The Western Railway Museum , in Solano County, California is located on Highway 12 between Rio Vista and Suisun . The museum is built along the former mainline of the Sacramento Northern Railway . Their collection focuses on trolleys , as it is primarily a museum of interurban transit equipment.
121-690: The Western Railway Museum has the largest collection of Sacramento Northern Railway equipment in existence, and the museum also operates a line of the former Sacramento Northern as a heritage railway with scheduled excursions for visitors. Originally named the California Railway Museum , it was renamed the Western Railway Museum at the beginning of 1985. The museum is operated by the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association (BAERA),
242-662: A heritage railway . Much of the SN's former equipment is part of the museum's permanent collection. Segments of the Woodland Branch continue to see limited freight service as well as excursion trips and railbike hires operated as the RiverFox Train . Some of the right of way in Concord and Walnut Creek were reactivated in the 1970s for use by Bay Area Rapid Transit . The streetcar line north of Sacramento to Swanston
363-536: A non-profit organization . The Bay Area Electric Railroad Association was started by a group of San Francisco Bay Area rail fans in 1946. The group was specifically interested in electric traction, more than main line railroads. Other groups such as the California/Nevada Historical Society usually had meetings and excursions on main line subjects. BAERA held monthly social meetings, frequently showing members slides and movies to
484-607: A pantograph rather than the trolley pole on Key System rails (electrified at 600 volts) and over the Bay Bridge (electrified at 1,200 volts for the Southern Pacific); the Key System used a covered top-contact third rail over the bridge. Because of the Key System's third rail, cars that could traverse the whole system had to have their third rail shoes removed, since the top-contact shoes would have fouled
605-693: A wye connecting to the Key System tracks along 40th. While trains utilized Key System trackage for the final few miles of passenger service in Oakland, SN bypassed all intermediate stops and ran direct to the San Francisco terminal. Initially, trains terminated at the Key System Mole , where passengers could transfer to ferries to San Francisco. Trains to the San Francisco Transbay Terminal lasted over two years at
726-423: A 1.5 mi (2.4 km) streetcar ride and/or a 10 mi (16 km) Interurban ride, picnic at the shaded grounds, browse in the bookstore and view small exhibits in the visitor center. Also in the visitor center is the depot cafe and F. M. Smith Library and Archives, which are open two days a month for research and browsing. Also available are self-guided car house tours and guided car house tours. The museum
847-621: A climate controlled space in one of the newer buildings. The Association owns about 100 pieces of railroad equipment, mainly from the electric railroads of the West, but also several Western Pacific Railroad pieces including two steam locomotives. Equipment is in a wide range of conditions, and some equipment is maintained fully operational. For example, Petaluma and Santa Rosa 63, Peninsular Railway 52, Salt Lake and Utah 751, and Sacramento Northern 62. The interurban car Sacramento Northern 1005 (originally Oakland, Antioch and Eastern 1005) has been
968-504: A costly rebuild of the long causeway trestle north of the Suisun Bay. The aging train ferry, Ramon , was removed from service in 1954 after failing a Coast Guard inspection. As a result, most traffic ceased on the main line south of Sacramento. Western Pacific arranged for trackage rights to close the gaps between Sacramento and Pittsburg. In 1956 SN reported 45 million ton-miles (65.7 million tonne-km) of revenue freight; at
1089-523: A ferry service was implemented as a temporary measure. Construction of the bridge stopped in May 1913 after construction of the pier on the Contra Costa County side, because of a shortage of funds due to uncertainties brought on by World War I . The railway, not meeting revenue expectations, never did restart construction, and the "temporary" ferry service became the permanent method of traversing
1210-582: A few cars on those grades with locomotives ("juice jacks") at both ends of the train. From Sacramento north to Chico, the SN competed with the Southern Pacific Railroad and, up to 1922, with the Western Pacific from Marysville south. It traversed a low density population rural farm country from Chico which contained only Marysville and Yuba City as major towns before reaching Sacramento. Thus, passenger business north of Sacramento
1331-467: A focus of restoration activity in the last 10 years. The BAERA operated many excursions in its early years, and this car was used quite frequently. It was often hauled around in freight trains to reach an excursion site, and sometimes suffered damage in these trips, including a badly bent frame in June 1962. The damage has been repaired and the car has been restored to its 1934 configuration. Visitors can take
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#17327729824701452-567: A former station stop along the Sacramento Northern Railway near Suisun, California in 1960. BAERA became a 501(c) (3) non-profit educational corporation in the 1960s, and created as its major project the California Railway Museum . At the beginning of 1985, the museum was renamed the Western Railway Museum, to avoid confusion with the California State Railroad Museum . Significant events at
1573-437: A four-train service daily; smaller railways may run daily throughout the summer with only one steam locomotive. The Great Central Railway , the only preserved British main line with a double track, can operate over 50 trains on a busy timetable day. After the privatisation of main-line railways, the line between not-for-profit heritage railways and for-profit branch lines may be blurred. The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
1694-406: A gap of 2,600 feet (790 m). The bay saw heavy shipping traffic and thus a high-level drawbridge with long approaches was required. Construction began in 1912; the estimated price tag was $ 1.5 million ($ 47.4 million in 2023 adjusted for inflation) and construction time was estimated as two and a half years. This would have delayed the opening of the railway, and so an alternative plan of
1815-453: A ledge (still apparent today) just above Pinehurst Road, progressing southeast past the small community of Canyon . The line then turned north to Moraga, past St Mary's , and thence northeasterly through Lafayette, Saranap, and the valley past Walnut Creek and to Concord and Pittsburg. Some of the right of way through Contra Costa County is now used by the BART system to Concord. At Pittsburg,
1936-401: A list which in 2022 reached 26 railway lines. According to article 1, law 128/2017 has as its purpose: "the protection and valorisation of railway sections of particular cultural, landscape and tourist value, which include railway routes, stations and related works of art and appurtenances, and of the historic and tourist rolling stock authorized to travel along them, as well as the regulation of
2057-677: A local developer. The combined main line extended for 183 miles (295 km) between San Francisco and Chico. At the southern end the SNRy shared track, electric propulsion power, and facilities of the East Bay's expansive Key System commuter lines. At first this used the Key System Mole in West Oakland . Then, beginning in 1939, trains began running on the tracked lower deck of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge into
2178-656: A major exception being the Furka Steam Railway , the longest unelectrified line in the country and one of the highest rail crossings in Europe . Many railway companies, especially mountain railways , provide services with well-preserved historic trains for tourists, for instance the Rigi Railways , the oldest rack railway in Europe, and the Pilatus Railway , the steepest in the world. Two railways,
2299-428: A narrow-gauge railway, parks were free of redevelopment. Child volunteers and socialist fiscal policy enabled the existence of many of these railways. Children's railways which still carry traffic have often retained their original infrastructure and rolling stock, including vintage steam locomotives; some have acquired heritage vehicles from other railways. Examples of children's railways with steam locomotives include
2420-728: A non-polluting fuel. The Villa Elisa Historic Train (operated by Ferroclub Central Entrerriano) runs steam trains between the cities of Villa Elisa and Caseros in Entre Ríos Province , covering 36 km (22 mi) in 120 minutes. The world's second preserved railway, and the first outside the United Kingdom, was Australia's Puffing Billy Railway . This railway operates on 15 miles (24 km) of track, with much of its original rolling stock built as early as 1898. Just about over half of Australia's heritage lines are operated by narrow gauge tank engines, much like
2541-473: A part of the city's new transit system. Another such line, called The Silver Line , operates in San Diego . Sacramento Northern Railway The Sacramento Northern Railway (reporting mark SN ) was a 183-mile (295 km) electric interurban railway that connected Chico in northern California with Oakland via the state capital , Sacramento . In its operation it ran directly on
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#17327729824702662-516: A section of a modern light rail system. Heritage streetcar systems operating in Little Rock, Arkansas ; Memphis, Tennessee ; Dallas, Texas ; New Orleans, Louisiana ; Boston, Massachusetts ( MBTA Mattapan Trolley ) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ( SEPTA route 15 ); and Tampa, Florida , are among the larger examples. A heritage line operates in Charlotte, North Carolina , and will become
2783-525: A station just outside the tunnel portal as "Eastport." The tunnel portal is no longer visible, largely as a result of a landslide which occurred during the El Niño rains of the early 1980s. The right of way ran along an extant fire trail near the spot where Pinehurst Road makes a sharp u-turn. This fire trail was previously known as Winding Way on some maps, and was originally an old 19th century logging road built by Hiram Thorn, for bringing redwood logs out of
2904-671: A third rail shoe, a trolley pole, and a pantograph. The differing electrical systems, third rail for the North End and trolley wire for the South End, were retained. Cars from the higher-voltage southern division could operate over the whole line, but those in the northern division were relegated to that territory. Sacramento Northern also continued to operate streetcar services in many of its host cities. A line in Sacramento to Swanston ran between 1914 and 1932, largely subsidized by
3025-691: A victim of Beeching) was the Middleton Railway ; the second, and the first to carry passengers, was the Bluebell Railway . Not-for-profit heritage railways differ in their quantity of service and some lines see traffic only on summer weekends. The more successful, such as the Severn Valley Railway and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway , may have up to five or six steam locomotives and operate
3146-580: A vintage pit railway and offer mantrip rides into the mine. The Metro 1 (officially the Millennium Underground Railway or M1), built from 1894 to 1896, is the oldest line of the Budapest Metro system and the second-oldest underground railway in the world. The M1 underwent major reconstruction during the 1980s and 1990s, and Line 1 now serves eight original stations whose original appearance has been preserved. In 2002,
3267-442: Is a narrow-gauge railway in central Slovakia , established in the first decade of the 20th century and operating primarily as a freight railway for the local logging industry. From the late 1920s to the early 1960s, it also offered passenger transport between the villages of Hronec and Čierny Balog. The railway became Czechoslovakia 's most extensive forest railway network. After its closure in 1982, it received heritage status and
3388-533: Is a cross-border joint Swiss-Italian heritage area. Trains operating on the Bernina line include the Bernina Express . In July 2023, Ferrovie dello Stato established a new company, the "FS Treni Turistici Italiani" (English: FS Italian Tourist Trains), with the mission "to propose an offer of railway services expressly designed and calibrated for quality, sustainable tourism and attentive to rediscovering
3509-678: Is a stretch of rebuilt narrow-gauge railway on the bank of the old Kovjoki– Nykarleby line. The Buckower Kleinbahn [ de ] is a 4.9-kilometre (3.0 mi) spur line of the Prussian Eastern Railway , located in the Märkische Schweiz Nature Park in Brandenburg . It was originally constructed in 1897 as a narrow-gauge railway , with a gauge of 750 mm ( 2 ft 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ), connecting Buckow to
3630-573: Is an example of a commercial line run as a heritage operation and to provide local transportation, and the Severn Valley Railway has operated a few goods trains commercially. A number of heritage railway lines are regularly used by commercial freight operators. Since the Bluebell Railway reopened to traffic in 1960, the definition of private standard gauge railways in the United Kingdom as preserved railways has evolved as
3751-554: Is applied (art. 2, paragraph 1). At the same time, the law identified a first list of 18 tourist railways, considered to be of particular value (art. 2, paragraph 2). The list is periodically updated by decree of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport , in agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Culture , also taking into account the reports in the State-Regions Conference,
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3872-716: Is one of the highest railways in the world . The line has 29 bridges, 21 tunnels, 13 viaducts, two spirals and two zigzags , and its highest point is 4,220 metres (13,850 ft) above sea level. In the Misiones Province , more precisely in the Iguazú National Park, is the Ecological Train of the Forest. With a speed below 20 km per hour to avoid interfering with wildlife and the formations are propelled to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG),
3993-616: Is open on weekends throughout the year and for extended hours during the summer. On some October weekends, it operates trains (usually Key System Bridge Units 182 and 187) to the Pumpkin Patch Festival at the Gum Grove Station. The collection also includes a railroad line. This is a section of the original Sacramento Northern Railway from Montezuma (near Collinsville) north to Dozier, also a newer rail line west from Dozier to Cannon (near Vacaville). The railroad
4114-697: The Albula Railway and the Bernina Railway , have been designated as a World Heritage Site , although they are essentially operated with modern rolling stock. Due to the availability of hydroelectric resources in the Alps, the Swiss network was electrified earlier than in the rest of Europe. Some of the most emblematic pre-World War II electric locomotives and trains are the Crocodile , notably used on
4235-663: The Chemin de fer à vapeur des Trois Vallées and PFT operates the Chemin de Fer du Bocq . Heritage streetcar lines: Museums with operational heritage streetcar lines: On the Finnish state-owned rail network , the section between Olli and Porvoo is a dedicated museum line. In southern Finland , it is the only line with many structural details abandoned by the rest of the network which regularly carries passenger traffic. Wooden sleepers , gravel ballast and low rail weight with no overhead catenary make it uniquely historical. Along
4356-1257: The Dresden Park Railway in Germany; the Gyermekvasút in Budapest ; the Park Railway Maltanka in Poznań ; the Košice Children's Railway in Slovakia, and the 7 + 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 184 mm ) gauge steam railway on the grounds of St Nicholas' School in Merstham , Surrey , which the children help operate with assistance from the East Surrey 16mm Group and other volunteers. Creating passages for trains up steep hills and through mountain regions offers many obstacles which call for technical solutions. Steep grade railway technologies and extensive tunneling may be employed. The use of narrow gauge allows tighter curves in
4477-672: The Gotthard Railway , and the Red Arrow . Both are occasionally operated by SBB Historic . Switzerland also comprehends a large number of funiculars, several still working with the original carriages, such as the Giessbachbahn . In Britain, heritage railways are often railway lines which were run as commercial railways but were no longer needed (or closed down) and were taken over or re-opened by volunteers or non-profit organisations. The large number of heritage railways in
4598-646: The Kangra Valley Railway are preserved narrow gauge railways under consideration for UNESCO status. Some scenic routes have been preserved as heritage railways. Here normal services have stopped, only tourist heritage trains are operated. Examples of these are the Patalpani–Kalakund Heritage Train and the Rajasthan Valley Queen Heritage train which runs from Marwar Junction to Khamlighat . In Italy
4719-473: The Marysville and Colusa Branch started less than a year later. At this time, the company additionally opened the isolated Willota–Suisun–Vacaville branch, intending it as part of an eventual route south of Sacramento. as a stopgap, passengers in Sacramento could transfer to California Transportation Company riverboats in Sacramento to continue on to San Francisco. The NER went into bankruptcy in 1914, and
4840-462: The Müncheberg (Mark) station . This line was electrified and changed to standard gauge in 1930. It has operated as a heritage railway since 2002. The Mountain railways of India are the railway lines that were built in the mountainous regions of India . The term mainly includes the narrow-gauge and metre-gauge railways in these regions but may also include some broad-gauge railways. Of
4961-728: The Sierra Northern Railway ). The track proceeds across a very long elevated wood viaduct-bridge over the wide Yolo flood plain to enter Woodland and go down Main Street to the Woodland Opera House where the interurban cars turned around. Today SERA terminates shortly before East Street several blocks east of the Opera House. The Woodland terminal was a unique Mission-style structure and was recently reconstructed. The Sacramento bound interurban cars exited
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5082-661: The Tidewater Southern Railway (TS) (Stockton to Modesto) and the Central California Traction Company (CCT) (Stockton to downtown Sacramento). The CCT used the same downtown Sacramento terminal and ran directly on Sacramento streets. The two divisions used different voltages as well as different methods of current collection, thus only some powered equipment could traverse the entire Chico to Oakland route. When in Oakland, SN used Key System electric power. Some equipment carried
5203-827: The Train of the End of the World to the Tierra del Fuego National Park is considered the world's southernmost functioning railway. Heritage railway operations started in 1994, after restoration of the old 500 mm ( 19 + 3 ⁄ 4 in ) (narrow-gauge) steam railway . In Salta Province in northeastern Argentina, the Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds) runs along 220 km (140 mi) of 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) metre gauge track in what
5324-420: The Transbay Terminal in San Francisco. At 183 miles (295 km), the railroad's Comet and Meteor services between San Francisco and Chico were the longest interurban lines in North America. It was built and operated to first-class railroad standards, such as providing dining and parlor car service and operated at speeds up to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Rail service to Oroville ended in 1938 after
5445-555: The USSR during the Soviet era . Many were called "Pioneer railways", after the youth organisation of that name . The first children's railway opened in Moscow in 1932 and, at the breakup of the USSR, 52 children's railways existed in the country. Although the fall of communist governments has led to the closure of some, preserved children's railways are still functioning in post-Soviet states and Eastern European countries . Many children's railways were built on parkland in urban areas. Unlike many industrial areas typically served by
5566-431: The canton of Graubünden , Switzerland , with the town of Tirano , in the Province of Sondrio , Italy , via the Bernina Pass . Reaching a height of 2,253 metres (7,392 ft) above sea level, it is the third highest railway crossing in Europe . It also ranks as the highest adhesion railway of the continent, and – with inclines of up to 7% – as one of the steepest adhesion railways in
5687-438: The Central California Traction (to Stockton) had separate terminals. Pressure from Sacramento to stop loading multiple-car interurban trains on city streets led to construction of a terminal for all three in 1925. This produced the impressive two-story columned brick Union Traction Terminal along I Street between 11th and 12th Streets, near the current SacRT light rail 12th & I station . Trains left I street to circle behind
5808-442: The Feather River into adjacent Yuba City, split off the branch to Colusa, then went on to Live Oak, split off the branch to Oroville, then to Gridley and to Chico where it terminated. In Chico there were yards and primary shops. The electrified Woodland branch line left the Oakland bound main line at West Sacramento and ran 16 miles (26 km) straight west toward Woodland (known as the Yolo Shortline RR until 2003 and now known as
5929-476: The Key System rail's cover. They were normally added or removed in Sacramento. Such all-line capable cars were switchable between 600 V and 1,200 V operation; they could also operate at half power at the 1,200 V setting on 600 V overhead. The SN's south end high-quality electrification used catenary rather than a single trolley wire, leading to the eventual exclusive use of pantographs rather than trolley poles south of Sacramento. Catenary allows
6050-435: The Moraga Redwoods and to his mill, and then over the mountain into Oakland. Even earlier, the route up the canyon to what is now Huckleberry preserve was a cattle trail for the Spanish and Mexican ranchers, en route to a landing at the mouth of Temescal Creek on San Francisco Bay. At the sharp curve at Eastport, the tracks immediately crossed over Pinehurst road on a bridge. The right-of-way then headed down Redwood Canyon on
6171-415: The Mountain railways of India, the Darjeeling Himalayan , Nilgiri Mountain and Kalka–Shimla Railways have been collectively designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . To meet World Heritage criteria, the sites must retain some of their traditional infrastructure and culture. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is also the only rack and pinion railway in India. The Matheran Hill Railway , along with
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#17327729824706292-446: The Oakland, Antioch and Eastern. It ran due south from Dixon to Olcott. An early branch of the Northren Electric ran between Chico and Hamilton City , primarily to move sugar beets to the sugar processing plant in the latter city. It opened to passenger service on September 13, 1907. The line crossed the Sacramento River on a pontoon bridge. The railroad additionally operated two long lines exclusively for freight. One ran into
6413-469: The Old Patagonian Express) was declared a National Historic Monument by the Government of Argentina in 1999. Trains on the Patagonian 750 mm ( 2 ft 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) narrow-gauge railway use steam locomotives. The 402-kilometre-long (250 mi) railway runs through the foothills of the Andes between Esquel and El Maitén in Chubut Province and Ingeniero Jacobacci in Río Negro Province . In southern Argentina,
6534-462: The SN with a Southern Pacific-Union Pacific interchange at Colusa. This line branched from the southern division south of Walnut Creek at Saranap , running south and paralleling the Southern Pacific's Danville Branch . It opened to Danville on March 2, 1914, extending to Diablo Park a few months later in June. Service was provided by a single car, numbered 1051. The route proved unprofitable and service ended in 1924. Northern Electric acquired
6655-440: The SN's return on initial investment was lower and its annual operating costs were higher than had been projected at conception. Interurbans, like most railroads, were very labor-intensive, particularly with the labor costs of maintaining motorized rolling stock and repairing electrical systems. Passenger business was less than initially projected and became increasingly unprofitable, even after SN reached downtown San Francisco via
6776-411: The SN. There a ferry boat (the Ramon ) carried an entire passenger train across to a north side landing near Suisun called "Chipps" on Chipps Island . From here the line proceeded north across an extensive marshland (including Chipps Island and Van Sickle Island ) on a long trestle. After the trestle, the tracks continued north through farmland past Montezuma, Rio Vista Junction, and Creed, where there
6897-410: The Sacramento Northern Railway as a subsidiary rather than just absorbing it into the Western Pacific Railroad, the WP earned more income by interchanging freight with a separate Sacramento Northern Railroad due to extra fees earned from shipper-customers by interchanging freight from one railroad (itself) to another (the Sacramento Northern). Western Pacific also owned regional sister electric railroads,
7018-406: The UK is due in part to the closure of many minor lines during the 1960s' Beeching cuts , and they were relatively easy to revive. There are between 100 and 150 heritage railways in the United Kingdom. A typical British heritage railway will use steam locomotives and original rolling stock to create a period atmosphere, although some are concentrating on diesel and electric traction to re-create
7139-446: The Union Pacific absorbed Western Pacific/SN it obtained further trackage rights on the Santa Fe which extended to Port Chicago where SN had a small yard. Thus, Pittsburg trackage was removed in the early 1990s. From the Sacramento depot at present day Terminal Way, the SN's "North End" ran to a Northern Electric-built truss bridge crossing the American River and then on to Rio Linda, to East Nicolaus, then to Marysville where it crossed
7260-515: The United States as tourist, historic, or scenic railroads. Most are remnants of original railroads, and some are reconstructed after having been scrapped. Some heritage railways preserve entire railroads in their original state using original structures, track, and motive power. Examples of heritage railroads in the US by preservation type: Other operations, such as the Valley Railroad or Hocking Valley Scenic Railway operate on historic track and utilize historic equipment, but are not reflective of
7381-421: The WP created a "new" Sacramento Northern Railway (SNRy), in order to group the growing collection of their interurban railroad holdings. Thus, the Sacramento Northern Railway was created from two distinct interurban railroads. Western Pacific purchased the San Francisco–Sacramento Railroad in 1922 and proceeded to acquire the stock of the NER in 1927; they consolidated operations the following year. By retaining
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#17327729824707502-531: The Western Railway Museum include: purchase of 22 miles of Sacramento Northern in 1994, dedication of a Visitors Center in 2001, and starting in 2002, construction of the Loring Jensen Memorial Car House with attendant fire suppression system, officially opened in May 2008. The Association also publishes a quarterly newsletter called the Review. The BAERA maintains a substantial archive of materials relating to street railway, interurban lines, and steam railroads of California and adjacent states. The archive occupies
7623-440: The adjacent Western Pacific Railroad was the lifeblood of the railroad, keeping it in profit long after passenger service had ceased. Although it had a somewhat shorter route from Oakland to Pittsburg/Antioch in competing with the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific steam railroads, its route through the Oakland hills was steep (4%) and curvy by railroad standards plus it had on-street operation in Oakland. Freight trains usually had just
7744-405: The bridge into the town center washed out. In June 1939 the mainline runs were cut back to three weekday trains from Chico to San Francisco, one from Sacramento to San Francisco, and three from Concord to San Francisco. The fastest train was scheduled at 5 hours 43 minutes from Chico to San Francisco, and 2 hours 48 minutes Sacramento to San Francisco. As with most interurban railroads in the US,
7865-425: The city's interurban Union Terminal and interurban car storage yard bounded by H, I, 11th and 12th streets. Trains turned into the terminal leaving the street. It then proceeded west on I to 8th, then turned south to M Street, then west on M over the Sacramento River to West Sacramento. From there it turned south on a direct line to Rio Vista and the delta river crossing on the SN ferry at Chipps. The branch to Colusa
7986-416: The commissioning of Fairfield–Suisun Army Air Base , which was built directly on the route of the railway and adjacent lands. A new connector was built to the north, bypassing the base. These lines largely operated in their own right of way except in Fairfield. A branch line to Dixon operated less than three years between 1914 and 1917. It was built by the Sacramento Valley Electric Railroad and operated by
8107-442: The early 1970s, its surviving lines and branches have been (or are being) restored. The railway is owned and operated by the Museum of Kysuce, with a 3.8-kilometre (2.4 mi) line open to tourists for sightseeing. Switzerland has a very dense rail network , both standard and narrow gauge. The overwhelming majority of railways, built between the mid-19th and early 20th century , are still in regular operation today and electrified,
8228-418: The early years, is now gone after use in the 1950s–1960s as a grocery store. Downtown Sacramento streets, particularly east and south of the Tower Bridge, carried many SN and Central California Traction tracks. Freight service from Oakland to Lafayette ceased on March 1, 1957. Overhead wire and tracks were removed and the Shepherd Canyon tunnel sealed. The former roadbed from St Mary's College through Lafayette
8349-410: The end of Shafter, the track crossed College Avenue next to Claremont Junior High School and started a long curving 4% grade into the Oakland hills in the Rockridge district of Oakland. It then crossed the Temescal Canyon inlet of Lake Temescal via a bridge. During the preparations for the Broadway (Caldecott) Tunnel project, this inlet was filled in and the Sacramento Northern tracks re-routed along
8470-406: The end of interurban service. Because of its history as separate railways as well as the interconnection with the Key System, SN cars had to operate under a number of different electrical standards. The North End was electrified at 600 volts DC, the nationwide standard trolley and interurban voltage at the time of construction. Trolley wire and trolley poles were used only in urban areas. In
8591-420: The end of the year it operated 349 miles (562 km) of road and 452 miles (727 km) of track. Operating revenue that year was $ 2.2 million (equivalent to $ 24.7 million in 2023), but in that year ICC included SN among the Class Is . The SN received its first diesel locomotives in 1941 and this began its process of de-electrification. All electric operation ceased in 1965 at Yuba City after which
8712-468: The facility began immediately in conjunction with the laying of tracks from the site northward along Shafter Avenue toward the hills. Although the compact yard at 40th and Shafter was the end of its right-of-way, SN trains continued west along 40th Street on the tracks of the Key System and on to the Key System 's "mole" . In later years, the trains ran over the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge which
8833-555: The failed Vallejo and Northern Railroad in 1909 and proceeded to construct a route between Vacaville and Willota with a branch to Fairfield and Suisun. Passenger service ran between the line's opening in 1914 and 1926. Like other lines built by the Northern Electric, electricity was provided via third rail. Initially isolated from the rest of the system, a new connection was built from the main line at Creed to Vacaville Junction in 1930. That connection would be severed with
8954-559: The farmlands around Clarksburg and another connected the main line to the formerly isolated Vacaville line. The latter was rebuilt further north when Fairfield–Suisun Army Air Base was installed. Sacramento's first interurban terminal (for the Northern Electric Railway's line from Chico and Yuba City) was at Eighth and J Streets. Sacramento's two other interurban lines, the San Francisco–Sacramento and
9075-715: The group. The BAERA also had excursions on the many street car lines and Interurbans in the Bay Area. As a result of an excursion over the Key System the Association purchased Key System 271 a wooden street car that had started out in Lehigh Valley , Pennsylvania . Soon other cars were given by members or purchased for the Association. These included Sacramento Northern 62, a Birney street car built in 1920. The car ran local service in Chico, California until 1947 and had
9196-437: The heritage railway institute is recognized and protected by law no. 128 of 9 August 2017, which has as its objective the protection and valorisation of disused, suspended or abolished railway lines, of particular cultural, landscape and tourist value, including both railway routes and stations and the related works of art and appurtenances, on which, upon proposal of the regions to which they belong, tourism-type traffic management
9317-523: The last 5-cent fare in the State of California. A number of passenger and work cars were obtained when the Key System abandoned operation of its last rail line across the Bay Bridge in 1958. But time, money and effort needed in constantly moving the equipment from place to place convinced the members that a permanent location for their railway museum was needed. Property was located at Rio Vista Junction,
9438-494: The latter depend on enthusiastic volunteers for upkeep and operations to supplement revenue from traffic and visitors. Still other heritage railways offer a viable public-transit option, and can maintain operations with revenue from regular riders or government subsidies. Children's railways are extracurricular educational institutions where children and teenagers learn about railway work; they are often functional, passenger-carrying narrow-gauge rail lines. The railways developed in
9559-481: The line entered a short ravine leading to the entrance of a one mile long single-track tunnel under the Oakland Hills. The tunnel itself is still intact but is sealed at both ends. In 1994, home developers filled in the approach ravine and tunnel mouth and constructed residential homes on this fill and on top of the tunnel. The upper foot of the top of the tunnel portal could be observed in the back yard of one of
9680-672: The line was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In the Deák Ferenc Square concourse's Millennium Underground Museum, many other artifacts of the metro's early history may be seen. The first heritage railway to be rescued and run entirely by volunteers was the Talyllyn Railway in Wales . This narrow-gauge line, taken over by a group of enthusiasts in 1950, was the beginning of the preservation movement worldwide. La Trochita (officially Viejo Expreso Patagónico,
9801-718: The line, the Hinthaara railway station and the Porvoo railway station area are included in the National Board of Antiquities' inventory of cultural environments of national significance in Finland. Also on the list is scenery in the Porvoonjoki Valley, through which the line passes. The Jokioinen Museum Railway is a stretch of preserved narrow-gauge railway between Humppila and Jokioinen . Nykarleby Järnväg
9922-650: The narrow gauge lines of the United Kingdom. The Höllental Railway is a 4.9-kilometre-long (3.0 mi), 760 mm ( 2 ft 5 + 15 ⁄ 16 in ) narrow-gauge ( Bosnian gauge ) railway, operating in Lower Austria . It runs on summer weekends, connecting Reichenau an der Rax to the nearby Höllental . Flanders , Belgium's northern Dutch-speaking region, has the Dendermonde–Puurs Steam Railway ; whereas Wallonia , with its strong history of 19th century heavy industries, has
10043-522: The new San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in 1939. Passenger service south from Sacramento to Pittsburg ended in August 1940, and Chico runs ceased at the end of October. In January 1941, SN operated two weekday trains from Pittsburg to San Francisco and two Concord trains. Interurban passenger service totally ended on July 1, 1941. Afterwards, SN transitioned to become a shortline freight-hauling railroad. Its freight business and its relationship with
10164-491: The new homes. A home further northeast behind the first was constructed on top of the unlined tunnel, and by altering drainage in the area caused the tunnel below the home to slowly subside. The home shifted and dropped and had to be removed. The SN track exited the tunnel into Contra Costa County at Pinehurst Road near Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve , and immediately curved over a bridge over Pinehurst Road to run southeastward through Redwood Canyon. The railroad designated
10285-481: The northwest side of Shepherd Canyon, the line headed east, then made a sharp turn northeast as it passed through a major cut in the hill. It then climbed up Shepherd Canyon to a station called "Havens" at Paso Robles Drive, named for real estate developer Frank C. Havens , one-time partner of the Key System's "Borax" Smith who was trying to encourage sales in Shepherd Canyon. At Havens, below Saroni Drive,
10406-496: The number of projects and their length, operating days and function have changed. The situation is further muddied by large variations in ownership-company structure, rolling stock and other assets. Unlike community railways , tourist railways in the UK are vertically integrated (although those operating mainly as charities separate their charitable and non-charitable activities for accounting purposes). Heritage railways are known in
10527-414: The open country, the line used a solid, uncovered top-contact third rail . Cars built originally for the North End could not operate south of Sacramento. The South End (former OA&E, Oakland, Antioch, and Eastern) was electrified largely at 1,200 volts DC until 1936, after which it operated at 1,500 volts, with areas of 600 volts in Oakland and Sacramento. The interurban cars had to use
10648-474: The operations carried out by the original railroad they operate on. Hence, they do not fit into the Heritage Railway category, but rather Tourist Railway/Amusement. Heritage streetcar lines are operating in over 20 U.S. cities, and are in planning or construction stages in others. Several new heritage streetcar lines have been opened since the 1970s; some are stand-alone lines while others make use of
10769-754: The past in operation. Due to a lack of modern technology or the desire for historical accuracy, railway operations can be handled with traditional practices such as the use of tokens . Heritage infrastructure and operations often require the assignment of roles, based on historical occupations, to the railway staff. Some, or all, staff and volunteers, including Station masters and signalmen , sometimes wearing period-appropriate attire, can be seen on some heritage railways. Most heritage railways use heritage rolling stock, although modern rail vehicles can be used to showcase railway scenes with historical-line infrastructure. While some heritage railways are profitable tourist attractions , many are not-for-profit entities; some of
10890-593: The past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) in the history of rail transport . The British Office of Rail and Road defines heritage railways as follows: ...'lines of local interest', museum railways or tourist railways that have retained or assumed the character and appearance and operating practices of railways of former times. Several lines that operate in isolation provide genuine transport facilities, providing community links. Most lines constitute tourist or educational attractions in their own right. Much of
11011-446: The post-steam era. Many run seasonally on partial routes, unconnected to a larger network (or railway), and charge high fares in comparison with transit services; as a result, they focus on the tourist and leisure markets. During the 1990s and 2000s, however, some heritage railways aimed to provide local transportation and extend their running seasons to carry commercial passenger traffic. The first standard-gauge line to be preserved (not
11132-661: The private car of Pacific Electric Railway owner Henry E. Huntington and was purchased by the SN. This elegant car operated on the Sacramento Northern from 1921 until destroyed in 1931 by a fire caused by a short circuit in its coffeemaker . Sacramento Northern name trains operating between Oakland, Sacramento and Chico included the Comet , Meteor , Sacramento Valley Limited and Steamer Special The Oakland, Antioch and Eastern needed to cross Suisun Bay, and chose to do so between West Pittsburg and Chipps Island ,
11253-647: The railway operated as a dieselized freight subsidiary of the Western Pacific. Trackage was abandoned over the years, especially that which duplicated routes on other railroads. The SN name ceased to exist with the WP's acquisition by the Union Pacific in 1983. A 22-mile (35 km) segment of the SN line in Solano County is owned, operated, and electrified by the Western Railway Museum as
11374-493: The riches of the Italian territory. Tourism that can experience the train journey as an integral moment of the holiday, an element of quality in the overall tourist experience". There are three service areas proposed: Rail transport played a major role in the history of New Zealand and several rail enthusiast societies and heritage railways have been formed to preserve New Zealand's rich rail history. The Čierny Hron Railway
11495-688: The rolling stock and other equipment used on these systems is original and is of historic value in its own right. Many systems aim to replicate both the look and operating practices of historic former railways companies. Heritage railway lines have historic rail infrastructure which has been substituted (or made obsolete) in modern rail systems. Historical installations, such as hand-operated points , water cranes , and rails fastened with hand-hammered rail spikes , are characteristic features of heritage lines. Unlike tourist railways, which primarily carry tourists and have modern installations and vehicles, heritage-line infrastructure creates views and soundscapes of
11616-569: The streets of Oakland, Sacramento, Yuba City , Chico, and Woodland . This involved multiple car trains making sharp turns at street corners and obeying traffic signals. Once in open country, SN's passenger trains ran at fairly fast speeds. With its shorter route and lower fares, the SN provided strong competition to the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific Railroad for passenger business and freight business between those two cities. North of Sacramento, both passenger and freight business
11737-542: The terminal onto Main Street through a unique archway in the station wall. An additional branch operated on Second Street via tracks owned by the Sacramento and Woodland Railroad. The SN entered Sacramento from the north crossing the American River on a through truss bridge. It then proceeded on private right of way between 18th and 19th streets to D street where it turned west in the middle of D to 15th Street then south on 15th to I street where it turned west on I to
11858-567: The terminal to one of four tracks for passenger loading. The station burned internally 1972 and was removed around 2000. The SN mission style terminal in Woodland was unusual in that the interurban cars from Sacramento went through an arch in the station's wall to reach a rail yard in the rear. The terminal was adjacent to the Woodland Opera House. The Oakland terminal was a very compact yard and buildings at 40th and Shafter with
11979-555: The top of a new high embankment above the lake, buttressed by a massive retaining wall that still exists today. From Lake Temescal, the tracks ran southeast through the Montclair district of Oakland. It crossed into Montclair over a trestle at Moraga Avenue and Thornhill Drive, then ran along a high berm between Montclair Recreation Center and Montclair Elementary School, before crossing Mountain Blvd and Snake Road via trestle. High above
12100-498: The track, and offers a smaller structure gauge and tunnel size. At high altitudes, construction and logistical difficulties, limited urban development and demand for transport and special rolling-stock requirements have left many mountain railways unmodernized. The engineering feats of past railway builders and views of pristine mountain scenes have made many railways in mountainous areas profitable tourist attractions. Pit railways have been in operation in underground mines all over
12221-584: The tracks ran parallel, adjacent, and south of the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific main lines, then dropped down, turned north sharply and went under the SF and SP through an underpass to almost immediately reach the SN ferry landing on Suisun Bay . (This track layout and underpass are still shown on a 2009 Google website map of Pittsburg.) The Pittsburg side ferry landing and depot was called "Mallard" by
12342-552: The use of ferrocycles". Below is the list of railway lines recognized as tourist railways by Italian legislation. b) pursuant to the Ministerial Decree of 30 March 2022: The Bernina railway line is a single-track 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) metre gauge railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of St. Moritz , in
12463-551: The vertical supporting poles to be spaced farther apart than if a single suspended trolley wire is used, plus it is better for pantograph operation at speed due to stability (The South Shore line uses pantographs with a single trolley wire in Michigan City streets but has catenary for high speed operation elsewhere). Sacramento Northern offered dining service aboard parlor- observation cars Bidwell , Sacramento , Moraga and Alabama . The Alabama had been built in 1905 as
12584-433: The world. Small rail vehicles transport ore, waste rock, and workers through narrow tunnels. Sometimes trains were the sole mode of transport in the passages between the work sites and the mine entrance. The railway's loading gauge often dictated the cross-section of passages to be dug. At many mining sites, pit railways have been abandoned due to mine closure or adoption of new transportation equipment. Some show mines have
12705-634: The world. The elevation difference on the section between the Bernina Pass and Tirano is 1,824 m (5,984 ft), allowing passengers to view glaciers along the line. On 7 July 2008, the Bernina line and the Albula railway line , which also forms part of the RhB, were recorded in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites , under the name Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes . The whole site
12826-497: Was a branch west to Vacaville and Travis Air Force Base. In 1913 a spur was built that connected Rio Vista Junction to the town of Dixon to the north, but it was unprofitable and was abandoned after a year or two. Past Creed, the line continued to Dozier and Yolano before crossing the four-mile-long Lisbon trestle into West Sacramento . This trestle collapsed in July 1951 as a steeple cab-powered freight train of steel plate for Pittsburg
12947-409: Was acquired with rails and ties intact, however the electrification had been removed in 1953. The Association is reinstalling the electrification from Rio Vista Junction southward, currently reaching Bird's Landing Road, about six miles. Heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of
13068-677: Was also reactivated for the SacRT light rail service in the 1980s. Segments of the right of way in Contra Costa County and Sacramento County have been converted to rail trails . In June of 1911, SN's predecessor, the Oakland and Antioch, purchased a parcel of land from the Realty Syndicate (associated with the Key System) for its planned terminal yard at 40th Street and Shafter Avenue in Oakland. Construction of
13189-717: Was built by a nominally independent company and leased by the Sacramento Northern. Passenger services operated between 1913 and 1940. From Colusa Junction, east of Yuba City, the line runs almost directly east through Tarke and Meridian , alongside and north of the Colusa Highway, California State Route 20 . It crossed the Sacramento River on a narrow combined rail and vehicle bridge before turning northeast and running to Market Street in Colusa. In 1992 this track and unusual Meridian bridge were still in use and provided
13310-513: Was built near the site of the Key mole, to San Francisco's downtown Transbay Terminal , connecting by way of the Key's tracks on Yerba Buena Avenue and 40th Street. This service ended with the railroad's passenger service in 1941, but freight interchange with the Key System continued until that system's demise. The main line ran on single track north up the center of Shafter Avenue in a residential area, passing Emerson Elementary School at 49th Street. At
13431-499: Was built to temporarily move trains between West Pittburg and Chipps Island . This was done simultaneously to major expansion, with a new line run across the Sacramento Delta , trackage agreements with the Key System to their transbay ferry terminal in Oakland , and a new 3,500-foot (1,100 m) tunnel through the Oakland Hills. Regular service between Bay Point and San Francisco began on April 7, 1913. Bridget
13552-459: Was converted to the popular Lafayette–Moraga Regional Trail . The following year, freight service only extended from Walnut Creek to Sacramento. The ferry Ramon was removed from service in 1954, so SN, through parent Western Pacific, had to obtain trackage rights on the Santa Fe from Stockton to Pittsburg where SN trains could reach SN tracks and freight shippers in Pittsburg and Concord. When
13673-720: Was crossing it. At West Sacramento, just west of the Tower Bridge, the line to Woodland left the southbound main line and headed west. Past West Sacramento, the line entered the city of Sacramento by way of the "M" Street Bridge (1911), and later by way of its replacement (1935), the Tower Bridge , which is still in use. The SN progressed through downtown streets onto I Street to reach the substantial columned two-story brick and stone Union Traction Depot ("Union Terminal") on I Street between 11th and 12th. Union Terminal, also used by Central California Traction trains to Stockton in
13794-503: Was destroyed by a fire in May 1914 — OAE rented tugs and barges until a new ferry was built. Her replacement, Ramon , was put into service by the end of the year. Full service between Oakland and Sacramento commenced on September 3, 1914. The Oakland, Antioch and Eastern Railway , as it had become known in 1912, entered receivership in 1920 and was reorganized as the San Francisco–Sacramento Railroad . In 1925
13915-538: Was heaviest from Sacramento to Oakland. Freight operation using electric locomotives continued into the 1960s. The original, 93-mile (150 km) route connected Chico with Sacramento . The line began as the Chico Electric Railway (CERY), in operation beginning in 1905. The company had acquired two horse-powered street railways in Chico and Marysville, which were rebuilt for electrification. CERY
14036-433: Was less due to the small town agricultural nature of the region and due to competition from the paralleling Southern Pacific Railroad. The SN had been two separate interurban companies connecting at Sacramento until 1925. The Oakland, Antioch, and Eastern Railway was a catenary wire powered line that ran from Oakland through a tunnel in the Oakland hills to Moraga , Walnut Creek , Concord , Pittsburg , to Sacramento. It
14157-586: Was light and could not be expected to increase. The SN had branches to Vacaville and Dixon , Woodland, Colusa , and Oroville. The railway suffered from statewide business decline due to the Great Depression plus the increasing automobile use on improved roads. Passenger service ended in 1941, though streetcar service in Chico continued until 1947. Freight service continued and was heavy during World War II . The 1951 Lisbon Trestle Collapse, in which crewmen were injured but no lives were lost, required
14278-806: Was renamed the San Francisco–Sacramento Railroad briefly. The Northern Electric Railway was a third rail powered line that ran from Sacramento north through Marysville and Yuba City to Chico. It was renamed the Sacramento Northern Rail road in 1914. In 1928, the two lines combined to become the Sacramento Northern Rail way under control of the Western Pacific Railroad which operated it as a separate entity. An extensive multiple-car passenger service operated from Oakland to Chico until 1941 including providing dining car service on some trains. Passenger traffic
14399-567: Was reorganized into a new corporation named the Sacramento Northern Railroad (SNRR). The Southern Division began as the Oakland and Antioch Railway , which opened its line between Bay Point and Walnut Creek in 1910, extending to Lafayette the following year. While a bridge was planned to cross Suisun Bay , this never materialized; construction began around 1912 but ceased the following year. A wooden ferry, Bridget ,
14520-526: Was restored during the following decade. Since 1992, it has been one of Slovakia's official heritage railways and is a key regional tourist attraction. The Historical Logging Switchback Railway in Vychylovka is a heritage railway in north-central Slovakia, originally built to serve the logging industry in the Orava and Kysuce regions. Despite a closure and dissasembly of most of its original network during
14641-603: Was sold in 1906, after only a few months of operation, to the newly-formed Northern Electric Railway (NER). Northern Electric extended service to Oroville and Marysville by the year's end, and the line to Sacramento began service in September 1907. A branch from Chico to Hamilton which crossed the Sacramento River via pontoon bridge was completed a few months later. The company initially sought to expand. The Woodland Branch began service on July 4, 1912, and
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