FELTON – The reopening train keeps rolling down the tracks.
Soon after California left the regional stay-at-home order, scores of businesses began to expand their services to the public, some of which involved reopening their doors. One such business is the Roaring Camp Railroads.
The popular train tour through the Santa Cruz Mountains began running the trains again last Saturday after Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted regional orders, according to Operations Manager Tyler Armstrong. The train stopped running in the middle of December when the stay-at-home orders were implemented due to rising COVID-19 issues.
“It’s really nice to be able to give something to do right now with everyone being stuck inside for so long,” Armstrong said. It’s definitely nice to be back to work for staff too. It’s helping at all ends.”
Roaring Camp is limiting the number of passengers, allowing 65 to 70 people in order to comply with state COVID-19 guidelines. The trains usually hold up to 200 people.
However, Roaring Camp has not hit its new capacity, yet. The reopening weekend did not see a large amount of people return to the park. It expects to have a bigger weekend this week and dubbed last weekend a soft opening.
“We technically opened on Saturday,” Armstrong said. “It was slower than a normal Saturday would be because the word wasn’t out yet. This weekend will be more of a full open.”
While Roaring Camp is open again, only one of its trains is available. The Redwood Forest Steam Train is available for tours, but the Santa Cruz Beach Train will remain dormant for now. The beach train won’t be available again until April but has the possibility of returning sooner, according to Armstrong..
Roaring Camp is concerned about both weather and things that are possibly blocking the tracks. The beach train runs along stretches of Highway 9 which has the railroad company concerned.
“With the Boardwalk closed other than retail, we’re just waiting for better weather,” Armstrong said. “It could actually be March, but we’re waiting to see when the rain will officially let up. Mostly for us, it’s just that we have to watch for any leftover storms and check the track. The Highway 9 corridor tends to get a little mudslide-y at times.”
There have also been a number of homeless encampments that have popped up along some of the tracks. However, that won’t be a problem for Roaring Camp, according to Armstrong.
Typically, with the help of the City of Santa Cruz, Roaring Camp staff will go to those encampments and let inhabitants know that the train will start running through there soon. Then once people leave, staff members will also help clean up the trash around the tracks.
“The train goes like 7 mph, too, so most of the time it’s pretty easy to clear those routes,” Armstrong said. “We go down to the area and let people know that trains are running so they have time to clear out.”
The train also has COVID-19 regulations in place. All customers will be required to wear a mask and socially distance themselves as much as possible, Customers will also be required to fill out a health-screening questionnaire when they check-in before entering the train.
The train is not the only attraction that will be available to Roaring Camp patrons. The General Store will operate at 20% capacity, as will the attached museum. Customers will also have access to the Old Print Shop and Marshall’s Office. Lastly, the Blacksmith will be observable from a distance on weekends, according to Armstrong.
The park also has access to the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.
Roaring Camp tickets are available online at roaringcamp.com.
“We’re happy to be back open and running trains for folks,” Armstrong said. “It’s nice to see people out and doing things.”
"come" - Google News
February 05, 2021 at 07:09AM
https://ift.tt/3tsgRP0
Train tours come roaring back to Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz Sentinel
"come" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2S8UtrZ
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Train tours come roaring back to Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz Sentinel"
Post a Comment