The First California Railroads and the Race to Expansion by Denise M. Colby

The Original California Railroads

There’s an interesting history with the California Railroads. The first official California railway was built to support the gold rush in 1856. Other railroads were built to carry passengers throughout the state from major ports of San Francisco and Los Angeles.(Fun fact: locomotives and materials would be shipped around Cape Horn and arrive in parts to be assembled in California)

There were so many different railroads created yearly, and lots of mergers that they changed owners and names frequently. Doing my research for my books, I found many had similar names: Sacramento Valley Railroad, California Central Railroad, Central Pacific Railroad, Western Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Railroad, California Northern Railroad, and so on. Makes it hard to keep straight. There is one though that stood out.

The Central Pacific Railroad makes its mark

In 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) (which was owned by one of the “big 4”) was at its peak of construction, racing towards being the one that would connect to the line being built West. They had the hardest job of building track across the Sierra Nevada (yes the one that the Donner Party got stuck in - which is present day Truckee and where I start my Novelette, An Unplanned Marriage Proposal in September of 1868). By April 1868, the CPRR had built past this summit and worked its way to Reno, Nevada by June. It continued it's progression through December and into 1869 where it finally met with the Union Pacific Railroad in Utah in May of 1869.

They built routes all around the area north of San Francisco (Napa, Calistoga, Vallejo, and a town called Washington) so that they could own the route to the coast of San Francisco.

 

Race to Own The Track and the Routes

I’ve established before that the Sacramento river flooded. One of the solutions was to build levees, which was dirt stacked high right near the water's edge to keep water out.

The railroads offered to build these levees, but only if they could put their train tracks on top of them.

For background, the railways were booming and it was a race to lay as much track as possible. Whomever had the track, owned those routes. If you weren’t fast enough, a railroad company would build a route and then that route would be bypassed by a new set of tracks built by another railroad.

That actually happened to the community called Washington. Situated across the river from Sacramento, there had been talk about Washington being a possible stop for California government, because it sat on the same side of the river as San Francisco. A much easier trek by train rather than having to also board a boat to cross the Sacramento river to reach Sacramento (which was the state capitol). 

 

1854 Map of Sacramento, the Sacramento River, Washington (south) 

 

 1915 Map of Washington (see train tracks on west side), Sacramento River, Sacramento

 Screenshot 2026 of the same area.

CPRR had built a route from Vallejo to Washington. They would take passengers from Sacramento by boat, then board the train, south to Vallejo, then board another boat to get to San Francisco. A train depot was built on the edge of Washington and several trains ran between Vallejo and Washington each day.



But then another railroad built a bridge across the Sacramento river in 1870, which diverted traffic. When meant everyone bypassed the entire town of Washington. In the end, it didn’t survive because everyone skipped right over it. Sort of reminds me of the story in the movie Cars and Route 66.

1869 Transcontinental Railroad

As we all know, in May of 1869, the First Transcontinental Railroad connecting Sacramento to the eastern states took place, and it changed everything. What once was only reachable by ship (around Panama), or by wagon train, now could be reached within a mere ten days.

Another fun fact: The whole coast to coast transcontinental railroad actually originally ended in Sacramento. With different transportation options (boat, other train) to San Francisco.

If you are ever in Sacramento, I highly recommend a visit to the California State Railroad Museum https://www.californiarailroad.museum in Old Town Sacramento to learn all about the historical significance of the railroad in California.

They have amazing exhibits including all sorts of train cars, locomotives, displays and of course you can walk through several of them to get a sense of travel back in these days (mail cars, dining, cars, locomotives and more. If you have kids who are train lovers, this is an awesome place to visit).

A Slight Change of Plans is Book 2 in the Best-laid Plans series.

A stranded schoolmarm. A scarred blacksmith. A forged love neither saw coming.

Jenny Millard’s hopes for security as a schoolmarm are dashed when her schoolhouse closes. Newcomer Ren Lyman prefers to keep to himself, hiding in the back of the blacksmith shop to avoid stares at the scars left by a childhood accident. Their chance encounter builds a connection that breaks down walls erected by years of hurt. But when strange occurrences unsettle the townspeople, their chance at happiness might be at risk.

This book introduces that train station built in Washington (in my fictional town of Washton)

Denise M. Colby writes historical romance sweetened with faith, hope, and love. She finds history fascinating and contemplates often how it was to live in the 1800's. Her debut novel, When Plans Go Awry, is a 2025 Carol Award finalist. Sign up for her newsletter at www.denisemcolby.com or follow Denise on Facebook, Instagram, Bookbub, Pinterest, or GoodReads.