Courtesy Special Collections, University of Nevada-Reno Library.

Meanwhile, preparations for operation had begun. The line was being swiftly built down the Truckee River and would soon be completed. In 1900, two locomotives, the "Santa Cruz" and the "Tahoe" were sold to the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad, down the hill at Grass Valley. The "Glenbrook" was re-chrstened, "No. 1." The "No. 3" remained being "No. 3." Passenger cars were procured from the South Pacific Coast Railroad. This line, running between Alameda and Santa Cruz was being standard-gauged by its owner, the Southern Pacific Railroad. A number of boxcars were added from the same source, joining the many flats brought over from the lumber operations. The cars from the S.P.C. were two passenger cars and two baggage cars, one of which was a combination baggage car and smoker. Another car, not accounted for in this purchase, was an open air observation car. Known as the "Rattler", it featured thin battens to fend off locomotive smoke and cinders. These thin pieces of wood were the source of this car's nickname. While this railway had been built to capitalize on tourism, there were still opportunities in wood and general merchandise hauling to be exploited. A short branch was extended south to Ward Creek to service the Truckee Lumber Company. Timber again proved to be a source of revenue to the Bliss family enterprise.

At Truckee, on the north end of the railway, an enginehouse with three stalls was built. An "armstrong" turntable served to turn the locomotives. A turntable of this type had beams protruding from each end of the bridge. Personnel would then push these beams, turning the locomotive on a central pivot point. A lakeside wye served the same purpose at Tahoe City.

Son Walter and his Massachusetts Institute of Technology roommate, William Faville, had opened an architect's office in San Francisco in 1898. Duane L. Bliss had envisioned an impressive, luxury hotel at Tahoe City. The Bliss company bought land south of the town and in 1901, hired his son's firm to design the structure. The railroad built a branch to the hotel and patrons would be delivered to the front door. The hotel branch ended with a relatively steep grade which resulted in an exciting entrance for the passengers. At times, more than one attempt was required to make the grade. After depositing the hotel guests, a more sedate run was made to the pier to meet one of the steamers waiting to circulate around the lake.

The hotel gained national and international recognition as a site to enjoy the fruits of wealth. On one trip, the senior locomotive engineer, Frank Titus, allowed Henry Ford to operate the throttle on his way to enjoy the Tahoe Tavern and the beautiful lake scenery. Another time, Thomas Edison complimented the crews on the fine appearance of the equipment. It should be noted that the locomotives of the Lake Tahoe Railway & Transportation Company were exceptionally handsome. They had either been very well cared for during their logging service or they had been overhauled and refitted for their new careers on the line. From the moment travelers left the Southern Pacific cars at Truckee, they were in the middle of the world that Duane L. Bliss had built for them. The small train running alongside a rushing river would deliver the wayfarers to either a Bliss hotel or a Bliss steamer. For a man directing a bank on a desolate slope covered with mine shaft buildings with all the accompanying noise of mining machinery and then profitting from cutting timber to the point of resource exhaustion; this was quite a turnaround    

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In 1902, Lake Tahoe was threatened by an attempt to lower the lake level to make a stronger flow so that power generating plants operated by the firm of Stone and Webster could produce electricity at a higher output level. The lake, up to this point, had varied three to four feet per season. Cutting the rim would result in a continual lowering of the lake in an effort to to maintain the same flow of water. D. L. Bliss owned much of the riparian rights around the lake and objected to this strenuously. He beat back this attempt, but there would be others as time went by. The elder Bliss died in 1907 and the water interests thought that they would have an opening to exploit the lake. They were wrong. Bliss had a family who were, each and every one, as strong willed and resourceful as their father. Further attempts at lowering Tahoe's water level were stymied by Will Bliss. He proved this by going to Washington D. C. and lobbying, fighting and just plain outsmarting those who would destroy the lake.

While all this was going on, the railroad was making money. For the first seven years of its existence it turned a profit and returned dividends to the Bliss family. In 1905, six more passenger cars were purchased, this time from the remains of the Carson & Colorado Ry. now owned by Southern Pacific. In 1906, another locomotive was added, purchased from the South Pacific Coast Railroad, also operated by the Southern Pacific. This engine would be the No. 5, a sleek 4-4-0 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1877. This would be the next to the last locomotive to be brought to work on the railroad. In 1915, a 2-8-0 Baldwin with a few extra punches in its excursion ticket ended up at Lake Tahoe. This locomotive, built to the specifications of the Denver & Rio Grande, had spent time on both the South Pacific Coast and Southern Pacific (C.& C. Ry.). A coal burner, she did not really fit into the operation and spent much time in a specially constructed shed built for her at Tahoe City. This engine did shine, however, in snowplow pushing assignments. It could be this reason alone that kept her on the payroll until the end of narrow gauge operations. This locomotive was leased from the Southern Pacific and was returned in 1927 to be scrapped.

Courtesy Special Collections, University of Nevada-Reno Library.

The tourists were most active and about during June, July, and August. Three trains were run each way daily. They were scheduled to meet or leave in conjunction with the broad gauge trains running to and from San Francisco. Because the Espee was sometimes late, the first two dailies would be run together. This would result in two wood burning locomotives pulling a train of eight passenger cars. This was quite a sight, indeed. The third train was scheduled to leave in the evening. This was a mixed consist, hauling passengers along with freight that had been transferred to narrow gauge boxcars and flatcars from the Southern Pacific during the day. The fare in those days was ten cents per mile. The conductors, as well as the Railway Post Office clerks would go over to the steam vessels waiting at the pier. They would then assume positions analogous to their railroad jobs on the boats. Conductors would become pursers and clerks would remain clerks.

The gauge disparity was a problem. Time and money was spent transferring the loads from large standard gauge equipment to the small narrow gauge cars. This was a problem that plagued all of the narrow gauge operators. For a small railroad such as this one, widening the gauge was financially out of the question. In addition, covering costs was barely being accomplished when a paved road was built connecting the lake to the outside world. This happened in 1924. Losses were immediate and were going to be permanent. An opportunity came about to sell the Tahoe Tavern. This being accomplished, the railroad was offered to the Southern Pacific for a lease of one dollar per year. Since the Espee had already tapped the tourist trade when they took over the South Pacific Coast R.R., this was another chance to work the same trade. As with the coastal railroad, the resources behind the industrial behemoth Southern Pacific were put into play. The little Lake Tahoe line was standard gauged. This had been a sucessful strategy for the S.P.C. and would prove to be the same in this situation. The narrow gauge lines that had run at places around the lake came to an end. The Bliss family stipulated that Pullman service be operated to the lake. There were other requirements in the deal, that if met, would result in the outright sale of the railroad to the Southern Pacific for one dollar. This was accomplished and the Interstate Commerce Commission approved the deal in June, 1925.

As they had done with the Santa Cruz line, the Southern Pacific now began a publicity campaign featuring the new connection. The railroad even changed the name of the famous "Overland Route" to the "Lake Tahoe Route." They initiated a "Snow Ball Special" to try to make the route a year round destination. All of this had its start in the grimy mines of Virginia City. People traveling to Lake Tahoe today do not even know that a train ran to the lake. And they certainly do not know it was narrow gauge.

Continued

L. T. Ry. & T. Co. Sources