The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California counties. Although many areas of the Sacramento Valley are rural, it contains several urban areas, including the state capital, Sacramento. Since 2010, statewide droughts in California have further strained both the Sacramento Valley's and the Sacramento metropolitan region's water security.
The California Western Railroad, AKA Mendocino Railway, popularly called the Skunk Train, is a rail freight and heritage railroad transport railway in Mendocino County, California, United States, running from the railroad's headquarters in the coastal town of Fort Bragg to the interchange with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at Willits.
The San Joaquin Valley Railroad is one of several short line railroad companies and is part of the Western Region Division of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operates over about 371 miles (597 km) of owned or leased track primarily on several lines in California's Central Valley/San Joaquin Valley around Fresno and Bakersfield. The SJVR has trackage rights over Union Pacific between Fresno, Goshen, Famoso, Bakersfield and Algoso. The SJVR also operated for the Tulare Valley Railroad (TVRR) from Calwa to Corcoran and Famoso.
The Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad, LLC is a Class II Regional Railroad in the U.S. states of Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas. The company is headquartered in Carthage, Missouri. It is not to be confused with the Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad which connected Joplin, Missouri, with Helena, Arkansas, from 1906 to 1946.
The Sierra Railroad Corporation is a privately owned common carrier. Its Sierra Northern Railway 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. The company's Sierra Energy division is for energy projects.
The Sacramento River Fox Train, formerly the Yolo Shortline Railroad Company, is a common carrier railroad company that runs special excursions within West Sacramento, California.
The California Northern Railroad is one of several Class III short-line railroad companies owned by Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. It operates over Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) tracks under a long-term lease.
The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a 271-mile (436 km) mainline railroad from the ferry connections in Sausalito north to Eureka with a connection to the national railroad system at Schellville. The railroad has gone through a history of different ownership and operators but has maintained a generic name of reference as The Northwestern Pacific Railroad, despite no longer being officially named that. Currently, only a 62-mile (100 km) stretch of mainline from Larkspur to the Sonoma County Airport in Windsor and east to Schellville on the “south end” is operated by Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART), which operates both commuter and freight trains with plans for future extension north to Cloverdale. The “north end” from Willits to Eureka is currently out of service, but saved by 2018 legislation to be converted into the Great Redwood Trail.
The Central California Traction Company is a Class III short-line railroad operating in the northern San Joaquin Valley, in San Joaquin County, California. It is owned jointly by the Union Pacific and BNSF Railway.
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 Modesto and Empire Traction Company is a Class III short-line railroad operating in California's San Joaquin Valley. 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 switchers built between 1947 and 1955; however, a former Southern Pacific EMD SW1500 switcher was added to the roster as of late. The MET operates on 5 miles (8 km) of mainline track, as well as an additional 48.7 miles (78.4 km) of yard and industry track, providing switching services in the Beard Industrial Park. The MET interchanges with the Union Pacific at Modesto and with the BNSF Railway Stockton Subdivision at Empire.
The Sacramento Northern Railway was a 183-mile (295 km) electric interurban railway that connected Chico in northern California with Oakland via the California capital, Sacramento. In its operation it ran directly on the streets of Oakland, Sacramento, Yuba City, Chico, and Woodland and ran interurban passenger service until 1941 and freight service into the 1960s.
The San Pedro Valley Railroad, formerly the San Pedro & Southwestern Railroad, is an Arizona shortline railroad, currently operating from a connection with the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) at Benson, Arizona, seven miles to Curtiss, Arizona west of St. David. The SPSR formerly ran a total of 76.2 miles (122.6 km), with main track from Benson to Paul Spur, a location about 10 miles (16 km) west of Douglas, as well as the Bisbee Branch which ran 5.6 miles (9.0 km) to Bisbee, Arizona. The SPSR is owned by Ironhorse Resources.
The Minnesota Northern Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad that operates over 224 miles (360 km) of track in northwestern Minnesota. The railroad is co-owned by KBN Incorporated and Independent Locomotive Service and is headquartered in Crookston, Minnesota.
The BG&CM Railroad or Bountiful Grain and Craig Mountain Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad located in North Central Idaho.
The Amador Central Railroad was a standard gauge railroad that operated 11.8 miles (19.0 km) between a connection with the Southern Pacific Company (SP) at Ione and Martell near the town of Jackson, California. The carrier served the Sierra Nevada Foothills gold mining communities and hauled lumber products from the El Dorado National Forest. Amador is the name of the county in which the railroad operated.
This article lists the railroads and a timeline of railroad history in Solano County, California.
The Meeker Southern Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad owned by Ballard Terminal Railroad Company LLC that travels approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) between East Puyallup ("Meeker") and McMillin, Washington, United States.
The Eureka Southern Railroad was a shortline freight and excursion railroad that ran over former Northwestern Pacific trackage in California from Willits to Eureka.
The Arizona and California Railroad is a class III short line railroad that was a subdivision of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). The ARZC began operations on May 9, 1991, when David Parkinson of the ParkSierra RailGroup purchased the line from the Santa Fe Railway. ParkSierra Railgroup was purchased in January 2002 by shortline railroad holding company RailAmerica. The Genesee & Wyoming shortline railroad holding company purchased RailAmerica in December 2012. ARZC's main commodities are petroleum gas, steel, and lumber; the railroad hauls around 12,000 carloads per year.
