List of California street railroads

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The following street, interurban, or other electric railways operated in California.

This list is incomplete; you can help by . (February 2011)

East Bay[]

• Interurban Electric Railway
• Key System
• San Francisco, Oakland & San Jose Consolidated Railway
• from part of the
• East Shore and Suburban Railway
• 1906–1912
  • 1904–1906
    • 1902–1904
      • 1901
        • 1890–1901
          • 1870–1892
          • 1888–1890
        • 1892–1898 narrow gauge Oakland
          • 1889–1892 narrow gauge proposed cable
        • • ()
    • /
• Shipyard Railway

Los Angeles–San Bernardino[]

Main Street & Agricultural Park Railroad streetcar 21, 1896

• City Railway (Pasadena)
• Colorado Street Railway
• Los Angeles Consolidated Electric Railway
• Ontario and San Antonio Heights Railway
• Pasadena Street Railroad
• Temple Street Cable Railway
• West Pasadena Railway
• Los Angeles Railway a narrow gauge interurban
  • • • Horsecar narrow gauge 1885
    • 1874–1884 Horsecar narrow gauge
• Pacific Electric Railway
  • • narrow gauge 1899–1901 PE's Torrance Line
  • /
    • Pasadena and Los Angeles Electric Railway
      • West Pasadena Railway 1887–1894
  • • Redondo and Hermosa Beach Railroad
  • /Mount Lowe Railway
  • Temple Street Cable Railway/ narrow gauge 1885–1902
  • narrow gauge Mule Power 1892–1895 Property Sold to PE

Sacramento Valley[]

• Sacramento Northern Railway 1925–1983 (Chico to Sacramento to Oakland after purchase of the Oakland Antioch and Eastern/San Francisco–Sacramento Railroad in 1928.)
  • Sacramento Northern Railroad 1918–1925 (Chico to Sacramento.) Purchased by WP in 1921.
    • Northern Electric Railway 1907–1918 (Chico to Sacramento.) Name changed to SN in 1918.
      • Northern Electric Company 1905–1907
        • Chico Electric Railway 1904–1905
        • 1889–1906
      • 1905–1907
      • Vallejo and Northern Railroad 1910–1912
        • 1909–1910
    • 1908–1918
    • Northern Electric Railway—Marysville and Colusa Branch 1910–1918
    • 1911–1918
  • 1920–1928
    • Oakland, Antioch and Eastern Railway 1911–1920
      • Sacramento Valley West Side Electric Railway 1915–1917 Dixon
      • 1909–1911
    • 1911–1921 proposed to build to Rio Vista

San Diego[]

A portion of the remaining abandoned track, and a sign placed by SANDAG after removal of a portion of the historical track was removed during the construction of the Bayshore Bikeway. Picture taken in Imperial Beach.

• Coronado Railroad
• San Diego Electric Railway

San Francisco[]

San Jose[]

Interurban Railways[]

• Peninsular Railway Company

Streetcar Companies[]

• San Jose Railroads
  • • <!-–?-->

Other cities and towns[]

Bakersfield

• Bakersfield and Kern Electric Railway

Eureka

Fresno

• Fresno Railroad
• Fresno City Railway
• Fresno City, Belmont and Yosemite Railroad
• Fresno Traction Company

North Bay Area

• San Francisco and Napa Valley Railroad abandoned, in phases during period 1938–1956
  • San Francisco, Napa and Calistoga Railway 1911–1936 electric interurban Napa city to Calistoga.
    • 1906–1911
      • 1902–1910
• 1903–1923 (Later )
  • (Later Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad)
    • narrow gauge (Sonoma County) 1893–1897
      • / narrow gauge Horsecar 1888–1893

Paso Robles

Sacramento

• Sacramento Valley Electric Railroad

San Luis Obispo

Santa Barbara

• Santa Barbara Street Railroad
• Santa Barbara and Citizens' Street Railroad

Santa Cruz County

• (1876 – 1892)
• (1877 – 1881)
• (1889 – 1902)
• (1891 – 1892)
• (1892 – 1904)
• (1902 – 1904)
• Watsonville Transportation Company (1903 – 1907)
• (1904 – 1926)
• Watsonville Railway and Navigation Company (1911 – 1914)

Santa Rosa

Stockton

• Marysville
• 1911
• Central California Traction Route downtown Sacramento to Stockton and competed directly with SP and WP between the two cities. Later owned by WP. Converted to diesel. Currently an active Class III freight railroad. Trackage in rural Sacramento County in year 1995 was in nearly inoperable condition. Electric interurban operation ended in 1933.
• 1881/1891–1905
  • 1874–1881/1891 horsecar
• Stockton Terminal and Eastern Railroad now a freight railroad, 1908–present
• Tidewater Southern Railway (TS) Stockton to Modesto. Later owned by WP and electric operation converted to diesel. Still active trackage.
  • Tidewater and Southern Transit Company 1912
    • Tidewater and Southern Railroad 1910–1912

Various

• Glendale and Montrose Railway
• later SP
• Modesto Interurban Railway 1909–1911 later MET
• Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway abandoned 1930
  • 1896–1913
• Nevada County Traction Company
• 1888–1896
• narrow gauge horsecar Pomona
• Pacific Gas and Electric Company
  • 1914 (proposed)
• Second Street Cable Railway closed in 1890
• 1888 cable
• 1887–1890/1891 narrow gauge Mule car Los Angeles
• c. 1862 San Francisco
• narrow gauge 1886–1892 leased to SP San Bernardino-Colton
• Southern California Rapid Transit District Metro Rail 1975–1986 now part of Los Angeles Metro Rail
• 1903–? Red Bluff–Tuscan Springs
• 1887^[5] - connected to SP coastal line and owned by SP soon afterwards. Abandoned and railbanked in two sections: Ojai Valley Trail and Ventura River Trail.
• abandoned 1900
• Visalia Electric Railroad 1904–1992, to SP in 1992.
• 1903 (Amador County)
• to SP in 1899
• aka narrow gauge horsecar 1890–1906

Proposed lines[]

• Electric 1902
• 1899 narrow gauge Electric & Common Carrier
• 1905–1907
• Electric 1902
• 1914 Electric
• 1912–1914
• 1909
• Los Angeles–San Pedro
• 1907 San Francisco–San Jose–Monterey & San Jose–Martinez
• 1914–1915/1916 San Francisco-Marin/Sonoma/Napa/Yolo/Sacramento Counties
• 1914 Cable/Electric Sausalito
• 1908 Santa Cruz County
• 1911 Sacramento–Sierra
• Lakeport–Cloverdale 1907
• Lakeport–Cloverdale
• 1909
  • 1909 Lakeport–Cloverdale–Preston
• 1912–1914 Colton–San Diego
• 1911–1912 Stockton–Byron–Antioch–Oakland
• 1895 Stockton–Lodi
• 1909–1910 Santa Monica–Ventura
• 1911–1912
• 1911 Turlock–Denair
• 1906 Sacramento
• 1886–1888 San Diego
• 1910 Vallejo
• 1912 Red Bluff–Woodland–Davis–Dixon to connect with Oakland, Antioch and Eastern Railway
• 1907/1908
• 1904
• 1908 Standard or narrow gauge Electric Yucaipa–Redlands

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Fickewirth, Alvin A. (1992). California Railroads. San Marino, California: Golden West Books. ISBN 0-87095-106-8.
• Robertson, Donald B. (1998). Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History - Volume IV - California. Caldwell, ID: The Caxton Printers, Ltd. ISBN 0-87004-385-4.
• Hamm, Edward Jr. (1979). When Fresno Rode the Rails. Glendale, California: Interurbans Press, Ira Swett publisher. ISBN 0-916374-37-8.
• Swett, Ira (1949, 1951, 1971). Swett, Ira (ed.). Sacramento Northern Railway, Interurbans Press Special #9 and Special #26 and reprints. Glendale, CA.: Interurbans Press. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
• Henry V. Poor, Manual of the Railroads of the United States, 1889, appendix, pp. 38–41
• Poor's Manual of Railroads, Poor's Directory of Railroad Officials and Manual of American Street Railways, August 1890, pp. 1183–1187
• Poor's Railroad Manual, Poor's Directory of Railroad Officials, 1892, pp. 249–254