South Pacific Coast Railroad

The South Pacific Coast Railroad was a RailGauge|36 narrow gauge steam railroad running between Santa Cruz, California and Alameda, with a ferry connection in Alameda to San Francisco. The railroad was created as the Santa Clara Valley Railroad, founded by local strawberry growers as a way to get their crops to market in San Francisco and provide an alternative to the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1876, James Graham Fair, a Comstock Lode silver baron, bought the line. He extended the line into the Santa Cruz Mountains in order to capture the significant lumber traffic coming out of the redwood forests.

In 1887, the line was acquired by the Southern Pacific and the gauge standardized. Some of the line's narrow gauge engines (nos. 9, 23, and 26) were eventually acquired by another narrow gauge railroad, the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company. [Robertson, Donald B., "Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History", Vol. III, at page 222, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, ID ISBN 0-8700-4366-8] Others ran on the former Carson and Colorado Railroad. [Turner 1974 p.46] In later years, the segment running between San Jose and Santa Cruz was used by SP's "Suntan Special" which came down the San Francisco Peninsula and took passengers right to the beach and boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Service was disrupted by the 1906 Earthquake. [ [http://www.sfmuseum.org/1906/sprr.html 1906 Southern Pacific Railroad Earthquake Operations ] ] The tracks through the Santa Cruz Mountains suffered major damage during a storm in the winter of 1940, and the line was abandoned the same year.

urviving trackage

*The north-south line from Oakland, California to San Jose, California is operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. Between Newark, California and San Jose it is used by Amtrak's Capitol Corridor trains and the Altamont Commuter Express.
*The line running southwest from San Jose towards the Santa Cruz mountains still exists as far as Vasona Junction, and is operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. The right of way is shared with a newly (2006) opened light rail line of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority as far as Campbell, California.
*The western end of the Santa Cruz mountain crossing, from Felton, California to Santa Cruz, California is now the Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway, primarily a tourist operation.

See also

* Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources
* Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company" [www.tollgateproductions.com]

References

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