History Of The West Side
 

* New features being added *

Reading Material
Roster of West Side's Locomotives

West Side's Rolling Stock

In 1899, The West Side Flume & Lumber Company was formed when Henry J. Crocker, Wellington Gregg, Thomas Bullock and Charles Gardner bought 55,000 acres of timber just outside of present day Tuolumne. It was estimated to have over one billion board feet, by the end of West Side's operation it would put out double the amount estimated. The  land  contained over 10 square miles of Ponderosa Pine and Sugar Pine. Redwood in those days were too big to handle with some as tall as 30 stories. Ponderosa Pine and Sugar Pine were not as big but were easier to handle and in demand at the time.

Soon a small mill was built in Carter's, now day Tuolumne, and a small railroad stretched out 10 miles east into the woods.  There first engine used was a  0-4-0T locomotive purchased from the American River Land & Lumber Co. This little locomotive nicknamed "Fido" was used to lay the tracks out towards the woods. Meanwhile a Heisler locomotive was on its way, a number of 24ft. long flat cars as well as parts for 80 disconnect trucks were being supplied by Carter Brothers located in Newark, CA. Although most of the timber logged in 1899 went straight to the building of the saw mill, by 1900 there was enough timber being brought into keep the mill going year round even though the railroad shut down during the winter.

In 1903 the West Side Flume & Lumber Co., was purchased by a group of Michigan loggers for four million dollars. One of the first things the new owners changed was the name, which was shortened to West Side Lumber Co. With the change also came West Side's first Shay, #5. This added to there four Heisler's already in operation. A year after Shay #6 was purchased but would soon be scrapped because of its bad habit of rolling over on curves. 7 more Shays would be purchased over the next 30 years.

During West Side's "heydays" it stretched some 72 miles (1949), had 4 major trestles (which they called bridges), and put out over 40 million board of feet in one year. There was an additional 250 miles of logging spurs. At one time passenger service was tried on the West Side. It was thought that the railroad would be another way into the nearby Yosemite National Park. However, because of the amount of time it took to travel to the end of the line it was soon realized that the line was strictly to be used for logging.
 

Eventually it became to expensive to operate the railroad. Diesel trucks could haul the timber to the mill faster and more efficient, thus the West Side shut its doors on the railroad. The last train to run was on June 7, 1961, with Shay number 14 headed to camp 24 to pick up some stored equipment.

Several attempts were tried to operate the railroad as a tourist line. The most famous try was by Glen Bell, the founder of Taco Bell. He laid track around the mill property as well as ran trains out to the River Bridge site. However these efforts failed and again the WS was sold off to other investors and than eventually sold separately.

Reading Material on the West Side

West Side Narrow Gauge in the Sierra: By Mallory Hope Ferrell

West Side Pictorial: By Mallory Hope Ferrell

Last of The 3 Foot Loggers: By Allan Krieg
 

Roster of Locomotives

No.	Type	Builder	Date Const.	Builder No.	Comments
Fido	0-4-0T	H.K. Porter	1892	1389	Scrapped
Star	0-6-0T	Baldwin	1875	3732	Scrapped 1946
1	Heisler 2-T	Stearns Mfg.	1899	1028	Scrapped 1941
2	Heisler 2-T	Stearns Mfg.	1899	1038	On Display in Tuolumne City Park
3	Heisler 2-T	Stearns Mfg.	1900	1041	Operating at Roaring Camp & Big Trees
4	Heisler 2-T	Stearns Mfg.	1901	1049	Scrapped September 1950
5	Shay 2-T	Lima	1902	730	Scrapped September 1950
6	Shay 2-T	Lima	1903	817	Scrapped
7	Shay 3-T	Lima	1911	2465	Operating at Roaring Camp& Big Trees
8	Shay 3-T	Lima	1922	3176	On Display Canon City, CO.
9	Shay 3-T	Lima	1923	3199	Operating at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa
10	Shay 3-T	Lima	1928	3315	Operating on Yosemite Mountain & Sugar Pine RR
12	Shay 3-T	Lima	1926	3302	Operating at CRRM
14	Shay 3-T	Lima	1916	2835	Operating at CRRM
15	Shay 3-T	Lima	1913	2645	Operating on Yosemite Mountain & Sugar Pine RR
					Diesel Engines
1	0-4-0	Plymouth	1927	2767	Placerville, CA
2	0-4-0	Plymouth	1930	3477	Scrapped
3	0-4-0	Milwaukee	1928	661	Operating at Roaring Camp& Big Trees

Rolling Stock

Cabooses

Number	Length	Built	Comments
1	24'	1904	Scrapped
1 (2nd)	24'	Ex-SLCo.	Privately Owned
2	24'	1919	Scrapped
2 (2nd)	24'	Ex-SLCo.	Scrapped
3	16'	1920	Unknown
3 (2nd)	24'	1945	Unknown
4	16'	1922	Merlin, OR
4 (2nd)	24'	1945	Placerville, CA
5	24'	1919	Nevada County Historical Society Nevada City, CA
6	16'	1922	Unknown
7	24'	1949	Orange Empire Railway Museum

Flat Cars

Oil Tank Cars

Number	Length	Comments
1	24'	Scrapped
2	24'	Placerville, CA
3	24'	Arcata, CA
4	24'	Placerville, CA
5	28' 6"	Roaring Camp & Big Trees; Felton, CA
6	32' 9"	Tuolumne, CA
7	N/A	Scrapped
7 (2nd)	32'	Y.M.S.P.  Fish Camp, CA
8	24'	Scrapped
8 (2nd)	32'	N/A
9	30' 9"	Tuolumne, CA
10	28'	Scrapped

Sand Service Cars

Snow Plows

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West Side Guide

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Copyright © 1998-2002 Michael Azzarello
Last modified: March 16, 2006