Today I have two photos of unidentified Northern Electric depots from the Electric Railway Journal.
The first is a typical open waiting shed. The design is similar to the shed at Bilman (though it?definitely?NOT Bilman). Unfortunately, the signboard on the eave cannot be read. The brick foundation and lower walls were also done in river rock for at least one shelter, and others like Fremont on the Woodland Branch were done in wood and shingles. In short, the Northern Electric "standard" design was anything but standard.
The second station is an oddity. It is of substantial size, indicating an agent might have been assigned, but the passenger-operated semaphore indicates a flag stop. No location was given with the photo. Any thoughts?
I noticed something interesting in examining the maps and timetables in Swett's SACRAMENTO NORTHERN. The map on page [5] shows the Northern Electric as it was prior to 1913 (the Colusa Branch, which opened on 13 June 1913 is shown as "proposed"). According to NE Timetable 22 of 1910, Tierra Buena (44.10 miles from Chico) is the next station north of Harter, which is on the map,?but not in the TT. The station south of Live Oak shown on the map is Sunset (37.40). Maceta is not shown on the map, but is listed in the timetable at 35.94, nor is Bihlman at 36.42. So, I'm working south here, as the distances from Chico don't change (much) in the timetables, but after the merger the northbound distances are calculated from San Francisco instead of Sacramento (real mileposts would have helped!)
Now on the back cover we have a 1939 map, which corresponds with SNRY Timetable 20. Tierra Buena is not shown on the map, but listed at 44.23. O.K., .13 miles is 686 feet, possibly the shelter or just the platform was moved because of track changes when the Colusa branch was built. Bihlman, Maceta and Sunset are completely missing from the TT, but Bihlman is shown on the map. The shelter was still standing at Bihlman, because Will Whittaker photographed it on 4 August 1940, though perhaps it was no longer in use.
I suspect that whether these stops were listed in the timetable or not didn't matter much. They probably were still available if someone wanted to pull the semaphore down. Several of these were provided for the convenience of ranch owners and their employees (family-owned Bihlman Ranch is still in business, or was just a few years ago when I did an internet search). These stops may have come and gone as needs changed. The problem is that conflicts between the maps and the timetables leave a lot of uncertainty for historians. So what else is new in the history biz?
By the way, who reset the semaphore at flag stops? I presume the conductor had to climb off the train to reset the signal. I can almost hear the grousing now.
