The Feather River Railway was built in 1922 for the Hutchinson Lumber Company to bring logs from Feather Falls, California, to a connection with the Western Pacific Railroad (WP) at Bidwell, California. The WP would then transport the logs to the Hutchinson sawmill in Oroville, California. The sawmill burned in 1927; and the railway was unused through the Great Depression until reorganized as a common carrier in 1938 to serve a new sawmill built at Feather Falls. Georgia-Pacific purchased the sawmill and railway in 1955. The railway ceased operation after portions of the grade were flooded by Oroville Dam during the Christmas flood of 1964.[1]

Feather River Railway
Overview
HeadquartersFeather Falls, California
LocaleButte County, California
Dates of operation1922–1966
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Western section of 1948 route with connection to Western Pacific line
Eastern portion of route in 1948

Locomotives

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Number Builder Type Date Works number Notes[2]
1 Lima Locomotive Works 3-truck Shay locomotive 1921 3169 purchased new; placed on display at Oroville in 1961
2 Lima Locomotive Works 3-truck Shay locomotive 1922 3177 purchased new. Sold to Sierra Railway.
3 Lima Locomotive Works 3-truck Shay locomotive 1923 3221 purchased new, operational as Cass Scenic Railroad #11, Cass, West Virginia
4 H.K. Porter, Inc. 0-6-0 Tank locomotive 1907 3951 built as Mammoth Copper Mining Company #4; scrapped in 1957
5 Willamette Iron and Steel Works 3-truck Willamette locomotive 1923 9 purchased new; scrapped in 1957
8 GE Transportation GE 44-ton switcher 1951 30791[3] built as C.D. Johnson Lumber Company #8; purchased in 1963
91 Lima Locomotive Works 3-truck Shay locomotive 1928 3322 built as Polson Logging Company #91; purchased for parts in 1958; scrapped
102 Electro-Motive Diesel EMD SW900 1959 25504[3] built as Hammond Redwood Company #102; purchased in 1961
A[3] Plymouth Locomotive Works gas-mechanical locomotive 1930[3] 3476[3] built for Garfield & Company[3]

Notes

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  1. ^ Barnhill Web Design. "Feather River Railway". TrainWeb. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  2. ^ Stephens, Kent (1965). "The Feather River Railway in 1965". The Western Railroader. 28 (306). Francis A. Guido: 12.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhill Web Design. "Feather River Railway". TrainWeb. Retrieved 9 December 2017.