The Sierra Railroad Company a privately owned common carrier which has a freight division (Sierra Northern Railway

Sierra Northern Railway

The Sierra Northern Railway originates from the Sacramento Northern Railway, the Northern Electric Railway, the Sierra Railroad, Western Pacific Railroad, and Yolo Shortline Railroad. It handles all freight operations and track maintenance for its parent company, the Sierra Railroad Company...

) which handles all track maintenance and freight operations for all branches owned by the Sierra Railroad Company. The company's Mendocino Railway group operates the diesel- and steam-powered Sierra Railroad Dinner Train (Oakdale), the Sacramento RiverTrain

Sacramento RiverTrain

The Sacramento RiverTrain, formerly the Yolo Shortline Railroad Company is a common carrier railroad company that runs special excursions out of Woodland, California, which is 15 minutes outside Sacramento....

 (Woodland-Sacramento) and the Skunk Train (Fort Bragg-Willits). The company's Sierra Energy division is for energy projects.

History

The similarly named Sierra Railway Company of California was founded in 1897 to connect the California Central Valley

California Central Valley

California's Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of California. It is home to California's most productive agricultural efforts. The valley stretches approximately from northwest to southeast inland and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. Its northern half is...

 to the Gold Country

Gold Country

Gold Country is a region in the central and northeastern part of California, United States. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines that attracted waves of immigrants, known as the 49ers, during the 1849 California Gold Rush.-Geography:State Route 49 was built through the Gold Country,...

 foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Its historic western terminus has always been in Oakdale where a junction was once formed with both the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and the Southern Pacific. The Santa Fe's (now BNSF Railway] Oakdale Branch provided one freight outlet to the AT&SF mainline at Riverbank, California; the SP Oakdale Branch from Stockton was abandoned and torn out in the early 1980s. The Sierra Railroad bought the BNSF mainline from Riverbank MP1 to Oakdale in 2008. The portion of the former Sierra Railway conveyed by the railroad's historic owners, the Crocker Family, to the California State Park System are with "Sierra Railway", which preserves the original operating name of the entire line and is headquartered at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, California

Jamestown, California

Jamestown is a census-designated place in Tuolumne County, California, United States. The population was 3,433 at the 2010 census, up from 3,017 at the 2000 census.A scene from the movie Hidalgo was filmed in Jamestown...

.

See also

• List of heritage railroads in the United States
• Sacramento RiverTrain
  Sacramento RiverTrain
  The Sacramento RiverTrain, formerly the Yolo Shortline Railroad Company is a common carrier railroad company that runs special excursions out of Woodland, California, which is 15 minutes outside Sacramento....
  
  
• California Western Railroad
  California Western Railroad
  The California Western Railroad , popularly called the Skunk Train, is a heritage railroad in Mendocino County, California, running from the railroad's headquarters in the coastal town of Fort Bragg, and the interchange with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at Willits.The CWR runs steam and...
  
  

External links

• http://www.sierrarailroad.com
• http://www.sierranorthern.com
• http://sierraenergycorp.com/
• http://www.csrmf.org/railtown/default.asp
• Guide to the Sierra Railroad Records at The Bancroft Library