Trolley Thursday 7/29/21 - Central California Traction, Stockton Electric, and the Red River Logging Company

Welcome, everyone to the last Trolley Thursday (on a Friday, again?) of July, 2021! Over the last few posts, we've been looking at the culmination of electric railways in California's Bay Area and a brief overview of the Central Valley's notable streetcar lines. Today, however, we're going to be a little bit busy. The companies we're going to talk about today are all interconnected and equally short-lived, with the last being the only surviving "traction" railway still operating in California. Of course, the word "traction" there can mean both electric traction and diesel traction. So, sit back with us today as we look at the Stockton Electric, the Red River Logging Company, and the Central California Traction Railways, a Sacramento Delta triple treat!

Trolley Tuesday 7/27/21 - Bakersfield & Kern Electric Railway

Long known as being the Gateway to the Central Valley for many northbound Angelinos, Bakersfield is often thought off as a "drive-through" town with little to actually interest tourists. Its claims to fame are usually through its many famous artists, musicians, and athletes who were born in the city, such as country music stars Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, Disney artist and "Nine Old Man" Marc Davis, too many NASCAR drivers to count, and way too many NFL players to count. However, for the interest of this blog, Bakersfield was also home to a long-lived and cute little local streetcar that helped grow out its little pocket of Kern County through the early 1900s. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's get freshly baked as we look at the B&KERy, otherwise known as the Bakersfield & Kern County Electric Railway!

Trolley Thursday 7/22/21 - The Visalia Electric Railroad

The Central Valley is often not known for being the most interesting place to be in California. If you ever find yourself driving through, you probably are on the fastest way to the Bay Area or the State Capitol, or you're heading east into the Sierra Nevada Mountains to enjoy the beautiful national parks. However, if you ever find yourself going through Tulare County either towards Fresno, Bakersfield, or Sequoia National Forest, pause first in the town of Visalia and look around you. Before the roar of the Tulare Thunderbowl and before Highway 99 was even thought of, there was once a small electric railway that held much promise for its parent company, Southern Pacific (SP), but various factors led to its early demise and its continued existence as a name on a General Electric 44 Tonner diesel locomotive. On today's Trolley Thursday (still on Friday?), let's peel back the citrus skin of the Visalia Electric Railway and savor the juices of its short-lived history.

Trolley Tuesday 7/20/21 - Peninsular Railway of San Jose

Over the past half year, we at Twice Weekly Trolley History have discussed the Southern Pacific Railroads's interurban holdings in excruciating detail, and it seemed like we covered everything. After all, their holdings ranged from legendary Southern California streetcars to the burning trolley-fire that was the East Bay and Marin County interurbans. However, in our discussions there's always been one company that usually avoids being mentioned when SP's trolleys are brought up. Nowadays, San Jose's own Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (or VTA) operates a rather-wide light rail system in Silicon Valley, but one hundred years ago the VTA's job was actually done by the Peninsular Railway, or "the Pin" to locals. Despite only lasting 30 years and being outshone by SP's other interurbans and being prematurely cut short by weather and war, the Pin remained an important asset to the SP and the South Bay and deserves appreciation on today's Trolley Tuesday.

Trolley Thursday 7/15/21 - The Fresno Traction Company

We're now out of the Bay Area on today's Trolley Thursday (on a Friday?) as we head inland to look at the streetcars and interurbans of the Central Valley! We start our journey today with one of the biggest and most-notable cities in the CV, Fresno (Spanish for "ash tree"). Between 1885 and 1939, streetcars were the way to get around town and in 1903, all of these companies were consolidated under the Fresno Traction Company by (who else?) Henry E. Huntington of the Pacific Electric Railway. Under electrification, the city was able to ease out into the suburbs and rostered almost one-hundred electric streetcars until growth stagnated and automobile ownership took over this once-proud backcountry streetcar. On today's Trolley Thursday, let's get on our high horse and ride through the ash trees as we appreciate the brief but bright history of the Fresno Traction Company!

Trolley Tuesday 7/13/21 - A Brief History of the Bay Area Rapid Transit, Part 2

If you look at the entire timeline of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), one might be inclined to think that this world-famous transit system might not work on paper. After all, it shrank from its planned service coverage of nine counties to three, was entirely insular due to its unique gauge and prototype operations, and had enough neglectful management and accidents to turn the average person into a motorist (or at the very least, a bicyclist). Even after becoming the heroes of the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, many people assumed that the BART would fade into memory like so many of its predecessors. And yet, as of 2021, those iconic, space-age silver trains continue to roll into the future whether it, or its passengers, want it to or not. On Today's Trolley Tuesday, we finish our brief history of the Bay Area Rapid Transit by examining its recent history and how it's continued to maintain its relevance to the average Bay Area commuter.

Trolley Thursday 7/8/21 - A Brief History of the Bay Area Rapid Transit, Part 1

When the name, "Bay Area Rapid Transit", or its acronym, "BART", is mentioned to the average layperson, they immediately conjure up images of an outdated, incompatible and filthy system that anti-transit lobbyists love to use as a punchline or a warning. However, the BART is more than merely a punching bag, as it was originally one of the most forward-thinking and ambitious plans for a new American rapid transit system in the wake of National City Lines doing away with the Bay Area's streetcars as well as the best solution to the long-suffering problem of getting across the San Francisco Bay. On today's Trolley Thursday, consider this humble and passionate defense of this maligned and mischaracterized mass transit system as we look at the factors, figures, and fuck-ups foibles that make up today's Bay Area Rapid Transit.

Trolley Tuesday 7/6/21 - The Cars of the Sacramento Northern

Is it July already? I could never tell! Ah well...

Welcome to a brand-new (kinda!) month of Twice-Weekly Trolley History, where we are finishing the lead-up to the end of our East Bay story by first covering the cars of the Sacramento Northern system. Despite being the longest electric railway in Northern California, the roster list of the SN is strangely smaller than its Southern California equivalent, the Pacific Electric. However, as many canny men will tell you: it's not about the size, but it's what you do with it. For the SN, accomplishing this was not hard, as their varied interurban cars and freight locomotives helped to keep the interurban viable in the eyes of their heavy-rail overlords, the Western Pacific, right into the mid 1960s. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's open up the Mulberry Shops and take a peek at these beautiful, noteworthy, and historic electric cars.