It was a big Wednesday for Napa’s wine train Wednesday when the Wine Train took its first trip over the new elevated tracks running parallel to Soscol Avenue and adjacent to the train station.

On the same day, the U.S.  Army Corps of Engineers wrapped up a major part of the Napa Flood Control project. Engineers and workers started the railroad relocation of the multi-million flood project May 2009.

Wine Train

Wednesday’s celebration at the Wine Train brought city officials, business leaders and members from the community.

Everyone on hand cheered as the Wine Train chugged to the station on the new tracks, breaking the red ribbon tape across the tracks, symbolizing a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Melodie Hilton, Wine Train director of marketing and public relations, said the two years it took to complete the railroad tracks never interfered with the trains daily trek from Napa to St. Helena.

“We had to put up with construction dust and other things that go along with that,” Hilton said. “But the construction never caused any problems for us.”


For Wine Train engineer Darrell Tilcock, 77, it was just another day. “I’ve been the Wine Train engineer for 22 years,” he said. “There isn’t too much that excites me anymore.”

Flood Control Project

“This is a milestone for the project,” said Dave Cook, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager. “We have replaced the old railroad tracks with the new ones. Eventually the old tracks will be taken out.”

The next big project will the Napa River bypass, Cook said. Currently the Napa River flows south around the oxbow and behind Copia. In times of heavy rains, the river overflows in that area and  can cause serious flooding.

The bypass will allow the overflow to avoid the oxbow and flow through the bypass and meet up with river at Veterans Park. Right now all of the river water must flow around the oxbow, which in times of heavy rains, causes it to over flow its banks, Cook said.

The bypass will begin behind the Westin Hotel on McKinstry Street, go through part of former Wine Train parking lot, south side of the train depot and continue under Soscol Avenue through the Cinedome  parking lot and then south at the old China Park.

McKinstry Street will remain a thoroughfare with flood gates at Third Street and where it merges with Soscol Avenue.

“When the river takes the bypass because of rising waters, the gates will be dropped and McKinstry will be closed to traffic,” Cook said.

Future work on the flood control project calls for the closure of First and Third streets for about three weeks. Cook said the dates of the closure have not been finalized.

Napa City Community Outreach Coordinator Barry Martin said the city is still working on funding for the construction of the bypass.

“We don’t know when that part of the construction will be completed,” Martin said. “It is dependent on funding from Congress to the Corps.”

As for the completion date of the entire flood control project, Martin said it could be 2016. “It’s always a question of money. Not likely we will get huge amounts [of money] from [Washington] DC with the state of the economy,” he said. “But if we can get the bypass built it will provide a greater level of flood protection while we wait to do the rest.”