San Pablo and Tulare Railroad, 1868
Can you refer me to a route map of the Tulare and San Pablo railroad system developed by the Western Development Company, please. It went through Byron, CA in 1878, I believe going from Tulare via Banta , Byron, Brentwood, Antioch, and on to San Pablo via Port Costa It was merged into the Central Pacific and later into the Southern Pacific. I am looking for a little history on the Railroad and specifically am looking for the name ( first and last preferably) of the original or first Station master for the Byron Depot, Byron, Contra Costa County. I do not believe the Byron Hot Springs had an official station master, although it was an official Depot with regular stops. This railroad was key to moving wheat and grain from the upper San Joaquin Valley to the British grain ships awaiting cargo at the Califonria Wharf and Warehouse facility, owned by Balfour Guthrie & Co, at Port Costa
Local legend has it that the Byron depot was named after the son of the first Byron Depot master. I do not believe it. Still. ...
—Carol Jensen, Historian, Byron Hot Springs
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 5:18 PM
11 Comments:
From: "Larry Mullaly" lmullaly@jeffnet.org
... The route map should be identical or very close to the current Union Pacific line connecting Tracy with Martinez.
The first listed station master for 1879 was W.J. Casselman. Casselman held this position at least through 1885 and probably longer.
The 1880 US Census shows that William J. Casselman, 30 year old Road Agent at Bryon was born in Canada, was married to Oregon-born Ida, age 17, and had a daughter and mother-in-law living with him.
Somehow, I assume, they all crammed into the upstairs living quarters of the station house, a “Combination No. 2” depot, similar to the one that still exists at Lovelock, Nevada (built about this same time).
It would have been a busy place. After the line was built mainline traffic from Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley was routed along this water-level line to Oakland, avoiding the Livermore Pass. Although the railroad had a separate corporate existence from the Central Pacific, it was managed by the Central Pacific Superintendent A.D. Wilder, headquartered on the Oakland Wharf. All trains running on this line were dispatched from Oakland.
The line seems to have a kind of “pre-existence” having been graded in the early 1870’s but not built at that time. Beginning at Tracy it ran 47 miles to Martinez where it made a junction with the Stanford group’s Northern Railway. ["Grading" means that the roadbed was built up or leveled with tracks and other accoutrements added later]
The railroad was built, as you point out, by the Stanford group’s Western Development Company and went into service on September 8, 1878. ...
—Larry Mullaly
You might want to check the Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History by Donald B. Robertson, Wayne Cornell (Editor), Volume 4.
From: wem@onetel.com
I would think that if such map exists, it would be at the California State Archives.
—John Snyder
From: historian@byronhotsprings.com
Thank you very much for the lead.
—Carol Jensen, Historian, Byron Hot Springs
Begin forwarded message:
From: ldfarrar81@comcast.net
I have to edit several parts of this message. First, the correct official name is "San Pablo and Tulare Rail Road Company." (I know, picky, picky) It was incorporated July 19, 1871 in Cal. and built from near Martinez, Cal. to Tracy, Cal., about 46.51 miles in 1876-1878. It was operated by Central Pacific Railroad Company from September 8, 1878 (date road opened to traffic) to until April 1, 1885. By Southern Pacific Company from April 1, 1885 to May 14, 1888 (date of consolidation).
May 1, 1888 this company consolidated with the Southern Pacific Railroad Companmy, San Pablo Extension Railroad Company, and fifteen other companies to form the Southern Pacific Railroad Company (of 1888) to which the railroad and property passed by virtue thereof. In 1872 the roadbed from Tracy to Antioch was graded, but L. L. Robinson, who owned the New York Rancho, refused to let the contractor, Western Development Company, cross his property, probably in retaliation for other disputes with the Big Four.
The San Pablo and Tulare Extension Railroad Company was incorporated in Cal. February 7, 1887. It was to construct, own, maintain and operate a standard gauge of steam railroad, from the terminus of the San Pablo and Tulare Railroad [sic] Company at Tracy, Cal. to Pampa, Cal. in Kern County, Cal. Estimated length 260 miles. As near as can be ascertained, this company, prior to May 14, 1888 (date of consolidation), had acquired the right-of-way, with some exceptions, from Tracy to a point about one mile north of Los Banos, CA., about 56 miles, and the grade had been completed over all, if not a greater part of this distance.On July 1, 1888 (about one and one-half months after consolidation) 37.1 miles of the line, from Tracy to Newman, California, was opened for traffic.
Most of the above has been taken directly from the Corporate History of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company as of June 30, 1916. ...
—Lynn Farrar
From: "Wendell Huffman" wwhuffma@clan.lib.nv.us
Lester L. Robinson sure made things interesting.
—Wendell
From: historian@byronhotsprings.com
Fabulous information on my favorite Railroad.
Now if we could just figure out who the station at Byron was named after. Perhaps the station manager had a son "Byron" who died and he named the station after him? ...
The early maps prior to the railroad call the area "Salt Springs." That is before 1878.
Carol Jensen
Historian
Byron Hot Springs
Please reply to: Historian@ByronHotSprings.com
Website: www.ByronHotSprings.com
From: historian@byronhotsprings.com
Have you any images of anything from the San Pablo and Tulare? This is pretty early on. But it is always worth a question. Perhaps a "Sutterly and Dart," photographic image. They were the local itinerant photographers in the area and took a lot of outdoor scenes of domestic life. Dart actually lived in "Banta," near Tracy, for a while along the route of the railroad so there is a chance.
Thank you
Carol Jensen
Historian
Byron Hot Springs
Please reply to: Historian@ByronHotSprings.com
Website: www.ByronHotSprings.com
From: ldfarrar81@comcast.net
Subject: Agents at Byron, CA
Recently there has been a number of messages concerning historical material in the Byron, CA area. One question asked was the full name of the first station master at Byron. I got out my station books which begin with Central Pacific Railroad Company #3 dated March 1, 1879 and go forward to the last station book on the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in 1973. The station books from 1879 to that of October 1, 1985 show the names of the "Agents" for each station. After 1985 only the telegraph call letters are shown. From 1879 through 1985 a W. J. Casselman is shown as the Agent at Byron on the San Pablo & Tulare R. R. The stations on the SP&T are as follows, with the various changes made between 1879 and 1885.
Carol Jensen's questions and comments regarding Byron and the genesis of its name bring up my continuing pursuit of how the town of Tracy (San Joaquin County) actually got its name.
Yes, there's a long-held tale (perhaps apocryphal) that Tracy was named for one Lathrop J. Tracy, a minor businessman from Ohio who never set foot in California -- let alone his supposed namesake city -- but who was apparently so revered by one Central Pacific employee here that the junction point of the Tulare & San Pablo with the original Western Pacific between Ellis and Banta(s) was named for him.
The CPRR's roadmaster in Lathrop during that period was a fellow named J.J. Tracey, and I assume (based on CPRR records) (and yes, I know what happens when you assume) that he would have been in charge of consolidating the railroad's operations from Ellis, Banta and Lathrop at the Tracy junction once the San Pablo & Tulare and the southern extension were completed.
It's odd (at least to me) that J.J. Tracey would be the person in charge of relocating the depot and other infrastructure from Ellis to the new junction ... but that the new town at the junction would be named for a non-descript Ohio businessman with no known local connection.
Over the years, I have checked numerous times with the Tracy Historical Museum to see if an origin document exists that shows something (anything!) about how the decision was made to name this town after old Lathrop J. Tracy, but there seems to be no such document.
David Jackson
Railtown Tracy History Project
(And yes, I realize that I called the San Pablo and Tulare Railroad by the wrong name a couple of times in my post above, for which I will accept any and all public shaming.)
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