Sonoma Valley Railroad 1

Sonoma Valley Railroad 2

History

On July 24, 1878, Joseph S. Kohn formed the Sonoma Valley Railroad to assume the assets of the now defunct Sonoma Valley Prismoidal Railway. The new company completed the acquisition a couple months later in September and began building a conventional narrow-gauge (3'-0') railroad. By 1879, Kohn had exhausted his funds and Peter Donahue of the San Francisco & North Pacific acquired a controlling interest in the line.¹

Finally, on August 23, 1880, the Sonoma Valley Railroad was completed and spanned 15 miles from Sonoma Landing through Schellville and Vineburg to Sonoma.² The railroad operated three locomotives, one Baldwin 0-4-2T and two Baldwin 4-4-Os, for which facilities were established in downtown Sonoma. In 1880 Sonoma's depot consisted of a station, car barns, engine house, turntable and water tank along with other buildings.

On August 7, 1885 the SVR was consolidated with the Sonoma & Santa Rosa Railroad and a new SVR was incorporated.

The SVR also operated a collection of barges, floats, tugs, and/or ferryboats and paid rental to the Marin & Napa Railroad for use of their line. They also own, in aggregate, 6,520 feet of trestles.

The first published timetable (according to Robertson) was November 5, 1883:

The general office was at No. 410 Mission Street, San Francisco.

Lines and Depots

• In 1879 SVR extended what had been the Sonoma Valley Prismoidal Railway into Sonoma (assuming from Norfolk).
• It is assumed the Vineburg Depot was also established about this time.
• In 1880 Sonoma Depot is established.
• On August 23, 1880 SVR opened its line from Sonoma Landing to Sonoma (1889, pg. 288)
• On August 15, 1882 SVR opened its line from Sonoma to Glen Ellen (1889, pg. 288)
• It is assumed that Glen Ellen Depot was established about this time.
• Other depots are TBD.

The 1889 Annual Report of the CA Board of Railroad Commissioners indicates the SVR operating:

• a branch line consisting of 21.45 miles from Sonoma Landing to Glen Ellen
• a second main line consisting of 7.47 miles from Ignacio to Sears Point, perhaps owned by the Marin & Napa Railroad, likely constructed in 1889.

The 1891 Annual Report of the CA Board of Railroad Commissioners indicates the SVR had 21.43 miles of railroad which was opened on August 23, 1880.

The Annual Report of ??? also identifies the following:

• Glen Ellen, siding, turntable
• Sonoma, siding
• Hills, siding
• Buena Vista, siding
• Roses, siding
• Schellville, siding
• Madrona, siding
• Charwet, siding
• Ignacio, turntable

Map

See Also

• Railroads
• Sonoma Valley Railroad
• Railroad Gazette, December 29, 1876 pg. 574.
• 1881 California PUC report, pg. 492.

References

• Tenth Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of California for the year ending December 31, 1889
• The Twelfth Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of California for the year ending November 1, 1891
• Donald B. Robertson, Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History: California, Volume 4, pg. 236, (1998).

Footnotes

1. By December, 1888 Kohn was not listed as a director of the company.
2. Robertson dates the opening as November, 1879 with an official completion date of May 22, 18[8]0.