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American River

American River (California)California Gold RushCentral Valley ProjectEldorado National ForestGeography of Sacramento, California
Rivers of El Dorado County, CaliforniaRivers of Northern CaliforniaRivers of Placer County, CaliforniaRivers of Sacramento County, CaliforniaRivers of the Sierra Nevada (United States)Rivers of the Sierra Nevada in CaliforniaTahoe National ForestTributaries of the Sacramento RiverWild and Scenic Rivers of the United States
American River CA
American River CA

The American River (Spanish: Río de los Americanos) is a 30-mile (50 km)-long river in California that runs from the Sierra Nevada mountain range to its confluence with the Sacramento River in downtown Sacramento. Via the Sacramento River, it is part of the San Francisco Bay watershed. This river is fed by the melting snowpack of the Sierra Nevada and its many headwaters and tributaries, including the North Fork American River, the Middle Fork American River, and the South Fork American River. The American River is known for the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma in 1848 that started the California Gold Rush and contributed to the initial large-scale settlement of California by European immigrants. Today, the river still has high quality water, and it is the main source of drinking water for Sacramento. This river is dammed extensively for irrigation, flood control, and hydroelectric power. The American River watershed supports Mediterranean, temperate, and montane ecosystems, and it is the home of a diverse array of fish and wildlife.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article American River (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

American River
Sacramento River Parkway, Sacramento

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 38.5975 ° E -121.50805555556 °
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Sacramento River Parkway

Sacramento River Parkway
95814 Sacramento
California, United States
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American River CA
American River CA
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California State Railroad Museum
California State Railroad Museum

The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the state park system of California, United States, interpreting the role of the "iron horse" in connecting California to the rest of the nation. It is located in Old Sacramento State Historic Park at 111 I Street, Sacramento.The museum features 21 restored locomotives and railroad cars, some dating back to 1862. The "Sierra Scene" shows a large scale mockup of a construction scene high in the Sierra Nevada representing Donner Pass circa 1867, featuring the locomotive Gov. Stanford. Other exhibits show how the influence of railroads changed American society, influencing travel, commerce and daily life, as well as the lives of railroaders and the diversity of people who work on railroads. Changing exhibits featuring photography, ephemera, and artifacts from the museum's collection, add depth and incidental information to the overall story of railroad history. The museum has an extensive educational program for elementary students from across the region to help them learn about railroad history using re-enactments, costumed docents, and including train and handcar rides. The roundhouse area of the museum features a rotating display of locomotives and equipment belonging to the museum. When not on display, these items are stored and worked on at the nearby Sacramento Railyards in the remaining buildings that were part of the original Southern Pacific Shop complex. A large 3-rail O-gauge model train layout is also located in the museum. Adjacent to the main museum building is a reconstruction of the 1870s-era Central Pacific Railroad passenger station and freight depot on Front Street, which houses historic and contemporary railroad equipment. In early 2011, the interior remained closed to public use, but is occasionally open for special events. Between April and October, the Sacramento Southern Railroad, operated by the museum, takes passengers on a 40-minute, 6-mile (9.7 km) roundtrip route along the Sacramento River on a portion of the Walnut Grove branch of the former Southern Pacific Railroad. The Sacramento Southern Railroad owns the Walnut Grove Branch right-of-way that extends south from Sacramento along the eastern bank of the Sacramento River. A few miles of track were rebuilt along the levee near Freeport, California as part of a US Army Corps of Engineers project. The CSRRM hopes to one day have a longer excursion line, perhaps as far as Hood, California. At that location the railroad passengers could disembark the train and take a tourist steamboat back up the Sacramento River to Old Sacramento. In 1992, Railtown 1897 in Jamestown began operating under the museum.

Sacramento Railyards

The Sacramento Railyards (or Railyard Specific Plan) is an urban infill project of approximately 244 acres (99 ha) at the western terminus of the First transcontinental railroad located within Sacramento's Central City community, between the downtown Central Business District and the River District, near the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers. The property is owned by Downtown Railyard Ventures, LLC. The Sacramento Railyards was master-planned by the Jerde Partnership firm. Construction will take 15 to 20 years with a projected build-out to last until the late 2020s. The site is equivalent in size to the existing downtown central business district and holds significant historical and cultural importance to Sacramento. The project features the preservation and partial reuse of the "Central Shops" buildings originally used for railroad maintenance and the former Southern Pacific Sacramento Depot; now known as Sacramento Valley Station. One of the Central Shops will be refitted into a public marketplace. Overall, the project is expected to include 12,000 housing units, 2,900,000 square feet (270,000 m2) of office uses, 1,900,000 square feet (180,000 m2) of retail, hotel, and other commercial uses, 41 acres (17 ha) of parks and open space, a 25,000-seat Major League Soccer stadium for Sacramento Republic FC, a 1.3 million square foot, 17.8 acre Kaiser Permanente flagship medical center campus, a 540,000 square-foot courthouse, and create 19,000 permanent jobs.