Let's take an example. Right now in Saratoga there's an issue brewing over creating a hiking trail alongside the Union (formerly Southern) Pacific Railroad tracks between Saratoga Avenue and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road. I may not be paying lip service to the concept, but, living in the past as I do, I'm all for paying LIP service. It goes like this: That particular line goes back to 1908, when the S.P. built what was variously known as the Mayfield or Vasona cutoff. Mayfield, or South Palo Alto, was at the northern end, where the tracks joined the S.P. main line at California Avenue. The tracks at Vasona Junction were north of Los Gatos, alongside Winchester Boulevard, and constituted the southern end of the cutoff.

At that time, the S.P. line ran from Santa Cruz, through the mountains into Los Gatos and on through Campbell into San Jose. The cutoff was a boon to West Valley people who wanted to commute to their jobs in San Francisco without having to travel to San Jose or Sunnyvale to do it. The line went through Monta Vista, along the present Foothill Boulevard, and through Los Altos—opening that community for development—and skirted the Stanford University campus before joining the main line.

In Saratoga, people could board the commuter train at Congress Junction or Azule. I think there was also a stop at Cox Avenue. Congress Junction is a name worth preserving, but I don't know how or where it could be done. Since the building of Highway 85, and the structure required to put the freeway and the tracks over Saratoga Avenue, there is no appropriate place for a marker.

At the time of the passenger trains, there was a shelter—not really a "station," although we called it that—with a sign prominently displayed. "Congress," of course, had to do with Congress Springs, the mineral water source about a mile and a half above the Village off Highway 9. These were the springs that gave Saratoga its name, after Saratoga Springs, New York, but that's another story.

"Junction" referred to the crossing of the trolley-car tracks that ran down Saratoga Avenue. Both the Congress and Junction elements are things of the past. The mineral springs must still be there, but it's been years since the public has had access to them.

The Peninsular Railway trolley cars quit running in 1933. Forty and more years ago, the Paul Masson Vineyards Saratoga Champagne Cellars occupied the area where there are now condominiums or townhouses southeast of the Highway 85­Saratoga Avenue intersection. It was a big operation—I always called it the bottling plant—and one feature was a very tall metal fountain structure standing in a pond. The Masson people conned the S.P. into renaming Congress Junction Champagne Fountain, and that was the name until the passenger trains quit running in January 1964.

Where the tracks crossed Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road stood the Azule passenger shelter or "station." The name is perpetuated in the Azule Crossing shopping center. Yes, the tracks are still there, but the only train using them is a freight train that goes to the Kaiser Cement Corp. plant. This is not the kind of rail traffic that would pose a hazard to hikers along an adjacent trail. There's also another historic reference involving the proposed trail, and that's the Congress Springs Park. The springs themselves are some distance away, but preserving names is important.

Speaking of names, if the trail plan goes through, I'm in favor of calling it the Congress Junction­Azule trail. I suppose I could give lip (not LIP) service to any other name.