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The Stockton Electric Railroad was the streetcar system serving Stockton, California. The company was under the control of Southern Pacific Railroad until 1939 when it was sold to Pacific City Lines. By 1931, the railroad operated 40 streetcars over 28 miles (45 km) of track.

History

Incorporated in 1891, the company bought the mule-powered Stockton Street Railway Company (which was itself founded in 1871). Electric service began on July 15, 1892 and mules were eliminated the following month. Southern Pacific acquired the company in 1905, prompting full conversion of the narrow gauge rails to standard gauge. Starting in 1915, the Central California Traction Company began leasing their own streetcar lines in Stockton to the SER, bringing nearly all local operations under their control. Pacific City Lines acquired the railroad's assets in April 1939 and converted operations to buses in September 1941.

Lines

By 1927, the company operated six lines:

• Main and El Dorado Line
• California and San Joaquin Line
• Vine and Ophir Line
• Center and Aurora Line
• Poplar and Weber Avenue Line
• Pilgrim Street Branch

Rolling stock

Birney Safety Cars replaced two-truck cars between 1918 and 1921.

References

1. Guido 1957, pp. 10.
2. ^ McGraw-Hill 1920, p. 16.
3. Hofsommer 1986, pp. 60, 148.
4. ^ Guido 1957, p. 8.
5. Demoro 1986, p. 202.
6. Guido 1957, p. 3.
7. "The Electric Road". The Evening Mail. Stockton, California. July 14, 1892. p. 5. Retrieved June 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "The Old Street Railway". The Evening Mail. Stockton, California. July 16, 1892. p. 1. Retrieved June 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. ^ Guido 1957, p. 4.
10. "Electric Car Lines to Pass Into Oblivion Sunday". Stockton Record. Stockton, California. September 25, 1941. pp. 13, 21. Retrieved June 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Guido 1957, pp. 7, 10.

Bibliography

• Demoro, Harre W. (1986). California's Electric Railways. Glendale, California: Interurban Press. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-916374-74-7.
• Guido, Francis A., ed. (April 1957). "Stockton Electric Railway". The Western Railroader. Vol. 20, no. 6, iss. 210. San Mateo, CA. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
• Hofsommer, Donovan L. (1986). The Southern Pacific, 1901-1985. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0890962464.
• McGraw Electric Railway Directory. McGraw-Hill Company. August 1920.

External links

• Transportation in San Joaquin County, California
• American companies established in 1891
• History of Stockton, California
• Defunct California railroads
• Southern Pacific Railroad subsidiaries
• Passenger rail transportation in California
• Electric railways in California
• 600 V DC railway electrification
• Defunct town tramway systems by city
• Streetcars in California