The Holland Branch – The SN Entry

A south view across Willow Point Rd. at Willow Point in 2016 revealed railroad tracks in the road and vineyards in the background. Where exactly was this image taken and what is its historical significance? For this complex subject, recommended reading is Dave Stanley’s “Disappearing Delta Blues” in the Winter 2020, Vol. 21, No. 4 issue of “Classic Trains”, both thorough and concise on the SN and SP routes.

L208-02-Stuart Swiedler Photo , (Image 1 of 42)

The 1920s map, left, shows the location of the previous image within the Holland Land Tract. Fifty thousand acres with Ryer Island to the south, the Yolo Basin to the west, Elk Slough to the east, and the Lisbon District to the north, it was named after the company that developed the area in the first third of the twentieth century. The 2019 map, right, shows that this land district was almost entirely within the borders of Yolo County, a small section within Solano County at its southern tip.

L208-05-Courtesy Yolo County Archives, D27-3, and Google Maps, (Image 2 of 42)

A mid-twentieth century west aerial view of Clarksburg shows a prosperous town that had been the center of the Holland Land Co. operations. The winding waterway along the left or south border is Elk Slough, the access of the more interior farmland to the Sacramento River.

L208-10-Courtesy Yolo County Archives, 1701, (Image 3 of 42)

A mid-twentieth century east view of the north end of Clarksburg shows a large sugar plant, American Crystal Sugar, and no evidence of any vineyards. Bay Area architect William R. Yelland designed the building. The Sacramento Northern Railway served this sugar plant into the 1980s, and its path here, although not obvious from this image, will be extensively examined in a future presentation.

L208-15-Courtesy Yolo County Archives, 1044, (Image 4 of 42)

George Russell flew one of his aerial surveys across the town center in the late 1920s, shown in a southeast view. Ref: API 470_BOX 220

L208-20-George Russell Photo, Courtesy Californian State Lands Commission , (Image 5 of 42)

The growing prosperity of the area is exemplified in this late 1920s southeast detail of Clarksburg Union School, today Clarksburg Middle School.HS. Ref: API 470_BOX 220

L208-25-George Russell Photo, Courtesy Californian State Lands Commission, Detail, (Image 6 of 42)

Flooding, rather than prosperity, had been the norm for this section of California from statehood into the early 20th century. It was isolated from the rest of Yolo County by miles of tule marshes, but that all changed when the area was designated Reclamation District 999 in 1913. Reclaiming and selling fertile farm land protected from flooding attracted many farmers and investors to reclamation projects.

L208-30-Stuart Swiedler Photo, (Image 7 of 42)

Taking advantage of the unfortunate timing and luck of a previous company, the Holland Land Company incorporated on May 26, 1916 with three million dollars, set as thirty-thousand shares worth one hundred dollars each. The headquarters was one mile west of Clarksburg on the Netherlands Rd. Seen here, agricultural products were transported to Elk Slough for shipping delivery via the Sacramento River. Northeast view circa 1920.

L208-35-Courtesy Special Collections, University of California Davis, d118.01.08.01panorama1A and 1B, (Image 8 of 42)

Reclamation of the Holland District took about two years, and cost 2.5M dollars. Heavy equipment aided the draining of Big Lake and the construction of 35 miles of levees, 150 miles of canals, one 175,000 gallon-a-minute main pumping plant, and 18 subsidiary pumping plants to remove winter water and add it back in summer. Add to that, 25 miles of roads, 100 bridges, and over 90 farm buildings were completed. South view, circa 1920.

L208-40-Courtesy Special Collections, University of California Davis, d118.01.08.01panorama2A and 2B, (Image 9 of 42)

The April 26, 1926 Woodland Daily Democrat reported that the ferry at Clarksburg was the only power-driven one in the state at the time, serving both passengers and vehicles. There was no charge to use it, and it served more than just the Holland Tract. Looking south at the Clarksburg Wharf, note the ferry, and the trucks in front of the Hawler Store.

L208-45-Courtesy Yolo County Archives, D11-9 , (Image 10 of 42)

The new district had no direct access to railroads. The San Francisco and Sacramento Railroad, SF-S, paralleled the area along its west flank, separated by the formidable Yolo Bypass until the railway reached Lisbon to its north border. The Southern Pacific had its Walnut Grove Branch on the east side of the Sacramento River completed in 1912. There was no bridge across the Sacramento River near Clarksburg until the Freeport Bridge opened in 1929.

L208-50-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 40990sn , (Image 11 of 42)

Not needing a bridge to access the land, the SF-S was in the best position to gain district access, except that its management had just finagled its way to repurchase the bankrupt Oakland, Antioch and Eastern Railway on Jan. 20. 1920. This circa 1912 view shows the main characters in the drama to follow, with Walter Arnstein, President, in the light suit, and General Manager Harry A. Mitchell holding onto car 52’s handrail.

L208-55-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 34268sn , (Image 12 of 42)

Copies of the Holland Co.’s annual reports from Mar. 10, 1920, left, and Mar. 9, 1921, right, were found within the files of the SF-S at the Western Railway Museum Archives. Note as the SF-S was being resuscitated from the Oakland, Antioch, and Eastern, the Holland Co. was turning its first profit. The two boxed notes relating to railroads were extracted from the 1920 annual report.

L208-60-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 40990sn , (Image 13 of 42)

Most of the lots sold were for farms and residences, but some were for commercial enterprises. The company's policy was to sell a buyer not more than three-thousand acres, at a minimum of $250 per acre, with a ten percent down payment and ten annual payments. Many who bought in were university-educated, experienced farmers. Any land not sold was farmed by the Company.

L208-65-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 40990sn , (Image 14 of 42)

As this map from 1920 anticipates, the Holland Land Co. sold its land holdings off quickly, and paid its first one dollar dividend to its stockholders in 1922. It continued to pay dividends even during the Great Depression years. On December 23, 1942, with all of its land in private hands and maintenance of the reclamation system the responsibility of R.D. 999, the Holland Land Co. was dissolved. A reclamation success story, and one anticipated by the SF-S based on and their internal analyses. Ref: G4363 Y6G46 1920 P7

L208-70-Courtesy Map Collection, Shields Library, University of California, Davis, (Image 15 of 42)

Not knowing exactly where a branch line would traverse the Holland Tract, Harry Mitchell continued to pursue through early 1921 estimates of the costs of a connector to the SF-S at the line’s Lisbon Station.

L208-75-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 40990sn , (Image 16 of 42)

This four page letter that continues on the next entry is the earliest account found between the SF-S and Western Pacific, WP, in which Harry Mitchell is following corporate orders to entice the WP into buying, or at the least bankrolling, the SF-S. The emphasis here is the Holland Tract, a target of the WP now that they had recovered financially from WWI and were flush with cash.

L208-80-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 40990sn , (Image 17 of 42)

From 1922 until official control of the SF-S by the WP in Aug. 1927, three items played a role in determining a possible proposed route or shared trackage rights between the SF-S and the WP subsidiary, the Sacramento Northern Railway, SN: interest by potential agricultural clients, a shift in crop preferences on the farms in the tract, and the central role of the SF-S Lisbon Station.

L208-85-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 40990sn , (Image 18 of 42)

By the mid-1920s, the SF-S began receiving unsolicited interest from potential customers. Asparagus and beets were becoming the dominant crop in the tract, ironic in that the Netherlands Farms Company, who helped form Reclamation District 999 and owned the land prior to the Holland Co., were dissolved early in 1917 in part because President Woodrow Wilson reduced the sugar tariff. Lisbon Station also appeared to take a potential central role in the sugar business.

L208-90-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 40990sn, (Image 19 of 42)

Before taking over the SF-S, the SN applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission on Sept. 25, 1925 for trackage rights over the SF-S, green line, from West Sacramento to Lisbon for 8 miles, and then construction of approximately 13 miles through the Holland Tract, yellow line.

L208-95-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 40996sn , (Image 20 of 42)

The SF-S had its own experience with reclamation districts in Solano County northeast of Bunker, the latter shown here in a southwest view from "Mile 70" in Dec. 1938.

L208-100-Harold Hill Photo, Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 52619sn, (Image 21 of 42)

A map of Reclamation District 2068 in Solano County, left, and two west views from July 8, 1919 of rice growing in the area, right.

L208-105-Courtesy BAERA, WRM Archives, 40990sn and Courtesy Yolo County Archives, 52 and 53, (Image 22 of 42)

Once into Yolo County, the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern had built the nearly 14,000 foot Lisbon Trestle to span over the newly forming Yolo Bypass. This undated southwest view was taken where the trestle crosses the Tule Canal, the location of the future Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel, and reaches the Lisbon Station.

L208-110-Courtesy Special Collections, University of California Davis, d118.03.22 no. 69 , (Image 23 of 42)

A similar southwest view from 1919 at the same area taken when the bypass was flooded.

L208-115-Courtesy Yolo County Archives, 0260 , (Image 24 of 42)

A south view, undated, of the trestle showing the Tule Canal crossing.

L208-120-Courtesy Special Collections, University of California Davis, d118.03.22 no. 103 , (Image 25 of 42)

A west view from 1919 of the trestle showing the Tule Canal crossing when the bypass was flooded.

L208-125-Courtesy Yolo County Archives, 0262 , (Image 26 of 42)

This undated northwest view shows the Spreckels Sugar Co. beet loading operation at Lisbon Station. With the SF-S goal of laying the least amount of track for the new line to a place with agricultural focus, it is easy to understand why Lisbon was chosen as the branch point.

L208-130-Courtesy Yolo County Archives, 790, (Image 27 of 42)

In the Sacramento Northern Railway era, Lisbon Station became known as Arcade, here shown with MW 302 during an inspection trip, May 18, 1948. Not the overhead catenary for the agricultural-related spur and related buildings in the background.

L208-135-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 81687sn, (Image 28 of 42)

Another south view of Arcade with MW 302 during the same inspection trip, May 18, 1948

L208-140-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 153133sn , (Image 29 of 42)

Another view of Arcade from MW 302 during the July 4, 1950 BAERA-sponsored excursion, the last one under wire that included the Holland Branch.

L208-145-EK Muller Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 153114sn, (Image 30 of 42)

A north-oriented vertical of the area just reviewed from Apr. 23, 1953. Ref: G4363.Y6A4 1953. U6

L208-150-USDA Western Div. Photo, Courtesy Map Collection, Shields Library, University of California, (Image 31 of 42)

However, several undated right-of-way reconnaissance images clearly show scenes of the Sacramento River near Riverview, further to the north, in addition to Lisbon.

L208-155-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 40990sn, (Image 32 of 42)

Riverview was at the north end of the Glide District, here in an undated north view with a pumping plant by the SF-S right-of-way. The station there was originally called Glide. Joseph Henry Glide, 1835-1906, was an Englishman who came to California in 1857. He lived in Sacramento, but he capitalized in swamp and land that flooded. He began with sheep herding and owned large tracts of land across Yolo County.

L208-160-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 152362sn, (Image 33 of 42)

Being in Glide country, the route carved out by the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern followed a levee bordering the Tule Canal, followed by a large reverse curve over flood plains of Reclamation District 900 to reach Riverview. Note the map is oriented largely to the west.

L208-165-California Board of Equilization, Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 3706, (Image 34 of 42)

A detail of the previous map showing the large reverse curve.

L208-170-California Board of Equilization, Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 3706, (Image 35 of 42)

An aerial view prior to the construction of the branch line from Jan. 1928, now oriented with north to the top of the image, shows that the reverse curve was composed of two large trestles. Ref: c-163_c-11, Jan 1, 1928

L208-175-Courtesy University of California Santa Barbara Library, Special Research Collections , (Image 36 of 42)

To experience the territory separating Lisbon-Arcade from Glide-Riverview, a series of consecutive images taken by EK Muller on a July 4, 1950 BAERA-sponsored excursion from the front window of MW 302 will follow. After leaving Arcade, the southern-most trestle comes into view.

L208-180-EK Muller Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 153115sn, (Image 37 of 42)

After passing over this trestle, the reverse curve is initiated on dry land at mile 86 from San Francisco. North view, July 4, 1950.

L208-185-EK Muller Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 153116sn, (Image 38 of 42)

Then the final turn to Riverview, north view, from July 4, 1950. Inspecting the image closely, an extra set of catenary poles can be appreciated to the east or to the right of the SN mainline.

L208-190-EK Muller Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 153117sn, (Image 39 of 42)

Leave it to Wil Whittaker to take the quintessential image of the SN mainline meeting the Holland Branch at Riverview on June 23, 1940, north view. Although the documentation has not been found and the reasons not provided, suffice it to say that the WP wanted no part of the Arcade-Riverview section for its Holland Branch once control over the SF-S was completed. More about this important decision as the story progresses.

L208-195-Wilbur C. Whittaker Photo, Vielbaum Coll., Courtesy BAERA, WRM Arch., 132812sn, (Image 40 of 42)

To pick out the route from Riverview to the south, the SN focused on obtaining deeds from the landholders, here two lists shown in two documents.

L208-200-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 41015, (Image 41 of 42)

Two examples of the process of securing land from two landowners, one tedious and one quite easy, shown above. Next time, issues surrounding the southern terminus of the branch line.

L208-205-Courtesy BAERA, the Western Railway Museum Archives, 41015, (Image 42 of 42)