Sierra Railroad 1955

It is the Spring of 1955 and the Sierra Railroad is a short line railroad that runs 57 miles east from Oakdale in the Central Valley of California to Tuolumne in the Sierra Foothills. In Oakdale the Sierra interchanges with the SP and ATSF.

As it leaves Oakdale the Sierra begins its long and continuous climb into the foothills. At Hetch Hetchy Junction it interchanges with the Hetch Hetchy Railroad and its Dam Railroad. East of Hetch Hetchy Junction is Jamestown the focal point of the railroad. Jamestown is the division point between the valley trains (Oakdale to Jamestown) and the Hill Job (Tuolumne to Jamestown). The Angels Branch to Melones also originates in Jamestown. In 1955 the Jamestown’s roundhouse and turntable are still the primary engine facilities of the Railroad.

As the Railroad continues its climb eastward it reaches the Pickering Lumber Company’s mill at Fassler. Between Fassler and Ralph the Sierra shares its trackage with the Pickering logging railroad withs its Shays and Heislers. At Ralph the Pickering logging trains split off for the woods and the Sierra continues onto Tuolumne and the West Side Lumber Company’s mill and narrow gauge logging railroad.