At 5:30 AM, I took the Thruway Bus from Santa Ana to Bakersfield, rode Amtrak's San Joaquin 713 to Stockton then took the Thruway Bus to Elk Grove, where my sister-in-law, Karla, picked me up. Two days later, on December 12, 2010, my nephew, Eric, brother Bruce's son, drove he and I out to Grizzly Flats so I could finally see the family cabin there. On the way back, I asked if we could go back to Sacramento via Martell and Ione to see if we could find the remaining Amador Foothill Railroad engine.
We drove into Martell and found Depot Street and the grade crossing signals on Highway 49. We turned east and soon found where I had taken a picture years ago on a family vacation in summer 1974.
Amador Central S-12 coming out of the mill at Martell, as seen on the way to Expo 1974 in Spokane, Washington.
HistoryThe Amador Central Railroad was a standard gauge railroad that operated 11.8 miles between a connection with the Southern Pacific Company at Ione and Martell near the town of Jackson, California. The carrier served the Sierra Nevada Foothills gold mining communities and hauled lumber products from the El Dorado National Forest. Amador is the name of the county in which the railroad operated.
On March 5, 1902, the Ione & Eastern Railroad incorporated and on April 10, grading commenced, followed by the laying of rails on June 20. Then on November 15, the first trains operated to Sunnybrook, Milepost 5.0. On May 12, 1903, Ione & Eastern Railroad filed for bankruptcy. On June 15, 1904 Amador Central was incorporated and continued track work towards Martell, with the first train operating into the town on November 22, 1904. The last passenger train departed on July 12, 1942. New Year's Day 1943 saw Amador Central being leased by the Winton Lumber Company.
Fast forward to 1964 and AMC was purchased by American Forest Products. Then twenty-four years later, AMC was acquired by Georgia-Pacific. On March 28, 1997 Georgia-Pacific was is acquired by Sierra Pacific Industries and the last freight train ran. On August 10 of that year, Georgia Pacific sold AMC to Sierra Railroad in Oakdale for 1.5 million dollars. On September 13, 1998, Sierra Railroad transferred ownership of AMC to Sierra Pacific Industries then also that year, Sierra Pacific Industries leased the AMC to Ampine, a division of Sierra Pine, who reopens the line and renames AMC the Amador Foothills Railroad.
On June 7, 2004, the last train on the Amador Foothills Railroad operates.
The old engine house in Martell is used for storage and automotive repair today.
The remaining Amador Central station in Martell built by the Ione & Eastern Railroad. From here we headed to Ione on California State Highway 88.
The second grade crossing west of Martell.
The third grade crossing west of Martell on California Highway 88.
The Amador Central bridge over California Highway 88 as we drove towards it. From here we drove into Ione and we found Depot Street and at the south end of that street we found the
The Southern Pacific freight station in Ione.
The freight station and yard. Down by those far trees, I spotted a Baldwin locomotive so we drove into a subdivision and found Amador Foothills S-12 10 and I walked through an empty housing lot to reach the engine.
Looking down the yard towards the freight house.
This is the track that the Amador Central used to come into the Ione Yard. On the end of this track was the locomotive.
Amador Foothills S-12 10 ex. Southern Pacific 2121, nee Texas and New Orleans 105 built by American Locomotive Company in 1952.
From here we all returned to Sacramento for the night. Monday morning, I was driven down to the Sacramento Amtrak station and took Amtrak San Joaquin 702 to Bakersfield, the Thruway Bus to LAUPT and Metrolink 684 home to Santa Ana, ending yet another train trip. This would be the last time I would see my brother Bruce alive.
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