Tidewater Southern Railway

Stories from the Road

Nothing in history, preservation, ANYTHING, means a thing without the people who make it happen.  This website is dedicated not to the items of steel and iron which moved the goods, but to the people who pulled the throttles, caught the switches, wrote the orders, cleaned the power and gave some part of themselves toward making it all work.  It is also for those who watched and wondered, who picked up a camera or a sketchbook and recorded.  It is for all the people whose lives intersected along those rails.

This section of the website tells these stories, the personal reflections, memories and observations of those who lived with the Tidewater Southern in all its forms.

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The Yahoo! Groups e-mail group for the Sacramento Northern is now also open to discussion on issues concerning the Tidewater Southern, Central Calfornia Traction and other related railroads.

April 1966 Excursion -- Oakland to Franzia Winery

courtesy of Ken Shattock and John Stashik

The Old Mill Cafe

a Modesto landmark and its intimate relationship with the TS

June 9, 2001 -- Tuolumne Trestle Fire

courtesy of Ted Benson

Tidewater in the 1970's

courtesy of Robert Williams

The 1959 Escalon Fire

a large fire destroys two TS buildings and several MOW cars