Dr. Smith has been at it again, and has worked a slick deal with the Sierra Central Railroad, making now 5 railroads in the Sierra Lines amalgamation.  The Sierra Central runs from Lodi through Sacramento, The Docks, and Marysville to Chico and back, and makes transfer runs to the other 4 railroads.  A typical train brings 14 cars plus caboose to Chico, where two 8 car tail tracks and an 8 car runaround track make for much switching fun. 

The corporate culture is as follows:
The Sierra Central Railroad (SC) management has long been known as comprised of a “good old boys” network, and many of the owners are engineers and conductors, first because of the fun of it, and second, because who could do a better job of satisfying the customers?  They’re not unaccustomed to giving themselves regular bonuses for their good work, and thus fit perfectly into the Dr. Arthur Smith philosophy.  Their reputation for excellence has motivated the LS&I to even greater efforts at customer focus.  Of late, much heated argumentation about who is the best of the best is commonplace, although fisticuffs are only rarely reported.  Given the overall stability and excellence of the SC, it is unlikely that the large pile of V&T and WP resumes will be examined in the foreseeable future.