Short Line To Paradise: The Story of the Yosemite Valley Railroad

Flying Spur Press, 1986. 5th. paperback. Very Good. 10x8x0. Flying Spur Press [Published date: 1986]. Paper covers, 32 pp. Revised 5th edition. In very good condition. Green and white pictorial paper covers have light bumping and creasing to edges and corners and light overall scuffing. Binding tight (staple bound). Pages clean and unmarked. NOT Ex-library. NO remainder marks. Black and white photos and illustrations throughout. [From Introduction] There are those who say that the Yosemite Valley in the Springtime is the most beautiful spot on the face of the earth. "The only place I have ever found that came up to the brag" was Emerson's tribute long ago. . . Small wonder the sight-seers came more than a hundred years ago and have never ceased to come in ever-increasing numbers. A few came at first, on foot and by horseback. Then more, by wagon and stage as crude roads were built over the summits. And finally, they came by railroad and motor car in such hordes that the Valley became a summer sea of humanity. It is the railroad with which this book is concerned. It was called the Yosemite Valley Railroad, and its two-score years of existence deserve a richer epitaph than can be given by a two-line listing in a tourist's guide book. Here was a short line that had everything: a twisting, turning path of 70 lb. rail hugging the Merced River most of the way through magnificent scenery; romantic lineside industries, including gold mines and the steepest logging incline ever built; the grandest of passenger lists - Presidents, Kings, Hollywood celebrities, nabobs with their private cars, happy honeymooners on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and plain garden-variety tourists out to see the sights on a one-week vacation. There was nothing but steam on the head end, and nothing but joy in the heart for thirty-eight years.Yes, the Yosemite Valley teas truly a short line that had everything, and one thing more ... it was a SHORT LINE TO PARADISE