The California and Nevada Railroad was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

steam railroad which ran in the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...

of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

in the late 19th century. It was incorporated on March 25, 1884. J.S. Emery was listed as the railroad's president - the present day cite of

Emeryville Emeryville may refer to: * Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San ...

is named after him. On March 1, 1885 the track was completed between Oakland and San Pablo via Emeryville. The track to Oak Grove (present day El Sobrante) was completed on January 1, 1887.

California & Mt. Diablo Railroad

The first of the California & Nevada was built by its predecessor, the California & Mt. Diablo Railroad. The California & Mt. Diablo Railroad was organized on March 21, 1881 at Emery's, an unincorporated settlement which later became the city of Emeryville. The

track commenced at 40th Street/ San Pablo Avenue and continued north through present day Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito and terminated in Richmond. The California & Mt. Diablo Railroad proposed to run from a pier on San Francisco Bay in

, then across central California and across the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

mountains at

Sonora Pass Sonora Pass (el. 9,624 ft. / 2,933 m.) is a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada in California. It is the second-highest in California and in the Sierra Nevada. lower by 321 ft. (about 98 m.) than Tioga Pass to the south. State Route 108 ...

near

Bodie, California Bodie ( ) is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about southeast of Lake Tahoe, and east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8,379 feet (2554 ...

, and then east to a connection with the

Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. The California and Mt. Diablo was sold to the California and Nevada. The California and Nevada reached

San Pablo, California San Pablo (Spanish for "St. Paul") is an enclave city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city of Richmond surrounds nearly the whole city. The population was 29,139 at the 2010 census. The current Mayor is Rita Xavier. C ...

in 1886. It was subsequently extended around the northern end of the

Berkeley Hills The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges that overlook the northeast side of the valley that encompasses San Francisco Bay. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills" (from the original Spanish ''Sierra de la C ...

and the San Pablo Ridge, then southeastward down the valley drained by San Pablo Creek to Orinda, running along what is now the eastern shoreline of

San Pablo Reservoir The San Pablo Reservoir is an open cut terminal water storage reservoir owned and operated by the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). It is located in the valley of San Pablo Creek, north of Orinda, California, United States, and south of ...

. A shortage of capital and constant problems with washed-out tracks barred further extensions. For most of its duration, the railroad was primarily run for weekend excursions. The railroad reached Orinda (then called "Bryants"), its furthest extent, in November, 1891. At this point, it owned and operated of track. On May 29, 1896 and again on July 12, 1899 the railroad was placed into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

. After 1900 the railroad ceased to operate. The railroad was sold at

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

on November 29, 1902.

Oakland & East Side Railroad

The nascent pier into

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

was acquired by "Borax" Smith who used it as the basis for construction of his massive

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 ...

Key System The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany, and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area fr ...

causeway and ferry pier. On March 7, 1903 the Oakland and East Side Railroad acquired the right-of-way of the California and Nevada on behalf of its parent company, the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 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, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

(see "

paper railroad In the United States, a paper railroad is a company in the railroad business that exists "on paper only": as a legal entity which does not own any track, locomotives, or rolling stock. In the early days of railroad construction, paper railroads h ...

"). Santa Fe wanted the California & Nevada to gain access to Oakland from the Santa Fe's terminal at

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

. The track beyond Richmond (from a point just north of today's El Cerrito Del Norte

BART Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc. Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Barthol ...

Station) to Orinda was abandoned. In 1903, Santa Fe converted the narrow gauge to standard track gauge between Richmond and Oakland. Upon completion of the standardization, on May 16, 1904, the Oakland and East Side Railroad was leased to the Santa Fe. That same day, the first Santa Fe train passed over the line.

Route

California & Nevada Railroad - Clancy's Cut - Pacific Narrow Gauge by John Hall

*Oakland *Emerys (Emeryville) *Berkeley *Albany *El Cerrito *Richmond *San Pablo *Oak Grove (El Sobrante) *Fargos *Orinda Park *Bryant

The right-of-way today

The track from San Pablo to Orinda follows much of the route of the

San Pablo Dam Road San Pablo Dam Road is a major arterial road linking San Pablo and Orinda, California in the United States, which connects San Pablo Avenue and Interstate 80 with Highway 24,

through El Sobrante. The Santa Fe line between Richmond and Oakland was abandoned by the Santa Fe in the early 1980s when the Santa Fe obtained trackage rights into Oakland via Southern Pacific Railroad's parallel line to the west – it was subsequently converted into the

Richmond Greenway The Richmond Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle path in Richmond, California.Ohlone Greenway The Ohlone Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle path in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The path is named for the indigenous Ohlone, the first people who live in the area. Route The Greenway begins in Berkeley at the east en ...

runs along the original California & Nevada right-of-way between El Cerrito Del Norte Station and Albany. A bicycle path follows the course of the tracks while a BART aerial line runs along the western edge, within the old right-of way. In fact, for a few years, BART and Santa Fe trains ran simultaneously there.

References

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External links