Old Trestle and Viaduct

01 04 2010

Yesterday I found the old Southern Pacific trestle that crosses Weber Creek just outside Diamond Springs, CA. It’s located at 38° 42’ 27.01” N 120° 48’ 49.47” W. This is on the Southern Pacific spur that went from Folsom, CA to Camino, CA. The tracks have been abandoned since the 1980s, but most of them still exist to that point. The trestle is now part of a bike/hiking trail and has been fitted with overlooks and retaining fencing. You can still get a good view from on top though. The trestle is about 200 yards long and towers over Weber Creek about 100 feet. It’s very impressive both from the walking portion and from below on Lockie Rd.

The Southern Pacific Railroad began operations in 1856 between Sacramento and Folsom as the first commercial railroad west of the Mississippi. Later the line was extended to Placerville under various names. Southern Pacific took control of the line in 1888 and continued operations for 99 years. The line serviced the towns of Latrobe, Shingle Springs, Placerville, and Camino for freight and passengers. However, the line bypassed the town of Clarksville just outside Folsom, and eventually Clarksville died. Some of the remaining buildings are still visible from Highway 50 on the south side as Highway 50 climbs east just outside of Folsom. In March of 2007 the city of Folsom purchased 52 miles of the track and have restored about 26 miles of it for possible future excursion use. The portion in Diamond Springs will never have another train on it though. I entered the trail just before the trestle, but I think it starts at Old Depot Road off Missouri Flat Road in Diamond Springs.

I also found broken remnants of a concrete water viaduct that can be seen from the trail just before the trestle. Need to do some research on that.