Kings Lake Shore Railroad
Encyclopedia
The Kings Lake Shore Railroad was a 19.4 miles (31.2 km) common carrier
Common carrier
A common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...

 railroad that operated in Kings County, California
Kings County, California
Kings County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is located in a rich agricultural region. Kings County is also home to NAS Lemoore, which is the U.S. Navy's newest and largest master jet air station. The county seat is Hanford...

 from 1910-1934. The line primarily hauled agricultural products that grew in this region of the San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...

. The line originated with a connection with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...

 at Corcoran and then ran south-southwest to its terminus at Liberty, California.

Grading for the railroad commenced in 1910 as the Kings River Railroad. The Kings River Railroad was organized to build from the Santa Fe at Corcoran to Tulare Lake
Tulare Lake
Tulare Lake, named Laguna de Tache by the Spanish, is a fresh-water dry lake with residual wetlands and marshes in southern San Joaquin Valley, California...

. The Kings River constructed 10.05 miles (16.2 km) of track.

In May 1917, the Kings Lake Shore Railroad was incorporated and took over the Kings River Railroad. The railroad extended the line another 9.4 miles (15.1 km). In 1923, the railroad acquired Santa Fe Railway's #27, a 4-4-0
4-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...

 American-type Schenectady Locomotive Works
Schenectady Locomotive Works
The Schenectady Locomotive Works built railroad locomotives from its founding in 1848 through its merger into American Locomotive Company in 1901.After the 1901 merger, ALCO made the Schenectady plant its headquarters in Schenectady, New York....

 (Builder No. 2373) steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

. Abandonment of the line was authorized during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

on January 22, 1934, and the tracks were removed the same year.

Route

  • Corcoran
  • El Rico (From Durham's Place Names)
  • Harvester (From Durham's Place Names)
  • Liberty
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