks are clearly visible to anyone doing a visual inspection of the property. It is not a material defect that is hidden from a casual inspection.

Claim: "Union-Pacific has told the City that train length will increase to 13-22 cars." Train length will be the same as it currently is, and will vary from trip to trip depending upon the needs of the customers. Claim: "In fact, northbound trains have idled on Glascock Street for as much as 20 minutes while waiting to coordinate with the Park Street Bridge." Unlike the Fruitvale railroad bridge (which is operated by the same county bridge tender that operates the Miller-Sweeny Bridge), there is no relationship between the railroad and the Park Street Bridge. If for some reason the 29th Avenue crossing would be blocked, that is not the fault of the railroad. Claim: "The engineer has been known to leave the train idling while venturing up the street to get a cup of coffee." Crew members who wish to go to 7-Eleven or Nikkos leave the train parked within the Cemex property north of 29th Avenue. Claim: "Union-Pacific abandoned usage of the Glascock Spur, their cessation of operation on the track gave us hope and expectation that the train would not return." The trackage on Glascock has never been abandoned. Claim: "Nobody who moved in after June 2006, including new residences and turnover of older ones, has ever experienced the train on Glascock. They are justifiably alarmed and afraid." Caltrans' project to replace the I-880 5th Avenue overcrossing - which includes reestablishing train service on Glascock - has been planned for years. That the developers or owners of the properties along Glascock apparently failed to disclose this to new tenants and/or owners isn't the fault of Union Pacific, and it's indeed unfortunate that the City of Oakland apparently failed to require the developers to do so as a condition of the approval process. That said, the tracks in the street are clearly visible to anyone. Anyone moving into a residence along Glascock should've exercised due diligence to obtain information about their status, the same as one should do before moving next to an airport or a freeway.

I'm not convinced that the City of Oakland is completely exonerated from this issue. Yes, CalTrans and Union Pacific chose deception as their path of least resistance, but what makes the City of Oakland think that somehow this issue is no longer their problem. Additionally, Signature Properties will have a nice little subpoena delivered to their home office the second the first horn blast occurs at 2am on a Wednesday morning. This is embarrassing and shameful...cementing an even deeper divide (geographic and attitudinal) within a small, burgeoning community. Guess it's every man for himself now. All aboard! Time to fight Goliath. Better pack a BIG lunch.

UP has been nothing but dishonest with the residents of Jingletown since the beginning of this "adventure". This will permanently affect all of us, and they could care less. CalTrans has acted like a school yard bully as well, and told us basically to stick it, more than once.

Were Rich Sievers providing accurate information, resumption of service on Glascock never would have been an issue. Union-Pacific has told the City that train length will increase to 13-22 cars. While historically it has not been true that trains idled for 2 hours, nor has it been true that there has been no idling. In fact, northbound trains have idled on Glascock Street for as much as 20 minutes while waiting to coordinate with the Park Street Bridge. The engineer has been known to leave the train idling while venturing up the street to get a cup of coffee. The priority within the community has been and continues to be about safety. These concerns still have not been adequately addressed. All of the concerns could have been addressed directly by commitments from Union-Pacific with little or no outlay from CalTrans or the City, but Union-Pacific refuses to negotiate. And finally, addressing We Fight Blight, while it's true that about half of the residences were occupied at the time the Union-Pacific abandoned usage of the Glascock Spur, their cessation of operation on the track gave us hope and expectation that the train would not return. Nobody who moved in after June 2006, including new residences and turnover of older ones, has ever experienced the train on Glascock. They are justifiably alarmed and afraid.

V. I don't mean to discount the importance of addressing significant affects from development projects including highway improvements. I agree that project proponents, including Caltrans, should rightfully avoid, minimize and/or mitigate significant environmental affects. However, like many development projects, Caltrans also faces unreasonable demands from residents/communities/businesses who see projects as a trough of community benefits. On a certain level, I think this has been one of those projects. Also, I do have to wonder whether the residents that could be affected by changes in the railroad's operations (resulting from the highway project)were not aware of the tracks when they bought their property or rented. Due diligence. Is this one of those cases of moving to a house near an airport and then complaining about the noise from airplanes?

It's unfortunate that the story's author didn't do adequate research and fact checking before writing it. Readers would've benefitted had she done so. For example, in the article it's stated that "Hanlon Lead, [is] the main track which runs along Embarcadero." The track that parallels the Embarcadero south of 5th Avenue is called the 'Pac Steel Lead' and it has never been a main track. The main track is on the other side of the freeway, and 'Hanlon's Lead' parallels it. Also that "[t]rains will run along Glascock at least three times a week, idling for as long as two hours directly in front of two waterfront condominium complexes." The frequency of service depends upon the needs of the customers. Currently, Union Pacific operates in the ConAgra area anywhere from 1 to 5 AM on Mondays and Wednesdays, and between noon and 5 PM on Fridays, but service is often less frequent. And, "[b]ecause the Glascock spur will now become the primary track, the trains will be much longer than those that ran through the area previous to the spur’s deactivation three years ago, as much as twenty-two cars long." The number of cars handled will be the same as typically handled when the service was operated via Glascock in years past. Finally, "[t]he idling trains will block pedestrian and vehicle access to the buildings, including access for emergency vehicles." That statement, and the one claiming that trains will be "idling for as long as two hours directly in front of two waterfront condominium complexes" is simply not true. What will happen is that northward trains will be required to stop short of 29th Avenue while a crew member opens the chainlink gate at the Cemex batch plant to allow trains to pass, then continue. Southward trains will stop south of the 29th Avenue crossing to close the gate when leaving, then the crew member will walk up to the locomotive. Each process will take minutes, not hours. Installing a radio-controlled gate at the Cemex plant would eliminate this. The real problem is that the City of Oakland failed to adequately address the obvious mitigation problems when it permitted the recent redevelopment along Glascock. It's too late now; the NIMBY mentality has already set in. And just wait til the complaints start about the trains blowing their whistles while approaching and passing over the crossings, as required by federal law! But the city could easily minimize the impact on Glascock residents, if it chose to do so, by funding the installation of upgraded crossing protection at 29th Avenue (protection currently consists of nothing more than cross-bucks) and establishing a "railroad curfew" ordinance prohibiting train operation along Glascock during nighttime hours, say from 8 PM to 7 AM.

Yes, the retrofit is an important project for seismic safety. But one of the side effects of the retrofit will endanger the safety of Oakland residents. It is CalTrans's responsibility to address with the ancillary life safety issues created by their work.

One of the things that is lost in this post is that the 5th Avenue I-880 job is one of the last remaining significant seismic retrofit projects in the Bay Area that is not currently underway. Should the 5th Avenue overcrossing be damaged in a significant seismic event, such as the rupture of the Hayward Fault, the disruption to Port traffic and commuters to Oakland and San Francisco could result in a severe economic dislocation for the City of Oakland. It is unfortunate that the railroad and the City of Oakland have been attempting to bleed this project for more and more economic benefits. Safety is paramount and a seismically retrofitted structure is key to our economic security in the region. The retrofit of the structure and repaving of the highway will also eliminate a key source of blight in this part of our community. The new structure will be higher and with fewer columns allowing for more open public access along the Lake Merrit Channel. Let's get on with the project already.

The idling issue was discussed at the City Council meeting last night, as well as possible mitigations such as automated gates and removing street parking. Anyway, the biggest problem is using this track without substantial mitigation, and the idea that CalTrans would hold regional projects hostage in order to force Oakland to allow the trains. It's incredibly disrespectful and anti-democratic.

The story entitled "The Jingletown Midnight Express" states that "diesel locomotives idling in front of their homes in the middle of the night three times a week." This is incorrect. Once the trackage is reopened, a Union Pacific switch job will operate northbound along Glascock to serve customers in the general area of the ConAgra mill. An hour or two later it will return southbound. No stops will be made along Glascock, and there will be no "idling."