Eastern Mojave Vegetation | Stone Canyon Mine, Monterey County, California. |
Gazetteer Query: G.N.I.S. See also: McKay. |
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A 21.5 mile shortline railroad of broad gauge, known initially as the Stone Canyon and Pacific, owned by Stone Canyon Consolidated Mines, was serviced from the junction with the Southern Pacific at McKay beginning in 1907. The railroad was routed up Indian Valley in southern Monterey County, then along Big Sandy Creek to the Stone Canyon Coal Mines high in the Cholame hills. The line climbed from an altitude of 500 feet at McKay Station to 1,800 feet at its terminus. The railroad crossed the Salinas River on a 30 foot high trestle. The entire line washed out during flooding in 1914, when an earthen dam above the mines overflowed, washing out 12 trestle crossings down Indian Valley. The wooden bridge at San Miguel also washed out in the 15 foot deep floodwaters, taking out the Stone Canyon Railroad trestle over the Salinas River as well, on its rush to Monterey Bay. The trestle was rebuilt with a 1,300 foot crossing in 1921, and new track was laid up the valley. After 1920 the line was known as the Coal Fields Railway an was operated as such until abandonment in 1932. The Railroad had one engine, an ex NYC 10-wheeler numbered 2288.
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No collections made at this location. | ||
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M, Date and time this article was prepared:5:37:00 PM, 11/3/2024. |