Steve, Do you know what that marker is off to the right in the picture? There are two of these along the Mountain Quarries row but no sign as to what they indicate. One was definately painted white on one side just like in your pic. Here's two shots of Magma locos from my collection: My roster info says that #9 may still be down there. Are you able to verify?
Jeff & Tim, Thanks for all the excellent info on these lines!! I had some of the roster stuff but not all of what you guys mention. Iron Mountain you say eh? I've thought of exploring that one sometime. I've got two locos listed on my roster. Any more? By the way, my copy of Delormes Northern California Gazette still shows the row! Cool! Tim, you should check out the site Jeff has on the McCloud. He has a Pitt River RR page and a roster in the works. McCloud Rails , if ya havn't seen it already.
I think mine would have to be the Chehalis Western. This railroad was owned by Weyerhauser and used to haul logs from the log reloads of Curtis (just west of Chehalis, Wa) & Vail (about 35-40 miles east of Olympia) to the export yard in Tacoma. As a kid I used to ride along with my grandad to these reload yards and have many fond memories of the Chehalis Western log trains. One time when I was ohhh about 6-7 years old I was out at Curtis cutting firewood with my dad, wait a minute I was more like being a pest to my dad as I was not much help. Well I remember the engineer was out kicking some cars around and stopped the locomotive next to my dads pickup. He asked if he could take me for a ride in the engine. Of course my dad knew that I wanted to go. So I must have spent an hour or so riding in the cab got to blow the horn. It was an hour that felt like an eternity that I WILL NEVER FORGET. This was in a classic EMD GP-7, I have such fond memories of that moment I have finally painted and detailed that exact locomotive after all these years of wanting to do so.
Ghostline across the desert: Mr. Smith the Borax king. Built a narrow gauge railroad from Borate to Daggett or better said to the Calico Mining District. His second railroad was the T&T a standard gauge railroad. It is the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad, that captures my attention. Mr. Smith was determined to a build a railroad to Tonopah and ended up building it, the longest way possible and it was because of this he never reached Tonopah. The Las Vegas & Tonopah made more sense and yet this railroad was destined to fail. Mr. Smiths supporters and investors supported the constrution of the T&T despite the knowledge that the LV&T was building to the same location. The project for the T&T ended just south of Rhyolite, NV. The mining boom eventually died out and the T&T was cut back to a point just north of Death Valley Junction. The T&T railroad served Death Valley hauling Borax for a time. The line saw a short passenger train...a former Santa Fe doodlebug with a old business car. This short and curious train delivered sightseers to Death Valley Junction. Then by car to Death Valley, across a poorly graded dirt road, back before paved roads finally reached the valley. I heard that at one time they operated from the LAUPT via San Bernardino to Barstow taking to their own tracks at Ludlow, CA. The actual trip may have only occurred once or twice for reasons unknown to this TB participant. It may have been a Santa Fe excursion back before the doodlebug was sold to the T&T. My dad remembers it leaving from Barstow, CA. Saying it never went to Los Angeles. The history is considerable and there's more to share then I have space here or time to tell. It has been said that on occasion you can still hear the lonely whistle of the steam engine as it works it's way up Amargosa Canyon. Fallen Flags: The Rio Grande or the former Moffat line and the Santa Fe. My great grandad started working for the Moffat line and called himself a Moffat man. He later hired out with the Santa Fe out of Albuquerque, NM and was heard to say, "I don't ever want to be cold like that again". He retired as a engineer for Santa Fe, at Barstow, CA. My granddad worked for the Santa Fe hireing on at Richmond, CA and retireing at Barstow, CA. One might wonder why they ever moved to Barstow, CA.? I heard, "More pay". It may of had more to do with my fathers health. Interesting times.
John, nice shots! I don't know, I sure haven't seen #9 in my snoopings. The marker in the picture is a W post, look in the distance for the two crossbucks. The paint has worn off!
Mine would be the Seattle, Lake Shore, and Eastern. Back in the day, it would not have been called a shortline, but had the makings of a small regional. Alas, it was all gone by 1900. My main interest is the part of the line that ran from Spokane to Davenport, WA. There are no known photos of operations from this part of the line, though there are many photos of the lines around the Seattle area. Both sections were to be joined by a line that was proposed to go through Coulee City, Waterville, Wenatchee, and to a point near Everett where it joined the north-south line between Seattle and Sumas.
Dan- Am a bit confused. The SLS&E existed until 1896. Then went to the Seattle & International. Which lasted until 1901. Then went into the NP. I've not explored every aspect of where the SLS&E was proposed to run. Am curious about the Everett plan you've noted. They surveyed over Snoqualmie Pass. And the next pass just to it's north. Behind what we know as Mount Si. (Pronounced "Sigh.") Which that pass name escapes me right now. Which would not have lead toward Everett. The line that terminated just almost at the present truck stop, I-90, Exit 34, east of North Bend, was heading toward Spokane, over Snoqualmie. Until they ran out of money in 1890. Boxcab E50
Ken, The map that I have, published by the SLS&E shows that line to North Bend, as well as the proposed one I mentioned. There are published accounts of surveys crews all the way out to Coulee City, who were in competition with key sections of land with the NP crews. Yes, I am aware of the name changes after bankruptcy. My comment about 1900 was a generalization, as I did not have the correct date in front of me. They went bankrupt in 1893. Sold in 1896. The eastern WA section became the Spokane & Seattle Railway. The NP bought that railroad in 2 sections, with the second one purchased in 1900. This second section survived, partially, to the BN merger. It was a spur that ran out of Davenport to a little spot called Eleanor. It was abandoned in 1983. The first purchased section ran from Spokane to Medical Lake. It was abandoned by the NP right after purchase, as they preferred to use their own line, the old Washington Central, between those 2 points. This section was purchased in 1904 by the Washington Water Power company for its interurban line between those 2 points. It was abandoned, again, in 1922 after decreased ridership. I'm still looking for abandonment dates for the section between Eleanor and Medical Lake. Some photos would be great. There are many references in a growing collection of books here, but no photos. Kurt Armbruster's book, "The Orphan Road," has a lot of info on the SLS&E, including a photo of the steam locomotive "A M CANNON," #11, which is named after a prominent Spokane resident. This is the kind of railfanning I like to do!!
John, The Iron Mountain Railway had atleast 5 0-4-2T on their roster when they first opened. After awhile they aquired some geared locomotives which I believe were shays. The road that runs up to the site of the Iron Mountain Mine is the old railroad grade. If you have John Signors book "Southern Pacific's Shasta Division" it has pretty good information on all the shortlines that were once tributary to the main line. Also if you look at www.shastahistorical.org they have quite an extensive photo database with lots of pictures of the A&BV, SV&E, Lamoine, Iron Mountain, and a few of the logging operation on Round Mountain. The description on the pictures isn't a lot, but it is enough to tell you when and where the photo was taken. There is also some good SP shots as well.
Dan- Any chance you could scan that map? Any date shown? The portion Cascades and west? Am trying think of ever seeing it. Some maps I've found were so crudely drawn, they could be heading anywhere. Rats! I still can't think of a name for that Pass in the Cascades. Yes. Ran out of construction capital 1890. Bankrupt 1893. As did so many others. Due to the Financial Panic of 1893. I just wish there were more color photos of that west side track. Amazingly, there are not many in diesel times. All those years of living next to it. And even I neglected to take one. Wish it was possible to print out of my memory. Boxcab E50
Dan- Got it. It's been about ten years, since I'd last perused a copy of that book. I still cannot think of a name for that pass. Memory says it was north of Alpental, in the area of Mount Snoqualmie. And came down the east side near Salmon La Sac, and Lake Cle Elum. Sorry, John... Didn't mean to hijack your thread! :embarassed: Boxcab E50
No Worries! I'm loving all this discussion. I'm learning about all kinds of roads and such. Keep em coming guys!
Went to the Roseville,CA International Railfair Model Trainshow yesterday. Got a real neat book called Red River. Its all about another Northern California ghost shortline. Very awesome. Tim and Jeff, as you mention, Red River Lumber Co bought what was the Anderson & Bella Vista. Well this book has a ton of info on it. Also complete rosters. There is even a section on the Almanor RR in Chester which was once part of the Red River Lmbr ops too. I have yet to really dig into the book but it already seems very informative.
How's about the Pacific Coast RR that ran from Seattle, out to Black Diamond, and Newcastle, Washington? Great little steamers, runnin' on the same tracks as Milwaukee Road thru Maple Valley, and hauling old, old gondola's filled with coal. Eventually bought by the GN in the mid-fifties though.
