The Railyard Master Plan Area has been an important part of Truckee’s history since the Town’s establishment in the early 1860s. In 1863, a stage stop was founded at what is today the intersection of Jibboom and Bridge Streets. Shortly thereafter, several lumber mills were established. Plans dating from as early as 1886 and 1900 show that the Town was originally laid out on a grid pattern parallel to the Truckee River. The plans show the original layout of the railroad operations and the eventual location of the Roundhouse and ice ponds. The original layout has been modified due to topographic constraints and only portions of the original plan were implemented. The opportunity for extending the street grid pattern from the existing Downtown and realizing the original vision for a compact, walkable Downtown was made possible by the closure of the lumber mill in 1989.

Click on the images below for more information

1869 || Transcontinental Railroad

In the late 1860s and early 1870s, the railroad became a key economic driver for the Town. In 1868, the western end ofthe railyard was created as track was laid east along the Truckee River towards Nevada and a 16-stall roundhouse was constructed. On May10th, 1869, the transcontinental railroad was completed and Truckee subsequently became an important maintenance and operations location. Approximately 40 engines a day passed through the Town, which served as a transfer point for passengers and freight traveling south to Tahoe and north to Sierra Valley.

return to history page

1887 || First Icehouse

The first icehouse was built to store and transfer ice harvested in Truckee to cooler cars where produce from the Central Valley was stored. The new industry of ice harvesting arose in Truckee in the late 1800’s. It would play a major role in the community’s economy for 60 years. Ice ponds scattered along the Truckee River were the most important source of ice for California. The intense cold, plentiful clear water, access to rail sidings and a good labor supply made Truckee ideal for the industry. The end came in the 1920’s when technology developed mechanical refrigeration.

return to history page

1898 || Truckee Hotel Built

First named the American House, the hotel served as a stage coach stop. Built and operated by John F. Moody in the 1870s, it was home to railroad laborers maintaining the transcontinental railroad which was completed over the Sierra in 1868. Later, it housed those working in the area's ice harvesting companies, fish hatcheries and fourteen lumber mills. The hotel was also visited by by several US presidents, inclduing Ulysses Grant and Rutherford Hayes.

Fires and changes in ownership precipitated new names for the hotel over the years: the Whitney House, the New Whitney House, and, for a short time, the Blume Hotel. Hotel guests might have brushed shoulders with Charlie Chaplin, here to film "The Gold Rush", or visited Charles McGlashan's magnificent butterfly collection in his museum on the hill.

1901 || First Balloon Track

Beginning in 1890 and continuing for three decades, the affairs of 325 miles of rail line from Truckee to Carlin, Nevada were administered and dispatched from Truckee. The railyard served as the headquarters for fire trains and helper engines that aided trains climbing to the Donner Summit. The first balloon tracks were built in 1901 to facilitate the turning of the snowplow trainstion in his museum on the hill.

return to history page

1909 || Balloon Track Modification

The railyard withstood advancements in technology, including thetransition from wood to coal fuel and later, in 1905, to oil fuel. By 1909, modifications to the balloon track were required in order to handle the heavier locomotives.

return to history page

1955 || Rebirth of Lumber Industry

The 1950s saw the rebirth of the lumber industry in Truckee and the use of the railyard for milling. Burney Lumber Company built a large mill which was subsequently owned by Douglass Lumber Company, Fibreboard Corporation, Louisiana-Pacific and Fibreboard (again). At the height of the industry, the sawmill could process 45 million board feet a year.

return to history page

1989 || Sawmill Closure

With the 1989 closure of Truckee’s last functioning lumber mill, residents saw the end of an era and way of life.

return to history page

1993 || Truckee Incorporates

In 1993, the Town residents finally voted to incorporate their town, recognizing the need to address the changing economy and to take charge of planning Truckee’s future.

return to history page

2000 || Downtown Portrait

In 2001 74% of the town's population turned out for this town portrait taken on the Railyard site. Then Mayor, Maia Schneider, was inspired by a turn of the century photograph that hung in OB's restaurant. It pictued a few hundred Truckee residents standing in the snow. Between February and September 2000 the photo shoot was planned, practiced, communicated to the local residents and poster designed including the logo designed by Matt Rasanoff. The railyard was chosen for its size, historical significance and central location. The downtown, river and railway were all purposefully included in the shot and design of the poster.

Logistics for the photo shoot were complicated, from the extra patrols to protect an empty city to buses, parking signage, traffic control and port-a-potties. Larry Proser took photos from a heliocopter while Russ Rosewood took the "official" photo from the top of a Truckee Fire Department ladder.

return to history page

2003 || Sustainable Communities Grant

Phase three will include appropriate environmental approvals and entitlements to build the project.

The work is partially funded by a Sustainable Communities Grant from the State Treasurers Office. The Town of Truckee was recently awarded a grant to restore Trout Creek from the State Department of Water Resources.

return to history page

2004 || Partnership

The State of California selected the project for inclusion in its Sustainable Communities Program, and provided the Town of Truckee a planning grant for $350,000. The Town hired Dinsmore Sierra LLC and partnered with Holliday Development to form the Truckee Railyard Partnership and facilitate planning efforts and prepare a Master Plan for the purposes of the grant. read more...

return to history page