Theodore Judah and the Local Landmarks of the Central Pacific Railroad
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Railroad related landmarks such as the Truckee granite roundhouse are abundant in the Truckee area.
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The month of May is National Archeological Awareness and Historic Preservation Week. It is a very important part of the American Experience to be aware of our local historic sites. This guidebook, available from the Truckee Donner Historical Society, is an attempt to educate people about the rich history of our area.
Much research can be done with today’s computer driven technology, but people must go to a historic site to fully appreciate the past. Truckee has very diverse history subjects and our history is becoming a very important part of our tourist based economy, especially with the upcoming designation of the downtown area as a National Registered Historic District. Much of Truckee 's history starts with the Central Pacific Railroad.
Theodore Judah was a well-known railroad design engineer in the east before he came west to California in 1854. He was the Chief Engineer for the Sacramento Valley Railroad, the California Central Railroad, and the Central Pacific Railroad. He also had spent several years in Washington D.C., lobbying for the transcontinental railroad.
In 1860, Judah began his explorations of what would become the Donner Pass Route. Four other routes over the Sierra were investigated and discarded in favor of the Donner route.
Judah laid the exact route that the rails currently follow from Donner Pass down the Truckee River to Nevada . He envisioned the tunnels that would be needed, the rock fills on Donner Pass , the long grade along Schallenberger Ridge above Donner Lake , the Horseshoe Bend at Coldstream Creek, the crossing of Donner Creek, the location of Truckee as a logical point for shops and section crews, and the winding grade down the Truckee River Canyon . Judah 's final report in 1863 were very detailed in location and cost estimates as far as the Nevada state line.
Judah died on November 2, 1863 , before all location surveys were complete. His death was a result of contracting typhoid fever crossing the Isthmus of Panama on his way to New York . Judah 's tireless energy led the construction of the railroad that was hailed as one of the 19th century's greatest engineering feats. Billions of tons of freight and millions of passengers have traveled on Judah visionary route. A Clampers plaque at the depot has recently been replaced and rededicated. A California Historical Landmark plaque was placed at the Depot in 1969 to commemorate to completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Details are in the Landmarks book.
Summit Tunnels
The Central Pacific's final location over the Sierra required 14 tunnels to maintain a maximum grade of 105 feet to the mile. The longest and most difficult tunnel was tunnel six, Summit Tunnel, under Donner Pass. It is 1659 feet long. The Chinese laborers worked three eight hour shifts from August 1866 until the first train rolled through it on November 30, 1867 . The construction was accomplished quicker by sinking a shaft at the middle of the tunnel, and starting two additional headings. Nitro-glycerin was introduced in February of 1867, being brewed on the spot by chemist James Howden. A Clampers plaque marks the location of the shaft.
The grade between tunnels seven and eight, further east, required a rock fill 75 feet high. The hand built retaining wall was built by Chinese laborers and is now known as China Wall. It was started in the fall of 1866 as the tunnels were being blasted out of solid rock. In the spring of 1867, snow tunnels were dug into the bottom of the wall and rock was placed by hand. Much of the lower portion of the wall were built under the snowdrifts. This is one of the landmarks noted in the new landmarks book.
The Chinese went on to remain in Truckee. After the completion, as many as 2000 Chinese lived in Truckee . Many continued to work on the railroad. The enforced move of Chinatown in 1878 to the south side of the Truckee River is noted in another landmark, the Chinese Herb Shop, located to the southeast of the Truckee River Bridge.
The Roundhouse
Another landmark in the Exploring Nevada County book is the Clamper's plaque that is dedicated to the Railroad Roundhouses that were located in Truckee. The first Roundhouse was built in 1868. It was a wooden structure that housed as many as 20 engines in a snowstorm of January of 1869. The first roundhouse burned down on March 29, 1869, when a pile of boards and shaving caught fire in the building. 11 of the 12 engines that were in the roundhouse were saved, including three of which were cold and had to be pulled out. One engine, the Piute was burned, but was later rebuilt.
150 carpenters were employed on a new 16 stall engine house that was immediately constructed. . It was completed by June of 1869. This new engine house was also built of wood, and was to last until 1882, when it was torn down. That year a new 22 stall roundhouse was built of Rocklin granite in the Truckee yards. This last engine house was a true circular roundhouse with a steel frame roof. It was built to withstand the fires that threatened the old roundhouses many times. The last roundhouse was put out of service in 1939 and torn down in 1955.
The Lumber Industry
The Central Pacific Railroad spawned other industries. The abundant tree covered hills allowed the lumber industry to develop many sawmills. One of Truckee 's most notable lumbermen was George Schaffer. He was a partner with Joe Gray at the Truckee River sawmill just across the river from downtown Truckee. He constructed two later sawmills in Martis Valley . He built what is now the Star Hotel on West River Street as his residence and later was used as a boardinghouse for his lumberyard employees. The Clamper's have placed a plaque to honor Schaffer on it.
The Clampers have placed a plaque at present day Hirschdale to commemorate the Clinton narrow gauge logging railroad. The sawmill at Clinton was first built in 1868, and logged the timber closest to the Truckee River by 1878. Truckee businessman Fred Burckhalter, partner in the Pacific Wood & Lumber Co. at Clinton, was the first in the west to use a steam powered railroad to haul logs from the woods to a sawmill. The three foot wide track extended up Juniper Creek several miles and was projected to be built to Lake Tahoe . In 1893 the timber in the Juniper Creek area was logged off and the rails and rolling stock were torn up and moved to the East Fork of Martis Creek. The track was built back to the Truckee Lumber Company Mill and the Pacific Lumber trains hauled logs to the Truckee mill until 1900.
The last railroad related landmark in the eastern Nevada County area is the town of Floriston. It was first settled at the bottom of Bronco Creek as a railroad construction camp in 1867. It was later named Bronco, and also known as Wickes. The Wickes brothers operated a wood cutting business up Bronco Creek in the 1870's and 1880's. In 1891 the Floriston Ice Company built an ice pond and icehouse in the area. Two small sawmills were built up Bronco Creek about that time.
In 1900 the Floriston Pulp and Paper Mill was built where Interstate 80 now passes across the river from the town of Floriston. The existing town of Floriston was a company built and operated town, with most of houses constructed in 1900. The paper company operated its own flumes, an aerial tramway in Coldstream Valley, and its own railroad up Alder Creek and into Euer Valley in the late 1920's. Due the acid pollution that the paper dumped into the river for 30 years, the paper mill closed in 1930. A Clamper's plaque is dedicated to this still visible landmark town.
The landmarks that are listed in Exploring Nevada County cover many different subjects and locations. Among the other eastern Nevada County sites are Donner Party landmarks, several plaques dedicated to the Emigrant Trail and western migration, three sites at Boca, and 12 other plaques in downtown Truckee.
There are over a hundred landmarks and historic sites listed in the western Nevada County around Nevada City and Grass Valley. The gold country is a history buffs paradise. The book has photos and maps to guide visitors to each site. The book is available through the Truckee Donner Historical Society.
This article by Gordon Richards originally appeared in the May 7, 2004 Echoes From The Past column in the Sierra Sun.
Much research can be done with today’s computer driven technology, but people must go to a historic site to fully appreciate the past. Truckee has very diverse history subjects and our history is becoming a very important part of our tourist based economy, especially with the upcoming designation of the downtown area as a National Registered Historic District. Much of Truckee 's history starts with the Central Pacific Railroad.
Theodore Judah was a well-known railroad design engineer in the east before he came west to California in 1854. He was the Chief Engineer for the Sacramento Valley Railroad, the California Central Railroad, and the Central Pacific Railroad. He also had spent several years in Washington D.C., lobbying for the transcontinental railroad.
In 1860, Judah began his explorations of what would become the Donner Pass Route. Four other routes over the Sierra were investigated and discarded in favor of the Donner route.
Judah laid the exact route that the rails currently follow from Donner Pass down the Truckee River to Nevada . He envisioned the tunnels that would be needed, the rock fills on Donner Pass , the long grade along Schallenberger Ridge above Donner Lake , the Horseshoe Bend at Coldstream Creek, the crossing of Donner Creek, the location of Truckee as a logical point for shops and section crews, and the winding grade down the Truckee River Canyon . Judah 's final report in 1863 were very detailed in location and cost estimates as far as the Nevada state line.
Judah died on November 2, 1863 , before all location surveys were complete. His death was a result of contracting typhoid fever crossing the Isthmus of Panama on his way to New York . Judah 's tireless energy led the construction of the railroad that was hailed as one of the 19th century's greatest engineering feats. Billions of tons of freight and millions of passengers have traveled on Judah visionary route. A Clampers plaque at the depot has recently been replaced and rededicated. A California Historical Landmark plaque was placed at the Depot in 1969 to commemorate to completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Details are in the Landmarks book.
Summit Tunnels
The Central Pacific's final location over the Sierra required 14 tunnels to maintain a maximum grade of 105 feet to the mile. The longest and most difficult tunnel was tunnel six, Summit Tunnel, under Donner Pass. It is 1659 feet long. The Chinese laborers worked three eight hour shifts from August 1866 until the first train rolled through it on November 30, 1867 . The construction was accomplished quicker by sinking a shaft at the middle of the tunnel, and starting two additional headings. Nitro-glycerin was introduced in February of 1867, being brewed on the spot by chemist James Howden. A Clampers plaque marks the location of the shaft.
The grade between tunnels seven and eight, further east, required a rock fill 75 feet high. The hand built retaining wall was built by Chinese laborers and is now known as China Wall. It was started in the fall of 1866 as the tunnels were being blasted out of solid rock. In the spring of 1867, snow tunnels were dug into the bottom of the wall and rock was placed by hand. Much of the lower portion of the wall were built under the snowdrifts. This is one of the landmarks noted in the new landmarks book.
The Chinese went on to remain in Truckee. After the completion, as many as 2000 Chinese lived in Truckee . Many continued to work on the railroad. The enforced move of Chinatown in 1878 to the south side of the Truckee River is noted in another landmark, the Chinese Herb Shop, located to the southeast of the Truckee River Bridge.
The Roundhouse
Another landmark in the Exploring Nevada County book is the Clamper's plaque that is dedicated to the Railroad Roundhouses that were located in Truckee. The first Roundhouse was built in 1868. It was a wooden structure that housed as many as 20 engines in a snowstorm of January of 1869. The first roundhouse burned down on March 29, 1869, when a pile of boards and shaving caught fire in the building. 11 of the 12 engines that were in the roundhouse were saved, including three of which were cold and had to be pulled out. One engine, the Piute was burned, but was later rebuilt.
150 carpenters were employed on a new 16 stall engine house that was immediately constructed. . It was completed by June of 1869. This new engine house was also built of wood, and was to last until 1882, when it was torn down. That year a new 22 stall roundhouse was built of Rocklin granite in the Truckee yards. This last engine house was a true circular roundhouse with a steel frame roof. It was built to withstand the fires that threatened the old roundhouses many times. The last roundhouse was put out of service in 1939 and torn down in 1955.
The Lumber Industry
The Central Pacific Railroad spawned other industries. The abundant tree covered hills allowed the lumber industry to develop many sawmills. One of Truckee 's most notable lumbermen was George Schaffer. He was a partner with Joe Gray at the Truckee River sawmill just across the river from downtown Truckee. He constructed two later sawmills in Martis Valley . He built what is now the Star Hotel on West River Street as his residence and later was used as a boardinghouse for his lumberyard employees. The Clamper's have placed a plaque to honor Schaffer on it.
The Clampers have placed a plaque at present day Hirschdale to commemorate the Clinton narrow gauge logging railroad. The sawmill at Clinton was first built in 1868, and logged the timber closest to the Truckee River by 1878. Truckee businessman Fred Burckhalter, partner in the Pacific Wood & Lumber Co. at Clinton, was the first in the west to use a steam powered railroad to haul logs from the woods to a sawmill. The three foot wide track extended up Juniper Creek several miles and was projected to be built to Lake Tahoe . In 1893 the timber in the Juniper Creek area was logged off and the rails and rolling stock were torn up and moved to the East Fork of Martis Creek. The track was built back to the Truckee Lumber Company Mill and the Pacific Lumber trains hauled logs to the Truckee mill until 1900.
The last railroad related landmark in the eastern Nevada County area is the town of Floriston. It was first settled at the bottom of Bronco Creek as a railroad construction camp in 1867. It was later named Bronco, and also known as Wickes. The Wickes brothers operated a wood cutting business up Bronco Creek in the 1870's and 1880's. In 1891 the Floriston Ice Company built an ice pond and icehouse in the area. Two small sawmills were built up Bronco Creek about that time.
In 1900 the Floriston Pulp and Paper Mill was built where Interstate 80 now passes across the river from the town of Floriston. The existing town of Floriston was a company built and operated town, with most of houses constructed in 1900. The paper company operated its own flumes, an aerial tramway in Coldstream Valley, and its own railroad up Alder Creek and into Euer Valley in the late 1920's. Due the acid pollution that the paper dumped into the river for 30 years, the paper mill closed in 1930. A Clamper's plaque is dedicated to this still visible landmark town.
The landmarks that are listed in Exploring Nevada County cover many different subjects and locations. Among the other eastern Nevada County sites are Donner Party landmarks, several plaques dedicated to the Emigrant Trail and western migration, three sites at Boca, and 12 other plaques in downtown Truckee.
There are over a hundred landmarks and historic sites listed in the western Nevada County around Nevada City and Grass Valley. The gold country is a history buffs paradise. The book has photos and maps to guide visitors to each site. The book is available through the Truckee Donner Historical Society.
This article by Gordon Richards originally appeared in the May 7, 2004 Echoes From The Past column in the Sierra Sun.
