Beautiful uncancelled partially issued Gold Bond Certificate from the Yosemite Short Line Railway Company dated 1905. This historic document has an ornate border around it with a vignette of a steam locomotive. This item has the signatures of the Company's President and Secretary and is over 106 years old. 80 coupons attached on top.
Certificate Vignette Sierra Railway attempted to build a line into Yosemite beginning in 1905, when it entered into a contract with the newly incorporated narrow gauge Yosemite Short Line Railway Company. In the contract, Sierra agreed to guarantee the bonds of the Yosemite Short Line Railway Company in exchange for leasing and operating the railway upon its completion. However, construction of the Yosemite Short Line was discontinued because of financial problems resulting from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire and the last rails of the line were taken up in 1917. Part of the Yosemite Short Line right of way was later used during the Hetch Hetchy project. The Yosemite Short Line was Thomas S. Bullock's third attempt to reach the Yosemite Valley by rail. His first attempt was the Hetch Hetchy & Yosemite Valley Railroad which was controlled by the West Side Flume & Lumber Company (later reorganized as West Side Lumber Company). Hetch Hetchy & Yosemite Valley Railroad was absorbed by West Side Lumber Company in 1903. Bullock's second attempt ended in 1905, when the National Park Commission refused permission for the recently incorporated Jamestown and Yosemite Railroad to enter the national park. History from the Online Archive of California (OAC) and OldCompany.com.