Sacramento Southern Railroad

Sacramento Southern Railroad
Locale	Present: Sacramento–Freeport, California; original route was to Walnut Grove
Dates of operation	about 1980 – present
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	California State Railroad Museum at Sacramento, California

The Sacramento Southern Railroad is a tourist line operated by the California State Railroad Museum. It owns track from the museum located in Old Sacramento and runs south along the east bank of the Sacramento River levee.

The original Sacramento Southern Railroad ran south 24.3 miles to Walnut Grove, California via Freeport and was a "paper railroad" non-operating subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

The line was constructed between 1906–1912, and the first train began operating over the line in 1909. It was merged in 1912 with the Central Pacific Railroad upon completion of the line to Walnut Grove. The line was extended to Isleton by 1929. In 1931, a three-mile extension of the branch reached the Mokelumne River.

The railroad later became a part of the SP system. Recent years have seen a resurgence in the road's freight business, serving a number of local industries via an interchange with the Union Pacific Railroad. Future plans call for expanding operations southward into the Sacramento River Delta area.

Sacramento Southern Railroad #2030 performs some local switching duties on the SSRR line located just south of the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento in December, 2004.

References

• Roberston, Donald B. (1998). Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History — Volume IV — California. Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers. ISBN 0-87004-385-4. 

External links

• History of the Sacramento Southern Railroad. California State Railroad Museum. Retrieved on November 29, 2005.