El Portal in Mariposa County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Yosemite Valley Railroad
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2011
1. Yosemite Valley Railroad Marker - Panel #1
Photo caption: In 1940, a Yosemite Valley passenger train crosses the trestle near Sweetwater Creek about 13 miles downstream from El Portal. The railroad made its last scheduled run August of 1945, moving it out of service and onto the pages of Yosemite transportation history.
Panel #1
Once rail passengers arrived here, they completed the final 12 miles of their journey into the park via stage and later, motorcoach. In 1916, railroad travel reached its height with over 14,000 fares recorded; however, this very same year, more visitors traveled to Yosemite by automobile than by train. After the All-Year Highway opened in 1926, passenger travel fell almost 80 percent, a trend that eventually ended rail travel to the park.
Panel #2:
The railroad revolutionized travel by changing the trip from Merced to Yosemite from an uncomfortable two-day, horse drawn stage ride to a four-hour, sightseeing journey. Train passengers arriving in Yosemite for the first time 100 years ago may have felt similar emotions to what you are experiencing today. Perhaps
this page online
Erected by The Yosemite Fund.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical date for this entry is May 15, 1907.
Location. 37° 40.481′ N, 119° 47.173′ W. Marker is in El Portal, California, in Mariposa County. Marker is on Foresta Road near El Portal Road. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: El Portal CA 95318, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. A Storied Landscape (approx. 4.6 miles away); The Journey to Yosemite (approx. 5.3 miles away); Waterfalls of Yosemite Valley (approx. 5.3 miles away); Site of Savage’s Trading Post (approx. 5.7 miles away); Rewards of Travel (approx. 6.6 miles away); President Theodore Roosevelt & John Muir Meeting Site (approx. 7˝ miles away); Disappearing Waterfalls (approx. 7.9 miles away); Glaciers at the Gate (approx. 8.1 miles away).
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. The Bagby marker - original location of the depot building, turn-table and twin water towers.
Also see . . . Yosemite Valley Railroad. The YosemiteValley Railroad .com website is primarily
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2011
2. Yosemite Valley Railroad Marker - Panel #2
Photo captions:
(Left): The Yosemite Valley Railroad strikes for the National Park ....Up its matchless canyon this new trail toils, unfolding moment by moment one of the most picturesque series of mountain pictures that nature has fashioned in her whole wide world. Lanier Barlett, Pacific Monthly, 1907
(Center): In 2008 the National Park Service, The Yosemite Fund, and local volunteer railfans worked together to reconstruct this turntable on its original foundation.
(Right): Caboose 15 from the Yosemite Valley Railroad has been on display in El Portal since 1961. Alongside it sits Engine 6 from the Hetch Hetchy Railroad. The train station to your right, once located in Bagby, now serves as headquarters for the Yosemite Assocation.
(Left): The Yosemite Valley Railroad strikes for the National Park ....Up its matchless canyon this new trail toils, unfolding moment by moment one of the most picturesque series of mountain pictures that nature has fashioned in her whole wide world. Lanier Barlett, Pacific Monthly, 1907
(Center): In 2008 the National Park Service, The Yosemite Fund, and local volunteer railfans worked together to reconstruct this turntable on its original foundation.
(Right): Caboose 15 from the Yosemite Valley Railroad has been on display in El Portal since 1961. Alongside it sits Engine 6 from the Hetch Hetchy Railroad. The train station to your right, once located in Bagby, now serves as headquarters for the Yosemite Assocation.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2011
3. Yosemite Valley RR Turntable
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2011
4. Yosemite Valley RR Turntable
Yosemite Valley RR train station in the background.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2011
5. Yosemite Valley Railroad Train Station.
This station was formerly located at Bagby.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2011
6. Yosemite Valley Railroad Train Station.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2011
7. Hetch Hetchy Railroad Locomotive #6
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2011
8. Yosemite Valley Railroad Caboose #15
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2011
9. Yosemite Valley Railroad Twin-Tank Water Tower
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 19, 2011
10. Yosemite Valley Railroad Twin-tank Water Tower and Hetch Hetchy RR Engine #6
Credits. This page was last revised on November 30, 2020. It was originally submitted on September 2, 2011, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 1,523 times since then and 41 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. submitted on September 2, 2011, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.
