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Roster of Cars
Motive Force
Light Equipment
Roster of Cars [back to top]
Passenger Cars
Southern Pacific 1010
Car 1010 was built by the San Joaquin & Sierra Nevada Railroad in their shops near Lodi, California in 1882. The car's original number is unknown at this time. Originally built as a coach, the car was later converted to a combine. The SJ&SN was sold to the Southern Pacific in 1885. The SP merged the SJ&SN into its Northern Railway subsidiary where the car was numbered 1010. In 1904 the SP standard gauged the the line and the car was transferred to the SPC, where it was used until 1907. It was then sent to the N&C where it became car 16. In late 1913 the car was set aside at Mina, Nevada and converted to a house for railroad workers. It was purchased by Richard Datin in 1960. He sold it to our group in 1990. The car has been undergoing restoration since and is nearly complete. The car was featured at Railfair 99 in Sacramento, California. The car had an estimated 25,000 visitors walk through or ride the car during Railfair.
Oakland Railroad 12
This single truck horse car was built for the Oakland Railroad, a SPC subsidiary. It was built by J. Hammond's California Car Works of San Francisco in 1887. Later the car was used on a Berkeley horse car line where it was numbered 8. Eventually it was converted to a child's playhouse. It was saved by Bay Area rail historian Louis Stein, who restored the car and donated it to our group. Its running gear was lost when the car was scrapped and it is now mounted on rubber tires for road use. So equipped, the car was used at BART's opening in 1970. Pattern work to restore its railroad undergear is complete. This car is currently stored off display. It is planned to undergo restoration in the immediate future.
South Pacific Coast 47
This is the car that started it all. 47 was built by Carter Brothers in their Newark shop in 1881. While 47 looks like a passenger car, it was considered to be a caboose and was used as such. As a caboose, the car was equipped with link and pin couplers instead of miller hooks like the passenger cars. Like many other SPC cars, 47 was sent to the N&C in 1907 after the earthquake and subsequent standard gauging of the SPC. On the N&C the car was renumbered 455. The car was set aside in 1915 in Keeler, California. The body of the car was brought back to Newark in 1975. The car is currently stored off display under cover.
Boxcars
Southern Pacific 10
This 28' 20-ton box car was built in 1880 by the Carter Bros. for the Oregonian Railroad as number 246. The car was transferred to the South Pacific Coast as car 492 in 1899 and to the Nevada & California as car 445 in 1907. The car was rebuilt to 20-ton capacity and renumbered SP 10 in the late 1940's. The car survived in service until 1960 when the SP abandoned the last of its narrow gauge operations. Car 10's 80 year service life may be a record for an American railroad freight car.
The last shop date "RPKD OYO1 11 60" is still legible. (Repacked OWENYO 1-11-1960)
South Pacific Coast 472
This is a standard Carter 28' 10-ton box car. It was built for the Oregonian Railroad in 1880 as car 230. The Oregonian RR was acquired by the Southern Pacific (as were many other west coast narrow gauge lines) and the car was transferred to the SPC in 1899, where it was renumbered 472. The car was again transferred in 1907, being sent to the Nevada and California Railway, still another SP property. Here it became Southern Pacific 443 (this number is still visible inside the car). The car was scrapped in 1928 and eventually became a shed in Sparks, Nevada. Our group acquired the car in 1983. After some basic repairs, the car was used as our first general store. Formal restoration began in 1993. Today the car houses our photo displays and once again contains a small general store..
South Pacific Coast 444
This is a 28' 10-ton combination box car. These cars which were built for fruit service were equipped with two sets of doors, one solid wooden set for regular service and a second set made of iron bars to allow ventilation. It was built for the Oregonian Railroad in 1880 as car 170, was sent to the SPC in 1899 as car 444 and finally went to the N&C as car 426 in 1907. The car was set aside in the 1920's and was used as a farm shed in the Reno area from where it was rescued by the Nevada State Railroad Museum. They declared it surplus to their collection in 1992 and gave it to us. Although this car is currently on trucks, it is not operational.
Nevada Central 253
This 24' long 8-ton box car was built in 1874 as part of the Carter Brother's first order of cars. It was built for the Monterey and Salinas Valley Railroad. When the car was built, the Carters didn't have a car shop. Instead they went to the customer's site and built the cars there, so this car was built on the beach in Monterey. The Southern Pacific took over the M&SV in 1881 and immediately sold the narrow gauge equipment to the then building Nevada Central Railroad where our car was numbered 253. When the N&C was abandoned in 1939 our car was spared, ultimately winding up as a roadside billboard for the Gold Strike Inn in Boulder City, Nevada. Our group traded the car for a replica in early 1992. The car is currently stored off display. This car is nicknamed the “Craps” car because of the casino advertising painted on the side of the car.
Pajaro Valley Consolidated 215
Car 215 was one of 26 boxcars owned by the Parajo Valley Railroad. It was built in 1894, by San Francisco railroad car builder J. S. Hammond. This car was acquired by the SPCRR in January 2004 from a home near Gonzales, California, where is was used as a storage shed. This car is currently stored next to our track on a foundation and is used for storage.
Flatcars
Diamond and Caldor 64
This 15-ton 24' flat car was found near Placerville, California, where it had been abandoned by the Diamond and Caldor Railway. On the D&C it was numbered 64. While this car is typical of cars built by the Carters, and it carried Carter journal box covers, we have no evidence that they built the car, nor do we think it was owned by the SPC. This car was restored in 1983 and was the first car used for passenger service on our railroad. For many years the car was numbered as shown below as South Pacific Coast 439.
The car was redecked and repainted to D & C 64 in 2001.
North Shore 1725
This 15-ton 28' flat car was built by the Carter Brothers about 1887 for the South Pacific Coast Railroad. The car's SPC number is unknown. In 1906 the San Francisco earthquake destroyed the SPC, and the car was sold to the North Shore Railroad in Marin County, where it was numbered 1725. Two years later, in 1908, the Northwestern Pacific took over the North Shore and with it car 1725. In about 1910, NWP rebuilt the car which was now 20 years old and probably worn out. During this rebuilding, the car was renumbered 5499. The car was retired in 1930, when the NWP abandoned its narrow gauge operations. The car was then sold to the Westside Lumber Company in Tuolumne, California where it was numbered 8 and was converted to a "camp car" with the addition of a house like body. The car was acquired by our group in 1985, and entered service in 1989 following a two-year restoration. This car is our primary operational car.
NS 1725 was converted to a covered picnic car in 2004 using 1880 photographs of NS picnic cars at the wharf in Sausalito. This conversion was funded by a grant from George and Karen Thagard.
West
Side Lumber Company 222
This
is a lumber flat purchased in 2002 from a collector. This is one of
last 45 flatcars in service on the West Side Lumber Company’s
railroad in Tuolumne. The Society for the Preservation of Carter
Railroad Resources restored this the car during the summer of 2002.
The bulk of the assembly was done over 3 days as a demonstration of
traditional railroad and industrial skills at our Washington Township
Railroad Fair. The picture below shows he car with passenger benches
and safety railings attached to the deck of the car. This car is a
unique flatcar in the SPCRR collection because it has no
stakepockets.
South Pacific Coast 4
This 12' long, four wheel flat car is a replica of a car used on the Centerville branch. It was built in the fall of 1994. The car is called the "Mary Jane". This car has wooden bearings.
Mt. Diablo & San Jose 21
This 15-ton capacity, 18' long ballast hopper is not historic. It was built under Brook Rother's supervision in 1989. It uses trucks, couplers and other parts salvaged from the Westside Lumber Company's shops. It follows typical design standards used by the Carter Bros. and Westside Lumber Company, but is not a copy of any known car.
In 2002 the car was repainted and lettered
The car is now being rebuilt in preparation for use in our eastern expansion.
Motive Force [back to top]
Tucker & Jiggs, are both fourteen year old Belgian Draft horses. They pull our narrow gauge trains 4 days a week. Both weigh about 2,000 lbs. and are between 18 and 20 hands high. Although theoretically each could pull up to six cars, our operating rules prohibit it. Although the horses could pull the cars, we are not certain we could stop multiple moving cars with hand brakes quickly enough to avoid injuring them.
Belgian Draft horses are particularly well suited to railroad work. They are sturdy even tempered animals capable of working long hours without strain. Belgians can work from the time they are 5 years old until they retire in 15 to 20 years. Both our horses are geldings.
Because of the low rolling resistance, train hauling is considered 'light' duty for these animals. The breed was developed to pull plows and wagons in the low countries of Europe. One of our standing jokes is to refer to these horses as 1-1-1-1 NG articulated hayburning locomotives.
In addition to pulling the train, our "all terrain locomotives" have been used to pull rotted ties, drag track, drag wheelsets from the boneyard and to grade using a Fresno scraper.
Old Mission Cement (No. 4), is a 7-ton chain-drive Plymouth locomotive. Built for the Old Mission Cement Co. in 1922, our locomotive is a model DL, type 2, serial no. 1363. Old Mission Cement was located in San Juan Bautista, California. The railroad operated from a cement plant located on the South side of town, southward 4 miles. Other equipment on the line included 2 0-4-0's and a two truck Climax, as well as 50 or so side dump cars, two tank cars, two flat cars (one was probably built by the Carter Brothers for the Colusa and Lake) and a caboose built on a Carter Brothers flat car. The Cement plant shut down in 1929, but the locomotive was not sold until 1939, to a rail fan in the Willits area. The locomotive is in operable condition and is under restoration. A history of this line can be found in the Sept. 1964 Western Railroader. This engine was nicknamed "Rusty-Mary" when it arrived. This engine has since been repainted its original black.
SPCRR 1/Solvent Recovery 588 A 8 ton Plymouth gasoline powered locomotive with a hydraulic transmission. It is a modern industrial locomotive used for switching, maintenance of way, as a back-up engine for horse drawn operations and special events. This engine was purchased by the SPCRR in August 2004 after leasing it for several years from a member. It is nicknamed 'Katie'. This engine has had a“rough” paint job and been renumbered as SPCRR 1.
The Owners Manual for this locomotive is located in a PDF file here.
Light Equipment [back to top]
Additionally the SPCRR has a replica of a Carter Bros. pump car, a standard-gauge pumpcar from the Yosemite Valley RR, two 1890's Buda push cars from the NWP on loan from Sacramento Valley Historic Railways and a third non-historic push car.
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© Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad
Resources 2003