Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railway (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780738559599)

With a schedule regulated by the tides and the needs of chickens, the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railway operated for 81 years as a delightfully quirky egg-hauling enterprise. Modern electric railroad technology paired with ancient low-tech steamboats made possible the overnight shipping of fresh produce to a voracious San Francisco market. The railroad helped Petaluma earn the moniker "the egg basket of the world." Incorporated in 1903, the railroad provided efficient train service to this fertile farm region. The famous botanist Luther Burbank located his experimental farm near Sebastopol and proclaimed it is nature's "chosen spot of all the earth." The railroad survived the devastating 1906 earthquake, opposition from three larger railroads, the Great Depression, and fierce auto-truck competition. The corporation was, mercifully, abandoned in 1984, and most of the rails were removed by 1988. Happily, recent plans call for a tourist trolley to operate over a portion of surviving Petaluma tracks.

Author: John Schmale, Kristina Schmale
ISBN-10: 0738559598
ISBN-13: 9780738559599
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (SC)
Language: English
Published: 02/16/2009
Pages: 128
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.40w x 0.50d