Before the townsite was created, the Southern Pacific Railroad stopped at Minturn, and Chowchilla was known as McNears Crossing. After the town was founded, the company moved the train station to a site just south of Robertson Blvd., and twenty passenger trains passed the station daily. When shipping by train was no longer practiced, the station was moved to its present location, where it is used as the VFW Hall Post 9896. The thirteen-mile Chowchilla Pacific Railroad was built by O A Robertson in 1913 and served the area for 40 years. Its primary cargo was household belongings, farm stock, and children. The Hall Scott Coach, also known as the Chowchilla Terrific, had a six-cylinder 150-horsepower engine and weighed 76,000 pounds. Had the railroad remained in operation today, it would be considered one of the shortest operating lines in the nation.