Introduction and Background

It is early Oct. 1944, and this north view is just north of the D St. and 2nd St. intersection in Marysville, Calif. It has been over two years since the last SN streetcars delivered passengers downtown. The rails will remain until the war is over, after which time they will be allowed to be removed, and the impact to Marysville will be immeasurable.

L199-05-Copyright California Department of Transportation, 1015-2 , (Image 1 of 38)

Rail fan and photograph collector Art Peterson provided this image of Marysville with two SN passenger motors en route and wondered where the image was taken and why there were two tracks. When told it was an east view down 2nd St. from the E St. intersection circa 1940, he was surprised, to say the least.

L199-10-Courtesy Art Peterson, (Image 2 of 38)

Who could blame Art from being puzzled after consulting Google Maps.

L199-15-Courtesy Google Maps, (Image 3 of 38)

It would mean that the image in 199-10 was taken at the tail end of the red arrow, showing all the buildings almost to C St. There is absolutely nothing remaining today in the 1940 image that is seen in this aerial image, including the loss of the actual road surface of 2nd St. between E and D Sts.

L199-16-Courtesy Google Maps, (Image 4 of 38)

This northeast oblique view of Marysville circa 1945 was taken after the streetcar rails had been removed, but SN freight operations in the lower left corner were intact. The rail line in the upper right is the Southern Pacific, SP, mainline.

L199-20-Moreau Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 146438sn , (Image 5 of 38)

Superimposed on the northeast oblique view of Marysville circa 1945 are yellow lines showing where SN streetcar and passenger trains had once traversed the city.

L199-21-Moreau Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 146438sn, (Image 6 of 38)

Now a very conservative estimate indicated by the whited-out areas of what no longer exists along the former SN right-of-way.

L199-22-Moreau Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 146438sn, (Image 7 of 38)

All of this is a little surprising given all of the preserved architecture in the city, such as the Mary Aaron Museum at 704 D St., the former Warren P. Miller House circa 1856.

L199-25-Stuart Swiedler Photo, (Image 8 of 38)

In fact, the National Register of Historic Places in Yuba County lists many structures in Marysville, including the whole commercial district, purple box. However, also listed are two structures that have been razed, red box.

L199-30-National Register of Historic Places , (Image 9 of 38)

Previous to the commercial district receiving historic status, however, the Marysville General Plans from 1973-1985 led to removal of an area said to have deteriorated, green area and green underline. The SN route is shown by the yellow broken line. This redevelopment was to attract new investment, particularly Mervyn’s Department Store and the Library Square retail center.

L199-35-Modified from National Register of Historic Places Application, (Image 10 of 38)

f you really want to know all the down-and-dirty realities of what happened in Marysville during this period, the very informative and entertaining four-part “Marysville, Then and Know” series is a good place to go. But to answer Art Peterson’s initial questions about the picture he provided, continue on with the following presentation.

L199-40-holybeeofephus.com, (Image 11 of 38)

Much about Marysville’s fate was determined early in its history in the 1860s when 7.6 miles of very high levee, 16 ft. or greater, yellow arrows, were constructed that enveloped the city to protect against flooding. Nearby hydraulic mining prevented the riverboats from getting there, losing business to Sacramento.

L199-45-Moreau Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 129252, (Image 12 of 38)

Because the town was not protected by the weir and by-pass structures produced in the first third of the 20th century shielding the towns from the Sacramento River to the west, images such as this west view at the Feather River at the 5th St.-SN bridge in Oct. 1944 ...

L199-50-Copyright California Department of Transportation, 1015 , (Image 13 of 38)

... could quickly turn to this scene from Mar. 1940. The last major flood to the area was in Dec. 1964 as Oroville Lake and Dam were partially completed, but prior to the dam construction, the only way to deal with flooding was to make the levees higher as flooding increased.

L199-55-Copyright California Department of Transportation, 648-1 , (Image 14 of 38)

Now for SN history, starting with its north end precursor, the Northern Electric Co., NE, and its acquisition in 1906 of the narrow-gauge Marysville and Yuba City St. Railroad. Co., a mule or horse-drawn entity that was to be the oldest part of NE operation based on its beginnings in 1889. Pictured in this northeast view is NE 25 as it sits at 5th St. and E. Sts., with the since razed St. John’s Episcopal Church in the background, circa 1910.

L199-60-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 121376sn, (Image 15 of 38)

Next for more details about the routes of the NE through Marysville starting with this 1909 map. For ease and geographic accuracy, the details of this map that follow with be rotated to orient north at the top of the images. By 1909, the word “Railway” was added to NE Co. designation reflecting the Sept. 19, 1907 corporate reorganization.

L199-65-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 64585sn, (Image 16 of 38)

In 1909, there were three railroad bridges crossing the Yuba River from the south. From right to left, east to west, the SP, red arrows, the NE, orange arrows, and the Western Pacific, WP, blue arrows. The NE and WP tracks crossed south of the river, indicated by the green circle.

L199-70-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 64585sn, Detail, (Image 17 of 38)

The crossing at Oliver, today part of the unincorporated town of Linda, was installed in Nov. 1909 to accommodate the WP’s entry into Marysville. This north view from Nov. 21, 1909 is oriented along the NE track.

L199-75-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives,, (Image 18 of 38)

The WP took full and final control of the SNRR, the NE’s new name after 1918, in 1925. One of the WP’s first actions was to abandon the NE bridge, shown here with a single NE passenger motor in a southeast view crossing the Yuba River, ca. 1910. The closure was rationalized for safety, but also made economic sense.

L199-80-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 121374sn, (Image 19 of 38)

This meant revising the crossing, as shown in this north view from Oct. 27, 1940, with rail fans acknowledging the end of north-end SN passenger service.

L199-85-Wilbur C. Whittaker Photo, Vielbaum Coll., Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, , (Image 20 of 38)

The revision did have the benefit of allowing all SN freight service to stay along the WP mainline and not enter city streets to access the main warehouse. Scenes such as this with SN 1000, ca. 1910, would be no more.

L199-90-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 126018sn, (Image 21 of 38)

Back to 1909, interurbans and streetcars used tracks forming a square as indicated by the map. Streetcar service continued for a while on C and J Sts., the details of which will be forthcoming. The turquoise arrow indicates the original position of the passenger station in Marysville, and the streetcar barn can be appreciated along C St.

L199-95-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 64585sn, Detail, (Image 22 of 38)

The NE streetcar on C St. served the SP train station. An image of a streetcar en route on C St. has not been identified, but railway promotional material supports the route's existence. Here shown is Cortez Square or Park, bordered by 5th, 6th, B and C Sts. The park was designed by Warren P Miller for the California State Fair in 1858, and was demolished in 1961-2 for the creation of the new court house for Yuba County.

L199-100-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 121359sn, (Image 23 of 38)

A C St. NE streetcar should have passed the Packard Library, on the northwest corner of 4th St. and C St. as seen in this northwest view in 2017. The library opened in 1906, designed by William Curlett and built by R. Dewar. It was the first free library west of the Mississippi.

L199-105-Stuart Swiedler photo, (Image 24 of 38)

The same northwest view ca. 1910 of the library shows the streetcar tracks and overhead wire, plus the towers of the first county courthouse in the background.

L199-110-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 121379sn , (Image 25 of 38)

Now a closer look at the central portion of the NE operation from Apr. 9, 1910.

L199-115-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 64587sn, (Image 26 of 38)

The multiple tracks between 2nd and 3rd street constituted the freight operation epicenter.

L199-120-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 64587sn, Detail, (Image 27 of 38)

The freight tracks were given the name of the Garret Spur in this July 1909 map, the reason for the name has not been uncovered.

L199-125-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 58346, (Image 28 of 38)

Marvin Maynard’s panoramic east view of the freight operation from July 1, 1939 indicates the shared nature of the freight station by the WP and SN post-1930. Note freight motors SN 410 at left, 430 center, and Birney 68 at right on a dead-end track. Images from this era always show the Birney car at this spot.

L199-130-Marvin T. Maynard Photo, Wurm Coll., Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 33463, (Image 29 of 38)

The negative of the previous image was in Ted Wurm’s collection, and it may have influenced Ted to take this east view on Jan. 23, 1941 of the freight station with freight motor SN 430 on the left left, and a partial view of SN 410 on the right. The cupola of the Western Hotel peaks out above the station.

L199-135-Ted Wurm Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 33466sn, (Image 30 of 38)

Sometimes a drawing surpasses anything else that can be produced as a summary document, and so is the case for the NE-SNRR-SN era in the Marysville-Yuba City area produced by Phillip Gale.

L199-140-Phillip Gale Drawing, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 146437sn , (Image 31 of 38)

A detail from that drawing includes all the material reviewed above with the exception of the J St. line and other branches to the north.

L199-145-Phillip Gale Drawing, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 146437sn, Detail , (Image 32 of 38)

Dorothea Lange’s Jan. 1940 southeast view of the lower half of Marysville will be used to conclude this section and the discussion of J. St. Ref: Image downloaded from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki. The file is File:Olivehurst,_2_miles_south_of_Marysville,_Yuba_County,_California. _Air_view_of_the_city_of_Marysville_._._._-_NARA_-_521573.jpg

L199-150-Dorothea Lange Photo, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, NARA-521573, (Image 33 of 38)

First a detail of the southeast view from 1940. An annotated version follows.

L199-155-Dorothea Lange Photo, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, NARA-521573, (Image 34 of 38)

The turquoise line represents the interurban path through the town, the streetcars using all of that portion save for the connecter to the WP mainline and the Yuba River bridge. Single passenger motor SN 109 often used the Orange St. connector, yellow line, also shared with freight, and the streetcars could dock on the 2nd St. extension. What of the J St. line?

L199-157-Dorothea Lange Photo, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, NARA-521573, (Image 35 of 38)

No pictures of a regularly scheduled streetcar or freight have been uncovered for the J St. line. The take-off from 5th St. in the 1940 southeast view is marked by the red arrow and will be expanded upon in a later presentation. The blue arrows mark obvious overhead wire poles, the basis for the unusual pattern of which will be explained.

L199-160-Dorothea Lange Photo, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, NARA-521573, (Image 36 of 38)

A northeast view from Dec. 1955 provides the same information as the previous image from 1940. No question the poles lead to a series of very large warehouses parallel to the WP mainline.

L199-165-Copyright California Department of Transportation, 4724-14 , (Image 37 of 38)

The overhead wire poles led to Olive St. at the former Virden Packing and Cannery, listed in the WP circular from circa 1957 as the California Packing Co., CalPak, with a siding capable of holding 14 boxcars. This northwest view was taken on an excursion with Birney 70 on the last day of service, Feb. 15, 1942. It was the largest freight-related siding in Marysville in 1957. Next time, a trip through Marysville on an interurban.

L199-170-Arthur Lloyd Photo 129799sn, (Image 38 of 38)