Re: Gilpin Ore Tram and other 2ft Gauge Operations in the US

Incidentally, I think the Death Valley Baby Gauge was one of the first tourist railroads. It hauled passengers for some time in the 1940s or early 1950s. Occasional postcards of this operation come up on Ebay. To my knowledge California had two other two-foot railroads.

There was the Merced Gold Mining Railroad in Coulterville. This line ran from a shaft mine, hauling ore a couple miles to a large stamp mill. The Porter engine was "preserved" by derailing and falling down a hillside. It has a badly broken cylinder and is missing many parts.
Coulterville Porter

The other was the Sonoma Magnesite Tramway, located north of Guerneville, CA. This abandoned line survived WW2 and I think into the late 1950s with most rails intact and the engine lying in the riverbed. All, (apparently including the locomotive) were later scrapped, from what I hear.

USGS photo site - enter "Sonoma Magnesite"

Outside of Maine there was also a C&NW tie treatment plant somewhere in the northern Midwest, the Mount Gretna Narrow Gauge Railway in PA,
Mt. Gretna Narrow Gauge

and the Laurel River and Hot Springs in NC. I know very little about this last one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2009 09:09AM by o anderson.