Rocklin: Prosperous and Growing in the 19th Century, by Gary Day, Rocklin and Roseville Today - Rocklin, CA

"Rocklin: Prosperous and Growing in the 19th Century," by Gary Day, © Rocklin and Roseville Today - Rocklin, CA. (News Article)

" ... Theodore Judah, the Central Pacific’s famed chief engineer had proposed a roundhouse at Roseville but after his death in 1863 new managers chose Rocklin because it was closer to the point where helper engines were needed to surmount the Sierras. The facility, completed in May 1867, included a roundhouse with 25 stalls and an 8,000 square foot woodshed where Rocklin woodchoppers stored the 16 cords of wood that each engine needed to for the 82-mile strain to the Sierra summit. In its heyday, just prior to its move to Roseville in 1908, the operation employed 300 people with a monthly payroll of $25-30,000.

The Central Pacific probably gave Rocklin its name in 1864 when “Rocklin” first appeared in print in a railroad time schedule as an obscure stopping point between Roseville and Loomis. The quarries must have inspired the name. ... " [More]

[Courtesy Google Alerts.]

Also see: Rocklin Historical Society.

Truckee trail rich in local history by Gordon Richards, Bonanza News Service, August 28, 2005

"Truckee trail rich in local history," by Gordon Richards, © Bonanza News Service, North Lake Tahoe Bonanza - Incline Village, Nevada, August 28, 2005. (News Article)

"A new trail from the west side of Olympic Heights under the Highway 267 bypass and on to Donner Pass Road ... The Stockrest Spring Trail is being built by the U.S. Forest Service and the Truckee Trails Foundation ... It was used by emigrant wagon trains traveling on the Truckee branch of the California Route of the Overland Emigrant Trail. ... in 1864, the Dutch Flat Donner Lake Wagon Road would use a more direct route going directly up the bluff at Gray's Station, the predecessor of Truckee. ... construction of the Central Pacific Railroad down the Truckee River in 1868. This section of track was built before the Donner Pass tunnels were complete. All of the rails and rolling stock were hauled by wagon over the summit. Double tracking of the transcontinental railroad in this section occurred in 1907. The railroad also started the quarry that cuts into the bluff on the western edge of the property. The railyard and sawmill needed fill dirt as they developed, and this was a convenient site with little rock in it to fill and level the site. The 1901 construction of the fill over Donner Creek and Highway 89 also used dirt from this site, hauling it on rail cars. ... The area that the trail runs through was stripped of its trees by 1871. ... for railroad ties, bridge timbers, and lumber for western towns along the railroad. A second cutting of the smaller trees produced fuel wood to supply the steam locomotives of the Central Pacific ... " [More] [Courtesy Google Alerts.]