Palmdale Railroad

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The Palmdale Railroad or Palmdale Railway was a narrow gauge horse-drawn railroad which existed only briefly in present-day Palm Springs, California at the end of the 19th Century.

Originally proposed by a Professor Wheaton, a Boston native who relocated to the desert due to asthma, the railroad was part of a larger development which included 160 acres of orange groves.

Running primarily down present-day Farrell Drive to the proposed settlement of Palmdale at the foot of Mount San Jacinto near the present-day settlement of Snow Creek (not to be confused with the Antelope Valley town of the same name), the line had been abandoned by 1893 due to lack of water. Ties from the right-of way were used to build the Cornelia White House, which still stands today in downtown Palm Springs.

For years after its abandonment, a single, dilapidated horse-drawn car remained in the desert as a sort of landmark to travelers. The car is no longer visible and is presumed to be buried beneath the sand.

The California Office of Historic Preservation recognized the site of the railroad as a historic site on November 3, 1969.