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Mossdale Bridge or Mossdale Railroad Bridge is a vertical-lift railroad bridge spanning the San Joaquin River in the city of Lathrop, California. The original Mossdale swing bridge, completed by Western Pacific Railroad (1862-1870) on September 6, 1869, was the first bridge built across the San Joaquin River as well as the last link on the first transcontinental railroad from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, as authorized in the 1862 Pacific Railway Acts.[1] The 1869 wooden Howe truss swing bridge at Mossdale[2] was renewed in 1895 with steel truss, while retaining the swing bridge design; it was entirely replaced in 1942 with the current lift bridge design.

Mossdale Bridge
Mossdale lift bridge crossing the San Joaquin river; looking west, the direction of the first through train on September 6, 1869.
CarriesUnion Pacific Railroad
CrossesSan Joaquin River
LocaleLathrop, California
Official nameMossdale Railroad Bridge
Named forWilliam Simms Moss (1798-1883)[3]: 209 
Characteristics
Design1869: wooden Howe Truss cable-stayed swing bridge;[2] 1895: steel truss swing bridge; 1942: steel Warren through truss vertical-lift bridge.[4]
Total length1869, 1895: 484 ft (148 m); 1942: 474 ft (144 m)
Longest span1869, 1895: 75 ft (23 m) swing span; 1942: 90 ft (27 m) lift span
Rail characteristics
No. of tracks1869:1; 1895:1; 1942:2.
Track gaugeStandard gauge
History
OpenedSeptember 6, 1869[5]
Rebuilt1895; 1942

History

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Mossdale crossings

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Moss's Ferry (above the big C) was just upstream (south) of the Mossdale bridge; 1879 Thompson & West map of part of San Joaquin County, California

A sharp bend in the San Joaquin River slowed its current to a crawl, allowing sediment to deposit, making the riverbed shallow, and producing a perfect place for a safe ford and a popular fishing grounds for the indigenous Yokuts, centuries before the California gold rush. Later, the Spaniards called it El Pescadero (the fishing place), and during the Mexican land grants, it became the name sake of the Rancho de Pescadero.[1]

After gold was discovered, it was the perfect spot to establish the first ferry across the San Joaquin River, which was accomplished by John Doak and Jacob Bonsell in 1848. It serviced the miners on the well-travelled trail from the San José Mission to the goldfields beyond Stockton and Sacramento. Doak and Bonsell used a long heavy rope stretched from shore to shore to pull a wooden barge to and fro across the river. They had good business, charging one dollar for a footman, three dollars for a man on horseback, and eight dollars for a wagon and horses. In 1856 the ferry was purchased by William S. Moss, a Virginia native and former Ohio riverboat captain, and it became known as Moss' Ferry.[6][3]

Years later in the early 1860s, Capt. Moss accumulated about 10,000 acres of lowlands (swamp lands) in San Joaquin County, all on the east side of the San Joaquin River south of Stockton. The large valley just east of Moss' Ferry became known as Moss' Dale or Mossdale.[7]

Railroad to the Pacific

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From Report of the Chief Engineer T. D. Judah: Preliminary Surveys and Future Business of the Sacramento Valley Railroad (Sacramento, Democratic State Journal, 1854).

In 1854 Theodore D. Judah, then chief engineer for the Sacramento Valley Railroad, reported on his early surveys, which included a preliminary location of a possible railroad line from San Francisco to Sacramento that encircled much of the delta marshlands and entailed crossing the San Joaquin River. But Judah had much greater dreams of crossing the Sierra Nevada and devoted his efforts establishing the Central Pacific for that purpose.[8][9]

A decade later, at the completion of the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad in January 1864, it was revealed that the almost completed surveys on the Western Pacific Railroad from San Jose to Sacramento likewise included the first bridge crossing of the San Joaquin River.[10] But after Chinese workers completed the first 20 miles of railroad from San Jose, including the heaviest three miles and three bridges in Alameda Cañon (now Niles Canyon), Western Pacific ran out of money. Construction stopped at the end of September 1866, with about 100 miles to go to Sacramento. Upon the urging of Leland Stanford, Central Pacific bought out Western Pacific in June 1867 and reallocated Western Pacific's assets to the more urgent work in the Sierras.[11][12]

By this time, Central Pacific was heavily focused on their quest to conquer the Sierra Nevada. Only after the Chinese workers pierce the granite in Donner Pass, a major breakthrough for Central Pacific, did Western Pacific, a subsidiary of Central Pacific, resumed construction, but beginning near Sacramento in February 1868 working south towards the San Joaquin river. In November 1868, timbers for the San Joaquin river crossing arrived, and a steam-powered pile driver, needed for several miles of trestle work on the swampy lowlands near the river, arrived in January 1869. By April, the pile driver started on the west side of the San Joaquin river, while several large gangs of Chinese graders were moved from the east side to the west side of the river.[13][14]

In April 1869, it was reported that a new town near the site of the San Joaquin river crossing was named Mossdale.[15] By then, construction of the bridge substructure got underway, as 500 tons of cobbles for the bridge piers arrived. Upon the completion of the Sierra portion of the railroad to Promontory Summit in May 1869, Central Pacific sent more Chinese workers and resources to construct the Western Pacific, and about 200 men were reported working at the bridge site. By June 1869, 1600 tons of cobblestones were laid to form the foundation of the large pivot pier on the west side of the river.[16]

By August 1869, 20 car loads of pine ties and the iron work for the bridge, fabricated in the Central Pacific's Sacramento shops, were prepared for the site. Also the number working on the bridge swelled up to 600, of which the vast majority 500 were Chinese builders. Even so, by September, the only unfinished stretch of the Western Padific railroad east of Vallejo Mills was at the bridge.[17][18]

Mossdale Bridge opened on Monday, September 6, 1869, when the first through train from Sacramento crossed the bridge and arrived at Alameda on the San Francisco Bay. As the last link, it completed the first transcontinental railroad from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean.[5][19]

Design

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Its predecessor, the original Mossdale swing bridge opened September 6, 1869, was the first bridge built across the San Joaquin River as well as the last link on the first transcontinental railroad from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean.

The original 1869 railroad bridge at Mossdale was a wooden Howe truss swing bridge. The swing span had a trestle tower with cable stays to the half-through truss. The fixed spans were later covered to extend the life of the wooden Howe through truss.[2]

A quarter century later in 1895, the Mossdale bridge was renewed with steel truss, while retaining the swing bridge design. Almost another half century later in 1942, it was completely rebuilt with new piers and superstructure as a steel Warren through truss vertical-lift bridge, which is the current iteration.[20][21][4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Hillman, Raymond W.; Covello, Leonard A. (1985). Cities & towns of San Joaquin County since 1847. Fresno, CA: Panorama West Books. p. 220-223. ISBN 978-0914330844.
  2. ^ a b c Martin, Van Covert (1890). "Railroad Bridges- San Joaquin County: First bridge across San Joaquin River. Central Pacific Railroad, built 1869. Replaced by Steel Bridge 1895. Mossdale Crossing". Historic Stockton Photographs, Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Libraries.
  3. ^ a b Davis, Olive (1991). From the Ohio to the San Joaquin : a biography of Captain William S. Moss, 1798-1883. Stockton, CA: Heritage West Books.
  4. ^ a b "Southern Pacific Technical Drawing: San Joaquin River bridge, new bridge superimposed upon old bridge, near Lathrop (on blue paper, 1942)". California State Railroad Museum. July 29, 1942. Retrieved April 29, 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Western Pacific". Sacramento Daily Union. Vol. 37, no. 5754. September 6, 1869. Retrieved May 6, 2025. The San Joaquin bridge having been completed, cars will pass over the Western Pacific Railroad to-day from this end of the track to the wharf at Alameda, and tomorrow trains will run regularly each way.
  6. ^ Tinkham, George H (1923). History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present. Los Angeles, CA: Historic Record Co.
  7. ^ "Captain William Simms Moss (1798 – March 25, 1883)" (PDF). City of Lathrop. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  8. ^ Judah, Theodore D. (1854). "Report of the chief engineer on the preliminary surveys, and future business of the Sacramento Valley Railroad". calisphere.org. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  9. ^ Severson, Thor (1973). Sacramento; an illustrated history: 1839 to 1874, from Sutter's Fort to Capital City. San Francisco, CA: California Historical Society. p. 170-171.
  10. ^ "San Jose Railroad Completed". cdnc.ucr.edu. Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 26, Number 4003, 20 January 1864. Retrieved January 22, 2022. The surveys on the Western Pacific Railroad, from San Jose to Sacramento, are now about completed...
  11. ^ "Niles Canyon Transcontinental Railroad Historic District". nps.gov. Retrieved May 5, 2025. The [Western Pacific] used 500 Chinese laborers to grade and construct the rail line into the rugged canyon with its tight curves and narrow banks.
  12. ^ Tutorow, Norman E.; Tutorow, Evelyn LaNora (2004). The governor: the life and legacy of Leland Stanford, a California colossus, Volume 1. Spokane, Wash.: Arthur H. Clark Company. p. 261. ISBN 9780870623264.
  13. ^ "THE RAILROAD — MOSSDALE — PICNIC GROVE". Stockton Daily Independent. Vol. XVI, no. 53. April 2, 1869. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  14. ^ "West of the River". Stockton Daily Independent. Vol. XVI, no. 69. April 21, 1869. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  15. ^ "A new town". Merced County Sun. Vol. I, no. 33. April 3, 1869. Retrieved May 7, 2025. A new town has been laid out at Sheppard's Ferry, on the San Joaquin river, and christened Mossdale. It is at the point at which the Western Pacific Railroad will cross the river, ...
  16. ^ "The Bridge at Mossdale". Stockton Daily Independent. Vol. XVI, no. 104. June 1, 1869. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  17. ^ "THE RAILROAD". Stockton Daily Independent. Vol. XVII, no. 16. August 19, 1869. Retrieved May 9, 2025. There are five hundred Chinamen and one hundred white laborers at work at the San Joaquin river.
  18. ^ "The Oakland News says:". Times Gazette. Vol. XI, no. 24. September 4, 1869. Retrieved May 9, 2025. The only delay in regular trips is the unfinished bridge over the San Joaquin river.
  19. ^ "THE LAYING OF THE LAST RAIL". San Francisco Call. (reprinted in Russian River Flag, Volume I, Number 44, September 16, 1869). September 8, 1869. Retrieved May 6, 2025. On Monday [Sept. 6th] afternoon, at 3 o'clock, the iron wedding of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans took place. At the hour above named, the workmen had finished laying both ends of the track, and had reached the draw upon the bridge across the San Joaquin river.
  20. ^ "Southern Pacific Technical Drawing: San Joaquin River Bridge piers (old pilings square, new pilings circle), near Lathrop; renewed 1895". California State Railroad Museum. 1895. Retrieved April 29, 2025.
  21. ^ "Southern Pacific Technical Drawing: San Joaquin River lift bridge track alignment (new superimposed on old plan) near Lathrop". California State Railroad Museum. March 3, 1942. Retrieved April 29, 2025.

Lathrop, California | Railway bridges

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