July 2004 Issue Explore Historic California - Magazine for Enthusiasts
 

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The Mystery of the Red Apple Railway
by Cecile Page Vargo

           Following a visit to Laws in Bishop and a special preview of the Death Valley Brill Car, Marty, Roger  and I had the privilege to be taken along the route of the old Red Apple Railway, by David A. Wright. I pick up my tape-recorder and review my audio notes of our little jaunt. All and all considering our unusual visit nearly a century after the routes creation, it’s amazing any sounds come out of my cassette player at all. 

            Me – “We’re riding along the Red Apple Grade with David Wright. We also appear to be in the Red Apple Triangle. Strange things are beginning to happen. We’re driving around in circles on the same road. Marty’s antennae is falling off. David’s tool box and ice chest are falling around in the back of his truck. ….We’re in the heart of the Red Apple Triangle……”  “do do do do do do do do…” (Twilight Zone theme)”

            Me –“It’s cloudy to the south of us, and we’re now seeing lightening strikes. Hmmm…. More signs of the Red Apple Triangle……”   faint sounds of thunder in the distance………

            David – “Pioneer cemetery east - they also have a pioneer cemetery behind the hospital in Bishop.”

            Roger – “Lots of pioneers waiting to get in I guess.”

            Long silence, then:

            Me “Safely out of the Red Apple Triangle, now.” Sigh of relief…..

            If only the pioneers in the cemetery could talk! What is this Red Apple Railway?  Who built the grade, and why? Where are the tracks, and what ever happened to the cars that traveled over the tracks?

HEADLINES TO HISTORY

             Between the mid to late 1800’s, and the early 1900’s, many of the more inhabited towns of the Owens Valley had some sort of railroad transportation connecting them to the town of Mojave and the outside world. The good citizens of Bishop felt they deserved one too. A group of men, C. F. Wildasinn, Charles Johnson and White Smith approached George C. Carey of South Omaha , Nebraska with the idea. For some reason the plans never came through, so Johnson picked up the franchises and turned them over to Harry Shaw and H. N. Beard and their newly formed Owens River Valley Electric Railway Company.

            On November 17,  1910 the railway company was officially chartered.  By February 9, 1911 the Inyo Register announced:

            “BIG DEVELOPMENT ENTERPRISES: PRELIMINARY SURVEYS FOR BISHOP AND LAWS ELECTRIC RAILWAY TO BEGIN THIS MONTH AND CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN BY MIDSUMMER—IMPROVEMENT AND COLONIZATION BY A MILLION-DOLLAR COMPANY---OVER TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLAR INVESTMENT IN ORCHARD LANDS IS HIGHEST MARK YET REACHED IN INYO REALTY RECORD”

            There were great plans for a four mile electric railway that would go between Bishop and Laws on the Southern Pacific. There would be a 12 mile extension towards the northwest to Round Valley , and a 16 mile extension south to the town of Big Pine . Gasoline motor cars were first choice for  the rails, until someone decided narrow gauge electric trolleys would be better. 

            March 2, 1911 a full page advertisement taken out the Inyo Register began with these headlines:

            “THINGS MOVE ALONG SO RAPIDLY NOWADAYS; WHILE SOME ARE SAYING ‘IT CAN’T BE DONE’ OTHERS GET BUSY AND DO IT: GET IN LINE! IT’S COMING! A NEW ERA OF PROSPERITY FOR BISHOP AND VICINITY!”

            The advertisement provided a long list of reasons that the town of Bishop needed to have a railway line. It also included a coupon for Owens River Valley Electric Railway Company stock inquiries. Every share included the added bonus of a share of the Aqueducts Lands and Orchards Company. A promotional entitled “The Big Red Apple – The Money Tree” was issued soon after, and locals began calling the railway line-to-be “The Red Apple.”

            Inyo Register headlines continued in ensuing months spell out the story:

  • “SURVEY MADE” – March 23, 1911

  • “BEGINNING ADVERTISING”- May 11, 1911

  • “SURVEY FINISHED” – May 18, 1911

  • “DEPOT & YARD SITE” – May 18, 1911

  • “ROAD COMPLETES PURCHASES” – June 8, 1911

  • “GRADING BISHOP AND LAWS R.R.: MCLEAN  & FRANCISCO, CONTRACTORS, TO START  WORK AT ONCE.  THE IMPORTANT OCCASION TO BE CELEBRATED AT  DEPOT SITE  SATURDAY MORNING” – June 15, 1911

  • “STARTING OUR RAILROAD” – June 15, 1911

  • “AUSPICIOUS EVENT CELEBRATED; FIRST EARTH TURNED ON GRADING THAT IS TO PUT BISHOP ON THE RAILROAD MAP—LARGE TURNOUT ON SHORT NOTICE” – June 22,1911

  • “OUR RAILROAD CONNECTION”- June 22, 1911

  • “PROGRESS OF RAILROAD; TIMBER AND SAWMILL BOUGHT. GRADING 40 PER CENT  DONE.” – July 13, 1911

  • “THE NEW RAILROAD” – August 3, 1911

  • “SAWMILL RUNNING” – August 10, 1911

  • “POWER EXTENSION” – August 31, 1911

  • “EXTENDING FIELD” – August 31, 1911

  • “PROBABLY TROLLEY” - August 31, 1911

and finally…… “TABOOSE” – The grading for the electric railway got its final touches Sunday and was accepted Monday……” – September 14, 1911

            The great groundbreaking ceremonies of Saturday June 16, 1911 were complete with great oration, decorated dirt shovel throwing dirt into the winds, and free lemonade for all. Stores closed in town for two hours that morning as 25 horseless carriage paraded down the street, and impromptu music solos filled in when the fire and drum corps. failed to show. Monday, June 18, 1911 32 men and 60 horses went to work on the cut near the Owens River , west of Laws. The Owens River Valley Electric Railway was well on its way to become a reality. 

            In August, following announcements that the railway cars would be run by an overhead electrical system, instead of gas, the headlines in the Inyo Register stopped. On November 11, 1911 it was proclaimed that work would not be continued until springtime, except for some fencing along the right-of-way. The winter and spring slowly passed with no more news. 

            June 1912, president Harry Shaw declared “Large plans are maturing, looking to work on the road in the near future.” Nothing more was ever heard of the “Red Apple Railway” except for an appearance of the actual line on the 1913 USGS topographic map, as a completed project.

            Many citizens of modern Bishop have never heard of the Owens River Valley Electric Company, nor have they heard of the Red Apple Railway. Amongst those who have heard of it, are those who believe it never existed to begin with, and others who actually remember the building of the grade.  In his book “Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California Volume I: The Northern Roads”, David Myrick tells of one man who claimed to see pictures of the various types of passenger cars that were on order with the builder at the time. Another claims to remember actually going to Bishop over the Owens River Electric.

            As for, David, Marty, and Roger and I, we have traced over a part of the grade between Laws and Bishop. At least I think we have………………

 

Bibliography

Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California, Volume I: The Northern Roads

by David F. Myrick

University of Nevada Press

 

http://www.gbr.death-valley.us/railraods/redapple.htm. 

http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/nov/stories/applerr.html

 

Thanks David Wright for the tour and photos!!!!


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