Hetch Hetchy Railroad

The mountainous terrain resulted in steep grades (over 4%) and extremely sharp curves (30 degrees, a 190-foot (58 m) radius), requiring trains to move slowly, at speeds of less than 8 miles per hour (13 km/h).

[1] With the passage of the Raker Act in 1913, San Francisco began to plan to tap the Tuolumne River watershed for water and power.

Construction costs for the HHRR were about US$3 million, far less than what the city might have paid contractors to transport concrete and other materials for the dam over the rough terrain.

As a common carrier it was subject to rules of the California Railroad Commission, so there are published time tables and tariffs for this period.

Since the support of the public in San Francisco was essential to the remote construction project's success, excursion trains were run to the site.

The amount of freight that remained to be hauled after construction activity ceased in 1938 was not sufficient to continue using steam engines; gasoline locomotives were used instead.

Sidings and spurs were ripped up and the steel sold to support the war effort in the early 1940s, and structures in Groveland were removed in 1944.

An abandoned HHRR bridge across the Tuolumne River was removed between 1967 and 1971 to clear the canyon for the expansion of Lake Don Pedro.

[3] Several parts of the railroad's right-of-way were used for roadbeds: State Highway 120 in Big Oak Flat, and Cherry Lake Road to Camp Mather and beyond to the O'Shaughnessy Dam.

In 1927, about three years after HHRR passenger service was discontinued, this engine was sold and transported to Grants Pass to become California & Oregon Coast #301.

In 1944 it was sold to the Santa Maria Valley Railroad, and in 1958 it was donated to the Travel Town museum in Los Angeles, California.

This engine saw service on HHRR through the raising of the dam in the 1930s, then in 1937 it was sold to Weyerhaeuser who moved it to Vail, Washington and gave it #100.