History

AB Bowers Sonoma County Map 1867

The first effort to connect Sonoma with San Pablo Bay begin in 1876 with the Sonoma Valley Prismoidal Railway - an early wooden monorail that in the latter part of the 19th century was cheaper to construct than a conventional railroad. The objective of the company was to link Sonoma to bay ferries by running a line from Schellville to the ferry landing at the mouth of the Petaluma River.

The company completed approximately three miles of line from the steamer landing at Norfolk (now Wingo) to Schellville and operated for 6 months before failing in May 1877 – never reaching its ultimate destination, the Sonoma Landing on the Petaluma River. It had one locomotive engine, a box car and ten platform cars. The track was 15 inches high, the base 27 inches wide; cost was placed at $4,500 per mile.¹.

It is unclear if the monorail was intended to run into Sonoma though one report indicated that the crossing of Fremont Drive near 8th Street East was a major obstacle because Joseph S. Kohn, the principal promoter of the monorail, reportedly could not figure out how to cross roads at-grade.².

Example Prismoidal Engine

Photo courtesy of Steven Lee.

Lines and Depots

The railway had one line which ran from Norfolk to Schellville

• Wingo Depot – assumed to have been established in either 1876 or 1877.
• Schellville Depot – assumed to have been established in either 1876 or 1877.

Map

See Also

• Railroads
• Sonoma Valley Railroad

References

• The Glen Ellen Branch at Abandoned Rails
• Map of The Glen Ellen Branch
• Valeri Shere Mathes and Diane Moll Smith, Images of America: Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Valley Historical Society (2004).
• Donald B. Robertson, Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History: California, Volume 4, pg. 236, (1998).

Footnotes

1. Donald B. Robertson, Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History: California, Volume 4, pg. 236, 1998
2. http://www.abandonedrails.com/article.asp?id=281