Steam & Excursion > A Very Sad Day On The West Side 54 Years Ago Today!

As many of you know, I first cut my teeth in steam railroading with the West Side Lumber Co. of Tuaolumne, Ca. This little narrow gauge logging line has held a special place for me ever since I first visited it in the 1960's.
For that reason, October 28 has always been a date with special meaning for me.

It was just after 11:OO am on the 28th of October 1960 that Shorty Maddox and his crew brought the very last load of logs through the mill yard gate in Tuolumne, California. This load of logs would not only close out the logging season on the West Side for that year, but for all time as well. This "Last Of The 3-Foot Loggers" had brought to a close 60 years of narrow gauge logging in the Sierra with that last log train.

The photo above is by Jim Wren and shows #10 and her log train just after passing by the mill yard gate and coming into the mill yard just as she had for so many years previously. The directors at Pickering Lumber made the decision over the winter to mothball the Shays and the narrow gauge logging railroad for the 1961 year and see if log trucks could do the same job for less money. With the new roads built over the years by the Forest Service in the area, the trucks now, for the first time, had the advantage over the Shays.

Today most of the buildings that were once served by the West Side are either gone or in ruins. Most all of the track is gone from the woods with only a few miles of it out of town left as a trail. Fortunately the Shays that were there at the end of operations and Heisler #3 are all saved and many still operate on tourist lines.

However the real West Side Lumber Co. came to an end on that October day 54 years ago today when #10 and her train rolled through the mill gate one last time as they headed for the log pond.

No log trains would follow her after that day.

Martin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/14 03:31 by LoggerHogger.

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A sad day indeed...

I clicked on this expecting to see something about the NYC's "High Line" along the West Side of Manhattan. Oh well.

Tim

Me too!

A few WSL cars are being restored at the narrow gauge shop in Nevada City, Ca. Caboose No1 ex Swayne lumber and caboose WSL No4 were restored last year. Sand car No10 and a few WSL flats are also out of the shop. Tank car No 2 goes in the shop next week, fallowed by WSL tank car No 4 next year.

NYC? New York?

Never heard of 'em ; )

Only one Westside.

John