Tidewater Southern Railway
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The Tidewater Southern Railway was a short line railroad in Central California in the United States. It was originally built as an interurban system, connecting to the Central California Traction Company in Stockton, California and leading southeast from Stockton to Escalon, California and thence to Modesto, California. The railway was incorporated in 1910; construction from Stockton began in 1911 and service to Modesto began in 1912 with steam locomotive-hauled passenger service. Electrification was completed in 1913, and regular electric car service began at a 2-hour schedule. In addition to passenger service, the railway operated extensive freight service in the area.
In 1916, the railway was extended to Turlock, California, and in 1917 to Hatch, California and a branch to Hilmar, California. This portion was never electrified and never operated passenger service, being purely for freight. A freight-only branch to Manteca, California was constructed in 1918. While many references list this branch as being unelectrified, evidence from the TS mechanical department and the Western Pacific's accounting files show that the line was in fact electrified.
The railway was purchased by the Western Pacific Railroad in 1917, and operated as a subsidiary thereafter.
Passenger service was abandoned in 1932 and the railway operated as a freight line thereafter, with the exception of offering passenger carriage in the line's cabooses. This situation lasted until the 1960's, with the parent company reportedly having forgotten to formally abandon the passenger tariff. The electrification was dismantled after this point except in Modesto, where a city ordinance prohibited the operation of steam locomotives. The railway therefore retained 2.1 miles of electrification within Modesto, and the railway's two steeplecab electric locomotives. Outside Modesto, all freight traffic was now steam hauled, and more steam locomotives were acquired from the Western Pacific and other sources.
Busy traffic during World War II increased the Tidewater Southern's traffic hugely, and locomotives were borrowed from other roads to handle it, including two Sacramento Northern Railway box motors, several steam locomotives and a number of diesel locomotives, the first on the system.
After the war, the acquisition of more diesel locomotives led to the rapid retirement of the railway's electric locomotives and some of the steam locomotives, although steam traction was retained until several bridges were upgraded in the late 1950s to bear the weight of diesel locomotives. Starting in the mid-1950's the line also added a small fleet of modern freight cars, some of which survived until the early 1980's.
From the late 1960s, the system's independence began to wither as it became more and more operated by Western Pacific locomotives and crews, until it became only a "paper road", nominally a separate corporation but invisibly so in actual operation.
The final end for the Tidewater Southern came in 1985 when the Union Pacific absorbed the railway and its parent.
Since 1985, the remaining portions of the Tidewater Southern have been the Tidewater Subdivision of the Union Pacific.
Equipment
The Tidewater Southern only ever owned three interurban electric passenger cars; all were built by Jewett in 1912 and bought new. This roster was unusual in that all were combine cars, each having a freight section. The Tidewater was one of the few interurbans to never roster a "pure" electric passenger car. When extra capacity was needed, passenger trailers were borrowed from the Central California Traction Company.
It also owned two steeplecab electric freight locomotives: one was a stock General Electric model, while the other was built by the Central California Traction Company from an old flatcar.
Old reports indicate that Jewett also built an express motor, but now photos of it have come to light publically.
The road rostered 3 steam locomotives, with one only being used in the earliest days of the line.
When traffic was heavy, steam engines were borrowed from the Western Pacific. Electric freight motors were also borrowed from time to time from sister roads Sacramento Northern and Central California Traction until the electrification was abandoned.
References
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