Palo Alto Railroad Corporation

Palo Alto Railroad Corporation

Reporting mark	PARC
Locale	California
Dates of operation	November 24, 1982 (1982-11-24)–present
Predecessor	Southern Pacific
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	0 miles (0 km)
Headquarters	Palo Alto, California
Website	paloaltorail.com

The Palo Alto Railroad Corporation (reporting mark PARC) (commonly known as the Palo Alto Railroad) is a class III short-line railroad headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

History

The Palo Alto Railroad Corporation (PARC) was originally founded in 1982 as a small shell of what it currently is, connecting a few small businesses and mainly doing switching for the Southern Pacific (SP). As the railroad began to expand throughout the mid-80s to early-90s, it began to connect a larger amount of businesses, and began transporting more on its own, rather than just preparing shipments from the businesses to be taken on the SP. In 1989, the railroad set up a long-term lease with the SP for use of the Dumbarton Rail Bridge, expanding operations into Newark. After the 1996 merger of the SP with the Union Pacific Railroad, the Palo Alto Railroad Corporation was able to purchase the bridge, due to the Union Pacific not seeing any use in keeping the bridge.
At around 7:00 PM on January 3rd, 1998, the bridge's western trestle caught on fire, causing the closure of the nearby Dumbarton Bridge. A PARC train on its way to Newark from East Palo Alto nearly became caught up in the flames, but the train's conductor notified the engineer of a potential fire, and the train was slowed to a stop before it was able to go onto the bridge. The fire continued until noon on the following day, and caused a large amount of damage to the bridge. PARC would go on to file an insurance claim and the bridge would be be fully repaired late-1999. After the bridge was brought back to standard, operations returned to business as usual.

Operations

Finances

Palo Alto Railroad Company

Founded	November 24, 1982
Key people	Michelle Barnett (president and CEO)
Revenue	US$ (2024)
Operating income	US$ (2024)
Net income	US$ (2024)
Total assets	US$ (2024)
Total equity	US$ (2024)
Number of employees	63 (Sep 2024)

Yards and facilities

Intermodal Yards

Locations of some intermodal yards:

• Oakland, California - Railport Intermodal Yard

Locomotives and Rolling Stock

Paint and Colors

Examples of PARC Paint Schemes

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  PARC 51

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