Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad

The Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad was an electric interurban railway in Sonoma County, California. It operated between the cities of Petaluma, Sebastopol, Forestville, and Santa Rosa. A company-owned steamboat provided service between Petaluma and San Francisco.

Portions of the original right-of-way have been acquired by the County for the West County Trail, a facility managed by the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department. [cite web|url=http://www.sonoma-county.org/parks/pk_westc.htm|title=West County and Joe Rodota Trails|accessdate=2007-12-10]

Timeline

* 1888-1891: Predecessor horsecar lines built in Petaluma and Santa Rosa.
* 1903: Petaluma & Santa Rosa Railway incorporated.
* 1903: Paddle-wheel steamer "Gold" purchased.
* 1904: Railway built and opened between Petaluma, Sebastopol, and Santa Rosa.
* 1910: Steamer "Resolute" purchased and renamed "Petaluma".
* 1913: Branch opened to Two Rock.
* 1914: Steamer "Petaluma" burns, is rebuilt.
* 1920: Steamer "Gold" burns.
* 1925: Passenger service discontinued on the Two Rock Branch. [Borden 1960 p.24]
* 1927: New passenger and freight depot built in Santa Rosa. [Borden 1960 p.25]
* 1928: Petaluma & Santa Rosa purchased by Northwestern Pacific Railroad.
* 1931: Santa Rosa line dismantled from McDonald Avenue to Olive Street. [Borden 1960 p.26]
* 1933: All trolley passenger service discontinued.
* 1935: Steamer ferry passenger service discontinued. [Borden 1960 p.26]
* 1946: Santa Rosa line dismantled from Olive Street to Stop 45 junction with Northwestern Pacific Railroad. [Borden 1960 p.26]
* 1946-47: Electric locomotives replaced by diesels.
* 1947: Santa Rosa line dismantled from Stop 45 to Leddy junction with Northwestern Pacific Railroad. [Borden 1960 pp.26 & 31]
* 1950: Steamer "Petaluma" sold.
* 1952: Two Rock branch dismantled.
* 1961: Forestville line shortened by convert|1|mi|km|sing=on to Ross. [Stindt 1985 p.129]
* 1966: Southern Pacific Railroad diesel locomotives replace the last Petaluma and Santa Rosa locomotive. [Stindt 1985 p.129]
* 1969: Forestville line shortened by another mile to Sagu. [Stindt 1985 p.129]
* 1973: Eight miles of track abandoned between Denman and Turner. [Stindt 1985 p.129]
* 1978: Four more miles of track abandoned between Turner and Alten. [Stindt 1985 p.129]
* 1984: Line from Santa Rosa to Sebastopol abandoned. County supervisors direct the parks department to acquire portions of the abandoned right-of-way. Northwestern Pacific Railroad continued using the southern end of the line to serve local industries in Petaluma. [Stindt 1985 p.129]

Route

From south to north:
*Milepost 0 - Petaluma
*Milepost 3.6 - Denman
*Milepost 5.1 - Liberty - branch west to: Cherry (MP 7.7) and Two Rock (MP 10.4)
*Milepost 7.9 - Stony Point
*Milepost 9.4 - Roblar
*Milepost 9.6 - Quarry
*Milepost 10.9 - Orchard
*Milepost 11.3 - Turner
*Milepost 13.2 - Cunningham
*Milepost 14.9 - Alten
*Milepost 16.7 - Sebastopol - branch east to: Leddy (MP 20.2), Stop 45 (MP 22.6), and Santa Rosa (MP 23.4)
*Milepost 20.9 - Graton
*Milepost 23.8 - Forestville

The Battle of Sebastopol Road

The Petaluma and Santa Rosa line followed Sebastopol Road approaching Santa Rosa from Sebastopol. The construction crew needed to cross the north-south steam railroad to reach downtown Santa Rosa. The steam railroad had operated a parallel branch line from Santa Rosa to Sebastopol since 1890, and would not consent to the crossing allowing a new competitor to offer direct service downtown. Trolley service began to the west side of the crossing on 29 November 1904. Rails were laid on the east side of the steam railroad tracks, and an electric wire was strung overhead in preparation for installing the crossing. A crossing was prefabricated in Sebastopol and loaded on a flat car pushed to the crossing location. But when the interurban crew arrived to install the crossing on 3 January 1905, they found a pair of steam locomotives on either side of the crossing fitted with steam nozzles to spray hot water on anyone approaching the crossing site. The interurban construction crew retreated.

The following day the regularly scheduled interurban car #57 arrived secretly carrying the construction crew. Before the steam railway could respond, the crew laid a temporary track across and over the steam rails and had a team of horses pull trolley #57 across to serve downtown Santa Rosa. The steam railroad then obtained a temporary injunction from a San Francisco judge prohibiting installation of the crossing. For a few weeks, passengers from Sebastopol were required to depart their arriving trolley and walk over the steam railroad to reboard trolley #57 for the remainder of the trip.

The injunction was dissolved in late February and the interurban construction crew assembled again to install the crossing on 1 March 1905. The steam railroad appeared to be unaware of the status of their injunction, so their locomotives again discouraged the construction crew with hot water. The steam railroad also had a flat car loaded with gravel on hand for their men to fill in the excavation as soon as the interurban crew tried to dig out the crossing site. Tempers flared and several hundred Santa Rosa citizens assembled to watch the entertainment. Santa Rosa police ultimately restored order, and the crossing was installed that evening. [Borden 1960 pp.11-12] [Stindt 1985 pp.105 & 108]

Roster of passenger rolling stock

Roster of freight motors

References

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*

External links

* [http://wrm.org/ Western Railway Museum] which has restored and operates P&SR car #63.
* [http://petalumatrolley.org/ Petaluma Trolley] which has restored P&SR car #8.
* [http://www.nwprrhs.org/ Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society] is restoring P&SR caboose #1.
* [http://www.wschs-grf.pon.net/ Western Sonoma County Historical Museum] in the P&SR Sebastopol Depot
* [http://www.sonoma-county.org/parks/pk_westc.htm West County Trail]

ee also

* Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railway Powerhouse