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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