By Ken Rattenne

The Tidewater Southern, along with its big sister Sacramento Northern  was a vital contributer to parent Western Pacific's financial survival. The little shortline fed important carloads to a company that never seemed to have enough on-line customers. 

The Tidewater Southern operated between Stockton and Turlock for a mainline distance of 47.9 miles between yard limits (according to WP Timetable No. 7, dated ). This colorful shortline offered photographers interesting motive power operating through a bucolic setting, culminating in street running in two different cities.

Today the railroad is known as the Tidewater Subdivision of the Union Pacific, and is still considered an important source of traffic in California's fertile breadbasket called the Central Valley. 

 

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This article is Copyright ©1998-2002 by Ken Rattenne and KPR Media Services