Steam & Excursion > A Very Sad End To A Rail Line That Carried So Many Happy People!

What looks like little more than a scar on the riverbank of the Truckee River in 1946, as it runs out of Lake Tahoe in Northern California, this trail along the river once carried thousands of happy tourists to the lake to enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation.  Until a few years before this photo was taken, this was an active railroad right-of-way.

First built as narrow gauge in 1899, the Lake Tahoe Railway & Transportation Company operated this 16-mile long line from Truckee, California to Tahoe City on the shores of beautiful Lake Tahoe.  This was a very popular line taking tourists from their connecting trains on the Southern Pacific at Truckee and then down to the Lake where they could enjoy a ride across the lake on the steamer "Tahoe" to what ever destination they desired.

In 1925, the narrow gauge could not keep up with passenger demands so the Bliss family that had owned the LTR&T from it's beginning, sold the line to the SP who promptly parked the narrow gauge equipment and converted the railroad to standard gauge.  The line continued to carry trains loaded with passengers until 1943, when it was finally abandoned due to the competing auto traffic and the need for the steel in the rails in WW-2.

Today, tourist once again use this line to go to and from Lake Tahoe.  Unfortunately it is not a railroad anymore, most of it has been converted to a bike and walking path.  While not as romantic as the narrow gauge railroad that it was built to carry, the right-of-way still serves much of it's intended purpose over 120 years after it was first built.

Martin



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/19 17:28 by LoggerHogger.

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This photo, taken in the late 1930's at the same spot as the first photo, shows just how hard it was for SP to keep this line open in the winter.  This fact along was one of the reasons SP decided to abandone the line in 1943.

Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/19 07:10 by LoggerHogger.

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Had the pleasure of biking the path that uses some of the old ROW, just last month.
In Tahoe City, one place we enjoy eating is Moe's BBQ.  Near their entrance, they have an old map of Tahoe City (not certain the date), showing roads and rail line in good detail, including the locations of station, engine house, etc.

Nice post!
Interesting how the highway was built farther above the river. 
By the way, from Truckee, you go Up to the lake; the Truckee River is Tahoe's outlet and the water  runs down through Reno and out into the desert...