Logging Archives - Southern Pacific Railroad History Center

When Steam was King – French Signed by Author W-16

Chip Savoye — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:08:42 +0000

When Steam was King is a 250 pg, hardbound book, illustrated with outstanding, never before published photos on Steam railroads of Central California; Pickering Lumber Co., West Side Lumber Co, and Sierra Railroad. Also included are rare shots of Empire City Railroad. There are numerous maps, times lines and steam locomotive rosters. Remainer of the book covers railroad parks and steam tourist lines.

Very Good Condition

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Railroads in the Woods – Labber and Goe W-16

Chip Savoye — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 01:27:40 +0000

Detailed history of how the narrow gauge logging railroads were designed and built up impossible inclines into impenetrable forests to haul out the timber. Packed with black and white photos of the bridges and trestles, the geared locomotives (Heisler, Shay, Willamette, Baldwin, and Climax), and the dauntless men. 258 pages with index.

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Lake Tahoe’s Railroads – Drew W16

Chip Savoye — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:31:33 +0000

Lake Tahoe is the majestic mountain lake that spans the boundary line of California and Nevada. The lake’s clarity and scenic beauty are legendary. In the 1870s, the Nevada Comstock Lode created an insatiable appetite for Lake Tahoe’s virgin pine forests. The timbers would shore up underground mining and build communities approaching 40,000 inhabitants. Railroads on three shores delivered the logs lakeside, where they were towed by steam-powered tugs to sawmills, to lumber flumes, and again by rail to their final destinations. As the mines and giant lake pines subsided, railroads pushed farther north after 1898 into new timber stands in the Lake Tahoe and Truckee River basins.

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