The San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad was a California rail line between Stockton and Bakersfield constructed in the late 1890s and very shortly thereafter purchased by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad and became their Valley Division.Walker's Manual of Far Western Corporations & Securities, Volume 5, Part 1913
p. 183Hooper, Ken (26 December 2014)

''

The Bakersfield Californian ''The Bakersfield Californian'' is a daily newspaper serving Bakersfield, California and surrounding Kern County in the state's San Joaquin Valley. History ''The Bakersfield Californian'' is the direct descendant of Kern County's first newsp ...

'' The impetus for building the line was the monopoly position of the Southern Pacific Railroad, it being thought that a competitor would lower the prices being charged to farmers to ship their crops to San Francisco.

Claus Spreckels Adolph Claus J. Spreckels (July 9, 1828 – December 26, 1908) (his last name has also been misspelled as Spreckles) was a major industrialist in Hawai'i during the kingdom, republican and territorial periods of the islands' history. He also i ...

, a leading sugar manufacturer, pledged $500,000 for the building of the line in January 1895, if $3,000,000 more could be raised. Many small investors contributed funds, giving it the nickname the "People's Railroad". The line was constructed between 1895 and 1898. The first passenger train from Stockton to Fresno ran on October 5, 1896 to great fanfare.(6 October 1896)
Fresno Freed From Monopoly's Shackles
''

San Francisco Call ''The San Francisco Call'' was a newspaper that served San Francisco, California. Because of a succession of mergers with other newspapers, the paper variously came to be called ''The San Francisco Call & Post'', the ''San Francisco Call-Bulletin ...

'' Bakerfield also held a big celebration when it was reached on May 27, 1898. In both cases, news reports trumpeted how the towns were now free of the "tyranny" of Southern Pacific's monopoly.(28 May 1898)
Bakerfield Freed From Tyranny
''

'' The quick sale to the Santa Fe before the end of 1898(10 December 1898)
Valley Road Deal
''Los Angeles Herald''(20 October 1898)
Confirmed Again
''Los Angeles Herald'' disappointed many, but many backers believed combining with a larger partner was key to the line's success.Daggett, Stuart
Chapters on the history of the Southern Pacific
pp. 317-45 (1966) The line still exists today as BNSF's Stockton Subdivision from Richmond to Fresno, and as the Bakersfield Subdivision from Fresno to Bakersfield. The ''

San Joaquins The ''San Joaquins'' is a passenger train service operated by Amtrak in California's San Joaquin Valley. Six daily round trips run between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton, with onward service to Sacramento (all round trips) an ...

'' runs along this route.

Stations

Stations from north to south included the following stops:Timetable
''Railroad Gazetteer'' (April 1899), p. 27 *

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

* Luzon. Named during the Spanish-American War, when place names from the Philippines were very popular. Now located near

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

.Gudde, Erwin G.
California Place Names
p. 186 (1922) * Stockton (

San Joaquin Street station San Joaquin Street station, also known as Stockton – San Joaquin Street, is an Amtrak station in Stockton, California. Originally built for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (which acquired the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Rail ...

) * Burnham * Escalon * Riverbank *

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

* Hughson * Elmwood * Merced station *

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

* Le Grand * Marguerite * Sharon * Miller * Lankershim * Patterson * Greenleaf *

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

Oleander ''Nerium oleander'' ( ), most commonly known as oleander or nerium, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the ge ...

* Conejo *

Hanford station Hanford station is a train station in Hanford, California served by Amtrak. The station also services the larger city of Visalia, California, to the east. History It was built by the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad in 1897 and ...

Corcoran station Corcoran station is an Amtrak train station in Corcoran, California, United States. History Corcoran was made a scheduled stop on the Amtrak '' San Joaquin'' on July 29, 1989. The current station building, opened in 1999, replaced a form ...

Angiola ''Angiola'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Planaxidae. This genus has become a synonym of'' Hinea'' Gray, 1847. Species Species within the genus ''Angiola'' include: * ''Angiola fasciata'' (Pease, 1868): syn ...

* Kernell * Elmo * Wasco station * Shafter * Rosedale * Bakersfield station

References

{{reflist, 2 California railroads Companies operating former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway lines Railway lines opened in 1896