Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad
| Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad | |
|---|---|
| The Logger | |
Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad's Shay No. 10 backing into the shops after a run on the line. | |
| Locale | Sierra National Forest, California |
| Coordinates | 37°27′12″N 119°38′39″W / 37.45341850796343°N 119.64421860264505°W |
| Commercial operations | |
| Built by | California Lumber Company |
| Original gauge | 3 ft (914 mm) |
| Preserved operations | |
| Owned by | Stauffer family |
| Reporting mark | YMSP |
| Length | 4 mi (6.4 km) |
| Preserved gauge | 3 ft (914 mm) |
| Commercial history | |
| Opened | 1874 |
| Closed | 1931 |
| Preservation history | |
| 1961 | Reopened |
| Headquarters | 56001 State Route 41 Fish Camp, California |
| Website | |
| ymsprr | |
The Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad (YMSPRR) is a historic 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railway with two operating steam locomotives located near Fish Camp, California, in the Sierra National Forest near the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. Rudy Stauffer founded the YMSPRR in 1961, constructing a tourist line along the historic route of the Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company.
Service began with the purchase of three-truck Shay locomotive No. 10 from the West Side Lumber Company railway of Tuolumne, California. Built in 1928, No. 10 is reputedly the largest narrow gauge Shay locomotive—and one of the last constructed. In 1986, the YMSPRR purchased Shay No. 15—also a former West Side Lumber Company locomotive—from the West Side & Cherry Valley Railroad tourist line in Tuolumne.
The steam locomotives operate daily during the summer months, while the railroad's "Jenny" railcars, capable of carrying about a dozen passengers, typically handle operations during the off-season. Passengers can ride in either open-air or enclosed passenger cars.
The railroad operates a 4 miles (6.4 km) round-trip excursion along the original Madera Sugar Pine logging grade through the Sierra National Forest. In addition to the standard daytime ride, the railroad offers evening dinner trains and seasonal entertainment at the Lewis Creek Amphitheater. The Thornberry Museum, housed in a relocated 19th-century log cabin, and a narrow-gauge snowplow are among the attractions at the depot.