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52-733: Established in 1923, Wishon served as the mountain terminus for the Minarets and Western Railroad during the 1920s, an official common carrier owned by the Sugar Pine Lumber Company . This 53-mile railroad extended from the western end of the Bass Lake Dam to Pinedale. Primarily, the railroad was used to transport logs to a large mill in Pinedale. A privately-owned standard gauge railroad also carried logs from Central Camp, across Bass Lake Dam, to Wishon, which served as

104-422: A public carrier in some civil law systems, usually called simply a carrier ) is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport. A common carrier offers its services to the general public under license or authority provided by a regulatory body , which has usually been granted "ministerial authority" by

156-672: A "residual common carrier obligation", unless otherwise transferred (such as in the case of a commuter rail system, where the authority operating passenger trains may acquire the property but not this obligation from the former owner), and must operate the line if service is terminated. In contrast, private carriers are not licensed to offer a service to the public. Private carriers generally provide transport on an irregular or ad hoc basis for their owners. Carriers were very common in rural areas prior to motorised transport. Regular services by horse-drawn vehicles would ply to local towns, taking goods to market or bringing back purchases for

208-408: A certain number of clients and that can refuse to transport goods for anyone else, and from a private carrier . A common carrier holds itself out to provide service to the general public without discrimination (to meet the needs of the regulator's quasi-judicial role of impartiality toward the public's interest) for the "public convenience and necessity." A common carrier must further demonstrate to

260-546: A common carrier. The term common carrier is a common law term and is seldom used in Continental Europe because it has no exact equivalent in civil-law systems. In Continental Europe, the functional equivalent of a common carrier is referred to as a public carrier or simply as a carrier . However, public carrier in Continental Europe is different from public carrier in British English in which it

312-408: A common carrier. An important legal requirement for common carrier as public provider is that it cannot discriminate, that is refuse the service unless there is some compelling reason. As of 2007, the status of Internet service providers as common carriers and their rights and responsibilities is widely debated ( network neutrality ). The term common carrier does not exist in continental Europe but

364-686: A permanent logging camp with lavish amenities, and Pinedale , site of the company lumber mill. They operated two railroads: the Sugar Pine Railroad, which connected Central Camp to the switching yard in Bass Lake, and the Minarets and Western Railway , a client carrier that transported whole logs from the Sierra Nevada to the company lumber mill. The Sugar Pine Lumber Company became one of the most notable boom-and-bust stories of

416-408: A pops orchestra, and overnight accommodations in the lumberjack dormitories. In 1931, RKO Pictures rented the mountain facility as the setting for Carnival Boat starring William Boyd and Ginger Rogers . The film was praised for its "realistic depiction of life in the lumber camps." Despite its record-setting lumber production the company lost money from the start. What's more, the company

468-427: A saloon. However, whiskey was occasionally bootlegged in. Sugar Pine Lumber was one of the few large operations where the primary logging equipment was electrically driven. Earlier operations made extensive use of the steam donkey, which transformed the industry in the 1880s. Later operations transitioned to modern-day truck logging. Electricity was preferable to steam for several reasons. Electricity greatly reduced

520-429: A switching yard. Wishon offered brief passenger railroad service to Pinedale in the 1930s. Wishon was named after A. Emory Wishon, an influential figure in the early development of hydroelectric energy using Bass Lake water. He later became the executive vice president of Pacific Gas & Electric Company after it purchased the Bass Lake operation. Despite the Sugar Pine Lumber Company 's dissolution after eight years,

572-580: A unique tank locomotive, designated a Minaret engine after the nearby mountain peaks. It was the most powerful saddle tank locomotive ever made and forty-percent heavier than their Mikado engines. With two pony trucks, ten drivers, and two trailer trucks it could pull about twenty-five cars up the grade. The massive saddle-tank locomotives proved to be overbuilt for the application in the woods. Lighter, geared Shay locomotives could negotiate sharper curves over lighter roadbeds with significantly lower operating costs. While different locomotives were used,

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624-492: Is a synonym for contract carrier. Although common carriers generally transport people or goods , in the United States the term may also refer to telecommunications service providers and public utilities . In certain U.S. states , amusement parks that operate roller coasters and comparable rides have been found to be common carriers; a famous example is Disneyland . Regulatory bodies may also grant carriers

676-406: Is carried in tanks mounted on the engine to increase tractive power. Between Bass Lake and Central Camp there are no places where the railroad grade is flat or opposite grade. This allowed for an easy descent. Loaded timber trains could coast all the way to the mill, requiring a locomotive only for braking. This requirement added several miles to the serpentine route. The train from Central Camp to

728-563: Is distinctive to common law systems, particularly law systems in the US. In Ludditt v Ginger Coote Airways the Privy Council (Lord Macmillan, Lord Wright, Lord Porter and Lord Simonds) held the liability of a public or common carrier of passengers is only to carry with due care. This is more limited than that of a common carrier of goods. The complete freedom of a carrier of passengers at common law to make such contracts as he thinks fit

780-678: Is now United States Forest Service Road 6S42, also known as Central Camp Road. Whiskers and Gaggs Camp, two of the former SPL logging camp sites on the route, are public campgrounds. Dozens of miles of former logging spurs and access roads have been merged into the National Forest Transportation System (NFTS). The area is a popular destination for off-road vehicles and mountain biking . sold Timber Heritage Association November 2003, Awaiting Restoration at Strasburg Railroad. Common carrier A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to

832-401: Is the most modern of any in the world, the builders claim. To the visitor, the contention is substantiated when a tour of the ‘city limits’ is made. Comforts and conveniences that would be found at the country’s finest summer resorts are in evidence everywhere. Built at a cost of $ 600,000, the investment was elaborate for what was ultimately a transitory work site. A hydroelectric plant supplied

884-476: The Hague-Visby Rules , escape liability on other grounds than the above-mentioned, e.g. a sea carrier is not liable for damages to the goods if the damage is the result of a fire on board the ship or the result of a navigational error committed by the ship's master or other crewmember. Carriers typically incorporate further exceptions into a contract of carriage , often specifically claiming not to be

936-420: The village . If space permitted, passengers could also travel. Cases have also established limitations to the common carrier designation. In a case concerning a hot air balloon , Grotheer v. Escape Adventures, Inc. , the court affirmed a hot air balloon was not a common carrier, holding the key inquiry in determining whether or not a transporter can be classified as a common carrier is whether passengers expect

988-430: The "public convenience and necessity." A contract carrier may be authorized to provide service over either fixed routes and schedules, i.e., as regular route carrier or on an ad hoc basis as an irregular route carrier. It should be mentioned that the carrier refers only to the person ( legal or physical ) that enters into a contract of carriage with the shipper. The carrier does not necessarily have to own or even be in

1040-700: The 1920s logging industry. After an $ 8 million investment in 1923, it set records for California's annual lumber cut but quickly exhausted its timber holdings. By 1933, the company was bankrupt, overwhelmed by debt and high operating costs. Despite its advanced facilities, the expense of maintaining the camp and railroad made it impossible to turn a profit. The Sugar Pine Lumber Company was incorporated in July 1921 by Madera Sugar Pine Company officials Arthur Fleming , John Hemphill, and Elmer Cox and investor Robert Gillis. They acquired 50,000 acres (202 km ) acres of old growth mixed conifer forest spanning eastward from

1092-633: The Act refers to as "open video systems". The Act generally bars, with certain exceptions including most rural areas, acquisitions by telephone companies of more than a 10 percent interest in cable operators (and vice versa) and joint ventures between telephone companies and cable systems serving the same areas. Using provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 , the FCC classified Internet service providers as common carriers, effective June 12, 2015, for

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1144-807: The FCC voted 3–2 to reinstate net neutrality in the United States by reclassifying the Internet under Title II. However, legal challenges filed by ISPs resulted in an appeals court order that stays the net neutrality rules until the court makes a final ruling, with the court opining that the ISPs are likely to prevail over the FCC on the merits. In the United States, many oil, gas and CO 2 pipelines are common carriers. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulates rates charged and other tariff terms imposed by interstate common carrier pipelines. Intrastate common carrier pipeline tariffs are often regulated by state agencies. The US and many states have delegated

1196-554: The Minarets and Western and Sugar Pine Lumber Company shared the same 200 standard-gauge flatbed cars . Six all-steel flatbed moving cars were used in the woods to transport electric logging equipment. Each day, lumberjacks used flatbed cars to travel from Central Camp to more remote worksites. This arrangement was called “The Man Train.” Central Camp was the Sugar Pine Lumber Company's base of logging operations supporting five hundred people living together in

1248-408: The Minarets and Western flat cars were pulled up a 10.82 mi (17.41 km) standard gauge railroad to Central Camp, the base of logging operations in the woods. The Sugar Pine Railroad railway was built at a consistent 4.5 percent grade that wound through a series of sixty-two 20-degree curves. This required the Sugar Pine Railroad to run a different set of 2-8-2T locomotives where the water

1300-527: The Sierra Nevada. Unable to secure water rights to build a log flume, the company operated the “crookedest railroad ever built." They later developed the Minarets-type locomotive, the largest and most powerful saddle tank locomotive ever made. The company was also a pioneer in the electrification of logging where newly plentiful hydroelectric power replaced the widespread use of steam engines. The company founded two towns. They built Central Camp ,

1352-473: The Wishon post office endured until 1986. It was located in what is today known as Miller’s Landing, a store established by John McDougald in 1928, Wishon’s first postmaster. This Madera County, California -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sugar Pine Lumber Company The Sugar Pine Lumber Company was an early 20th century logging operation and railroad in

1404-409: The authority to operate under contract with their customers instead of under common carrier authority, rates, schedules and rules. These regulated carriers, known as contract carriers, must demonstrate that they are "fit, willing and able" to provide service, according to standards enforced by the regulator. However, contract carriers are specifically not required to demonstrate that they will operate for

1456-618: The boiler. This added more weight over the wheels for better adhesion on climbs. It also allowed the engine to run equally well forward and backward. From Bass Lake up to Central Camp, because of the steep 4.5% grade, the Mikado engines could only pull twelve cars at once. This meant that three trips were required to get a full thirty-five-car train up. Often this meant that trains ran overnight to keep ahead. The company added two more similarly specified Mikado locomotives as they began cutting further out lumber tracts. In 1927, Sugar Pine ordered

1508-507: The company secure the railroad right of way to the mountains. The Sugar Pine Lumber Company acquired the timber holdings along the upper San Joaquin River. But it could not acquire the underlying water rights from San Joaquin Light and Power. This meant the company could not build a log flume to get the wood to market. Instead, two standard-gauge railroads were built connecting the sawmill with

1560-600: The existing Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company operation to the gorge of the San Joaquin River . Fresno and Madera County competed to be the site of a new sawmill and railroad terminus to be built in the San Joaquin Valley alongside the Southern Pacific line. Fresno won the bid, offering a section of land that became known as Pinedale. Fresno also offered $ 375,000 in cash that helped

1612-413: The goods on a means of transport is referred to as the "actual carrier". When a carrier subcontracts with another provider, such as an independent contractor or a third-party carrier, the common carrier is said to be providing "substituted service". The same person may hold both common carrier and contract carrier authority. In the case of a rail line in the US, the owner of the property is said to retain

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1664-517: The judicial 1982 AT&T consent decree (often referred to as the Modification of Final Judgment ) that effectuated the breakup of AT&T's Bell System . Further, the Act gives telephone companies the option of providing video programming on a common carrier basis or as a conventional cable television operator. If it chooses the former, the telephone company will face less regulation but will also have to comply with FCC regulations requiring what

1716-485: The legislation that created it. The regulatory body may create, interpret, and enforce its regulations upon the common carrier (subject to judicial review ) with independence and finality as long as it acts within the bounds of the enabling legislation. A common carrier (also called a public carrier in British English ) is distinguished from a contract carrier, which is a carrier that transports goods for only

1768-476: The little capital of the sugar pine hills, is hidden away in a grove of towering trees. Huge buildings have been erected that are substantial enough to stand for 75 years or more, even in the trying weather that exists during the winter when snow piles up from six to eight feet high. Two of the buildings have fully as large a floor space as the Fresno Auditorium. From garage to hospital, this lumber city

1820-409: The lumber camp 63.27 mi (101.82 km) away. The Sugar Pine Lumber Company could not afford to build a single private railroad from the valley to the mountains. The distance covered more than forty miles of private rangeland and ranchers could set any price they wanted. A workaround was concocted to create a separate, subsidiary company that was incorporated as a common carrier . This allowed

1872-535: The lumber market in 1931 were too much. After a failed bid to merge with Yosemite Lumber Company, the Sugar Pine Company went into bankruptcy on June 13, 1933. Following the bankruptcy of Sugar Pine Lumber, operations on the Minarets and Western railway were suspended by the railroad commission in September 1933. While technically a common carrier, over ninety-five percent of the freight carried by

1924-541: The mill busy for two shifts. Logs were unloaded from railroad flat cars into a large log pond . Men worked on floating timbers and sorted the logs by species by pike poles. Challenged by a dwindling lumber supply and collapse of the lumber market, the Sugar Pine Company sought alternative sources of revenue. Tourist excursions began in 1930. The trips included passage from Fresno to Central Camp by train on specially outfitted flatcars. A complete program included boxing and wrestling bouts, lumberjack exhibitions , dancing to

1976-454: The mill in Pinedale took about 16 to 18 hours, carrying around 80 cars of logs per trip. From Central Camp, 150 mi (240 km) of logging rails were laid to reach outlying timber tracts. Fifty trestles were required to span the steep terrain. Trestle Number 14 was the highest at 110 feet (34 m) feet high. Sugar Pine Railroad Company used custom-built 2-8-2T Mikado engines from American Locomotive Company . The water tank sat over

2028-551: The necessary right-of-way to be secured easily and inexpensively at a fixed price. The 43.45 mi (69.93 km) right-of-way was negotiated for $ 175,000, paid for by the Fresno County location incentives. The railroad construction was financed by an initial company bond issue of $ 2.2 million. The Minarets and Western Railway connected with the Sugar Pine Railroad at the Wishon switching yards at Bass Lake. From there,

2080-404: The peak of the season the mill employed 550 men. The mill employed about 250 workers year-round, mostly in the planning mill, box factory and shipping yards. Approximately 13,000 log cars per season arrived at the mill. The cars were about forty-one feet long and they held about 7,500 board feet of lumber. A normal train was about thirty-five cars and would make a little over 560 tons, keeping

2132-410: The possession of a means of transport. Unless otherwise agreed upon in the contract, the carrier may use whatever means of transport approved in its operating authority, as long as it is the most favorable from the cargo interests' point of view. The carriers' duty is to get the goods to the agreed destination within the agreed time or within reasonable time. The person that is physically transporting

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2184-472: The power of eminent domain to common carrier gas pipelines. Common carriers are subject to special laws and regulations that differ depending on the means of transport used, e.g. sea carriers are often governed by quite different rules from road carriers or railway carriers. In common law jurisdictions as well as under international law , a common carrier is absolutely liable for goods carried by it, with four exceptions: A sea carrier may also, according to

2236-502: The purpose of enforcing net neutrality . Led by the Trump administration's appointed commissioner Ajit Pai , on December 14, 2017 the FCC reversed its rules on net neutrality, effectively revoking common carrier status as a requirement for Internet service providers. Following this, in 2018 the U.S. Senate narrowly passed a non-binding resolution aiming to reverse the FCC's decision and restore FCC's net neutrality rules. On 25 April 2024,

2288-483: The railroad was for the logging company. Today, only a few traces of Sugar Pine Lumber remain in the mountains. The rails were scrapped soon after bankruptcy. The locomotives were sold. Many of the large buildings at Central Camp were dismantled for their lumber. The remaining parcels were sold to private homeowners. The rest has reverted to the Sierra National Forest . The steep railroad right-of-way

2340-604: The regulator that it is "fit, willing, and able" to provide those services for which it is granted authority. Common carriers typically transport persons or goods according to defined and published routes, time schedules, and rate tables upon the approval of regulators. Public airlines , railroads , bus lines , taxicab companies, phone companies , internet service providers , cruise ships , motor carriers (i.e., canal operating companies , trucking companies), and other freight companies generally operate as common carriers. Under US law, an ocean freight forwarder cannot act as

2392-463: The risk of forest fire, did not require a supply of water or fuel, and provided instant and continuous power. Power was supplied by San Joaquin Light and Power through high tension wires running from the hydroelectric power station at nearby Bass Lake. As a result, late-season windstorms became a hazard, and sometimes interrupted operations during the fall months. Twelve transformers mounted to donkey sleds allowed power to be deployed anywhere throughout

2444-667: The timber tract. Two 70-ton Willamette railroad logging units were used to pull cut logs to the railroad line. The Pinedale Mill was known as the “finest sawmill in the west,” delivering an average cut of 100 million board feet a year. By 1928, it was producing twice as much lumber as its neighboring operation, the Madera Sugar Pine Company . The facility was immense, featuring the world's largest sorting table with room for 230 grades of lumber, in addition to 80 acres (0 km ) of drying yards connected by 40 mi (64 km) of narrow-gauge railroad tracks. During

2496-501: The town with electricity for lighting and cooking. A large central boiler provided the living quarters with steam heat. Lumberjacks returned by train to Central Camp for the midday meal prepared by a large cook staff. Meals features fresh produce that was brought into the mountains by refrigerator car . Entertainment included a theater, recreation hall and a boxing ring. Operating during the Prohibition era, Central Camp did not have

2548-492: The transportation to be safe because the operator is reasonably capable of controlling the risk of injury. In the United States, telecommunications carriers are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission under title II of the Communications Act of 1934 . The Telecommunications Act of 1996 made extensive revisions to the "Title II" provisions regarding common carriers and repealed

2600-501: The woods. This included single lumberjacks living in group dormitories, lumberjacks and their families living in detached cabins, as well as railroad and construction workers, cooks, teachers, doctors and other seasonal support staff. Sparing little expense, it was the industry's finest, costliest and most modern logging camp. The Fresno Republican covered the camp's grand opening in 1923, which stood in stark contrast to primitive woods camps. The Republican reported: Central Camp,

2652-537: Was not curtailed by the Railway and Canal Traffic Act 1854 , and a specific contract that enlarges, diminishes or excludes his duty to take care (e.g., by a condition that the passenger travels "at his own risk against all casualties") cannot be pronounced to be unreasonable if the law authorises it. There was nothing in the provisions of the Canadian Transport Act 1938 section 25 that would invalidate

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2704-435: Was seriously undercapitalized. Eighty percent of its operating capital was borrowed. This led the company to quickly exhaust its timber tracts to help service its debts. By 1930, much of their timber was used up. Despite their petition to open timber tracts east of Chiquito Ridge, the government wouldn't sell more trees to the company. Excessive operating costs, the after-effects of the 1929 stock market crash, and collapse of

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