Off The Beaten Track: Branchline Activity

A branchline, eh? Some might take exception to that. This location (in or near the town of Gold Hill in southwest Oregon) was once on SP’s Siskiyou main to and from the Pacific Northwest. The line has since been downgraded in status with the completion of the Natron Cutoff in 1926. (Hint: The posted rectangular red and white train “STOP” sign at the crossing is a giveaway that this trackage is not mainline, though the power on the point might, however, suggest otherwise). This mid-nineties Gold Hill scene, is located some 45 miles north of the California-Oregon border along Interstate 5

All About Trains could never truly be all about trains without devoting at least one post to covering branchline activity. This post does that, what this post is all about.

The mainline being where most of the train action is, the natural inclination is to take photos of mainline activity. But picture-taking “off the beaten track,” if you will, can yield rewards of its own. For that very reason, going the branchline route should neither be dismissed nor overlooked where picture-taking potential is concerned.

Failure to take advantage of the branchline opportunity can manifest itself in two ways: spotted was a train either doing work on secondary trackage or rolling off the miles but failure was in forgetting or neglecting to bring along the camera to capture the moment (having a mobile device these days makes that likelihood a near impossibility), or the elusive train all but got away.

I recall as many times as I’ve driven California State Route 41 between Fresno and the Central Coast, which requires one to cross a spur off a branch in the rural farming community of Stratford (pop. 1,121 as of 2020 according to info. on Wikipedia) and never once seeing a train switching the grain elevators there until the one day that I did and didn’t have my camera with me. That one time was the only time I ever saw a train out on that line. And, wouldn’t you know it: Now, the track is completely gone making that prospect an outright impossibility; not just a near one. It’s what called “learning the hard way.”

At any rate, so that this is not a miss, I’ve put together an array of photos that puts trains in a good light working the branchline or doing branchline work.

Enjoy!

With all lumber-facility switching-work completed, this train is seen crossing a bridge that spans an inlet off the Pacific Ocean in Oregon at Coos Bay

This photo of a Conrail freight was taken in south central Pennsylvania. I was originally in search of mainline train activity in Williamsport, Maryland, but came up empty. That might have been a blessing in disguise as I ended up here totally by accident!

Power short in a far-away place? Hardly! The two GP9’s up front pull their weight and then some on the Westside Line (through California’s San Joaquin Valley), then belonging to the Southern Pacific. The branch once connected Fresno to the southeast with Tracy to the northwest, that is, until it was severed between Mendota and Los Banos and now exists as two stubs

When trains still had cabooses. This was taken in the California desert location on the Santa Fe Railway known as Rice. The branch connects Cadiz, Calif. with Phoenix, Ariz. through a connection with what is known as the “Peavine” at Wickenburg

Updated: May 12, 2025 at 9:24 a.m. PDT.

All material copyrighted 2025, Alan Kandel. All Rights Reserved.