West Side Lumber Company 308
This 24-foot, 15-ton, 36-inch gauge flatcar was constructed in the West Side Lumber Company shop in Tuolumne, California as a dedicated flatcar for company service use, likely built in the early 1950s [date uncertain]. Unlike the log-hauling equipment that dominated WSLCo's earlier fleet, this car was purpose-built for maintenance-of-way operations, material transport, and general company service, reflecting the changing operational needs as the railroad began to wind down operations in the 1950s. This car represents the final generation of WSLCo rolling stock, built during the company's last decade of rail operations and documenting the transition period before industrial logging railroads gave way to truck-based timber harvesting.
Following West Side Lumber Company's cessation of railroad logging operations on October 28, 1960, the car was sold to a private railroad operator in McKinleyville, California in 1962 or later [exact date uncertain]. It was donated to SPCRR in 2*0*X* and moved to temporary storage offsite in November 2006. The car was subsequently moved to Ardenwood in 2*0*X*. It has been largely disassembled and used as parts for other cars, thanks to the Carter clone design Westside utilized for their self-built flatcars.
You can see a preview of the restoration report at the link below:
Citation
"West Side Lumber Company 308", Flat Cars, The Railroad Museum at Ardenwood, accessed October 1, 2026, http://museum.spcrr.org/exhibits/show/flat_cars/west-side-lumber-company-308.