The Shay locomotive is a geared steam locomotive that originated and was primarily used in North America. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive. Although the design of Ephraim Shay's early locomotives differed from later ones, there is a clear line of development that joins all Shays. Shay locomotives were especially suited to logging, mining and industrial operations and could operate successfully on steep or poor quality track.
The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the state park system of California, United States, interpreting the role of the "iron horse" in connecting California to the rest of the nation. It is located in Old Sacramento State Historic Park at 111 I Street, Sacramento.
The Virginia and Truckee Railroad is a privately owned heritage railroad, headquartered in Virginia City, Nevada. Its private and publicly owned route is 14 miles (23 km) long. When first constructed in the 19th century, it was a commercial freight railroad which was originally built to serve the Comstock Lode mining communities of northwestern Nevada.
The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, commonly known as the "Frisco", was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central United States from 1876 to April 17, 1980. At the end of 1970, it operated 4,547 miles (7,318 km) of road on 6,574 miles (10,580 km) of track, not including subsidiaries Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway and the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad; that year, it reported 12,795 million ton-miles of revenue freight and no passengers. It was purchased and absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1980. Despite its name, it never came close to San Francisco.
The Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad is a 3 ft narrow-gauge tourist railroad in California that starts from the Roaring Camp depot in Felton, California and runs up steep grades through redwood forests to the top of nearby Bear Mountain, a distance of 3.25 miles.
The GE 44-ton switcher is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric between 1940 and 1956. It was designed for industrial and light switching duties, often replacing steam locomotives that had previously been assigned these chores.
The Yreka Western Railroad Company is a shortline railroad operating freight trains between the Union Pacific Railroad interchange at Montague and the City of Yreka, California. Railmark Holdings acquired the Yreka Western Railroad in 2017.
The Death Valley Railroad (DVRR) was a 3 ft narrow-gauge railroad that operated in California's Death Valley to carry borax with the route running from Ryan, California and the mines at Lila C, both located just east of Death Valley National Park, to Death Valley Junction, a distance of approximately 20 miles (32 km).
The McCloud Railway was a class III railroad operated around Mount Shasta, California. It began operations on July 1, 1992, when it took over operations from the McCloud River Railroad. The MCR was incorporated on April 21, 1992.
The Arcata and Mad River Railroad, founded in 1854, was the oldest working railroad in California. It operated on a unique narrow gauge until the 1940s when standard gauge rails were laid. Service ceased in 1983 due to landslides. It is California Historical Landmark #842.
The Lake Tahoe Railway and Transportation Company was a 16-mile (26 km), 3 ft narrow gauge railroad that ran from a connection with the Central Pacific Railway at Truckee, California to the waterfront at Lake Tahoe. The railroad was converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge in 1926. The railroad operated its own property from 1899 until October 16, 1925, at which time it was leased to the Southern Pacific Company, which bought the property outright in May 1933. SP abandoned the line in 1943.
The Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway was an Oregon-based short line railroad that began near Eugene as the Oregon and Southeastern Railroad (O&SE) in 1904. O&SE's line ran 18 miles (29 km) along the Row River between the towns of Cottage Grove and Disston. The Oregon, Pacific & Eastern Railway Company incorporated in 1912, purchased the physical assets of the O&SE two years later, and shortened their total trackage to operate 16.6 miles (26.7 km) from an interchange yard with the Southern Pacific Railroad at Cottage Grove, east to a 528' x 156' turnaround loop at Culp Creek. The last of this track was closed and scrapped in 1994, and ownership of its abandoned right of way property was later reverted to the state of Oregon to become one of the first-ever Government/Private Sector cooperative partnership Rails to Trails programs in the US, forming the Row River National Recreation Trail. A successor corporation now operates a narrow-gauge line at Wildlife Safari.
Bucksport was a town in Humboldt County, California. The original location was 2.5 miles (4 km) southwest of downtown Eureka, on Humboldt Bay about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of entrance. at an elevation of 16 feet (4.9 m). Prior to American settlement a Wiyot village named Kucuwalik stood here.
The Glenbrook is a 2-6-0, Mogul type, narrow-gauge steam railway locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1875 for the Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company's 3 ft narrow-gauge railroad.
Virginia and Truckee Railroad Engine No. 27 is a historic standard gauge steam locomotive. It was on display at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City, Nevada, but was traded with The Dayton and is currently on display at the Comstock Historical Center in Virginia City. It was the last locomotive acquired new by the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, and pulled the last commercial train for the V&T on May 31, 1950, the date that freight and passenger services officially terminated for the company. The locomotive was placed on the National Register of Historic Places due to its association with the Virginia and Truckee Railroad and transportation development in Nevada.
Mendocino Lumber Company operated a sawmill on Big River near the town of Mendocino, California. The sawmill began operation in 1853 as the Redwood Lumber Manufacturing Company, and changed ownership several times before cutting its final logs in 1938. The sawmill site became part of the Big River Unit of Mendocino Headlands State Park where a few features of the mill and its associated forest railway are still visible along the longest undeveloped estuary in northern California.
The Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company (C&TL&F) was formed to move lumber from trees growing along the shore of Lake Tahoe to the silver mines of the Comstock Lode. Between 1872 and 1898 C&TL&F transferred 750 million board foot of lumber logged from 80,000 acres (32,000 ha) of virgin timberland.
Virginia and Truckee Railroad No. 12, named Genoa, is a type 4-4-0 American standard gauge steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in January 1873 for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad.
McCloud Railway No. 19, also known as Yreka Western No. 19, or Oregon, Pacific and Eastern No. 19, is a preserved 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive in the United States that worked on the Caddo and Choctaw Railroad, United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company McCloud River Railroad, Yreka Western Railroad, and the Oregon, Pacific, and Eastern Railway. It was purchased new from the Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in 1915. Shortly after retirement, the engine operated on the Yreka Western before being moved up to Cottage Grove, Oregon to run on the OP&E. In the late 1980s, #19 was sent back down to Yreka, California to run on the YW. In April of 1994, the engine returned to McCloud, California to run a series of excursions on the McCloud, Railway. It has since been used in the films Emperor of the North Pole, Bound for Glory, and Stand By Me. As of 2022, No. 19 is being restored at the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio.
Columbia River Belt Line 7, also known as Skookum, is a preserved 2-4-4-2 Mallet-type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1909. It was used to pull logging trains in the Pacific Northwest, until 1955, when the locomotive fell on its side, and it was abandoned. Several decades and ownership changes later, No. 7 was restored to operating condition in 2018. Presently, Skookum is owned by Chris Baldo, and it is being used to run on occasion for the Niles Canyon Railway.
