| Almanor Railroad | |
|---|---|
| Reporting marks | AL |
| Locale | Sierra Nevada Mountains from Clear Creek Jct - Chester, CA |
| Dates of operation | 1941–present |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Chester, California |
The Almanor Railroad (AAR reporting marks AL) is a Class III shortline operating in Northern California, USA. It is owned by Collins Pine and annually hauls about 300 cars of timber and lumber products generated at the mill. The railroad is named after Lake Almanor, to which the railroad runs over (by causeway), and adjacent to, for some distance. The 13 mile railroad runs west from a connection with the BNSF Railway (former Western Pacific) at Clear Creek Junction to Chester, California. The Almanor Railroad was incorporated on September 15 1941, and purchased the line from the Grande Ronde Lumber Company. The railroad line was built before 1931 by the Red River Lumber Company which had a private electric logging railroad with a trestle over the Feather River and ran from Westwood (about 3 miles east of Clear Creek Junction) to Chester. The portion of the Red River Lumber line between Westwood and Chester is now the BNSF mainline from Keddie to Bieber. The BNSF also has trackage rights over the Almanor Railroad. The Almanor Railroad has one 70-ton GE locomotive built in 1955.
References
- Fickewirth, Alvin A. (1992). California railroads: an encyclopedia of cable car, common carrier, horsecar, industrial, interurban, logging, monorail, motor road, shortlines, streetcar, switching and terminal railroads in California (1851-1992). San Marino, CA: 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. ISBN 0-87004-385-4.
- Stindt, Fred A. (1996). American Shortline Railway Guide, 5th Ed., Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0-89024-290-9.
- Walker, Mike (1997). Steam Powered Video's Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America - California and Nevada, Post Merger Ed., Faversham, Kent, United Kingdom: Steam Powered Publishing. ISBN 1-874745-08-0.
