Port Railroads
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Port Railroads | |
|---|---|
| Reporting marks | PRI |
| Locale | San Joaquin Valley, California |
| Dates of operation | March 13, 1994 – April 26, 1996 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Exeter, California |
Port Railroads, Inc. (AAR reporting marks PRI) was a 105.7-mile shortline railroad owned by Kyle Railways. PRI was formed on March 13, 1994 to take over two Southern Pacific Railroad (AAR reporting marks SP) lines. One of SP's lines was the West Side Line (47.8 miles) between Fresno northwest to Oxalis, California and a branch running from Ingle to Burrel (25.2 miles). The other line was the SP Buttonwillow Branch (32.7 miles) from Bakersfield (Kern Junction) to Buttonwillow, California.
PRI was related to the San Joaquin Valley Railroad (AAR reporting marks SJVR). Both PRI and the SJVR were subsidiaries of Kyle Railways. Because PRI and the SJVR were related, the SJVR provided the motive power for PRI. On April 26, 1996, Kyle Railways merged PRI into the SJVR.
PRI handled about 8,000 cars per year (1996 estimate).
[edit] History
The Southern Pacific constructed the West Side Line that ran from Tracy down the west side of the San Joaquin Valley to Fresno between 1888-1891. The Buttonwillow Branch was constructed by the Southern Pacific after 1910. The Buttonwillow Branch has about 15 miles of track abandoned in the late 1950's east from Buttonwillow to Olig[1] with stations listed as Lokern[2], Asphalto[3] and McKittrick. Asphalto was the location of a historic Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1. McKittrick is famous for its naturally occurring asphalt tar pits[4].
According to an article by Don Browen, "the Port Railroad took over the 33 mile former Southern Pacific Buttonwillow Branch from Kern Junction to Buttonwillow and 47.6 miles of S.P.'s former Westside Branch from Fresno to Oxalis. Additionally S.P.'s former 24.6 Riverdale Branch from Ingle on the Westside Branch to Burble was included in the transaction. This is a long term lease and not a purchase by Kyle Railways. What is the significance of the name Port Railroad? Kyle owned the name Port Railroad which it used for its railroad in San Francisco. When this railroad ceased operations, Kyle had an extra name which it decided would be used for its latest California acquisition. 3 more locomotives, 2037, 2041, and 2042, were obtained for the increased workload."[5]
[edit] References
- Stindt, Fred A. (1996). American Shortline Railway Guide, 5th Ed., Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Company. ISBN 0-89024-290-9.
- Walker, Mike (1997). Steam Powered Video's Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America - California and Nevada - Post Merger Edition. Kent, United Kingdom: Steam Powered Publishing. ISBN 1-874745-08-0.
