{{use mdy dates|date=May 2024}} {{short description|Heritage railway in California}} {{Infobox heritage railway | name = Sacramento Southern Railroad | other_name = | logo = | logo_width = | logo_alt = | image_name = Sacramento Southern Railroad locomotive No. 2030.JPG | image_width = | image_alt = | caption = Sacramento Southern Railroad #2030 performs some local switching duties on the SSRR line located just south of the [[California State Railroad Museum]] in [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] in December, 2004. | color = | locale = [[Sacramento]] [[Freeport, California]]; original route was to Walnut Grove | terminus = [[Freeport, California]]; original route was to [[Walnut Grove, California|Walnut Grove]] | longitude = | latitude = | map = | map_caption = | map_alt = | mapsize = | connections = [[Union Pacific Railroad]] (Freight) | linename = | builtby = The original Sacramento Southern Railroad<br /> a [[non-operating subsidiary]]<br /> of the [[Southern Pacific Company]] | originalopen = 1909 | originalgauge = {{RailGauge|4ft8.5in|allk=on}} | owned = [[California State Railroad Museum]] | operator = California State Railroad Museum | marks = SSRR | stations = | length = 3 miles | preservedgauge = {{RailGauge|4ft8.5in|allk=on}} | era = | com-years = 1912 | com-events = Merged with [[Central Pacific Railroad]] | com-years1 = (?) | com-events1 = Became a part of the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|SP system]] | com-years9 = | com-events9 = | closedpassengers = | closed = 1978 | stageyears = {{circa|1978}} | stage = Property acquired by the museum | years = (?) | events = Freight service resumed | years1 = 1982 | events1 = Excursions started | years2 = Present | events2 = In operation | headquarters = [[California State Railroad Museum]] at [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] | website = [http://www.ssrrsignal.com Official website] | routemap = {{Sacramento Southern Railroad|inline=y}} | routemap_name = | routemap_state = }}
The '''Sacramento Southern Railroad''' is a [[heritage railway]] owned by the [[California State Railroad Museum]] which operates excursion trains on it.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.csrmf.org/train-rides/all-aboard-excursion-train-rides | title=All Aboard! Excursion Train Rides | publisher=[[California State Railroad Museum]] | access-date=May 29, 2012 | archive-date= 2016-06-27| archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160627084710/http://www.csrmf.org:80/train-rides/all-aboard-excursion-train-rides | url-status=dead }}</ref> The railroad extends from the museum property located in [[Old Sacramento State Historic Park]] south along the east bank of the [[Sacramento River]] [[levee]].
The original Sacramento Southern Railroad ran south {{convert|24.3|mi|km}} to [[Walnut Grove, California]] via Freeport and was a [[Paper railroad|non-operating subsidiary]] of the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company]] incorporated in 1903.<ref name="hecteman">{{cite book|last=Hecteman|first=Kevin W.|title=Sacramento Southern Railroad|url=http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9780738569864/Sacramento-Southern-Railroad|pages=128|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9780738569864|date=9 March 2009}}</ref>
The line was constructed between 1906–1912, and the first train began operating over the line in 1909.<ref name="history">{{cite web|url=http://www.csrmf.org/train-rides/history-of-the-sacramento-southern-railroad|title=History of the Sacramento Southern Railroad |access-date=2012-12-11 |publisher=[[California State Railroad Museum]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116230805/http://www.csrmf.org/train-rides/history-of-the-sacramento-southern-railroad |archive-date=November 16, 2012}}</ref> It was merged in 1912 with the [[Central Pacific Railroad]] upon completion of the line to Walnut Grove. The line was extended to [[Isleton, California|Isleton]] by 1929. In 1931, a {{convert|3|mi|km|0|adj=on}} extension of the branch reached the [[Mokelumne River]].<ref name="history"/> Southern Pacific ended passenger service on the line the following year.<ref name="history"/>
The railroad later became a part of the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|SP]] system who filed with the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] to abandon the line, and did so on October 10, 1978.<ref name="history"/> Around that time the California State Railroad Museum started acquiring the rail property, and started excursions in 1982.<ref name="history"/> Recent have seen a resurgence in the road's freight business, serving a number of local industries via an interchange with the [[Union Pacific Railroad]]. But since the last customer on the line closing down in the mid 2010s, freight has stagnated. Future plans call for expanding operations southward into the [[Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta]] area.
==See also== {{Portal|Trains|California}}
* [[List of heritage railroads in the United States]] * [[Sacramento RiverTrain]]—which operates excursions across the Sacramento River from the SSRR
==References== {{reflist}} * {{Robertson-Western Railroad-4}}
==External links== *{{Commons category inline}} *{{official|https://www.californiarailroad.museum/visit/excursion-train-rides}} *{{Cite web|url=http://www.ssrrsignal.com|title=SSRR Signal Department Home Page|access-date=2012-12-11}} *{{Cite web|url=https://delriotrail.info/|title=DelRioTrail.info, a Rail with Trails proposal for the Sacramento Southern Railroad|access-date=February 25, 2018|archive-date=February 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225205842/https://delriotrail.info/|url-status=dead}} *{{HAER |survey=CA-357 |id=ca3482 |title=Walnut Grove Branch Line Railroad, North and West of State Highway 160, Freeport, Sacramento County, CA |photos=13 |data=15 |cap=2}}
{{California railroads}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacramento Southern Railroad}} [[Category:Heritage railroads in California]] [[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in California]] [[Category:Defunct California railroads]] [[Category:Predecessors of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company]] [[Category:Railway companies established in 1903]] [[Category:Railway companies disestablished in 1912]] [[Category:Transportation in Sacramento County, California]] [[Category:Tourist attractions in Sacramento County, California]] [[Category:Southern Pacific Railroad lines]]
{{US-rail-company-stub}}