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I'm interested in hearing about the rerouting of the Southern Pacific Railroad back when Shasta Dam was built. North and south of the lake, where did the new route divert from the original route? That is, where exactly do the existing tracks divert from the original route? What was the date of the last scheduled train to travel over the original route? What was the date of the last scheduled train to ever stop at the station at the old town of Kennett? My e-mail address; jlampke@aol.com
SteveD Member # 43
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Signor's "Rails in Shadow of Mt. Shasta" reports southern diversion point was at Redding and northern diversion point just s/o Delta, construction began in 1938, first train over new route June 16, 1939, all passenger trains were diverted over new line on March 15,1942, while last through train over old route ran May 23, 1942(possibly passenger train #15.
[This message has been edited by SteveD (edited 11-09-2003).]
[This message has been edited by SteveD (edited 11-09-2003).]
[This message has been edited by SteveD (edited 11-11-2003).]
jlampke Member # 2871
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Steve: Very interesting. This place you referred to; Signor's Rails; Is it a hobby shop of some sort? I've never heard of it. I have lots of questions about the railroad as it was impacted by the building of the dam, and prior to that. Are there maps available? I'd like to actually go to the points where the tracks were diverted just to look and take pictures. Do you know of any existing collections of pictures from the building of the diversion route? I heard there are railroad tunnels and bridges under the lake that can be seen when the lake is low. Is that true? Also, were there ever any regularly scheduled trains stopping at Kennett? When did that end? Thanks, John
SteveD Member # 43
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The source referred to is a book by John Signor, guess I should have used italics or quotation marks to indicate that. I think it is the standard reference for S.P. history in that region.
jlampke Member # 2871
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Thanks for the tip. I'll look for and buy the book. Do you know of a source of maps showing rail routes through the Shasta area before and after the dam was built?
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