The Last of the 3 Foot Gauge Loggers

Under Construction

Projected Completion Date: ?

The WSLC began as a small scenic shortline railroad in 1897 born from aspirations of not only a profitable lumbering route but also a passenger-based common carrier that would connect travelers to the wonders of the Northern California Sierras and beyond. It was established as the West Side Flume and Lumber Company based out of Carter (now Tuolumne California). A mill was built and 3 foot gauge track was laid leading up into the canyon of the north fork of the Tuolumne River to the big timber. The line’s lumbering success was immediate and it was soon connected as a branchline off the already well established standard gauge Sierra Railroad Many came to Tuolumne for the ready jobs on the railroad and the mill area.

The West Side’s mainline eventually stretched about 70 miles eastward from Tuolumne into the heart of the rugged Sierras. The line twisted and turned about the many canyons and gorges on nearly 5% grades and made for a spectacular setting for the numerous side winding shays that the company acquired over the years – most of which still exist today on excursion lines and museum displays.

Although it did play a part in the motivation for building the route, the idea of becoming a passenger railroad was abandoned very early in the railroad’s history. The West Side then began to develop into one of the longest lived pure steam logging railroads in the USA. When many of the other logging railroads fell to the cheaper methods of trucking out the logs, the West Side survived simply because it was not cost effective to build road grades into the rugged back country that the line already covered. It was only a small delay to the inevitable however and the line did finally give way to truck logging. The last big shay powered logging trains ran in 1961 almost exactly 60 years after the first forays into the high country by the little narrow gauge Porter and Heisler engines.