California/Railroads
Major structure was split off from this wiki: for California's active freight rail, see California/Railroads/Active (and its sub-wiki), for California's active passenger trains, see California/Railroads/Passenger.
Due to recent wiki and associated software upgrades, the map details are not-quite-correct. Please select "Transport Map" from the upper-right "layers stack" icon to see the railway routes as part of the USA's national-scale rail infrastructure. This is a "live" slippy map; it can be panned and zoomed.
California railroads operated over 6806 miles (10953 km) of track (including "trackage rights," rights obtained by one railroad to operate its trains over another railroad's tracks) and carried 3,405,000 originating carloads and 3,099,500 terminating carloads of freight totaling over 64.0 million tons and 94.9 million tons, respectively (2019 data). Class I railroads – the designation for major freight rail carriers – are represented in California by Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and BNSF Railway (BNSF). These two railroads have extensive rail networks connecting California with the rest of the nation, particularly corridors to the Southwest, Midwest, and Northwest. Including trackage rights, UP and BNSF operate over a total of 8657 km, about 79% of total rail in California. In addition to these major carriers, local markets in California may be served by the remaining 21%: smaller (usually freight-only) rail known as “short line” railroads, which serve a particular market, provide feeder service to the national freight rail network represented by UP and BNSF, perform switching and/or multimodal services and in a few cases (Caltrain, SPRINTER...) offer passenger services. California has no "Regional Railroads" (medium-sized, non-Class I line-haul railroads that have annual revenues of at least $40 million, or that operate at least 350 miles of road and revenues of at least $20 million, sometimes called Class II); all other rail in the state are (smaller-sized) short line railroads (neither Class I nor Regional, sometimes called Class III).
Editing Railroads starting from TIGER data
Please read United_States/Railways#Editing_Railroads_starting_from_TIGER_data . This Overpass Turbo query identifies the scope of work yet to do by displaying unreviewed (or less reviewed) TIGER rail in California: as of 2023-Q4, ~2000 ways. This is <5% of all rail in the state (by count of ways), but this Review is still a substantial task yet to complete.
Current State of the Map (California/Railroads)
California/Railroads data are in a "later beta" state. This means California rail data from OSM's noisy 2007 TIGER import (plus good rail tagging since) have been reviewed, corrected and developed by many editors to a state of reasonable accuracy, yet still remain slightly rough. TIGER Review remains incomplete, minor errors remain in rail infrastructure and some routes (both route=railway and route=train) remain underdeveloped (as do several tables below which reflect this). However, "shining star examples" exist: Bakersfield Subdivision (route=railway), Antelope Valley Line (route=train), BART (route=subway system) and Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner Pacific Surfliner (public_transport:version=2 route). (Please endeavor to continue completing the transition of route=trains from PTv1 to PTv2). These should be emulated for other routes of their type which remain incomplete or underdeveloped. As of 2018, TIGER-derived name tags such as name=Union Pacific and name=BNSF are corrected (to operator=* tags) on active rail in California, partially completing one phase of making best use of OSM's TIGER-derived rail data. Remaining TIGER-derived tags on disused and abandoned rail continue to improve. In short, TIGER rail data are much better and in many cases quite usable, yet work remains. For example, all route=railway relations should be re-checked against newer, richer, authoritative sources, so please continue to review and improve California rail data. Thank you!
At OpenRailwayMap (ORM)'s wider zoom levels z≤8, California is seen to have a structure of mainline (orange) and at z≥9 branch (yellow) rail, due to cohesive usage=* and name=* tags. Known active rail largely have correct name=* tags (except where unknown) and some correctly named rail may not yet be collected into a named route=railway relation. So, both of these tasks are important to complete. However, even without either of these data being in OSM, because of TIGER rail entry and especially because usage=* clearly displays in ORM, a largely correct California rail infrastructure is seen. (Without usage=* ORM displays no overlay on its Infrastructure layer). All tracks=* tags have been removed, as now "actual tracks" are modeled / represented.
At closer zoom levels z≥10, ORM displays additional usage=* tag values besides main and branch. At z≥11, railway=disused (as brown-gray) and railway=abandoned (as dashed brown-gray) display. OSM in California has a small amount of rail whose usage=* and/or name=* remain unknown, or are tagged railway=rail while they are truly railway=disused or railway=abandoned (or vice versa), but this isn't well known or correctly tagged in OSM. More work is needed on these railway=disused or railway=abandoned rail segments: accurately determining whether or not they are active and assigning proper name=* and usage=* tags. This remains a frontier of California/Railroads, as is fully complete cataloging of all usage=industrial rail (spurs), which at z≥10 ORM displays as brown. OSM remains incomplete in both of these regards, though 2019 improvements around Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors (a complex rail area) have contributed to industrial rail in California being substantially more complete. Still, distance to completion remains, especially at OGRE (see below).
Also at zoom level z≥10, railway=light_rail and railway=subway display in ORM as green and dark blue (respectively). Seven light rail systems are active in California: Los Angeles Metro, San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), San Diego Trolley, VTA in Silicon Valley, Sacramento RT Light Rail, North County Transit District's SPRINTER and Arrow east of San Bernardino. The eighth will likely be OC Streetcar (under construction, revenue service expected in 2024). Subways (underground, FTA-defined "heavy rail" tagged railway=subway) include Bay Area Rapid Transit (tagged passenger=suburban) and Los Angeles Metro's Red and Purple lines (tagged passenger=urban). Though some still contain minor OSM errors, these approach completeness, including planned extensions (ORM displays dotted for proposed, dashed for under construction). Further ongoing review and correction are welcome as these continue to expand and improve, especially in Los Angeles County in preparation for the 2028 Olympics. Importantly, more public_transport=platforms are needed, as well as including these in route relations, facilitating upgrades to public_transport:version=2. This is an excellent opportunity to build better community/volunteer efforts and better data with a Map Your Train Ride! approach (to platform locations and amenities): plant seeds (platforms), and green shoots (version 2 train routes) can and do grow!
Closer ORM zoom levels (z≥11) display railway=tram as pink (notably, San Francisco's Cable Cars). Trams are distinctly "streetcar," yet often share similarities with light rail. In San Francisco, Muni and Cable Cars are distinct with these tags (though, Muni E Embarcadero and F Market & Wharves are streetcar/tram), even as both systems have street-tracked cars: Muni light_rail (green) goes underground in many places, Cable Cars (pink) are exclusively above-ground, largely street-running. BART (dark blue) is partly underground in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area, while Caltrain (orange), especially with its Express service, is above-ground mainline commuter rail, with a few tunnels. (ORM denotes underground rail or tunnels with desaturated color). Trams are believed complete in California/Railroads and OSM, route=trams are tagged passenger=local. (ORM displays railway=narrow_gauge as chartreuse at zoom level z≥10. ORM does not display rail tagged usage=tourism at any zoom level).
In June 2015, California began construction of the USA's first dedicated high-speed rail, centered around Fresno. See here, as the project scaled back during 2019. ORM displays high-speed rail lines as red, these are now (2023) either dashed-red (under construction) or dotted-red (proposed: possibly funded and "out for bid," funding is being developed, or unfunded).
Suggestions
If you wish to improve California railroads in OSM:
- Follow unreviewed California TIGER rail ways along their length, comparing them with your best data. These might be many things: a survey or GPS track, state agency (DOT, PUC) crossing data, aerial/satellite imagery, rail enthusiast lore that OSM has permission to use or personal rail knowledge that is "on the ground verifiable."
- Find red or yellow route=railway relation table entries below or yellow entries in California/Railroads/Active tables and improve them: perform TIGER Review (see above) on rail segments (whether or not already gathered into a correctly-named route=railway relation). It CAN be tedious to stitch these relations together properly!
- Using an Overpass Turbo query and/or ORM (railway=disused as brown, ~2460 ways and railway=abandoned as dashed brown lines, a larger dataset of ~5030 ways), find TIGER rail with incorrect status. Properly tag these with knowledge of whether they are truly disused, abandoned or active rail.
- Clean up yards using more-recent aerial/satellite imagery or better knowledge. Currently yards are moderately correct, but can use improvement from newer real-world data or imagery. Please keep the Yards table on this wiki page updated as you do.
- See the excellent source from Caltrans ca-rail-schematics-a11y.pdf (April, 2016 version or newer), a comprehensive hypertext detailing California passenger rail infrastructure. Add more track name, Control Point, milepost, maxspeed and other data to OSM.
- Map Your Train Ride! Add public_transport=platforms to the route=train relation of your commute or other passenger train travel. It's easy: add a node or draw a small polygon representing the exact location of the platform, and tag with public_transport=platform, railway=platform and train=yes, light_rail=yes, subway=yes or tram=yes. You might also add it to the proper route=train relation(s) which should be found around that railway=station. For further guidance, see this diagram of "a simple railway station".
More work needs doing, including RailPort Oakland (especially its yards); OGRE needs review, better name=*-tagging and route=railway(s) created in OSM and this wiki (as they are learned or known, they might not even exist yet). While improvements were made in 2019-Q1 to RailPort Oakland rail and in Los Angeles County (especially Los Angeles Junction Railway and Pacific Harbor Line), these segments need similar additional review (better name=* tags and aggregation of named segments into route=railway relations, if/as known). "More work" includes updating yards. Eventually, all rail subdivisions (railway=* elements not tagged service=*) should be in properly named route=railway relations. California railroads are not 100% there yet, but do continue to appproach this subgoal (as of 2022-Q2). Another goal is for all route=train relations (California/Railroads/Passenger) to contain accurate relation memberships of properly named track infrastructure, also largely done, yet slightly incomplete. Other frontiers include maxspeed=*, railway=signal, Control Point (CP, sometimes a node tagged railway=junction) and railway=milestone tags, now only lightly extant. Much can benefit from review and/or improvement, especially TIGER Review and improving route=train and other passenger rail relations from public_transport:version=1 to public_transport:version=2. To each and every OSM rail contributor: thank you!
Yards
It would be very kind for more OSM volunteers to continue to build up this statewide "Yards" table (stub) with status on every single California rail yard. It is incomplete as there are dozens of rail yards in California.
Name | Railroad | Area | Subdivision(s) Served | TIGER Review | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. R. Davis | Union Pacific | Sacramento/Roseville | Roseville | Complete as of 2006/2007 USGS Ortho imagery. Need to shift a little to align with 2013 Bing imagery and add/modify a dozen or so new/changed tracks. | |
Los Angeles Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (LA-ICTF) and/or Union Pacific Long Beach ICTF | Port of Los Angeles Railroads (?) or Pacific Harbor Line (?) | Ports of Los Angeles & Long Beach | Harbor | Complete | |
Mira Loma Terminal | ? | Mira Loma | Partially complete | ||
Barstow | BNSF | Barstow | Cajon, Needles, Mojave (terminus of all three) | Partially complete | |
Commerce Eastern | BNSF | Commerce | Partially complete | ||
Sheila | BNSF | ? | Partially complete | ||
Hobart Yard | BNSF | Vernon | Partially complete | ||
San Bernardino Intermodal Facility | BNSF | San Bernardino | Cajon, San Bernardino | Partially complete | |
San Diego | BNSF, SDIY | San Diego | San Diego | Complete | |
Watson | BNSF | Wilmington | Partially complete | ||
La Mirada | BNSF | La Mirada | Partially complete | ||
Needles | BNSF | Needles | Needles, Seligman (terminus of both) | Partially complete | |
Pico Rivera | BNSF | Pico Rivera | Partially complete | ||
Richmond | BNSF | Richmond | Stockton (terminus) | Partially complete | |
Stockton Intermodal Facility | BNSF | Stockton | Stockton | Partially complete | |
Bakersfield | BNSF | Bakersfield | Bakersfield, Mojave (terminus of both) | Completely retraced | Retraced by happy5214 |
Calwa | BNSF | Fresno Intermodal Facility | Bakersfield, Stockton (terminus of both) | Completely retraced | Retraced by happy5214 |
Pittsburg | BNSF | Pittsburg | Partially complete | ||
Riverbank | BNSF | Riverbank | Stockton | Completely retraced | Retraced by happy5214 |
City of Industry Intermodal Facility | Union Pacific | Industry | Partially complete | ||
West Colton Yard | Union Pacific | Bloomington | Partially complete | ||
Commerce | Union Pacific | Commerce | Partially complete | ||
Dolores (ICTF) | Union Pacific | ? | Partially complete | ||
Los Angeles Transportation Center | Union Pacific | Los Angeles | Partially complete | ||
Anaheim | Union Pacific | Anaheim | Partially complete | ||
Montclair | Union Pacific | Montclair | Partially complete | ||
Yermo | Union Pacific | Yermo | Cima | Partially complete | |
Railport - Oakland | Union Pacific | Oakland | Completely rebuilt after TIGER entry | Recent Bing imagery shows substantial rebuilding work to do in OSM | |
Stockton | Union Pacific | Stockton | Partially complete | ||
Fresno | Union Pacific | Fresno | Fresno | Completely retraced | Retraced by happy5214 |
Bakersfield | Union Pacific | Bakersfield | Fresno, Mojave (terminus of both) | Completely retraced | Retraced by happy5214 |
Martinez | Union Pacific | Martinez | Partially complete | ||
Milpitas | Union Pacific | Milpitas | Partially complete | ||
Portola | Union Pacific | Portola | Partially complete | ||
Lathrop Intermodal Facility | Union Pacific | Lathrop | Partially complete | ||
Lombard | Union Pacific | American Canyon | Partially complete | ||
Watsonville | Union Pacific | Pajaro (near Watsonville) | Complete | ||
Centralized Equipment Maintenance & Operations Facility | Caltrain/Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board | San José | Appears complete | ||
Willits | NCRA, SERA | Willits | Complete | ||
San Ysidro | BJRR, SDIY | San Diego's San Ysidro district (at the Mexico/US border) | Complete |
Railtrails and "Transitways"
A railtrail uses a (usually former, abandoned) railroad right-of-way (ROW) for equestrian, bicycle or hiking paths, preserving the ROW for possible future re-use as a railway while providing a useful service in the meantime. These are often tagged highway=cycleway or highway=footway depending on whether they prefer or allow bicycle or pedestrian traffic. It is OK to tag both railway=abandoned and highway=cycleway if it is the case that an abandoned railway became a railtrail (for bicycle use, for example). Where a (multi-use) pathway is designated for pedestrians but also allows bicycles, tag highway=footway and bicycle=yes. Sometimes (e.g. MBSST) a railtrail immediately parallels active or semi-active rail along its ROW.
Los Angeles Metro G Line Orange is nearly completely a railway=abandoned and also a type=route bus=designated. The ROW used to be Burbank Branch Line which provided passenger rail service from 1904 to 1920 and by Pacific Electric streetcars from 1938 to 1952. In OSM, "transitway" emerges: Metro G Line Orange is not railtrail, it is best considered "transitway" as the ROW is access=no and there are parallel segments for bicycles and pedestrians. Parts of Los Angeles Metro J Line Silver (also type=route bus=designated) superimpose upon segments of separately tagged railway=abandoned (now largely I-110), so Metro J Line Silver is also best considered "transitway." These two lines (Metro G Line Orange and Metro J Line Silver) are both additionally tagged passenger=urban to indicate they are high-speed/high-capacity, "rapid transit" bus routes, which link regional transit centers with dedicated (busway, freeway) lanes and limited stops.
California's 2018 Great Redwood Trail Act repurposes railroad right-of-way (ROW) from Eureka (Humboldt County) to the San Francisco Bay in Marin County for use as the "Great Redwood Trail" (rail-trail tagged ref=GRW). Identified presently as (to be?) railbanked segments are much of what are shown below as the formerly-NCRA-owned Willits Segment (except area around Willits Yard for CWR/SERA "Skunk Train" remains active for some light freight and mixed passenger traffic there) and all of formerly-NCRA-owned Eel River Block and Humboldt Bay Block. As this (GRW) project progresses beyond its beginnings in 2020, please update any known proceedings which either remove tracks or develop specific railtrail segments, adding railtrail-specific semantics accordingly (e.g. change to railway=abandoned + highway=cycleway or perhaps highway=path + foot=designated + surface=unpaved if left unpaved). Note that "to the San Francisco Bay in Marin County" implies that segments of parallel bicycle infrastructure (as in Larkspur) are to be included in this regional rail-trail, even as active rail (SMART) runs parallel in the ROW. NCRA's present status is not known, except that because the Act is now law, NCRA is in the process of being dissolved, or perhaps tasked with solely administrating the entirety of the railtrail; please clarify as this develops. When more finality is known, the table entries of Willits Segment, Eel River Block and Humboldt Bay Block may move to this (Railtrails) wiki section.
There are entries in the Abandoned tables (below) which contain significant segments of railtrail (usually bike/ped). It can be a bit of a coin-toss whether they should be here or there.
This table is incomplete. If you find a line (relation link, Review Status...) that needs to be added, updated or improved, whether to the map or to this wiki, please do so!
Name | Relation | Route | TIGER Review | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bizz Johnson Trail | 2381165 2381165 | Susanville west to Mason Station on BNSF's Gateway Subdivision | Reviewed by stevea | Regional hiking, bicycle trail. Also, route=mtb. Believed to be part of Quincy Railroad at one time. |
Burbank Chandler Bikeway | 10531957 10531957 | Downtown Burbank - near North Hollywood Metro Station | Reviewed by natfoot | Tagged railway=razed |
Great Redwood Trail | 11320181 11320181 | Starting in Ukiah, but envisioned to become >400 km long, from Arcata to possibly as far south as Larkspur. | All new cycleway segments that are included are TIGER-free, so "yes" for now. However, as other rail corridor segments are added (Willits Segment, Eel River Block, Humboldt Bay Block), note that while all of Willits Segment has been TIGER Reviewed, Eel River Block and Humboldt Bay Block are not fully TIGER Reviewed. | Paralleling the SMART (and Northwestern Pacific Rail) right-of-way(s), a new bike-ped rail-trail. An initial segment debuted in Ukiah in February, 2020. |
Great Shasta Rail Trail | 7645912 7645912 | McCloud, easterly and southerly with Burney Branch | Partially complete | Tagged railway=abandoned from McCloud River Railroad, a rural forest mountain bike rail-trail. |
Hammond Trail | 6855097 6855097 | McKinleyville | Done | Tagged railway=abandoned in parts, an oceanside mixed use (bike-ped) rail-trail. Ways are tagged Hammond Lumber Company Railway. |
Joe Rodota Trail | 9748790 9748790 | Santa Rosa - Sebastopol | Done | Tagged railway=abandoned |
Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail | 9400673 9400673 | Santa Cruz County (Under construction in phases. Eventually, Pajaro/Watsonville - Aptos - Capitola - Santa Cruz - Davenport) | Done | Immediately parallel to Santa Cruz Branch rail (with which it shares ROW) emerges mixed-use (pedestrian/bicycle) trail MBSST, also known as CycleNet 40. Now in early-phase construction, the first segment completed in May, 2019 around Santa Cruz Main Beach with a pedestrian/bicycle crossing parallel to the rail bridge over the San Lorenzo River mouth. Combining namespace conventions into one network=rcn ref tag, this displays in Cycle Map as a solid purple regional bicycle route labelled C40, the C being for the colloquially known "Coastal Trail." |
Ojai - Ventura Bike Path | 2790362 2790362 | Ojai - Ventura | Incomplete | The significant segment is tagged railway=abandoned |
Metro G Line Orange Busway | 6256034 6256034 | North Hollywood - Warner Center - Chatsworth | Reviewed by stevea | Relation members are tagged railway=abandoned. Tagged both a route=railway and "higher level" passenger=urban route=bus 901 9282718 9282718 (incorporating these infrastructure elements). |
Metro J Line Silver Busway | 6749558 6749558 | El Monte - Downtown Los Angeles - Gardena (Harbor Gateway Transit Center) - San Pedro | No remaining TIGER tags | Relation members are tagged railway=abandoned. Tagged both a route=railway and "higher level" passenger=urban route=bus 910 8210399 8210399 and route=bus 950 8210550 8210550 (superimposing on these infrastructure elements). Metro J Line Silver connects to all Metro Rail lines except Crenshaw/LAX Line (when it opens). |
Sacramento Northern Railway (abandoned) | 6290039 6290039 | Sacramento - Rio Lindo - (lengthy gap) - Live Oak - East of Gridley - Thermalito Afterbay - Durham | Needs TIGER review | Part bikeway as Sacramento Northern Bike Trail, part railway=abandoned, with large segments/gaps unentered, though largely identifiable in Bing. Also in the Western Pacific section of the Abandoned tables below. Should this be split both here and there? |
Virginia Corridor Bike Path | 10627377 10627377 | Meyers/Del Rio - McHenry - Staniford - Modesto | Needs TIGER review | Northern end is hazy as to how/where it connects with possibly active industrial rail (McHenry Industrial Lead): Stanislaus River Bridge? Add proper usage=* tags to segments where known, include a node tagged owner_change=* if known. |
Disused lines
Lines, expressed as route=railway relations, that don't have regular traffic but with all infrastructure in place. Tracks are tagged railway=disused. Here is an Overpass Turbo query which may be helpful.
This table is believed only partially complete. If you find a line (relation link, Review Status...) that needs to be added, updated or improved, whether to the map or to this wiki, please do so!
Name | Relation | Route | TIGER Review | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Almanor Railroad | 6168040 6168040 | Clear Creek Junction - Chester | Western spurs are reviewed, most of this ~20 km line is not reviewed | |
Eagle Mountain Railroad | 6289785 6289785 | Ferrum (Yuma Subdivision) - Eagle Mountain | Done | Kaiser Steel closed the mine and railway in 1986. There were plans to revive the railway to serve a developing sanitary landfill at the mine site but these plans were cancelled after numerous lawsuits and decreased landfill demand due to urban recycling programs in California. There may be damage to tracks in places due to flooding/washouts. |
Eel River Block | 6636008 6636008 | Willits - South Fork | Needs TIGER Review | All segments are tagged railway=disused. See NCRA. |
Fresno Interurban District | 3416898 3416898 | Fresno - Riverbend | Done | Part is railway=disused and part is railway=abandoned. |
Marine Railway | The single way way is entered. | Point Reyes | Done | A very short piece of rail on a pier |
Newark Industrial Lead | 6714344 6714344 | San Francisco Bay (near Newark) - East Palo Alto | Done | The portion actually IN San Francisco Bay connecting to Redwood Junction Industrial Lead |
Abandoned lines
Former railroad lines, whether still visible on the ground or not, correctly expressed as route=railway relations. Ways are usually tagged railway=abandoned, occasionally railway=disused or rarely railway=razed. Here is an Overpass Turbo query which may be helpful.
There are entries in the Railtrail and "Transitway" table (above) which contain significant segments of abandoned rail. It can be a bit of a coin-toss whether they should be here or there.
These tables are incomplete. If you find a line (relation link, Review Status...) that needs to be added, updated or improved, whether to the map or to this wiki, please do so!
Southern Pacific
Tag these with old_railway_operator=SP.
Name | old_railway_operator=* | Relation | Route | TIGER Review | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4th Street Line | SP | 6680513 6680513 | Warm Springs Subdivision (San José near N 3rd St) - Coast Subdivision (San José near Capitol VTA) | What is known and entered needs no additional TIGER attention | Union Pacific (via Southern Pacific) abandoned this, not known when. Kind of patchy but largely believed correct. A small portion is active to serve Luther Industrial Spur. |
Araz to Andrade | SP | 6773603 6773603 | Yuma Subdivision - Andrade | Seems OK for what it is | Part of SP subsidiary Inter-California Railway, which continued through Mexico to Calexico |
Alhambra to Pasadena | SP | 8221599 8221599 | Alhambra - Pasadena | No TIGER tags | Missing some segments around Arroyo Seco Parkway |
Coalinga Branch | SP | 3285459 3285459 | Coalinga - Hanford | Done | |
Colusa Branch | SP | 6452181 6452181 | Colusa - Harrington | Done, but relation is incomplete as more segments need to be added | Abandoned by Southern Pacific Railroad in segments in 1973, 1976 and 1984. There remain abandoned segments (Hamilton - Colusa - Ordbend) not entered. |
Eastside Line | SP | 3282316 3282316 | Fresno - Reedly - Dinuba - Exeter - Lindsay - Porterville - Famoso (Fresno Subdivision/UP) | Done | Made up of Eastside Line and Exeter Subdivision segments. |
Flanigan Industrial Lead | SP | 4510756 4510756 | Susanville | Union Pacific (via Southern Pacific) seems to have abandoned this, not known exactly when. Might have once been part of Quincy Railroad. The portion west of Susanville which connects to UP's Gateway Subdivision (near Mason Station, south Lassen National Forest) is named "Biz Johnson Trail" and may need better tagging as a rail-trail. | |
Kentucky House Branch | SP | 6673810 6673810 | Lodi - Valley Springs - Kentucky House (near Calaveras) | Union Pacific (via Southern Pacific) seems to have abandoned this, not known exactly when. | |
Kerman Branch | SP | The single segment segment of track is entered. | Kerman - Armona | Done | |
Lick Branch | SP | 6680490 6680490 | CP Lick (San Jose) - Guadalupe Ponds - Almaden Lake | What VERY little is known needs no additional TIGER attention | Union Pacific (via Southern Pacific) abandoned this, not known when. Current Bing trace is sketchy and only goes as far as Guadalupe Ponds, while part of this became VTA's Chynoweth - Almaden light_rail line. |
McKittrick Branch | SP | 3983837 3983837 | Buttonwillow - McKittrick | Partly done | An abandoned portion off the west end of the Buttonwillow Subdivision |
Modoc Subdivision | SP | 8138485 8138485 | South of Alturas (near Signal Butte) - south to the edge of Sierra Army Depot - Nevada state line | Partly done | An abandoned portion off the south end of UP's (active) Modoc Subdivision |
Richgrove Spur | SP | 6858020 6858020 | Richgrove - Trocha - Jovista | Name is likely wrong | |
Springville Branch | SP | 3330021 3330021 | Porterville - Worth quarry | Done | Shared with existing roads for some segments |
Winters Branch | SP | 6790916 6790916 | Esparto - south towards Winters | Done | May extend much farther south (to Winters), but all traces seem to be gone. Part of Vaca Valley and Clear Lake Railroad, which was acquired by SP. |
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
Tag these with old_railway_operator=AT&SF.
Name | old_railway_operator=* | Relation or Way | Route | TIGER Review | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barnwell District | AT&SF | 6864469 6864469 | Goffs - Barnwell - Leastalk (modern-day Ivanpah) - Ivanpah | Mapped southeast of Leastalk, except for a segment in the Vontrigger Hills no longer traceable. | Originally w:en:California Eastern Railway |
Laton District | AT&SF | The single segment segment of track is entered. | Laton - Lanare | Done | |
Oakland District | AT&SF | Relation not defined yet | Richmond - Oakland | Not done | Much of this line was reused for the Richmond and Ohlone Greenways. What's left has been redeveloped, though parts can be seen on satellite/aerial imagery when inspected carefully. Do not map through built-up areas, as similar edits in Fresno have been reverted. |
Porterville - Orosi District | AT&SF | 3231337 3231337 | Minkler - Orange Cove - Lindsay - Exeter - Porterville - Terra Bella - Ducor - (gap) - Landco - Bakersfield | Done | Also contains Landco Subdivision |
Randsburg District | AT&SF | The single segment segment of track is entered. | Kramer Jct. - Johannesburg | An abandoned railroad for a mining operation which also saw passenger service 1898-1933 | |
Riverview Spur | AT&SF | 7717108 7717108 | Tosco - Riverview Farms | Done | Spur line from the Blythe Subdivision to Riverview Farm & Cattle during 1954-1982. |
Searchlight District | AT&SF | 11974694 11974694 | Barnwell - Searchlight | Mapped near Barnwell | Originally w:en:Barnwell and Searchlight Railway |
Ultra Branch | AT&SF | The single segment segment of track is entered | Ducor - Ultra | Done | A 10 km industrial spur owned by Tulare Valley Railroad, operated by SJVR under contract to Cannella Chemical, its only customer. Abandoned in 2011 by STB Docket No. AB 397 (Sub-No. 7X). Formerly part of Porterville-Orosi District. |
Visalia District | AT&SF | 2913863 2913863 | Corcoran - Tulare - Visalia - Dinuba - Reedley - Calwa (S of Fresno) | Appears to be done | This is a MOSTLY abandoned railway, parts are disused, parts are rail-trail |
Wahtoke District | AT&SF | 3285443 3285443 | Reedley - Piedra | Appears to be done | |
Woodlake Spur | AT&SF | 214601814 214601814 | Hillmaid - Woodlake | Done |
Western Pacific
Tag these with old_railway_operator=WP, or with old_railway_operator=SN if the line was part of the Sacramento Northern.
Name | old_railway_operator=* | Relation | Route | TIGER Review | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Concord to Pittsburg | SN | 9303374 9303374 | Concord - Port Chicago - Pittsburg | mapped by clay_c; please double-check | |
Dozier to Sacramento | SN | 6805052 6805052 | Dozier - Sacramento | Needs TIGER review | Was old Sacramento Northern Railway |
Oakland to Walnut Creek | SN | 9303375 9303375 | Oakland - Moraga - Lafayette - Walnut Creek | mapped by clay_c; please double-check | |
Sacramento Northern Railway (abandoned) | SN | 6290039 6290039 | Durham - Live Oak | Done on northern sections, but southern bikeway sections need review | Absorbed by Western Pacific and abandoned. Also found in Rail Trail section. |
San José Industrial Lead | WP, UP | 6680339 6680339 | Berryessa/Bayshore - Kelley Park - Willow Glen - Vasona Branch | Done | Western Pacific (WP) to Union Pacific (UP) to abandonment or thereabouts; some segments are tagged railway=disused, railway=abandoned or railway=razed. |
Sierra Northern ROW | SN | 6945799 6945799 | Riverview - Willow Point - Coniston - Central - Greendale - Sorroca - Valdez | Needs TIGER review | Not known when this was abandoned. Slightly discontiguous, some segments are marked railway=razed. This was probably acquired by the Sierra Northern from the Sacramento Northern. |
Vacaville | SN | 6746811 6746811 | Willota - Vacaville Junction - Vacaville - Dixon? | Incomplete |
Other Class I railroads
Name | old_railway_operator=* | Relation | Route | TIGER Review | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hambone - Lookout | Great Northern (GN) | 6741080 6741080 | Hambone - Lookout | Done | BNSF abandoned rail, not known exactly when. |
Independent / subsidiary railroads
Name | old_railway_operator=* (where known) | Relation | Route | TIGER Review | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arcata & Mad River Railway | AMR | 6855096 6855096 | Arcata - Glendale - Blue Lake | Was never entered by TIGER | An 11-km ROW believed to be owned by NCRA. A "surviving" and obviously-Bing-identifiable segment is the Mad River Bridge, there may be others. |
Bodie & Benton Railway | 6744925 6744925 | Bodie Ghost Town - East of Mono Lake | Needs TIGER review | An abandoned 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge railroad for a mining operation 1881-1917. | |
Carson and Colorado Railway | 6744924 6744924 | Lone Pine Subdivision near Ash Creek Road (Mono County) - Lone Pine - Bishop - Chicago Canyon - Mound House (Nevada) | Needs TIGER review | An abandoned 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge railroad which may be in the process of restoration at Laws, California. Acquired by the Southern Pacific. Supports Laws Railroad Museum? | |
Death Valley Railroad | DVRR | The single segment segment of track is entered. | KMI Zeolite Mine - Ryan | Done | "Baby Gauge" Railroad, Pacific Coast Borax Company, tagged railway=disused |
Epsom Salts Monorail | The single segment segment of track is entered. | Trona - Owlshead Mountains | An abandoned 45 km mining monorail to mine magnesium sulfate during 1924-1926. | ||
Holton Inter-Urban Railway | 6773364 6773364 | El Centro - Holtville | Needs TIGER review | Largely if not completely railway=abandoned, not known exactly when. Scant/sketchy rail appearing in Bing imagery might or should be tagged railway=disused. Messy. | |
Long Bell Lumber Company Railroad | 6741116 6741116 | Tennant - Leaf | A disjointed relation of what has been called "an ever-changing network of branches and spurs" | An old industrial/logging railroad with little available data. Needs a lot of work! | |
McCloud Railway | 6172147 6172147 (Mount Shasta/Main), 6741104 6741104 (Burney Branch) | Mount Shasta - McCloud - (Burney) - Hambone | Partly done | Segments Mount Shasta, Yard and a short segment of Main east of McCloud were active for the Shasta Sunset Dinner Train (defunct since 2010). Now tagged railway=disused, please re-tag these railway=abandoned if rail and ties have been removed. The vast majority of railway (east of McCloud to Hambone at UP's Gateway Subdivision) is tagged railway=abandoned. Southerly spur Burney Branch is in a relation different from the previously identified segment. Both relations share members as part of mountain bike route (route=mtb) Great Shasta Rail Trail. | |
Pacific Coast Railway | 6454615 6454615 | Avila Beach - San Luis Obispo - Arroyo Grande - Nipomo - Santa Maria, Orcutt - Los Alamos - Los Olivos | Partially complete | An abandoned narrow-gauge (914 mm) railroad hauling freight and passengers from 1882-1941 | |
Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad | 6714512 6714512 | Petaluma - Santa Rosa | Incomplete | Parts of this are now known as Joe Rodota Trail, a highway=cycleway. A discontiguous, confused route relation. The segments in Joe Rodata Trail have been TIGER Reviewed. | |
Picacho and Colorado River Railroad | The single segment segment of track is entered. | Picacho State Recreational Area | No TIGER tags | A 4.5 mile narrow gauge railroad in Picacho that ran between a mine and a stamp mill during the 1900s decade. A segment is missing due to washouts. | |
Santa Rosa Branch | ? | 6714674 6714674 | Santa Rosa - Sonoma - Schelleville | Partially complete | Parts are railtrail; should this be in the Railtrail section? |
Sonoma Valley Branch | ? | 9296132 9296132 | Sonoma - Schelleville | Partially complete | Parts are railtrail; should this be in the Railtrail section? |
South Pacific Coast Railroad | SPC | 6773733 6773733 | Zayante - Clems - Glenwood - Laurel - Wrights - Los Gatos | Done | No TIGER tags, but needs much work. Rumored to have continued to San Francisco Bay at Alviso (on what are now Vasona Industrial Lead and Coast Subdivision?). This is a very storied route and much data seem available but OSM must be cautious about what can be entered while adhering to our ODbL. Let's do a survey! |
Stone Canyon Railroad | 6730365 6730365 | Camp Roberts - Stone Canyon quarry | Done, though pretty rough | Shared with existing roads for some segments | |
Sunset Railway | SUN | 6454668 6454668 | SW end of Sunset Railroad - San Emidio - (Hazelton - Maricopa) - Taft - Fellows - oilfields | Partially complete | The segments from Taft through Fellows and NW to the oilfields are incomplete. Abandoned in stages in 1960, 1976 and early 2000s. Co-owned by SP and AT&SF. |
Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad | TT | 6746903 6746903 | Ludlow - Baker - Shoshone - Death Valley Jct. - Beatty (Nevada) - Goldfield (Nevada) | Needs TIGER review | An abandoned railroad for a borax mining operation 1907-1945 |
Visalia Electric Railroad | VE | 6698965 6698965 | Strathmore - Lindsay - near Kaweah River | Appears to be done | Not much is known about this abandoned railway. It was a subsidiary of SP. |
Unsorted
Name | old_railway_operator=* | Relation | Route | TIGER Review | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alcoa Spur | AT&SF? | 6728052 6728052 | Torrance - West Carson | No additional TIGER attention needed, though may not be entire right-of-way (ROW) | An old AT&SF ROW? |
Alla | 6729729 6729729 | Redondo Beach | Done | ||
Alta Mesa Spur | 6775796 6775796 | Palo Alto | Done | Name is a guess. Considering how Foothill Expressway continues to Vasona Branch, may have once been a northern part of Vasona. | |
Barber to Paradise | 6773660 6773660 | Chico - Paradise | Needs TIGER review | Name is likely wrong | |
Calistoga Branch | The single segment segment of track is entered | Calistoga | Done | Little is known | |
Camp San Luis Obispo | 6773663 6773663 | Camp San Luis Obispo | Done | Appears to have been a military spur to serve Camp SLO. Does not have name tags on track elements nor on the relation. | |
Carlotta | NWP? | The single segment segment of track is entered | Fortuna - Carlotta | Done | ROW believed to be part of NCRA |
Coronado | 6159489 6159489 | San Diego (12th Street Junction) - Imperial Beach | Looks good | Owned by San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) as SDAE. Had some SDIY usage=industrial traffic (potash, salt) in the 1990s and early 2000s, then "the diamonds were removed," so, abandoned. | |
El Dorado Lime and Mineral Railroad | The single segment segment of track is entered | Bullard - Spreklesville | Done | About 2+ miles of spur off the Placerville Branch | |
Fallbrook Branch | 6714270 6714270 | Stuart Mesa - MCAS Camp Pendleton - NWS Fallbrook Annex - Fallbrook | Incomplete | Partially military rail near southern portion, largely abandoned | |
Inglewood Branch | 6729728 6729728 | Marina Del Rey | Done | ||
Lakewood Industrial Lead | UP | 6698808 6698808 | Long Beach | Done | Union Pacific abandoned this south of about Cover Street, not known when. |
Larkspur to Tiburon | NWP? | 6794234 6794234 | Larkspur - Reed - Tiburon | Done | Name is likely wrong. Believed to be old NWP ROW. |
Milpitas Industrial Lead | 6775759 6775759 | Fremont | Done | A small segment seems to be a gravel rail-trail | |
Monterey Branch | 6773687 6773687 | Castroville - Monterey - Pacific Grove | Needs TIGER review | Part hike-and-bike trail. Likely could be tagged railway=disused as the rail itself is pretty rough: there is a sign at the at-grade Highway 183 crossing that says "Tracks out of service." Not known if (or when) abandoned or if merely disused. Publicly owned by Transportation Agency of Monterey County (TAMC). | |
Owens Lake Rail | 6807727 6807727 | Keeler - Swansea | Done | One segment through Keeler came from TIGER, the other was traced from USGS and Bing. Quite rough; very little is known. | |
Placerville (abandoned) | 6801690 6801690 | Placerville | Needs TIGER review | Parts of this are now known as El Dorado Trail, a highway=cycleway. | |
Redondo Beach Branch | 6728023 6728023 | Manhattan Beach - Redondo Beach | Part of this is now a dirt running trail | ||
Sandia Industrial Lead | 6773363 6773363 | Calipatria - Holtville | Needs TIGER review | Sketchy | |
San Anselmo to Sausalito | NWP? | 6794233 6794233 | San Anselmo - Larkspur - Mill Valley - Sausalito | Done | Name is likely wrong. Believed to be old NWP ROW. Quite a bit of this is now repurposed as the multi-purpose (bike/ped) Mill Valley - Sausalito Path. |
San Ramon Valley Branch | 6730470 6730470 | Concord - Pleasanton | Done | Largely has become the Iron Horse Trail (pedestrian/cycleway). | |
Tustin Branch | 6728366 6728366 | Tustin - Orange | OK TIGER status | ||
Venta Spur | 6728070 6728070 | Tustin - Woodbury | Done | Part running trail today | |
West Santa Ana Industrial Lead | 6283261 6283261 | Paramount - Bellflower - Cypress - Garden Grove - Santa Ana | Done | A discontiguous collection of mixed railway=disused and railway=abandoned ways |
Color semantics
About the (status) colors in the Name column
Green means that the route's TIGER data in OSM are fully reviewed. This strongly implies that all other relation attributes are correct, but this isn't always strictly true; see Notes/Status column.
Yellow means "only partially reviewed" ; additional volunteer work is needed to enter or correct additional route=railway data into OSM. Yellow may also mean a route has a volunteer entering data, yet route ambiguities persist about what is actually correct.
Red means that "something" (often very little) is known about the route, so it is useful to put a row in the table about it as a placeholder, but it likely may be too early to create a route relation: route data are unknown, incomplete or route attributes are significantly missing.