Black Diamond Coal Mining Railroad

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For Black Diamond Railroad in the Ohio River Valley, see Black Diamond Railroad.
Not to be confused with Black Diamond (train).

The Black Diamond Coal Mining Railroad was 5.9 miles (9.5 km) long[1] and ran from Black Diamond Landing, California (now part of the city of Pittsburg, California) to Nortonville, California. It was owned and operated by the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company[2] and therefore did not have its own official name. Over the years, it has been known by at least four different names. (A report prepared by the State in the 1880s referred to it as both the "Black Diamond Coal Mining Railroad Company" and the "Black Diamond Railroad."[3] It has also been referred to as the "Black Diamond Coal Company Railroad"[4] and the "Black Diamond Coal and Railroad Company."[5])

The railroad was built by Gold Rush-era civil engineer and artist Sherman Day, and opened for service in 1868 primarily to serve the Black Diamond Coal Mine at Nortonville. At the town of Cornwall, California the railroad crossed the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad using an overhead trestle.[6]

It was mostly standard gauge, however there was a small segment that was narrow gauge from the mine portals to coal bunkers.[5]

The railroad had four locomotives, two built in San Francisco by H. J. Booth at the Union Iron Works,[5][7] one built in San Francisco by Vulcan Iron Works[5] and one from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[5] Three locomotives had names: The D. O. Mills (named after Darius Ogden Mills), the Hayward (named after Alvinza Hayward), and the Black Diamond. One locomotive was a narrow-gauge engine that was used to bring mine cars from the mine portals to the bunkers.[5]

Trains ran by gravity from Nortonville to Black Diamond Landing because it was all downhill.[5]

The railroad was abandoned in about 1885 when the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company closed its mine at Nortonville and moved all of its employees to another of the Company's mines at Black Diamond, Washington Territory.[2][8]

In 1888, two of its locomotives, the D. O. Mills and the Black Diamond were transferred to the Bellingham Bay and British Columbia Railroad ("BB&BC") in the state of Washington.[9] The BB&BC was a company that had strong ties to the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company because the two companies had the same management.[9] The locomotive named Hayward was sold for scrap.[5]

Today, part of the old roadbed can still be seen along Nortonville Road between Pittsburg, California and Nortonville. What it looks like on google maps present day [1] The terminus at Nortonville is now a historic preserve managed by the East Bay Regional Park District.[2][4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Gibson, E.O. "Map of Antioch's Coal Mine Railroads". www.wx4.org. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
  2. ^ a b c "History of Southport Land". Southport Land and Commercial Company. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  3. ^ Third Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of California for the years ending December 31, 1880-81-82. Sacramento: Railroad Commission of the State of California. September 15, 1892. pp. 345–348. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b Parent, Traci; Terhune, Karen (2009). Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. Images of America. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub. pp. 115–126. ISBN 9780738569956.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h B. H. Ward, Mt. Diablo Coal Mine Railroads, The Western Railroader, Booklet 370-E.
  6. ^ Bowman, J. R. (1882). Shearer, Frederick E. (ed.). The Pacific tourist. J. R. Bowman's illustrated transcontinental guide of travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. New York: J. R. Bowman. p. 334. OCLC 752667534. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  7. ^ Kneiss, Gilbert H. (November 1946). "Locomotives of The Union Iron Works". Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin. 68 (68): 40–49. JSTOR 43517446. Archived from the original on 2012-05-07. Retrieved 2010-12-05. Note that archive version is formatted with black text on a black background.
  8. ^ Dial, Jacqueline Byer (1980). The move of coal miners from Nortonville, California to Black Diamond, Washington Territory, 1885. Jacqueline Byer Dial. OCLC 19579268.
  9. ^ a b Jukes, Fred; Van Wyck, Philip Sleight; Cheever, Bruce Bissell (October 1951). "The Bellingham Bay & British Columbia Railroad Company". Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin. 84 (84): 7–24. JSTOR 43517626.

External links[edit]

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