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We're
sorry, but we can not trade or sell our patches. If you
bought one on line, it is a knockoff or not official.
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 About the Napa Valley Railroad
The Napa
Valley Railroad, based in the heart of the world's most
beautiful wine producing region, is the current operator
of a line that was first opened in 1865. San Francisco
millionaire Sam Brannan founded the line. He had
established a resort called Calistoga in an area of the
Napa Valley that was (and is) exceptionally geothermic
with waters that are naturally high in mineral content.
To make his idea succeed, he needed a way for tourists to
travel the 80 miles from San Francisco. The County of
Napa, seeing the potential benefit of tourism raised a
quarter of a million dollars to build the railroad. By
1870, the main line of the NVR reached from Vallejo over
40 miles to Calistoga. Several operators ran the line
until the Southern Pacific assumed control in 1885. Under
the stewardship of SP, the line grew steadily until it
had connected with the main lines near Suisun and gave
the Napa Valley its rail link to the rest of the nation.
Beginning
in 1904, the line was electrified and extended towards
Benicia, east of Vallejo. Passenger service on the Napa
Valley Electric Railroad began the following year,
reaching St. Helena and ultimately Calistoga in 1912. The
rise of the automobile and the still relatively small
population of the Napa Valley doomed the intercity
passenger service and it was discontinued in 1929. Few
traces of the electric system remain visible today.
The line
continued to handle freight traffic until the 1980's,
although in later years freight traffic was reduced to
one train per week. Southern Pacific, unwilling to
upgrade or maintain the right of way in support of
limited traffic, petitioned the government to abandon the
line. Portions of the right of way north of St Helena
were ultimately abandoned and sold. The right of way
between Napa and St Helena was purchased by private
investors, was completely renovated and began operation
as the NVR in 1987 to carry both passengers and freight.
The NVR connects via Napa Junction with the California
Northern Railroad, which also serves the area,
and with the Northwestern
Pacific Railroad, which serves the north coast
of California, and which has recently resumed limited
operations after several years of shut down. The NVR has
also hosted trains from Amtrak as well as other private
excursion trains. Since reopening, the NVR has safely
carried more than one million passengers aboard the world
renowned Napa Valley Wine Train and provided freight
service to a growing number of clients. In June of 2001,
passenger and excursion service to Yountville moved a
step closer to reality with the opening of a new station
at the front gate of the historic California
Veterans Home.
Since the
line was brought back into service, the population of the
area has grown. New industry and businesses have sprung
up in the corridor between Napa and Vallejo, and Napa's
newest city, the City of American Canyon, sits astride
the rail line at the southern end of the county. The
former Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo is being
redeveloped for civilian business and industry and has
rail access. In the Napa Valley, what was once simple
farmland has become perhaps the world's premier wine
producing region.
The
historic Napa line runs up from Vallejo, with the NVR
right of way beginning south of Napa. The tracks run
through the heart of the City of Napa, with its rapidly
redeveloping downtown, and then up the center of the
valley in part alongside State Highway 29. From Napa,
through the small towns of Yountville, Oakville,
Rutherford, into the City of St. Helena and beyond, the
NVR offers sweeping vistas of the vast vineyards of the
Napa Valley. Currently the line ends just north of St.
Helena but there is talk in the valley of reopening that
portion between Calistoga and the City of St. Helena. If
this were to come about, the NVR would again bring
tourists to Calistoga to wash away their cares in the
world famous hot springs and spas, without bringing their
cars to an already congested Highway 29. Someday perhaps
intercity service to Vallejo could be re-established,
connecting with Vallejo BayLink's
high speed ferries that serve San Francisco. No one knows
yet what the future may hold, but it is very interesting
to see how history could repeat itself in the valley.
However
the region grows, whatever the challenges, the NVR stands
ready to serve the community.
 About the Police
Department
The NVR
Police Department was formed in 1999. The NVR had
operated a non-sworn Public Safety Department since 1989,
but the unique nature of the services provided by the
railroad and an increasing frequency of theft, vandalism,
trespass and grade crossing incidents, coupled with the
growth potential of the railroad, led to the formation of
the Police Department.
The
mission of the Police Department is based in public
safety and service to the community. We protect the
patrons, passengers, employees and freight transported by
the railroad, as well as protecting the assets, property
and right of way.
We are
currently staffed with three railroad police officers and
two public safety officers, all of whom report to the
Public Safety Director. Although we are not a POST
reimbursed agency, we subscribe to POST training and
operational standards. The NVR Police Department is but
one part of a long history of law enforcement on the
rails. For more on this, as well as links to other
railroad police departments please be sure to visit our
history and photo pages.
The Police
Department has officers on duty whenever trains are
operating on the line. A police officer is available
on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are available
to handle any and all railroad related matters including
safety issues, criminal matters and traffic collisions on
the right of way. We also stand ready to assist the other
railroads in the area when called upon. The department
has reciprocal agreements with all of the agencies whose
jurisdiction the right of way passes through. We also
work hand in hand with a variety of state and federal
agencies including the California Highway Patrol,
California Public Utilities Commission and the Federal
Railroad Administration.
We achieve
our mission through the traditional methods of high
visibility, cooperation with other local agencies and
enforcement, as well as other more non-traditional ways.
We focus our enforcement efforts on the right of way,
with particular attention to the grade crossings,
trespass violations, vandalism, theft or any activity
that interferes with the safe operation of the railroad
or the safety of our passengers.
Members of
the department also participate actively in community
outreach programs. We believe that the best way of
preventing needless injuries and deaths is through both
education and enforcement. Operation Lifesaver is a
nationally recognized program established by concerned
railroad workers to educate the public on the dangers
associated with trespassing on the tracks and rail grade
crossings. For our fellow California peace officers we've
posted a page of railroad and transit related violation
sections. These are taken from the California Penal Code,
the California Vehicle Code and other selected codes to
help local agencies to assist railroads and railroad
police throughout the state. A detailed California Law
Enforcement Guide to railroad violations and operation is
available from the Police Department or from the California
Chapter of Operation Lifesaver.
Members of
the department are certified presenters of the Operation
Lifesaver program and are available to make presentations
to schools, community events and professional drivers and
for in-service law enforcement training. Many people are
unaware of how inherently dangerous a moving train can
be, and how much distance is required to stop even a slow
moving string of rail cars. An important part of our
mission is to raise public awareness, and not just in the
Napa Valley. Members of the department will travel
anywhere in the region to present this important message
of public safety to interested groups and agencies.
We also
support the "Trooper On The Train" program.
This program is intended for law enforcement officers to
see for themselves the problems railroads are faced with
in regards to trespassers and traffic violations in the
right of way and at grade crossings. Officers ride in the
cab of a locomotive with the engineer and train crew.
Officers from all jurisdictions are welcome. If you are
in the Napa area for training at the local academy or
just vacationing, please feel free to give us a call.
Thanks for
visiting our website. Please drop by again as things
here, like in the Napa Valley, will keep changing.
These
pages were created and are maintained using Microsoft
FrontPage by Officer Frank
Groth.
These
pages do not necessarily reflect the views of the Napa
Valley Railroad or the Napa Valley Wine Train Inc.
Page
updated April 15, 2002
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