The Modesto and Empire 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 oper ...

operating in California's

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 ...

. 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 switcher The GE 70-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric between about 1942 and 1955. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. The first series of "70 tonners" were a group of seven center-cab locomotives built for ...

s built between 1947 and 1955; however, a former

Southern Pacific 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 ...

EMD SW1500 The EMD SW1500 is a Diesel-electric locomotive intended for switching service and built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division from 1966 to 1974. The SW1500 replaced the SW1200 in the EMD product line. Many railroads regularly used SW1500s f ...

switcher 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 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 Pac ...

(ex-

) at

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

and with the BNSF Railway Stockton Subdivision (ex- Santa Fe) at Empire.

Traffic

The MET handles 24,000 cars per year (1996 estimate). Products shipped include: *Food products *

Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

Syrup In cooking, a syrup (less commonly sirup; from ar, شراب; , beverage, wine and la, sirupus) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars ...

Plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

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. 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

External links

Official MET Webpage
California railroads Switching and terminal railroads {{California-transport-stub

Traffic

History

Modesto Interurban Railway

References

Further reading

External links