Nostalgia & History > Willows, California: SP rail hub?

In a previous thread, "SP 1714 and crew, about 1910-11: Wherezit?" (see: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,3522556) , I asked for help on the location of a photo taken of SP 1714 and crew in about 1910-11. Thanks to the contributions of TonyJ, I was able to piece together a strong case for Willows, California.

In the process, I "discovered" that Willows was once a hub for local SP operations, originating trains and/or motors for both the Colusa Branch (to Hamilton City) and the Fruto Branch. It's kinda cool when something like this socks you from out of nowhere, so I've begun looking into this.

First off, I found that the City of Willows has a nice little collection of vintage RR photos, one of which (below) shows the apparent location of the 1714 photo, but from the opposite direction. The below photo, apparently taken from Sycamore Street, next to the depot, looks to be of the same period as the 1714 photo. The engine is standing on the main track, one track to the left of the 1714, and appears to be located about where the 1714's 7th or 8th cars were standing. On the left you can make out the SP fuel oil tank that shows in the Sanborn map in the previous thread. Sadly, no McKeen cars are visible.

City of Willows RR photos- you will have to copy and paste the entire URL to arrive at this page):
http://www.cityofwillows.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={68B74D22-4E72-4800-B7C3-8051A68EA3E2}&DE={DAC4876D-E820-4E69-B24F-7A638EA5F2FC}

Second, I have run across a dandy history of Fruto, whose branch line seems to be less known even than my beloved New Almaden Branch. It has a considerable amount of info about the branch, including photos, maps, an 1888 TT and a timeline. A must see for fans of SP obscura. See: http://www.fruto.us/

Such tangents as this one are the reason that the Dome has seen no new additions this year, but I would have it no other way.

- E.O.
Wx4.org - The Dome O' Foam

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Railroad archeology can be fun. One of the things I enjoy about the hobby. I'm thinking you have the location down. Great link to the Willows RR images. Nice work. TO can be a big help when you have folks like TonyJ around.
Dave

There's also a collection of old rail cars sitting in a farmyard next to the road outside of Maxwell. Not sure whose RR it was but they headed off into the Western Foothills for a bit. Seems we had that Discussion on TO one day, there might also be a Wiki on it as well.

-------------------------------------------------------
...
>
> Second, I have run across a dandy history of
> Fruto, whose branch line seems to be less known
> even than my beloved New Almaden Branch. It has a
> considerable amount of info about the branch,
> including photos, maps, an 1888 TT and a
> timeline. A must see for fans of SP obscura. See:
> http://www.fruto.us/
>
> Such tangents as this one are the reason that the
> Dome has seen no new additions this year, but I
> would have it no other way.
>
> - E.O.
> Wx4.org - The Dome O' Foam

> TO can be a big help when you have folks like TonyJ around

I have certainly found this out.

- E.O.

>There's also a collection of old rail cars sitting in a farmyard next to the road outside of Maxwell. Not sure whose RR it was but they headed off into the Western Foothills for a bit. Seems we had that Discussion on TO one day, there might also be a Wiki on it as well.

Hmm, I don't think that I have ever noticed them. Are they visible from I-5? I'm usually too fixated on stopping for Louie Bread at Louis Cairo's in Williams to notice anything else in the vicinity.

- E.O.

hogheaded Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >There's also a collection of old rail cars
> sitting in a farmyard next to the road outside of
> Maxwell. Not sure whose RR it was but they headed
> off into the Western Foothills for a bit. Seems we
> had that Discussion on TO one day, there might
> also be a Wiki on it as well.
>
> Hmm, I don't think that I have ever noticed them.
> Are they visible from I-5? I'm usually too fixated
> on stopping for Louie Bread at Louis Cairo's in
> Williams to notice anything else in the vicinity.
>
> - E.O.

E.O.
Louis Cairo's gets our vote for a great place to eat in Williams. The best Minestrone soup I ever ate was in that place. I also miss eating at the old Auction Yard in Williams.

Also thanks for the link to the history of the Fruto Branch. Lots of great information there.

As to the cabooses in Maxwell, I saw them about 15 years ago as my wife and I drove to Sites - the end of the line for the n.g. Colusa & Lake RR. I think the ownler/place is the Olney Land & Cattle Company. The old SP (and other railroad's) markings were totally wiped out. I've always wanted to find the history of the equipment there.

Tony J.

What am I missing? That "Willows" picture looks a whole lot more like
Williams.

Out

That shed roof does look like Williams.


callum_out Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What am I missing? That "Willows" picture looks a
> whole lot more like
> Williams.
>
> Out

TCnR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That shed roof does look like Williams.
>
>
> callum_out Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What am I missing? That "Willows" picture looks
> a
> > whole lot more like
> > Williams.
> >
> > Out


Sorry boys, but the photo is definitely of Willows.

- E.O.

Those sheds were in a lot of towns along that line. Was it De Pue, or close? Willows has as lot of empty space trackside.

TCnR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Those sheds were in a lot of towns along that
> line. Was it De Pue, or close? Willows has as lot
> of empty space trackside.



Woodland Daily Democrat
Woodland, California
Thursday, January 16, 1919
Page 8
…DePue Warehouse Company. The latter company has three...warehouses in San Francisco and a chain of twelve houses on the west side of the Sacramento valley.

If you use Google Street view for '194 E Sycamore St Willows, California', move around a little to look straight north and one step of Zoom the two existing DePue buildings line up very well. The spacing matches the remaining track and there's room for a distant track that is now missing.

> If you use Google Street view for '194 E Sycamore
> St Willows, California', move around a little to
> look straight north and one step of Zoom the two
> existing DePue buildings line up very well. The
> spacing matches the remaining track and there's
> room for a distant track that is now missing.


Done. It appears that the original photo was taken from a little further north of Sycamore than I thought.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/14 07:19 by hogheaded.

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