San Joaquin and Eastern Railroad
The San Joaquin & Eastern Railroad (SJ&E) was a standard gauge common carrier railroad that operated in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Fresno County in the U.S. state of California. The line was abandoned in 1933. The railroad hauled primarily lumber and agricultural products.
San Joaquin & Eastern Railroad at Huntington Lake c. 1918
Western portion of route in 1922
Eastern portion of route to Huntington Lake
Big Creek Hydroelectric Project
The Big Creek Hydroelectric Project is an extensive hydroelectric power scheme on the upper San Joaquin River system, in the Sierra Nevada of central California. The project is owned and operated by Southern California Edison (SCE). The use and reuse of the waters of the San Joaquin River, its South Fork, and the namesake of the project, Big Creek – over a vertical drop of 6,200 ft (1,900 m) – have over the years inspired a nickname, "The Hardest Working Water in the World".
Henry E. Huntington, wealthy financier from Southern California who was largely responsible for the project's construction.
The San Joaquin & Eastern Railroad at Huntington Lake, c. 1918
Shaver Lake, completed in 1927, stores excess runoff from Huntington Lake to increase power generation.
Mammoth Pool Dam (far right), completed in 1959, is – at 411 ft (125 m) high – the tallest dam of the Big Creek Project.
