You may have notice recently that some trains are making their way through Brentwood and Oakley again. Several times in the past weeks I’ve had to wait for freight trains to pass by while waiting at the RR crossing at Balfour and Brentwood Blvd.

What were seemingly inactive tracks are indeed being used, and there will be more trains coming down the line in the near future.

Click on the map to zoom in on your neighborhood

This map shows the tracks running from the top left to the bottom right.

The following email excerpt is dated a month ago (forwarded to me by my office manager), and is directly from Union Pacific Railroad regarding the RR Tracks that run through Oakley and Brentwood.

Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 11:05:21 AM

Subject: Re: East Contra Costa Plan

The tracks located in Brentwood, CA is called the Tracy Branch/Mococo Line.

IT IS AN ACTIVE RAIL LINE.

I have notified both Mayor Bob Taylor and City Manager Landeros the line will be restored to service in the future. Given the state of the economy we do not have an explicit time frame, but it will likely happen in the next few years.

Wesley J. Lujan
Director, Public Affairs
Union Pacific Railroad
915 L Street, Suite 1180
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.789.5957 office
916.792.9160 cell
402.997.3540 fax

I guess he wasn’t kidding, the Choo Choo’s are coming once again.