The Modesto and Empire Traction Company is a Class III
short-line railroad operating in California's
San Joaquin Valley. It is owned by the Beard Land & Investment Company; the Beard family has always owned the railroad. The Beards also created the Beard Industrial Park where the MET's customers are located. The railroad was unique in that it had operated for nearly 50 years exclusively with
GE 70-ton switchers built between 1947 and 1955; however, a former
Southern Pacific EMD SW1500 switcher
A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as ''switching'' (US) or ''shunting'' (UK). Switchers are not inten ...
was added to the roster as of late. The MET operates on of mainline track, as well as an additional of yard and industry track, providing switching services in the Beard Industrial Park. The MET interchanges with the
Union Pacific (ex-
Southern Pacific) at
Modesto and with the
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 ...
Stockton Subdivision
The Stockton Subdivision is a railroad line in the U.S. state of California owned by the BNSF Railway. It runs from the Port of Richmond, where trains interchange with the Richmond Pacific Railroad, to Fresno where the railway continues south as t ...
(ex-
Santa Fe) at Empire.
Traffic
The MET handles 24,000 cars per year (1996 estimate).
Products shipped include:
*Food products
*
Wine [ ]
*
Syrup
*
Plastic
*
Paper Products
History
The MET was incorporated on October 7, 1911, by Mr. T. K. Beard. On November 1, 1911, it leased the electrified Modesto Interurban Railway (MIR). Passenger service was the primary service for the railroad when it started in November 1911, but only lasted until 1917. The MET went to diesel-only operation in March 1952.
Modesto Interurban Railway
The Modesto Interurban Railway was incorporated on March 23, 1909, with plans to build of track from Modesto along McHenry Avenue and then directly to
Riverbank
Riverbank or river bank may refer to:
* Bank (geography), the bank of a river
Places
* Riverbank, California
*Riverbank, former name of Bryte, California
Enterprises and organizations
*Riverbank Academy, a special school in Coventry, England
*Ri ...
. The railway was envisioned because only the Southern Pacific served Modesto; the
Santa Fe bypassed Modesto by to the east at Empire. The Modesto Interurban Railway linked the Santa Fe with Modesto. On April 12, 1909, the grading commenced. Just days before the Modesto & Empire Traction began taking over the railroad, the Modesto Interurban Railway completed construction and operated its first train. By November 1, 1911, the Modesto & Empire Traction was leasing the railway.
References
Further reading
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*
*
*
External links
Official MET Webpage
California railroads
Switching and terminal railroads
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