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What happened to the Yosemite Valley Railroad?

KVPR's Central Valley Roots

Today, one of the biggest problems in Yosemite National Park is traffic - too many cars. On summer days, Yosemite Valley turns into a parking lot. But over a century ago, a different technology offered a solution to Yosemite’s transportation problem. Today on KVPR’s Central Valley Roots, we explore what happened to the Yosemite Valley Railroad.

Yosemite became America’s third national park back in 1890, but getting there wasn’t easy. It involved a long and bumpy stagecoach ride. All that changed in 1907 with the introduction of the Yosemite Valley Railroad.

Now, you could board a train in downtown Merced, and within a few hours you’d be at El Portal. The railroad helped spark a tourism boom in Yosemite, and brought about the end of stagecoach service to the park. The railroad also had a profitable business transporting logs for the Yosemite Lumber Company.

The trains didn’t last for long however. The dawn of the automobile age was at hand, and the opening of new highways to the park in the 1920s slowed business.

The resulting financial pressures, combined with the Great Depression, sent the railroad into bankruptcy by 1935. It held on though, operating for another decade. Ultimately, the last trains ran in 1945, leaving the Yosemite Valley Railroad for the history books.

Joe Moore is the President and General Manager of KVPR / Valley Public Radio. He has led the station through major programming changes, the launch of KVPR Classical and the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership the station was named California Non-Profit of the Year by Senator Melissa Hurtado (2019), and won a National Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting (2022).