Length 109,435 m | Locale Tulare County, California | |
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Dates of operation 1904 (1904)–1992 (1992) Headquarters Visalia, California, United States Successor Southern Pacific Transportation Company | ||
The Visalia Electric Railroad, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), began as an electric interurban railroad in Tulare County, in the U.S. State of California. The railroad was incorporated on April 22, 1904. Passenger service was discontinued in 1924, and the electrification was removed in 1944. Subsequent operation was by diesel locomotive. The railroad was closed in 1992.
Contents
The Visalia Electric used the unusual choice of 15 Hz AC at 3,300 Volts carried by overhead wire, with pantographs on the cars for pickup. Parent SP intended this as a testbed for main line, long distance electrification of its own lines in the area, a project that never came to fruition. For a short time in 1950-1951 the Visalia Electric briefly interchanged with the ATSF due to the bridge over the Kaweah River being washed out. The ATSF was seen by the SP as a rival, so for most of the life of the Visalia Electric only interchanged with its parent SP.
Origin
The Central Pacific line coming south from Fresno reached Goshen in the summer of 1872. In response, The Visalia Railroad Company was incorporated 1874 May 19 and a seven-mile spur from Goshen was completed 1874 Aug 14. In 1899 the spur was leased to the Southern Pacific Railroad. By 1898 Nov 29 the rails had been extended southeastward from Visalia to Southern Pacific's East Side Line at Exeter, a distance of ten miles.
In July 1881 Editor-Publisher Ben M. Maddox (see Ben Maddox Way) of the Visalia Daily Times began promoting hydroelectric power from the Kaweah River, which emerges from the Sierra Nevada Mountains about fifteen miles northeast of Visalia. In June 1899 power began to flow from Hammond, a little over three miles upstream from Three Rivers. Potentially producing 1800 horsepower (1343 kW), the power company actually sold 700 hp (522 kW).
As early as 1891 Sep 10 Ben Maddox proposed an electric interurban railroad for Tulare County to make use of the extra generating capacity. Around 1900 John Hays Hammond and Albert G. Wishon propose an electric railroad from Visalia to Three Rivers (about 30 miles). The Visalia Electric Railroad Company was incorporated 1904 Apr 22.
Construction
Ground was broken 1905 Feb 14 on construction of 11 miles from Exeter to Lemon Cove, completed in Aug. On 1908 Feb 22, the system was first electrified from Visalia to Lime Kiln (Terminus Beach). The existing Southern Pacific tracks from Visalia to Exeter were electrified and used as first leg of the system.
The line originated at the Visalia train station on the southeast corner of Garden and Oak Streets. In 1916 a new depot was built on the block just west, the second block north and the second block east of the center of town (Court and Main Streets.). The stations served both the Southern Pacific and the Visalia Electric.
In 1907 and 1908, offices, the main substation, a carbarn, and a rail yard were built in Exeter to serve as the operations center of the railroad. In 1909 the line was extended from Citro Junction, just north of Lemon Cove, west through what became Woodlake to Redbanks with a spur north to Elderwood.
The line was extended from Exeter to Strathmore in 1916 - 1918. This part of the line was not electified, but used gas-electric locomotives. The line extended 16.4 miles south, paralleling the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe line, to Strathmore.
An isolated segment east of Porterville was built in 1916; it went from Tule Jct (1 mile east of Porterville) to Magnolia with a spur to Sunland. A proposed extension past Porterville to Ducor was never built. On 1919 Aug 01 this line was conveyed to the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad.
Locomotives on the electrified part of the railroad used single-phase, 15-hertz electric current at 3,300 volts drawn from an overhead catenary. Three-phase, 60-hertz electric current at 35,000 volts was bought from the Mt. Whitney Power Company and converted at Exeter. A single bracket-type catenary using 7/16-inch steel messenger was suspended 22 feet above the rail on poles 120 ft apart, supporting 3/0 trolley wire. The locomotives used sliding shoe-type pantograph trolley exerting an upward force of ten pounds on the wire.
Operation
1908 Mar 10 marked the official start of electric operation. Steam locomotives had been used previously. On 1944 Nov 11 all electric propulsion ended: flashovers and deterioration of equipment made gas-electric & diesel-electric a better choice for propulsion.
The railroad throve by transporting produce grown in one of the richest agricultural areas of the nation, oranges mostly. The line also carried plums, peaches, lemons, grapes, dairy products, and other produce.
At its maximum extent the Visalia Electric Railroad consisted of two main lines. The electrified line went from Visalia east through Exeter, thence north and west to Redbanks, a total distance of 29.0 miles. The line had two major spurs: 1.4 miles from Citro Junction to Terminus and 4.5 miles from Woodlake Junction to Elderwood. The second main line, non-electrified, extended south 17.877 miles from Exeter to Strathmore.
Fragmentary Lines
The Visalia Electric Railroad also operated three fragmentary lines in the early Twentieth Century:
The Chowchilla Pacific Railway operated a line that ran 10 miles from Chowchilla southwest to Dairyland from 1924 to 1928. It was sold to the Southern Pacific in 1936.
The San Jose District of the Visalia Electric Railroad was formerly part of the Peninsular Railway, which consisted mainly of spur lines to Bascome, Linda Vista, & Berryessa. The Visalia Electric operated it from 1934 to 1938.
The Fresno Traction Company ran 3.5 miles in the City of Fresno from 1934 Dec 01 to 1938. It ran through a residential neighborhood and was shut down as a consequence of noise complaints.
Decline and End
Passenger revenues peaked in 1912 as the availability of automobiles running on well-paved roads provided a more convenient alternative to the interurban railroad. Passenger service was discontinued on 1924 Oct 31. The electric overhead from Visalia to Exeter (10.1 miles) was removed in 1925. Beginning in the 1940s, freight shipments began a steady decline, from 2,355 carloads (1948) to 1,400 carloads (1955) to 1,260 carloads (1960) and progressively fewer until 1990. The decline in freight shipments occurred due to increasing competition from trucks, even though productivity of produce in Tulare County was increasing.
Piece by piece abandonment of the railroad began in 1942 with the abandonment of the line from Strathmore to El Mirador. The segment from El Mirador to Fayette was abandoned in the summer of 1953. Final abandonment of the Strathmore branch occurred in 1973 with the rails removed by June. The last run on the railroad occurred on 1990 Sep 06 and abandonment was requested 1992 Aug 07.