Tidewater Southern Railway

circa 1920's

Largest city served by the Tidewater, Stockton was also the road's most important connection. Here it interchanged with parent Western Pacific, siblings Central California Traction Company and (through trackage rights) Sacramento Northern, as well as the Stockton Terminal and Eastern, Southern Pacific, and Santa Fe. The tracks into downtown Stockton were shared with the CCT. They were removed beyond Mineral Baths soon after interurban service ended in 1932. The stub of the line beyond Oretega was slowly whittled back to Brickyard by the 1980's. Following the road's purchase by WP, this junction essentially became the northern end of the railroad. Only interurbans and switch jobs travelled beyond. From here, TS trains had a short run into WP's Stockton Yard. Constructed in 1918, this was the last major portion of the railroad to be built. Strictly a freight line, it was electrified until about 1930. The branch survived the UP merger, with most of its traffic supplied by the Sprekels Sugar plant, jointly served with SP. It was removed in the late 1980's. The right of way is still visible and may become a trail. Considered the heart of the Tidewater, Modesto was home to the road's officers, where its local engines tied up, and the site of its most interesting operations. When the line was built, it entered Ninth Street, a major road through downtown, and ran down the center for over a mile. To satisfy a city ordinance against steam locomotive operation on its streets, the Tidewater used its electric motors to pull trains, steamer and all, down Ninth Street. This operation survived the de-electrification of the rest of the line in 1932 and continued until 1948 when the road finally had enough diesels to allow the "juice jacks" to be retired. The last steam engine was pulled down Ninth Street in 1955. The street running itself survived until July 2000. In Modesto, the road interchanged with the SP and the Modesto and Empire Traction. The city itself is best known as the setting for George Lucas' film "American Graffitti".In later years, the huge grain silos at Turlock became the main shipper on the road, and the major reason trains still run down the route. To satisfy Modesto's desire to remove the massive grain trains from Ninth Street, the WP, then the UP, kept negotiating with SP for trackage rights from Lathrop to Modesto (Pecos). From there the grain trains would enter the Tidewater for the trip to Turlock. Even after the UP-SP merger, this plan waited a long time to fully take effect. Originally the south end of the Tidewater mainline, it was downgraded to a branchline soon after the Turlock "Branch" was built in 1916 and became the new mainline. Many lofty plans were centered on the Hilmar Branch in the early years, chiefly extension to Fresno and eventually Los Angeles. The proposed lines still appeared on WP maps into the 1930's. The line south of Chemurgic did not survive past the 1950's. After the cutback, the remaing track became known as the Chemurgic Branch. Today, Chemurgic hosts the Turlock Western Railway.

Click on some of the landmarks to learn more about places along the Tidewater Southern route.

created by Eugene John Vicknair--1999