Industrial Railroads of California

Industrial Railroads.

Bully Hill Railroad.
30in Gauge,
Shasta County.

Butt Lake Dam.
30in Gauge, Later 36in Gauge.
Butt Lake near Chester, Plumas County. 1906 - 1930

Crown-Willamette Paper Company.
24in Gauge.
Floriston, Nevada County. 1906 - 1930

El Dorado Lime & Mineral Company.
36in Gauge. Operated a large underground limestone mine near Shingle Springs at a place called “Sprecklesville”. Initially constructed a 1.9 mile long narrow gauge system to connect the mine with the Central Pacific's Placerville branch at Limestone (MP 133.5). This lasted until 1918 when kilns were relocated to Bullard (MP 131.7) in late 1918. The operation converted to standard gauge around 1925 operated until the late 1970s.

Limestone to Sprecklesville, El Dorado County. 1916 - 1925(NG)

Italian Vineyard Company.
30in Gauge. The Italian Vineyard Company was once the largest single vineyard in the world. To move grapes around the expansive property a railroad was constructed. Track of temporary and permanent nature was constructed upward of 22 miles total. Trucks began to replace the railroad in the 1920s and the railroad was removed by 1940. Guasti (Cucamonga), San Bernadino County. 1908 - ca.1940

Natomas Consolidated Company.
36in Gauge. Formed through the consolidation of several dredging companies that engaged in mining and reclamation on the Sacramento and American Rivers. The company operated rock crushing facilities at Natoma, Fair Oaks and Oroville. Processed rock was graded and sold as architectural cobble and crushed gravel for highway paving projects throughout the central valley. Natomas and Fair Oaks, Sacramento County. Oroville, Butte County. 1909 – 1962.

Patterson & Western Railroad.
36in Gauge,.
Patterson to Jones, . 1916 - 1920

Santa Cruz Portland Cement.
36in Gauge,.
Davenport, Santa Cruz County.

State Harbor Belt Railroad.
Dual Gauge,. While not fully a narrow gauge, the State Harbor Commission constructed and operated an expansive dual gauge system along the harbor in San Francisco. The railroad served the Atcheson Topeka & Santa Fe, Central/Southern Pacifc, North Pacific Coast and South Pacific Coast Railroads switching incoming freight cars from the ferries to industries and yards along the waterfront.
San Francisco, San Francisco County. 1890 - 1915

Sterling Borax.
36in Gauge,.
Lang, Los Angeles County. 1907 - 1911

Union Construction Company.
36in Gauge.
Strawberry Dam, Tuolumne County. 1907 - 1911