ABOVE: The “Fassler Flyer” rolls along the former Sierra Railway tracks between Jack’s Siding and Keystone on March 18. 2014. This particular stretch of line parallels Highway 108.


RIGHT: After traveling through a remote section of track south of Keystone, the Fassler Flyer reappears at Cooperstown. The loaded centerbeam flats were picked up at Fassler, near the end of the line at Standard.


OPPOSITE: On a cold winter day, Sierra Northern No. 134 leads a private excursion along the Woodland Branch near Leeman on January 7, 2014. This train will pull down to the siding at Beardsley and then head back to Woodland. The GP7u is former Yolo Shortline, originally built for the Santa Fe as No. 2704 in 1952.


The Yolo Shortline (YSLR) was


formed in 1990 to operate the former Sacramento Northern Clarksburg Branch that was cast off by Union Pacific in 1990. The ex-SN Woodland Branch was added in 1992. When the Sierra Railroad purchased YSLR in 2003, only the Woodland Branch and operations at the Port of Sacramento remained. These former YSLR operations make up the SERA Woodland Division. The


38 DECEMBER 2015 • RAILFAN.COM


abandoned right of way south of the Port has been converted into a rail trail.


The Oakdale Division The Sierra Northern Oakdale Division


is unlike any other you will find. The line, which lies between the towns of Oakdale and Sonora, was completed in 1900 to connect the San Joaquin Valley with the Sierra foothills. Oakdale was founded in 1871 when the Stockton & Visalia


Railroad met the Copperopolis Railroad. Today, SERA interchanges with both the Union Pacific and BNSF Railway. Three times a week the local works between Oakdale and Riverbank (known as the “Riverbank Rocket”). On two other days of the week, the Oakdale local makes the long, slow trek up to Sonora. This journey involves older infrastructure, which brings along a diverse set of challenges for the railroaders running


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