NorCal Narrow Gauge

Ever since we've been married my wife has wanted to see the town I was born in.  There's nothing particularly special about it and I'm sure it looks nothing like it did when I was a little boy.  For sentimental reasons she wants to see it.  Well that town happens to be in northern California, and what's a trip to norcal without a few stops at some famous narrow gauge sites?

Though there are many to choose from, the two railroads that I "narrowed" it down to were the Nevada County Narrow Gauge and the Carson & Colorado (later Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge).

Nevada County Narrow Gauge
Despite the name, this railroad did not run through Nevada state.  Nevada County is holey in California.  This 3ft gauge line ran until 1942.  Originally built to connect to the standard gauge Central Pacific Railroad (later consumed by the Southern Pacific) in Colfax, CA it ended up weaving it's way north to Nevada City, CA.

NCNG interchanges with a Southern Pacific boxcar

The primary stop for the NCNG on our trip will be the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Museum of course.  Since I often find railroads more meaningful when I know more about them I picked up a copy of Gerald Best's Nevada County Narrow Gauge.

Carson & Colorado
The other main narrow gauge stop we'll be making is in Laws, CA at the Laws Railroad Museum to see the remnants of the "Slim Princess", Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge.  This line was one of the longest running narrow gauge common carriers in the US.  It roamed the deserts of California for decades and contains many "narrow-gaugey" scenes such as this elevated narrow gauge/standard gauge ore transfer:

Same with the NCNG, I picked up Slim Rails Through the Sand to learn more about this line before our trip.

The trip is planned for this winter.  I will likely be commenting more on these two railroads as I learn more about htem.