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The Sierra Railroad Corporation is a privately owned
The Sierra Railway Company of California was incorporated on February 1, 1897 by founders Thomas S. Bullock, Prince Andre Poniatowski, and William H. Crocker. In May, the first rails were laid in the grain fields just east of Oakdale, and the stops grew to include Occidental (Now called Arnold), Paulsell, Warnerville, Cooperstown, Chinese, and finally on November 8, 1897; Jamestown, California. The railroad owners had no intention of ending the line there, and the line was extended to Tuolumne, some 16 miles from Jamestown. By 1900, the line had been completed, the same as it is today, with the exception of the abandonment of the Standard to Tuolumne Right-Of-Way. In 1937, the Sierra Railway was sold at a public auction to the new Sierra Railroad Company, and the debts of the original company were settled. In 1955, the railroad made the switch from steam to diesel power, but retained the steam locomotives for movie and television work for which the railroad is famous. In 1971, the Sierra Railroad used its vintage steam locomotives and facilities to its advantage, and opened "Rail Town 1897" as a tourist attraction. In 1979, The Crocker Association, which was the sole owner of the railroad at that time, closed Rail Town and put both the Sierra Railroad and the Jamestown complex with equipment up for sale separately. In 1980, the Sierra Railroad was sold to Silverfoot Inc., and in 1982 the California Department of Parks and Recreation purchased the Jamestown facilities and reopened the site as
Guide to the Sierra Railroad Records
at The Bancroft Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Sierra Railroad Heritage railroads in California Logging railroads in the United States Defunct California railroads History of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Amusement park companies
The Sierra Railroad Corporation is a privately owned common carrier
A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to a public carrier in some civil law systems,Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods" usually called simply a ''carrier'') is a person or compan ...
. Its Sierra Northern Railway
The Sierra Northern Railway is a common carrier railroad company operating in California. The company owns several right of ways originating from those of the former Sacramento Northern Railroad, Northern Electric Railway (California), Northern ...
freight division handles all freight operations for all branches owned by the Sierra Railroad. The company's Mendocino Railway group operates the diesel- and steam-powered Sacramento RiverTrain (Woodland-Sacramento) and the Skunk Train (Fort Bragg-local). The company's Sierra Energy division is for energy projects.
History
The similarly named Sierra Railway Company of California was founded in 1897 to connect the California Central Valley to theGold Country
The Gold Country (also known as Mother Lode Country) is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines ...
foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Its historic western terminus has always been in Oakdale where a junction was once formed with both the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and the Southern Pacific. The Santa Fe's (now BNSF Railway) Oakdale Branch provided one freight outlet to the AT&SF mainline at Riverbank, California; the Southern Pacific Oakdale Branch from Stockton was abandoned in 1986 and torn out by 1990. The Sierra Railroad bought the BNSF mainline from Riverbank MP1 to Oakdale in 2008. The portion of the former Sierra Railway conveyed by the railroad's historic owners, the Crocker Family, to the California State Park System are with "Sierra Railway", which preserves the original operating name of the entire line and is headquartered at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, and its operating entity, the Sierra Railway, is known as "The Movie Railroad." Both entities are a heritage railway and are a unit of the California State Park System. Railtown 1897 is located in Jamestown, Ca ...
in Jamestown, California
Jamestown is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tuolumne County, California, United States. The population was 3,433 at the 2010 census, up from 3,017 at the 2000 census. Formerly a California Gold Rush town, Jamestown is now a California Hi ...
.
Beginnings
The Sierra Railway Company of California was incorporated on February 1, 1897 by founders Thomas S. Bullock, Prince Andre Poniatowski, and William H. Crocker. In May, the first rails were laid in the grain fields just east of Oakdale, and the stops grew to include Occidental (Now called Arnold), Paulsell, Warnerville, Cooperstown, Chinese, and finally on November 8, 1897; Jamestown, California. The railroad owners had no intention of ending the line there, and the line was extended to Tuolumne, some 16 miles from Jamestown. By 1900, the line had been completed, the same as it is today, with the exception of the abandonment of the Standard to Tuolumne Right-Of-Way. In 1937, the Sierra Railway was sold at a public auction to the new Sierra Railroad Company, and the debts of the original company were settled. In 1955, the railroad made the switch from steam to diesel power, but retained the steam locomotives for movie and television work for which the railroad is famous. In 1971, the Sierra Railroad used its vintage steam locomotives and facilities to its advantage, and opened "Rail Town 1897" as a tourist attraction. In 1979, The Crocker Association, which was the sole owner of the railroad at that time, closed Rail Town and put both the Sierra Railroad and the Jamestown complex with equipment up for sale separately. In 1980, the Sierra Railroad was sold to Silverfoot Inc., and in 1982 the California Department of Parks and Recreation purchased the Jamestown facilities and reopened the site as Railtown 1897 State Historic Park
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, and its operating entity, the Sierra Railway, is known as "The Movie Railroad." Both entities are a heritage railway and are a unit of the California State Park System. Railtown 1897 is located in Jamestown, Ca ...
. In 1995, Silverfoot resold the operation to the Sierra Pacific Coast Railway, and in 2003 merged with the Yolo Shortline Railway, as it exists today.
Locomotive Roster
See also
*California Western Railroad
The California Western Railroad , AKA Mendocino Railway popularly called the Skunk Train, is a rail freight and heritage railway, heritage railroad transport railway in Mendocino County, California, United States, running from the railroad's he ...
*List of heritage railroads in the United States
This is a list of heritage railroads in the United States. There are currently no such railroads in the states of Mississippi or North Dakota.
Heritage railroads by state
Alabama
* Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, Shelby & Southern Railroad a ...
* Sacramento RiverTrain
* Sierra Railway No. 3
External links
* http://www.sierrarailroad.com * http://www.sierranorthern.com * http://www.sacramentorivertrain.com * http://www.sierradinnertrain.com * http://www.skunktrain.com * http://www.sierraenergy.com/ * http://www.railtown1897.org/Guide to the Sierra Railroad Records
at The Bancroft Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Sierra Railroad Heritage railroads in California Logging railroads in the United States Defunct California railroads History of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Amusement park companies