On the other two fronts, Turton, Knox & Ryan had a larger force of upwards of 2,000 men, mostly Chinese, some deployed working eastward from the middle of Alameda Cañon towards Livermore Pass and some working southward from Sacramento towards Stockton. Today, there are tens of thousands of miles scattered throughout the country. [31], After November 1869, the Oakland Pier was the Pacific coast terminus of the transcontinental trains. The WP was the They say timing is everything and as Keddie's latest venture got underway, George Gould entered the picture. The Western Pacific railroad, over which regular passenger traffic will commence on August 22, is a continuation of the Gould system of roads westward from Salt Lake City to the Pacific coast. Replaced by Steel Bridge 1895. Author's collection. Just like the "Big Four" he had no interest in sharing his railroad's monopoly but with Gould's support and financial backing the Western Pacific project moved forward. After he realized Keddie's intentions the two men joined forces to create the Western Pacific Railway on March 3, 1903. Regularly scheduled freight service commenced on December 1st that year while passenger service launched several months later on August 22, 1910. Huntington and his fellow businessmen, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker ("The Big Four"), added another corporate layer to their growing empire when the Southern Pacific Company was formed on August 14, 1884 to manage all properties under their direction. 3,134 were here. Unit # Notes Model Serial # Pictures : WP F7A: Refurbished as 913, donated to Sacramento Rail Museum ). By 1918 it added three non-electrified branches reaching Turlock, Hatch, and Manteca that were designed solely for freight traffic. Levey's other notable endeavors included acquisition of a pair of interurbans; the Sacramento Northern Railway (SN) and Tidewater Southern Railway (TS). The main line boasted several noteworthy engineering feats as Donald Robertson points out in his book, "Encyclopedia Of Western Railroad History, Volume IV: California.". Western Pacific GP35 #3004, U30B #3061, and GP40 #3520 through the fall colors of Northern California in October, 1972. $19.50 + shipping. Two months later, the rail connection to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad was finally in place, as was the expansion of CPRR's Oakland Pier. Built 1921 for Western Pacific Railroad; demolished June 2020 Timber stringer bridge over Los Gatos Creek on Three Creeks Trail Demolition started late June 2020, new ⦠The Western Pacific Railroad (1862-1870) was formed in December 1862 by a group led by Timothy Dame and including Charles McLaughlin and Peter Donahue, all associated with the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad (SF&SJ), to build a railroad from San Jose north to Niles (then called Vallejo Mills), east through Niles Canyon (then called Alameda Cañon), north to Pleasanton, east through the Livermore Valley, and over Altamont Pass to Stockton, then north to Sacramento,[1] with the plan that the transcontinental railroad would follow the Western Pacific to San Jose and then the SF&SJ to San Francisco. Currently on display at the Travel Town Museum in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California. It was the industry's deregulation in 1980 which, ironically, closed the book on the storied Western Pacific. ... Vintage Union Pacific Railroad Equipment Diagram Horse - Baggage Automobile Car. The Sacramento Bee remarks:", "The tunnel at Livermore Pass is completed", "The First Train Through the Tunnel. Nevertheless, the project carried enough clout and financial backing that it eventually opened a 238-mile main line and 32-mile branch. Directed by Sam Newfield. Together, they opened a competing line through the beautiful Feather River Canyon. years Western Pacific moved freight along its well-engineered corridor that, in total, spanned slightly over 1,000 miles. The information includes original numbers, serials, and order numbers. Western Pacific - Image Gallery. Preservation of the History of the Western Pacific Railroad and its Subsidiaries Western Pacific Railway operated routes across 3 states, this is an average amount across most railroads and is typical of small to mid size Eastern Railroads or mid size Western Railroads. Posted on July 22, 2016. The deal also comprised a northern component reaching Hackstaff (Herlong), California as well as N-C-O's western branch to Clio. Itinerary for a Western Pacific salesman training trip visiting several industrial areas and businesses along the WP. The full text of this article is available to Classic Trains Magazine subscribers only. From 1910 until merging with Union Pacific Railroad in 1982, the Western Pacific was one of the West's most popular railroads. It began construction in 1911 and opened from Stockton to Modesto as a standard, steam-powered system in October, 1912. Within a decade the company was in trouble and entered bankruptcy prior to World War I. A highly recommended database! Not only did the Feather River Canyon's unstable geography frustrate the railroad (with numerous mud and rock slides) but strong competition from the Southern Pacific hampered potential. The SP went on to blossom into one of the West's most powerful railroads and denied any attempts at a second transcontinental connection at Salt Lake City. Wes Barris's SteamLocomotive.com is simply the best web resource in the study of steam locomotives. Stanford, this opening of the railroad was pushed to completion to accommodate visitors to the 1869 California State Fair in Sacramento, which opened the same Monday.[29][30]. With financing secured, construction crews began from both ends; to the west, track-laying launched from Oroville, California on January 1, 1906 while work commenced in the east from Salt Lake City on May 5th. Keddie's first effort was the Oroville & Virginia City Railroad launched in 1869. The son of legendary mogul, Jay Gould, he was then working to complete his late father's dream of a true, coast-to-coast railroad. Details about WESTERN PACIFIC RAILROAD 1925 SYSTEM MAP ROUTES CONNECTING RRs. Sacramento Northern's "Southern Division" was the work of the Oakland & Antioch Railway. [8]:408,739 n35 Subsequently Central Pacific concluded that the route via San Jose to San Francisco was too long and that it would be better to change to a route using ferryboats from the planned CPRR's Oakland Pier in Oakland. 1 (Built as Texas Pacific-Missouri Pacific Terminal #12. Its pass through the Sierra Nevada mountains went through Portola (instead of the famous Donner Pass), so here at their former maintenance facility is the Western Pacific Railroad Museum. #1000 began life as demonstrator #889. Special Equipment Handling Instruction Book. Alameda then reverted to local train service and in 1873 the original SF&A pier was abandoned. For nearly 80 They were originally assigned between Pittsburg and Antioch after electrification there was discontinued and later worked car ferry service across the delta. Just type in a town or city and click on the timeline of maps at the bottom of the page! The original Western Pacific Railroad (1862â1870) was established in 1862 to build the westernmost portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad, between Sacramento and San Jose, California (later Oakland, California).After completing the last link from Sacramento to Oakland, this company was absorbed into the Central Pacific Railroad in 1870. Henry Brueckman photo. Mossdale Crossing", "The first through train on the Western Pacific Road", "Alameda Terminal of the First Transcontinental Railroad", "The opening of the Western Pacific Railroad", "CHL # 780.7 Transcontinental Railroad- Site of Completion of Pacific Railroad San Joaquin", "CHL # 440 Alameda Terminal of Transcontinental Railroad Alameda", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_Pacific_Railroad_(1862â1870)&oldid=1001461812, Predecessors of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, California Historical Landmark No. Unfortunately, without a strong freight base and few feeder branches, monetary issues materialized almost immediately. the only surviving locomotive of the original Western Pacific. By early April, 1913 it had extended to Sacramento and a connection with the Northern Electric. After a short legal battle the N-C-O acquired full control of the so-called Plumas Branch on January 1, 1915, a lumber spur that ran 32 miles from Plumas Junction to Clio. See more ideas about railroad, pacific, train. [10] On the morning of November 8, 1869, the first transcontinental train to use the expanded ferry terminal at Oakland Pier traversed the SF&O and the Western Pacific Railroad to reach Sacramento, and continue eastward on the Central Pacific Railroad. At its peak, the Sacramento Northern maintained a network of 183 miles. 780.7 Transcontinental Railroad- Site of Completion of Pacific Railroad, California Historical Landmark No. It is difficult to truly articulate just how much material can be found at this website. Several years later, Keddie tried a second time when he helped establish the San Francisco & Great Salt Lake Railroad, incorporated on May 21, 1892. If you are researching anything EMD related please visit this page first. Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia built three more 30-ton 4-4-0 locomotives in 1866, and two similar locomotives were built by Mason Machine Works of Massachusetts in 1867.[33]. After the completion of the railroad from Sacramento to Alameda Terminal on September 6, 1869, and then the Oakland Pier on November 8, 1869, which was the Pacific coast terminus of the transcontinental railroad, the Western Pacific Railroad was absorbed in 1870 into the Central Pacific Railroad. Seller 100% positive. The website contains everything from historic (fallen flags) to contemporary (Class I's, regionals, short lines, and even some museums/tourist lines) rosters, locomotive production information, technical data, all notable models cataloged by the five major builders (American Locomotive, Electro-Motive, General Electric, Fairbanks-Morse, and Baldwin), and much more. Alas, in 2013 the site closed by thankfully Don Strack rescued the data and transferred it over to his. As historian Dr. George Hilton notes in his book, "American Narrow Gauge Railroads," the N-C-O began as "The Nevada & Oregon Railroad," organized on June 1, 1880. East of Sacramento, the new Western Pacific Railway routes closely paralleled the Southern Pacific's legacy routes from the 1862 Western Pacific Railroad. At a price tag of $700,000 this trackage provided WP access into Reno from a connection along the main line at Reno Junction (near Chat). It was reorganized as the Western Pacific Railroad on June 16, 1916. Western Pacific Railroad (The Feather River Route) "The Feather River Route" Western Pacific boxcar #3159. Altogether, the WP had cost a total of $60 million. An aging Western Pacific F7A at the engine terminal in Stockton, California during March of 1972.