Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Yosemite Valley Railway Collection
- Dates:
- 1912 - 1942
- Abstract:
- Includes official bulletins issued by the Yosemite Valley Railway, cancelled checks from the First National Bank of Merced, telegrams, train registers and transportation notices.
- Extent:
- 1 Linear Feet 3 manuscript boxes
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Yosemite Valley Railway Collection, MS 52, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Includes official bulletins issued by the Yosemite Valley Railway, arranged chronologically and pasted in a scrapbook. The bulletins date from December 24, 1938 through February 26, 1942, and cover personnel matters, seniority, crew assignments, train handling and operating procedures, schedules, issuance of passes, embargo notifications from other railroads, safety notices and instructions, and routine administrative matters such as holiday observances.
This collection also contains cancelled checks from the First National Bank of Merced, dating from July 1912 through May 1913, as well as blank and cancelled checks from the Farmers & Merchants National Bank of Merced dating from February 1924 through January 1937, including pay checks for Yosemite Valley Railroad employees.
Telegrams from 1929 to 1935 served as train passes for Yosemite Valley Railway employees and their dependents.
There are also three train registers from the Yosemite Valley's Bagby station. Entries may include dates, times of train arrivals and departures, car loads, locomotive numbers and the engineers' and conductors' surnames.
Transportation notices for May 1936 include a request for special train service equipment and personnel for the Al Malaikah Shrine Temple Pilgrimage to Yosemite.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Yosemite Valley Railroad (YVRR) was a short-line railroad that operated in California from 1907 to 1945. It ran from Merced to the Yosemite National Park, but it did not travel into to Yosemite Valley.
As a freight carrier, the YVRR transported log cars for the Yosemite Lumber Company and limestone for the Yosemite Portland Cement Company. In the early 1940's these businesses closed and signaled the decline of the railroad. The last regularly scheduled train running on August 24, 1945.
The Yosemite Valley Railroad ran from Merced, California to El Portal, which is the western boundary of Yosemite National Park. The route began in the city of Merced, where connections were made with the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railways and extended 78 miles to El Portal. Running the alongside the Merced River, this was the only feasible route for summer and winter travel to Yosemite Valley.
The Yosemite Valley Railroad hired Nathaniel C. Ray in 1902 as the chief engineer to build the railway, which required political knowledge as well as engineering talent. Tracklaying began on November 1, 1905. Yosemite Valley Railroad purchased two locomotives from the Northern Pacific, a steam shovel, and a small narrow gauge work engine.
On December 18, 1905, the first regularly scheduled train left from the Santa Fe depot. Tracks were completed to Merced Falls on March 4, 1906. Construction to El Portal ran through rough foothill and mountain country, and supplies and equipment were transported by pack horses, ropes, sleds, two-wheeled horse carts, wheelbarrows, and drags for grading. The entire roadbed for the Yosemite Valley Railroad was blasted out of solid rock, which required approximately 3,000,000 pounds of dynamite and powder and 285 miles of fuse. Three Howe truss bridges were built to cross the canyon's steep walls, located at Hopeton, Pleasant Valley, and Bagby, with a total of 65 smaller bridges and trestles along the route.
The Yosemite Valley Railroad signed mail and express contracts, and its freight revenue from mines and quarries began to increase. The railroad's headquarters were in the new Merced depot, which had a roundhouse in use and a small station at El Portal. The Yosemite Valley Railroad improved operations and added new locomotives, passenger-express mail cars, and leased passenger cars. In 1909, the Yosemite Valley Railroad established Pullman service, which became one of the heaviest traveled routes by 1910.
In 1910, the Yosemite Lumber Company was established, and the railroad played a crucial role in transporting the logs from the mountains to the sawmill at Merced Falls. Special standard gauge flat cars with bulkheads were necessary for the steep grades of the incline. The log cars ran from the woods down the incline and on the main line to the mill without reloading, saving labor costs.
In the years after World War I, the Yosemite Valley Railroad earned the nickname as the "Grand Central of the West", attracting tourists from all over the world to Yosemite National Park.
In 1922, the Merced Irrigation District made the decision to construct the Exchequer Dam on the Merced River. This required the relocation of 16.7 miles of the main rail route, from Merced Falls nearly to Bagby Station.
The relocation involved erecting five steel bridges and two trestles, with the 1600 Barrett Bridge spanning the reservoir. The relocation was much more costly than originally estimated, due to the unstable rock conditions in the area. The four tunnels on the new line required timbering for nearly their entire length, and the bridge abutments used significantly more concrete than initially calculated.
The Yosemite Valley Railroad experienced success with passenger revenue in its first 20 years, but the completion of a modern highway in 1926 and the increasing popularity of automobiles and buses caused a significant decline in revenue. At the same time, suspension of operations by the Yosemite Lumber Company in 1927 led to a fifty percent plunge in freight revenue.
The stock market crash of 1929 and the depression worsened the situation, leading to the railroad's bankruptcy in 1935. The railroad was re-incorporated and showed a small gross profit between 1935 and 1937, thanks to increased freight traffic due to the reopening of the lumber mill. However, the railroad experienced unexpected events such as a flood that wiped out 30 miles of track along the Merced River. A fire in Merced destroyed the tool shed and several passenger cars. These events caused significant damage and financial setbacks. To recover, the railroad required rehabilitation loans from the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe to get the line back into operation.
In 1939, the Yosemite Valley Railroad experienced a doubling of passenger travel as the country began to recover from the depression. Despite running 79 special trains and nearly reaching $100,000 in gross profit, the amount was not enough to cover fixed costs. The trustees recognized the need for a refinancing plan, but the sale of the lumber company's timber rights to the government ended any hope of that. Consequently, the railroad requested permission to abandon operations from the Interstate Commerce Commission on October 25, 1944. Due to decreased revenue, the railroad reduced its staff and service in 1944, and the last run of the Yosemite Valley Railway took place in 1945. The railroad was dismantled by the end of 1946, with most of the locomotives and equipment scrapped or sold.
Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, October 2). Yosemite Valley Railroad. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Valley_Railroad
- Acquisition information:
-
Train registers, gift of Stephen E. Drew
Checks, correspondence and telegrams, gift of Kenneth R. Augustson, 2002;
Bulletins (purchase, 1978).
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged alphabetically by document type.
- Physical location:
- Statewide Museum Collection Center:
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Logging railroads--California
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-11-18 20:41:04 +0000 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library Staff.
- Terms of access:
-
Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Library & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Yosemite Valley Railway Collection, MS 52, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
111 I StreetSacramento, CA 95814, US
- Contact:
- (916) 323-8073