The Central California Traction Company is a Class III

short-line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...

operating in the northern

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

, in

San Joaquin County, California San Joaquin County (; Spanish: ''San Joaquín'', meaning " St. Joachim"), officially the County of San Joaquin, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 779,233. The county seat is Stockton. San Jo ...

. It is owned jointly by the

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

and

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

Service

The railroad operates between Stockton and Lodi. CCT also operates the Stockton Public Belt Railway around the

Port of Stockton The Port of Stockton is a major deepwater port on the Stockton Ship Channel of the Pacific Ocean and an inland port located more than seventy nautical miles from the ocean, in Stockton, California on the Stockton Channel and San Joaquin Riv ...

. It connects to the

Stockton Terminal and Eastern Railroad Established in 1908, the Stockton Terminal and Eastern Railroad provides service to several companies around the Stockton area, in San Joaquin County, California. OmniTRAX acquired the ST&E in 2011. Service The railroad operates of track con ...

company freight lines that serve greater Stockton. Several miles of the CCT track through Acampo are being used to store rolling stock, primarily Centerbeam flatcars that carry lumber, as of 2009. Brookville locomotive 2101 side facing right

Brookville locomotive 2101 side facing right

History

The Central California Traction Company was founded on August 7, 1905, as an alternative city

streetcar line A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

to the Stockton Electric Railroad. The company soon had greater ambitions and became a 1,200-volt DC electric

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

railway, opening a line from Stockton to Lodi in 1907, and reaching

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

by 1910. In 1928, the railroad was sold by the original owners and was then jointly purchased by the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

, the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

and the

Western Pacific Railroad The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...

. The railroad operated over the same line from Lodi and Stockton to Sacramento until 1998, when service to Sacramento was suspended. Currently the tracks remain between Stockton and Sacramento, being kept for future operational options. One of the Central California Traction Company train stations survives in Acampo, just north of Lodi. This station was converted into a residence, with interior walls and an expansion.

Locomotive roster

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Official Central California Traction Company−CCT websiteComprehensive Trainweb.org: CCT SiteWestern Pacific Railroad Museum
— ''home of CCT Caboose #24''.
Davesrailpix.com: Photograph collection of all interurbans
— ''includes CCT and TS.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Central California Traction Company California railroads Interurban railways in California Transportation in Sacramento, California Transportation in Sacramento County, California Transportation in San Joaquin County, California Lodi, California Economy of Stockton, California Spin-offs of the BNSF Railway Spin-offs of the Union Pacific Railroad Railway companies established in 1905 1905 establishments in California American companies established in 1905