tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21517997609903060512024-03-08T23:25:05.731-08:00Santa Cruz TrainsA website dedicated to the railroads lines that once operated around the Monterey Bay from 1870 to today.Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.comBlogger368125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-15954344336142232992024-02-15T12:00:00.000-08:002024-02-20T22:06:31.684-08:00Sources: Evolving Terminology<p>Everything is not always as it seems, and this is certainly the case when researching history. From changing colloquialisms to evolving definitions to extinct words, there is a wide range of linguistic obstacles someone may run into in their research—even when the history is relatively recent and in English! Language changes and that is something every researcher needs to always keep in mind.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuv2NHbBl8C37Mx7PWGFhvwmBVpDPEXTe7-ajAfcSih6yKXNjZmP2rab0t4F0U2PxzxJMV3Tr9KYgH3OziEpH7DeIiUGWDAMikrYsS0tbDvHZOpU20st33H9_j-q_P0InAAudUCCkNmG33O2VFi4_GjvmssTKF8-LzUA7cZFP5RDMOQdFoOvSW71Yl7CsF/s1388/Hotel%20Lyndon%20with%20a%20boxcar%20across%20the%20road-Colorized.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1388" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuv2NHbBl8C37Mx7PWGFhvwmBVpDPEXTe7-ajAfcSih6yKXNjZmP2rab0t4F0U2PxzxJMV3Tr9KYgH3OziEpH7DeIiUGWDAMikrYsS0tbDvHZOpU20st33H9_j-q_P0InAAudUCCkNmG33O2VFi4_GjvmssTKF8-LzUA7cZFP5RDMOQdFoOvSW71Yl7CsF/w640-h388/Hotel%20Lyndon%20with%20a%20boxcar%20across%20the%20road-Colorized.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hotel Lyndon across North Santa Cruz Avenue from the South Pacific Coast Railway's passenger depot, ca 1905. The tracks of the San Jose and Los Gatos Interurban Railway pass directly to the right of the hotel. [Los Gatos Public Library – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Researchers of railroads and Santa Cruz County history will encounter many different terms from the wide variety of sources that are available to them, and it is important that the definitions of these terms are clear. Some are relatively straightforward but used inconsistently, while others are very different than they appear. Thus, this article will help break down some of the common terms railroad and local historians may find in order to help them in their future research. New terms with evolving meanings will be added to this list as needed.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Railroads</b></h3><p><u>railway / railroad / road</u>: Some terms are a matter of change over time, while others are a matter of specificity. Here, though, it is simply a matter of taste.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Railways</i> developed in the United Kingdom in the early nineteenth century. They then were introduced in the United States, beginning on the East Coast. The term mostly stuck and even today, <i>railway</i> generally refers to British, Commonwealth, or East Coast companies. When it appears in the names of West Coast companies, an East Coaster or Brit is almost always to blame. It is often abbreviated as "RW" or "Rwy."</li><li>In contrast, the term <i>railroad</i> evolved mostly on the West Coast as a regional variant of the name and then spread back east. Early company registers and newspapers sometimes spelled the term "rail road" or "rail-road," but there is no functional or legal distinction between the terms and they have been interchangeable since the very beginning. It is usually abbreviated to "RR."</li><li>Frustrating in its simplicity, the term <i>road</i> is the oldest in relation to railroads and railways and can refer to either or any other vehicular thoroughfare. While few railroad companies neglected to include "rail" somewhere in their name, newspapers especially had no qualms about leaving off this pertinent detail, leaving many to confusion when reading primary sources. <i>Road</i>, importantly, can refer to railroads, railways, highways, backroads, or city streets.</li></ul><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AYtB02etXa_QniL_FUEXNX3tYGKUaVbxhYsDwypcXd2XUzxcEh6L-KwX4fu0SqB8t6rsdLgk9HHqV97kvCuEAlZURQkhbhbxlGZxspdlupyGjjWZ3eyVnkQ4WWSawns8VrT4WiUJpUmTquV3q9qjr_svjtgR_PLhJuZkjUImbeSC8YmheW1qNefhqLcn/s1354/Boulder%20Creek%20depot%20with%20people%20milling%20around,%201900%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="975" data-original-width="1354" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AYtB02etXa_QniL_FUEXNX3tYGKUaVbxhYsDwypcXd2XUzxcEh6L-KwX4fu0SqB8t6rsdLgk9HHqV97kvCuEAlZURQkhbhbxlGZxspdlupyGjjWZ3eyVnkQ4WWSawns8VrT4WiUJpUmTquV3q9qjr_svjtgR_PLhJuZkjUImbeSC8YmheW1qNefhqLcn/w640-h460/Boulder%20Creek%20depot%20with%20people%20milling%20around,%201900%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boulder Creek depot with people milling around, ca 1900. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using My Heritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><u>stop / station / depot</u>: There is a lot of confusion around these three terms and they are often used interchangeably. However, there are differences.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A <i>stop</i> refers to <u>any place</u> that a train may stop, official or unofficial, regardless of the services offered at the location. Thus, a <i>stop</i> may include registered and unregistered flag-stops, freight stops including spurs and sidings, or former stations that still retain a small clientele.</li><li>A <i>station</i> on the other hand is an officially-registered stop that appears on a public timetable, an employee timetable, and/or in a station book. <i>Station</i> status does not confer any formal need for trains to stop at the location—that is determined by timetables and customer needs—but it recognizes a formal relationship between the railroad company and the stop, and in many places, a government recognition of the stop as well. This means that a railroad usually has to petition the state government to abandon a <i>station</i>, whereas this is not necessary for all types of stop.</li><li>A <i>depot</i> is a term that specifically refers to a structure at a stop (usually a station) where tickets can be sold to customers and/or freight can be transferred. Strictly speaking, a <i>depot</i> can exist where there is no longer a stop, as happened at the Santa Cruz Union Depot after 1940. <i>Depots</i> can be small or large, but generally feature a freight-storage and/or luggage-storage space and seats for passengers, when applicable. Smaller ticket offices and passenger shelters are not technically depots, but sometimes are included under this term. </li></ul><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xlCsnEx9ZJotiABF0mMgGtzHSrdhKVE-txGIIjx4SBIQKbvn_jJ1gCkAE9zfyT6Zs4_CnSsEt0jPdQhp5doFdkSmt53mtjjbF2HDmH1l-vsmVi3U8iGBVYJeKCTZtGZjauTo-nfpOCIp5laAcs3RQ90dLd7T-47y_QCo8j05vcaqcEt-_Mx7aBZbsKt-/s1289/Shady%20Gulch%20bridge%20overlooking%20Powder%20Works,%201895.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="1289" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xlCsnEx9ZJotiABF0mMgGtzHSrdhKVE-txGIIjx4SBIQKbvn_jJ1gCkAE9zfyT6Zs4_CnSsEt0jPdQhp5doFdkSmt53mtjjbF2HDmH1l-vsmVi3U8iGBVYJeKCTZtGZjauTo-nfpOCIp5laAcs3RQ90dLd7T-47y_QCo8j05vcaqcEt-_Mx7aBZbsKt-/w640-h398/Shady%20Gulch%20bridge%20overlooking%20Powder%20Works,%201895.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The trestle bridge over Shady Gulch, overlooking the California Powder Works, 1895. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><div><p><u>bridge / trestle / truss</u>: Not all railroad bridges are trestles, not that the common person would know this from common parlance. The term trestle and bridge have become synonymous over the past century even though railroad engineers generally keep the terms separate, for good reason! In reality, there are a lot of types of railroad bridges, and many are of mixed type. Differentiating them is important to historians.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A <i>bridge</i> is the term at its broadest definition and means any raised span. It can cross a tiny gully or it can cross a wide river—either way, it is called a <i>bridge</i>. When in doubt, call a bridge a <i>bridge</i>.</li><li>A <i>trestle</i>, meanwhile, is a bridge constructed using bents and posts arranged under the roadbed in a repeating pattern. The bents and posts can be made of any material, such as steel or concrete, but all of the historic <i>trestles</i> in Santa Cruz County were made of wood. </li><li>A <i>truss</i> is a different type of bridge that is usually prefabricated and later moved into place. They often appear as boxes or curved structures with triangular supports redistributing the weight across the superstructure. The right-of-way can either be built on top of the <i>truss</i>—a <u>deck truss</u>—or inside the truss—a <u>through truss</u>. Multiple trusses can also be linked together with piers sitting at anchor points between each span.</li></ul><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWIhHlU_DkEgTMA6DZml779sGWltxwk1HhyZT-iXcP_17E9-i1lhLXYq2uV9AnWZQjgtnCCF6Q4UJFDNH5W6DnPQeIRqAmjxU5Wp53l1WVsu5nDHZ1r3UTtCz8fs0OzgsVRoSvHjS4jMWyPL9h186ol-T9WADhmRzK4sORFzKSRzPMXPxcy-HHzKGBH4j/s2550/types%20of%20truss%20bridges.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2550" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWIhHlU_DkEgTMA6DZml779sGWltxwk1HhyZT-iXcP_17E9-i1lhLXYq2uV9AnWZQjgtnCCF6Q4UJFDNH5W6DnPQeIRqAmjxU5Wp53l1WVsu5nDHZ1r3UTtCz8fs0OzgsVRoSvHjS4jMWyPL9h186ol-T9WADhmRzK4sORFzKSRzPMXPxcy-HHzKGBH4j/w640-h362/types%20of%20truss%20bridges.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Types of truss bridges used in Santa Cruz County. (Derek R. Whaley)</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Truss designs also vary heavily across the world. Three variants of the Warren truss-style of bridge dominated the river and creek crossings in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In addition, Howe, Pratt, and Lattice truss bridges could be found over specific spans. Truss bridges are usually named after their original designers and stand apart from each other by how the support beams are arranged. Other common types of bridges found in Santa Cruz County include wood and plate-girder ballast and open deck bridges, which were used heavily for short spans and in more recent years.</p><p>Santa Cruz County had many different types of railroad bridges to cross the rivers, creeks, gullies, and gulches, especially along the mountain branches. The following is a brief list of some of those found along the Santa Cruz to Los Gatos route:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Golf Course Drive: wood ballast deck</li><li>Shady / Powder Works Gulch (Highway 9): wood trestle, replaced by wood trestle with two open-deck plate girder spans</li><li>Coon Gulch / Inspiration Point: wood open-deck Howe truss, replaced by concrete arch half-bridge</li><li>Big Trees / Henry Cowell (San Lorenzo River): wood trestle with open-deck Warren truss, replaced with wood trestle with lattice through truss, replaced with steel through Warren truss atop one concrete pier with a short plate girder span</li><li>Mt. Hermon (Zayante Creek): deck plate girder bridge atop two concrete piers</li><li>Jackass Flats (Zayante Creek): open-deck Warren truss bridge atop two concrete piers with two plate girder spans</li><li>Los Gatos Creek (Creek Trail): open-deck Warren truss bridge, replaced with plate girder span atop two concrete piers</li><li>Forbes Mill spur (Los Gatos Creek): wood trestle</li></ul><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu41G50iZb_x1gwRqlmw6awpIRTcOftt3BMNnhfv-jTzzh0h7-_9-ywk79wTHSZTDJQ3Redi6DO-o73JGKlk5bVudFIv0peUoNYwxT1f1eWGWsEWfSEKs2cf6RMiEmCwSgP3AHW-z0N-eplMFRhHSKiEhQ4Tzhyphenhyphen5YxOHD3n0Vh9X1tqm_N87aRcSr-GdxN/s3841/Union%20Traction%20streetcar%20at%20end%20of%20track%20Woodrow%20Avenue%20with%20Mr.%20Moody,%201926%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2169" data-original-width="3841" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu41G50iZb_x1gwRqlmw6awpIRTcOftt3BMNnhfv-jTzzh0h7-_9-ywk79wTHSZTDJQ3Redi6DO-o73JGKlk5bVudFIv0peUoNYwxT1f1eWGWsEWfSEKs2cf6RMiEmCwSgP3AHW-z0N-eplMFRhHSKiEhQ4Tzhyphenhyphen5YxOHD3n0Vh9X1tqm_N87aRcSr-GdxN/w640-h362/Union%20Traction%20streetcar%20at%20end%20of%20track%20Woodrow%20Avenue%20with%20Mr.%20Moody,%201926%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Union Traction streetcar no. 24 at the end of track on Woodrow Avenue, 1926. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><u><br /></u></div><div><u>horsecar / streetcar / interurban / tramway / cablecar / incline railway</u>: Santa Cruz County has featured a variety of conveyances that rely on rails and this has led to a lot of confusion over the years.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A <i>horsecar</i> or rather <i>horse-drawn car</i> is a form of railroad transport where a horse pulls a car or cars along a wood or metal rail. It is the earliest form of railroad and dates back several centuries before the creation of the first self-powered railroad. Santa Cruz County had three horsecar lines: the City Railroad, the Pacific Avenue Street Railroad, and the East Santa Cruz Street Railroad.</li><li><i>Streetcars</i> are a more general term that can refer to horse-powered or self-powered railroad systems, though they more generally apply to "traction railroads," i.e., street railroads powered electrically from overhead lines. They are also sometimes called <i>trolley </i>systems in the United States. Santa Cruz County has had a number of traction lines, including the Santa Cruz, Garfield Park & Capitola Railroad, the Santa Cruz Electric Railroad, the Santa Cruz, Capitola & Watsonville Railroad, and the Union Traction Company.</li><li><i>Interurban</i> lines rely on heavier-duty traction engines that can run longer distances, sometimes under their own power, though they usually include sections where overhead lines provide direct power. The cars are usually larger and they cater to both rural and urban passengers. Santa Cruz County only had one interurban, the Watsonville Transportation Company (later the Watsonville Railway and Navigation Company), but Los Gatos also featured the more well-known interurban, the Peninsular Railway Company.</li><li>The term <i>tramway</i> has divergent meanings depending which continent you are on. In British Commonwealth countries, <i>tramway</i> almost always is interchangeable with "trolley" or "streetcar" system, referring to an urban or suburban passenger railway network. In the United States, it has a more limited meaning and usually applies to industries, especially logging. <i>Tramways</i> in this context refer to short tracks where freight can be wheeled from one destination to another, such as lumber from a mill to the lumber yard. <i>Tramways</i> can be quite long, especially if shuttling logs from the forest to a mill, but they are always directly associated with the operations of an industry.</li><li><i>Cablecars</i> never graced Santa Cruz County—they are almost exclusive to San Francisco and a few other cities built upon rolling hills. <i>Cablecars</i>, also often called <i>trolleys</i>, are unique in that they get their motive power from underground cables that are always moving. <i>Cablecars</i> latch onto these cables to move and release the cable to stop. All of the cables are run from centralized hubs.</li><li><i>Incline railways</i> are another special mode of transportation specific to steep hillsides. Essentially, a car is pulled up or down a hill with a cable attached to an engine located at the top of the incline. When the cable is released, the car descends, and when the cable is pulled, the car ascends. Santa Cruz County featured at least one true incline railroad in the form of the Molino Timber Company's incline, which lowered flatcars full of splitstuff down from China Ridge to alongside Aptos Creek during the mid-1910s. Other inclines related to logging may also have existed in the county, though evidence is scarce. The only remaining incline railway operating in Santa Cruz County today is the privately-owned car run by Shadowbrook Restaurant on Soquel Creek in Capitola.</li></ul><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvUJR62GmJlU2cK3An2JdFPhn0JxjZjFbaBNzF0hkToeFncZQAFY9rAnk8BTYdWqt-qngCAuaZuLvnunznPvmmKpiQrWdbeqwB5zKD1Td4no3GSFdTVP2Ojdb_CSR3FYyoec-V2Hf81Urd/s639/F.+A.+Kilburn+at+Port+Rogers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="639" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvUJR62GmJlU2cK3An2JdFPhn0JxjZjFbaBNzF0hkToeFncZQAFY9rAnk8BTYdWqt-qngCAuaZuLvnunznPvmmKpiQrWdbeqwB5zKD1Td4no3GSFdTVP2Ojdb_CSR3FYyoec-V2Hf81Urd/w640-h520/F.+A.+Kilburn+at+Port+Rogers.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <i>F. A. Kilburn</i> docked at the Port Rogers Wharf in Watsonville, ca 1905. [Derek R. Whaley – colorized using MyHeritage]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>wharf / pier:</u> A topic of great consternation among some, greater confusion among many, and little importance in the end, yet the question remains: what is the true difference between a pier and a wharf?</div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It must be stated that all of Santa Cruz County's structures for receiving ocean-going ships before 1904 were called a <i>wharf</i> regardless of any official terminology. And this is an important fact to understand. In the context of early California history, the term <i>wharf</i> is the word for <i>pier—</i>the terms are synonymous. Both are structures that jut into the ocean and both are built atop pilings. </li><li>In nautical terms, <i>wharves</i> are often, though not necessarily, structures that parallel a shoreline allowing vessels to pull alongside the wharf to transfer cargo. Importantly for defining Santa Cruz's structures, <i>wharves</i> usually are wider and include warehouses or other industrial or commercial structures on them for storage and to conduct trade. Wharves are also usually designed to accept multiple large ships simultaneously. Using this definition, Santa Cruz County had six wharves: Powder Works Wharf, Soquel/Capitola Wharf, Spreckels/Aptos Wharf, Railroad Wharf, Port Rogers/Watsonville Wharf, and Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf</li><li><i>P</i><i>iers</i>, on the other hand, are often solitary structures that are meant simply to convey goods from a ship to the shore. They are frequently designed to only receive one vessel at a time, most often at the end, and they rarely have warehouses or commercial structures built atop them. <i>Piers</i> are also almost always narrower than wharves and are less likely to include railings and other structural features. This definition would therefore include the Cowell Wharf, Electric/Pleasure Pier, the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company's pier at Davenport, and the Seacliff Pier.</li></ul></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Local History</b></h3><p><u>hotel</u>: Modern people apply a certain respectability and status to the term <i>hotel</i>, but this need not apply to the term in the past. Derived from the French word "hôtel," which itself is the modern spelling of the Middle French "hostel," the true roots of the term <i>hotel</i> can be found. At its most basic essence, it means a guesthouse or shelter. Hotels in the United States, especially before about 1920, could be anything from a small boarding house with only a few rooms—akin to a bed and breakfast of today—to a quick and easy roadhouse atop a tavern—like today's motel—to a deluxe resort with gardens, ballrooms, and other amenities. <i>Hotel</i> applied to all of these types of businesses. An inconsistent differentiation sometimes named smaller hotels "houses," while rural hotels were often called a "farm" since their owners still maintained some agricultural or pastoral activities on the side.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsINRZkT-nE3WN7cdjQAYv5kGwFGmFnR2TEWd90d7v6j72griGyT3T8RwpPow0FzaJGWzqDIgUvt-amWcJ9W1TqT16UIgqD0vFDleRB_wthgWkWQg6lNRJEK3eyx8AjSMcbGSs95g9tE829hQ4CraCKsuIxd6FOqYyILmvit8C3pXjOug9XVee_ITEAmv/s1345/Senate%20Saloon%20in%20Soquel,%20ca%201900%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1345" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsINRZkT-nE3WN7cdjQAYv5kGwFGmFnR2TEWd90d7v6j72griGyT3T8RwpPow0FzaJGWzqDIgUvt-amWcJ9W1TqT16UIgqD0vFDleRB_wthgWkWQg6lNRJEK3eyx8AjSMcbGSs95g9tE829hQ4CraCKsuIxd6FOqYyILmvit8C3pXjOug9XVee_ITEAmv/w640-h388/Senate%20Saloon%20in%20Soquel,%20ca%201900%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sam's Senate Saloon and "Wheelmen's Rest," on the Soquel–San Jose Road, ca 1900. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p><u>saloon</u>: Similar to hotels, <i>saloons</i> are a greatly misinterpreted thing before 1900. The term is also French and comes from "salon," which itself comes from the Old High German "sal," meaning "house" or "hall." And this is all some early <i>saloons</i> were: lounges or small public houses (pubs). Not all saloons served alcohol, or even food! In the 1800s, <i>saloon</i> meant the same thing that "salon" does today, so the term could refer to a beauty parlor for women or a barbershop. Parties could be held in a saloon since it could serve as a dance hall. Houses may feature a private saloon because it just referred to the lounge or reception area. It was only in the twentieth century, especially with the rise of the Western genre in literature and film, that the term <i>saloon</i> came to mean a tavern or bar.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvxEz_vvDJNy0eG7Q69ncu7xjylF1YdFIbZlgh_73LPQPhhQAnDJ9D8mAtzraxM3A-c4H-JX65w8B-KIYbfNDThwHhV8VFVgpSQL4QCKJ_M0DGmOG3jDEtOxmRv4BgBzhvz1GAJh2hCtnq1fseDH8kC6PFuMlI1sKRCZxaBX1vpA6TbMiFlxDZ_oOgSkJ/s1385/Neptune%20Casino%20on%20a%20very%20busy%20day,%201904,%20Charles%20Leon%20Aydelotte%20%5BSJPL%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="973" data-original-width="1385" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvxEz_vvDJNy0eG7Q69ncu7xjylF1YdFIbZlgh_73LPQPhhQAnDJ9D8mAtzraxM3A-c4H-JX65w8B-KIYbfNDThwHhV8VFVgpSQL4QCKJ_M0DGmOG3jDEtOxmRv4BgBzhvz1GAJh2hCtnq1fseDH8kC6PFuMlI1sKRCZxaBX1vpA6TbMiFlxDZ_oOgSkJ/w640-h450/Neptune%20Casino%20on%20a%20very%20busy%20day,%201904,%20Charles%20Leon%20Aydelotte%20%5BSJPL%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neptune Casino on a very busy summer day, 1904. Photo by Charles Leon Aydelotte. [San José Public Libraries – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><u>casino</u>: Shifting from French to Italian, the word <i>casino</i> did not always refer to gambling. The word in its original language is the diminutive of "casa" and literally just means "little house" or "cottage." Italians once used the term to refer to their holiday homes, so <i>casino</i> evolved to refer to places of leisure. And leisurely people enjoy playing games. While not all games involve gambling, many do, so <i>casino</i> gradually became linked to gambling rooms and, ultimately, entire buildings focused on gambling. This transition was slow, and when the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was first built in the first decade of the twentieth century, <i>casino</i> still retained the broader definition of "place of pleasure," hence why the Casino Arcade below the Cocoanut Grove is still called that today.</p></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6prfmZJOY_qPBKUp-YfBLavbAHd08BlVatoE0tYFhowOn3mua1xHusFNUhHoRNn4GEvMR0O9jfUI93eJ3hrwSkW0leIThbsr83lBigw0hyphenhyphenfi6gLke8wh57cHqDGYa2AJX7jzRfuNq6QqykvZWbetfPyvYlRmOJnet33_ks6bgGU8wNy7lL0tGgnTvIoqx/s1387/Bathhouses%20on%20the%20Santa%20Cruz%20Beach,%20ca%201877,%20R%20E%20Wood%20%5BChico%20State%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="921" data-original-width="1387" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6prfmZJOY_qPBKUp-YfBLavbAHd08BlVatoE0tYFhowOn3mua1xHusFNUhHoRNn4GEvMR0O9jfUI93eJ3hrwSkW0leIThbsr83lBigw0hyphenhyphenfi6gLke8wh57cHqDGYa2AJX7jzRfuNq6QqykvZWbetfPyvYlRmOJnet33_ks6bgGU8wNy7lL0tGgnTvIoqx/w640-h424/Bathhouses%20on%20the%20Santa%20Cruz%20Beach,%20ca%201877,%20R%20E%20Wood%20%5BChico%20State%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bathhouses on the Santa Cruz Beach, ca 1877 [Chico State – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p><u>bathhouse</u>: The <i>bathhouse</i> is another term that has evolved much over the past two centuries, and Santa Cruz has witnessed this evolution first hand. When the first <i>bathhouses</i> appeared on the beach, the term referred more accurately to bathing sheds or changing rooms. People would rent bathing costumes and then change in the bathing house before venturing onto the beach where they would enter the water and bathe in the surf or river. Modest women could even rent portable bathhouses, that would be rolled to the water's edge by a horse so that the women could leave directly from the house and enter the water. The term retained that meaning even as it added a second definition: "place where people go to bathe." By the mid-1870s, <i>bathhouses</i> began to add indoor, heated saltwater and freshwater "baths," where people could bathe without risking injury from the surf. As these became deeper, people could enjoy indoor plunge bathing, which now refers to simply swimming in a standard swimming pool. All of the terms related to <i>bathhouses</i> were replaced over the decades, though the principals survive to this day.</p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-90655934095678883592024-01-25T12:00:00.000-08:002024-01-26T21:31:16.167-08:00Maps: Santa Cruz to City Limits<p>Mapping industrial areas can be a difficult task even when all the factors are known, and it is much more difficult when there remain unknowns. Santa Cruz's West Side industrial area remains poorly documented, partially because many people today have forgotten that it ever existed. When the Ocean Shore Railway and Coast Line Railway (a Southern Pacific subsidiary) first passed through the West Side in 1905 on their way to Davenport, the West Side was a land of fields with scattered homes along West Cliff Drive but little in the interior west of The Circles. And little changed for decades.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZfUCqRZh6j3KfIZRNWYntcifX-6QpeC256zj6ALCQba9M_Tv8rlByyIbBhUhu0Wz-t_FrA_DHr2O5x_HMERYPtqdyzUIojU7hBsp9e_whSPqG4edUemqkT44Ad21VnVnLmyQBxE63V2raXMH5BhZXrrAgY_Lps4i9tmg8srAPkK2a05OQmjMAz4wweCw/s1931/Ocean%20Shore%20shops%20near%20Garfield%20Park%20showing%20boiler%20explosion,%20c%201910s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="1931" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZfUCqRZh6j3KfIZRNWYntcifX-6QpeC256zj6ALCQba9M_Tv8rlByyIbBhUhu0Wz-t_FrA_DHr2O5x_HMERYPtqdyzUIojU7hBsp9e_whSPqG4edUemqkT44Ad21VnVnLmyQBxE63V2raXMH5BhZXrrAgY_Lps4i9tmg8srAPkK2a05OQmjMAz4wweCw/w640-h424/Ocean%20Shore%20shops%20near%20Garfield%20Park%20showing%20boiler%20explosion,%20c%201910s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ocean Shore maintenance shops near the Garfield Park subdivision, ca 1910s. [Courtesy UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The first commercial development using the railroad on the West Side was the Ocean Shore Railway itself. In a section of an undeveloped subdivision east of The Circles and north of the Santa Cruz Lighthouse, the railroad established its Southern Division's maintenance shop, wye, and engine shed. The buildings, spurs, sidings, and wye covered seven blocks, from Gharkey to Oregon Street, and from Centennial to beyond Laguna Street. This facility was flanked on either side by passenger stops. To the north was the main Santa Cruz Bay Street station, where the ticket office for the Ocean Shore Railway was located, though this structure was always only intended to be temporary. After passing through a cut under Bay Street, the line terminated at the Bay Street (now West Cliff Drive) truss bridge, where a passenger shelter was located above the Southern Pacific Railroad's Union Depot. Passengers could walk up the short pathway from the depot to the shelter to switch trains. In the opposite direction of the maintenance yard was the Garfield Avenue shelter, which provided a transfer point with the Union Traction Company's electric streetcars as well as a drop off for visitors to the Vue de l'Eau Casino and the Christian Church Tabernacle at the center of The Circles.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2PNkSgYJQWOZnc-CuDh_7TKM5nPiYMXWyamM2G5NsohoEJDETDDCo4SZhe9Ugb4md00vIQH8NkQFMrfJeiQYtJBhIBWkoNUO2F_o2yXYo12iRfoCWKe90fYo4bZkyLzvzVlk14moDhbvivCSdiWQscmAibhJXEia6ItUsO-sxKZVbIIxgV7o-qnNlNgY/s4286/West%20Side%20Santa%20Cruz%20map.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2240" data-original-width="4286" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2PNkSgYJQWOZnc-CuDh_7TKM5nPiYMXWyamM2G5NsohoEJDETDDCo4SZhe9Ugb4md00vIQH8NkQFMrfJeiQYtJBhIBWkoNUO2F_o2yXYo12iRfoCWKe90fYo4bZkyLzvzVlk14moDhbvivCSdiWQscmAibhJXEia6ItUsO-sxKZVbIIxgV7o-qnNlNgY/w640-h334/West%20Side%20Santa%20Cruz%20map.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map showing railroad stations and rights-of-way, streetcar routes, and major roads and waterways through the Santa Cruz West Side to just beyond the city limits, 1906-1980. [Click to enlarge]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>On the Coast Line Railroad, there were some parallels through the West Side in the early years. The track departed the Santa Cruz Union Depot via a track that climbed up the hill on the west side of Neary Lagoon. At California Street, it turned southwest to more or less parallel Mission Street. California Street was the first flag-stop of the Coast Line and featured a small shelter in the V formed from the intersection of Bay and California Streets. Another stop, presumably with a small shelter, was at Younglove Avenue, which, like the Ocean Shore's Garfield Avenue stop, catered to people transferring onto a Union Traction streetcar or departing for the tabernacle or casino.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Kax0IXuOFHWeWj9UHr_F_8SXaHd9X00dbUxsJ6iUKhh9MTfaKTwKGjWB4NZOeQE3kAmvI6of66pbqo7RkM__AgV5D-SfEtKn8tm2Mda_YF-HngSPMslT1dTWwkEhWag5qkiiogHyka1xObe7DlASy1xAz6Sh6sVIkl2DHOojTAoVO7HZm2T7ZKAJCgqZ/s1892/Rapetti%20showing%20the%20San%20Vicente%20mill,%20August%208,%201919%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1102" data-original-width="1892" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Kax0IXuOFHWeWj9UHr_F_8SXaHd9X00dbUxsJ6iUKhh9MTfaKTwKGjWB4NZOeQE3kAmvI6of66pbqo7RkM__AgV5D-SfEtKn8tm2Mda_YF-HngSPMslT1dTWwkEhWag5qkiiogHyka1xObe7DlASy1xAz6Sh6sVIkl2DHOojTAoVO7HZm2T7ZKAJCgqZ/w640-h372/Rapetti%20showing%20the%20San%20Vicente%20mill,%20August%208,%201919%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aerial photograph showing Rapetti and Orby stations and the San Vicente Lumber Company mill, August 8, 1919. [Courtesy UCSC – colorized using MyHeritage].</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Just east of Moore Creek, both railroads set up their final stations within the city limits. The Coast Line Railroad was first with Orby near Swift Street, probably named after a racehorse. What its original intended customer base was is unclear, but it may have been established to help passengers access Swanton's Beach, today's Natural Bridges. The Ocean Shore Railway only established a stop beside Moore Creek in 1911 to provide railroad service to San Vicente Lumber Company's mill. The mill, established that year, had dammed Moore Creek, creating what later became known as Antonelli's Pond, and erected a large lumber mill beside it. The railroad extended a looping spur along the east side of the mill, with a second spur that went toward the millpond. The Coast Line soon took advantage of this new customer, as well, and extended its own spur until the two looping spurs of the railroads met in front of the mill. The Coast Line installed two parallel spurs north of the mill to pick up lumber shipments.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKkAZdqnl4Sk2NVkPtP2PiEttix5k4Lwa1i4skbVzUoQCPZjo7JIc4g5FP0OgN67oT-iQLznOtf7zi3832Ac8P2yIi-nJ7RjIQ-E8hJAAogWLvdWtsFHFOpqdV45JH0xj-DtNVs3RkVsKj-OGn8-xt0QaIsyqID58SvCY6mGGD5ifeNdMMVLgUUiiY8uE/s1922/Walti-Schilling%20slaughterhouse%20fire,%20Dec%201,%201931%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1228" data-original-width="1922" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKkAZdqnl4Sk2NVkPtP2PiEttix5k4Lwa1i4skbVzUoQCPZjo7JIc4g5FP0OgN67oT-iQLznOtf7zi3832Ac8P2yIi-nJ7RjIQ-E8hJAAogWLvdWtsFHFOpqdV45JH0xj-DtNVs3RkVsKj-OGn8-xt0QaIsyqID58SvCY6mGGD5ifeNdMMVLgUUiiY8uE/w640-h408/Walti-Schilling%20slaughterhouse%20fire,%20Dec%201,%201931%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fire damage at the Walti, Schilling & Company slaughterhouse, December 1, 1931. [Courtesy UCSC – colorized MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In 1920, the San Vicente Lumber Company leased the Ocean Shore's southern division and continued to use it until 1923, when its mill shut down. This left the entire West Side industrial area to the Southern Pacific Railroad, which only gradually added customers. Southern Pacific's first customer was the City of Santa Cruz's light and sewer pumping station at Neary Lagoon. In 1909, a short spur was installed above the lagoon where an oil tanker could park to provide fuel to the plant. On the opposite end of the West Side, across a substantial trestle bridge that spans Moore Creek, Walti, Schilling & Company built a slaughterhouse that opened in 1923, having relocated from a slaughterhouse at Twin Lakes. This facility operated off of a spur associated with Orby for decades, only closing in 1977.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZBO7RRUa8PaetLEX68B5u-ZYBwwImByJxRNsiZrv9eyInuQSpf8GcuXGJw8oE1nnwGEcSrMt9Y0aTN0m9m7QmEITetTTqF-W2Hy5Pr558ZwacByFFeWIwTrEwkKQWRxJfPSOliOHovi6EEgugol0qBsxsVhmQoPcGO0ZP6S3kyKGZT0Uy4Qh2CU9ZqmU/s1457/Pfyffer%20Bros.%20Brussels%20sprouts%20advertisement,%201940s%20%5Bebay%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1457" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZBO7RRUa8PaetLEX68B5u-ZYBwwImByJxRNsiZrv9eyInuQSpf8GcuXGJw8oE1nnwGEcSrMt9Y0aTN0m9m7QmEITetTTqF-W2Hy5Pr558ZwacByFFeWIwTrEwkKQWRxJfPSOliOHovi6EEgugol0qBsxsVhmQoPcGO0ZP6S3kyKGZT0Uy4Qh2CU9ZqmU/w640-h528/Pfyffer%20Bros.%20Brussels%20sprouts%20advertisement,%201940s%20%5Bebay%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advertisement for Pfyffer Bros. Brussels sprouts, ca 1940s. [ebay]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The industrial district centered around Orby and Swift Street grew slowly over the ensuing decades. The Union Ice Company was the first to transfer there, erecting an artichoke and peas packing plant on behalf of J. L. De Benedette in late 1936. Construction required the area to be rezoned for industrial use, which was granted, opening the entire area up to further development. The next business to join was the Coast Box & Drum Company, an alternative name for the Half Moon Bay Box & Drum Company, which moved onto a spur beside Swift Street in 1937. It focused on making packaging materials for local artichoke, sprout, and apple growers. At the same time, the Santa Cruz Artichoke Growers Association moved into an attached packing house, operating off the same spur. Three years later, the Davenport Artichoke Growers Association relocated into a large packing house next door to Union Ice and was renamed Pfyffer Bros., run by Fred and Joseph Pfyffer.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBleeHyowl4oYoADHVvoSfFGUyKrqBPOkci9HqAtl6bzWfg8Miu5qkbZeZDjDseX3jRXHNGtT9Cv_kaelZgbpWIF9raQTxtWqoF5pX8N6f3BW4v5ehrmHIYZ0q89enGwjBtDuY2eiDGf8R4t1-bawX-DG6MfO6p_uqKk81B2dlve1flgVLb6qV4Y6k7nC6/s1941/Wrigley%20Factory,%20ca%201965%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1226" data-original-width="1941" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBleeHyowl4oYoADHVvoSfFGUyKrqBPOkci9HqAtl6bzWfg8Miu5qkbZeZDjDseX3jRXHNGtT9Cv_kaelZgbpWIF9raQTxtWqoF5pX8N6f3BW4v5ehrmHIYZ0q89enGwjBtDuY2eiDGf8R4t1-bawX-DG6MfO6p_uqKk81B2dlve1flgVLb6qV4Y6k7nC6/w640-h404/Wrigley%20Factory,%20ca%201965%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company's plant on the West Side shortly after opening, ca 1954. [Courtesy UCSC]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The largest and best-known industry on the West Side was the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company's gum factory, opened in 1954. Construction of the plant began in 1951 and required the shifting of the Union Ice Company's packing house and the installation of a new spur. Wrigley, meanwhile, was given a long spur that ran behind the plant. This was likely when the so-called Swift Street siding was installed, as well, which once ran from Natural Bridges Drive to Swift Street. As the Wrigley plant was under construction, Birds Eye, another produce company, opened a packing house to the east on Fair Avenue in 1951. A decade later, around 1961, the E. V. Moceo Company opened its own packing house across the tracks from it.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRlGkCHNA0iAUZSVsuhscWMY3zItg5WUiNUS1NI5kxOQMFrYzwmhqJL5-Dd5uShZ2mCTQZ4ieuReyoMVUEju4quTAoiClDa_QUAGM9xuVkrpy_7sHwlEfkB7EvP7IURxa4OTvG6ljDupsA-RqCbNUC9yGyMb-DGteUTb-xWU3PmyurAQ26DOeuC_PirMOb/s1943/Lipton%20Tea%20factory,%20ca%201970%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1527" data-original-width="1943" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRlGkCHNA0iAUZSVsuhscWMY3zItg5WUiNUS1NI5kxOQMFrYzwmhqJL5-Dd5uShZ2mCTQZ4ieuReyoMVUEju4quTAoiClDa_QUAGM9xuVkrpy_7sHwlEfkB7EvP7IURxa4OTvG6ljDupsA-RqCbNUC9yGyMb-DGteUTb-xWU3PmyurAQ26DOeuC_PirMOb/w640-h502/Lipton%20Tea%20factory,%20ca%201970%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Thomas J. Lipton Company plant on the West Side, ca 1970. [UCSC]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The prominence of Wrigley and the growing collection of packing houses around Swift Street attracted new industries to the area. The construction firm of Borchers Brothers moved to Fair Avenue in 1964 and established the easternmost spur on the West Side. They did not stay for long, though, and in 1968 the warehouse was taken over by Peerless Portable Metal Buildings, moving from a warehouse on Delaware Avenue. However, it seems this company did not use the spur since it was designated vacant in 1977. More importantly, though, was the construction of the largest plant on the West Side: the Thomas J. Lipton Company's factory, also on Delaware Avenue. This massive complex, which opened in 1969, was below the railroad grade, so a forked pair of spurs curved down from near Swift Street, across a field, and to two separate loading bays on the east side of the plant. In 1970, Mondo Bros. Distributing Company relocated from Amat Street to a warehouse and office on a spur just beside Swift Street, wholesaling beer and wine. This was likely the last new industry to operate off of an industrial spur on the West Side.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhggoUULQX291Syr6T59n6UCn7CgsJnaz4H8OfPF1Wydp06NgSXuFTp2qYxR51-urJV3n1hB17DPrU_km1ozNSNHxwgG0bYBSE7Nkxbn2PCDKrC77qzGc-qUsnnYclpxlN1wPlYH6ADyzNoff7MGBdJk9WY1g-n1yFi2IW4PWK-mGzXUghubkhJqOYKQ41o/s4032/Former%20Mondo%20Bros%20spur,%20Nov%2028,%202017%20%5BDerek%20Whaley%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhggoUULQX291Syr6T59n6UCn7CgsJnaz4H8OfPF1Wydp06NgSXuFTp2qYxR51-urJV3n1hB17DPrU_km1ozNSNHxwgG0bYBSE7Nkxbn2PCDKrC77qzGc-qUsnnYclpxlN1wPlYH6ADyzNoff7MGBdJk9WY1g-n1yFi2IW4PWK-mGzXUghubkhJqOYKQ41o/w640-h480/Former%20Mondo%20Bros%20spur,%20Nov%2028,%202017%20%5BDerek%20Whaley%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The former Davenport Branch with the detached Mondo Bros. spur in the foreground and the Swift Street siding in the distance, November 28, 2017. [Derek Whaley]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>From the mid-1970s through to the mid-1990s, patronage of industrial spurs on the West Side plummeted. When the Union Pacific Railroad continuously welded the track in the early 2000s, only the Swift Street siding remained intact. The spurs that once catered to Mondo Bros., Wrigley, and Moceo all remain in place, suggesting they were the last businesses to stop using their spurs, but they have been disconnected from the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line. This entire stretch of rail can be followed along the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail.</p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-19396487091555560972023-12-28T09:00:00.000-08:002023-12-29T13:18:07.659-08:00Stations: Spring Creek<p>Like all of the other railroad branch lines in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Loma Prieta Branch played host to a few short-lived stations. Spring Creek takes the award for being the shortest, while also being the first and least remembered. In an unusual twist, though, it is one of the easiest station sites within The Forest of Nisene Marks to identify and visit today.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0l6OE9dqPUFf_uTECfyjGaEd4oZwBmQsu4WiekbPU5hrDXt6IwvjTWb9hWkNNixzbEsD2pLBOeXfykeupTDkKsx_ZIHnSGXjundSMFOneFAdQwFBTkv0hyphenhyphenPtoTj4sTN7grqOaSwWvCN1gl7mFRDePgxGdSgwb635-OyAF7Js5rytHVMa57RFJJukcSYYT/s3959/Southern%20Pacific%20train%20on%20grade%20between%20Loma%20Prieta%20and%20Monte%20Vista%20(II),%20ca%201890%20%5BPaul%20Johnston-MAH%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2316" data-original-width="3959" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0l6OE9dqPUFf_uTECfyjGaEd4oZwBmQsu4WiekbPU5hrDXt6IwvjTWb9hWkNNixzbEsD2pLBOeXfykeupTDkKsx_ZIHnSGXjundSMFOneFAdQwFBTkv0hyphenhyphenPtoTj4sTN7grqOaSwWvCN1gl7mFRDePgxGdSgwb635-OyAF7Js5rytHVMa57RFJJukcSYYT/w640-h374/Southern%20Pacific%20train%20on%20grade%20between%20Loma%20Prieta%20and%20Monte%20Vista%20(II),%20ca%201890%20%5BPaul%20Johnston-MAH%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific Railroad locomotive no. 80 pushing a logging train down the grade from Monte Vista (II), ca 1890 [Paul Johnston Collection, Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History—colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Spring Creek’s name refers to the fact that the creek provided drinking and fuel water to the village of Loma Prieta 0.6 miles to the south. Catchments were installed by the Loma Prieta Lumber Company about 440 feet above the village and these provided sufficient pressure that the water supply did not require pumps. Unfortunately, the creek did not provide sufficient water during the summer months, so wells closer to the village were also dug to supplement the supply.</p><p>The Loma Prieta Lumber Company’s primary mill at Monte Vista 1.4 miles to the north of Spring Creek burned down on May 13, 1885. While a temporary mill was reopened later that year and continued to operate from the original site, it would be two seasons before a new mill to the south opened to replace the facility. During this time, the company still needed to produce lumber to fulfil its contracts. In the preceding years, cruisers had scouted the forest and identified the southern slopes of China Ridge as a good target once principal harvesting around the mill was completed. With the area immediately around the mill partially inaccessible or damaged in the fire, the lumber company decided to accelerate its plans. The problem was how to get there.</p><p>An approach up Spring Creek Gulch seemed the most logical option. Gradual in its descent, the gulch provided a nearly level landing for a train to operate, assuming one could get to this place from across Aptos Creek. Sometime in mid- to late 1886, the Loma Prieta Lumber Company approached Southern Pacific to install a standard-gauge spur across Aptos Creek to Spring Creek Gulch. The railroad accepted, presumably with the lumber company footing the bill.</p><p>While the gulch could support the track, there was no way to get to it other than cutting, so workers cut through the sandstone hillside beside the main branch line following the curvature of a natural promontory that jutted into Aptos Creek. A bridge of unknown type was built across Aptos Creek and then the spur continued up into Spring Creek as far as it could go before the track became too steep. The first of several switches was installed at the bottom of this section and the spur then followed the ridgeline to the southwest. This allowed crews to directly load logs onto waiting flatcars from the hillsides above.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikW9A8MjWu7RCvgSbBPrL9gunPombP4qWfXk0A2ZBUMuAdMVvnWCsPl-wR3c7MVZ5CsDrshwsd_rilOvSs_dkj_XJOH1E7PsClnD6QVaiGmSjdCPOxYuMMCmhPNdOfpjEbBEjrFn7nzsWohawHKiTo9K7Tabz3sjo7UHyNJ8yY46I6isDFL2oQ9dU2Wiya/s1418/Spring%20Creek%20spur%20map%20%5BPowell%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1418" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikW9A8MjWu7RCvgSbBPrL9gunPombP4qWfXk0A2ZBUMuAdMVvnWCsPl-wR3c7MVZ5CsDrshwsd_rilOvSs_dkj_XJOH1E7PsClnD6QVaiGmSjdCPOxYuMMCmhPNdOfpjEbBEjrFn7nzsWohawHKiTo9K7Tabz3sjo7UHyNJ8yY46I6isDFL2oQ9dU2Wiya/w640-h458/Spring%20Creek%20spur%20map%20%5BPowell%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of the Spring Gulch spur. Drawn by Ronald G. Powell.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The spur connected with the main branch in a way that directed cars to the old mill site, so presumably the plan was to send logs there for processing. Once the new mill opened to the south, this became a more complicated transfer, with trains backing onto the branch before heading south to the new mill. This extra step may have been one of the reasons the line did not last long, though such arrangements were hardly unusual for logging railroads. Spring Creek was designated a freight stop, but no facilities were reported there suggesting it was solely a switch and likely only had a sign marking its status.</p><p>The track was extended by the lumber company as needed, eventually switchbacking again and then continuing due west to above Bridge Creek, where another switch brought it back east just above Aptos Creek. At some point, a short switchback was also extended to the east to collect timber from above Aptos Creek near the spur’s bridge. Crews extending the track had to remain below the water cisterns further up Spring Creek Gulch so as not to foul the village’s water supply—the timber above this line was not collected until the early 1900s, when the lumber company harvested the last of the standing trees along Aptos Creek.</p><p>The spur at Spring Creek may have only been used for two seasons, after which the track beyond Monte Vista was opened and logging crews moved north. A truncated spur—just the part on the south bank of Aptos Creek—may have continued to function as a holding spur for many years, though there is no evidence for this. The station remained on record in Southern Pacific books until some time in 1890. The Molino Timber Company later erected its incline directly through this section in the mid-1910s, but it did not use any of the previous infrastructure.
</p><p><b>Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:<br /></b>37.0307N, 121.8930W<br />116.3 miles from San Francisco via Pajaro</p><p>The site of Spring Creek station is easy to visit. Follow the Aptos Creek Trail from where it splits from the Aptos Creek Fire Road and cross Aptos Creek. Once you ascend the opposite bank, continue through a deep cut through the hillside. Spring Creek Station was located at the opposite end of this cut, identifiable by the cut to the left that follows the curvature of the promontory out toward Aptos Creek.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Henry E. Bender, Jr., "SP72 Santa Cruz Branch," December 2017.</li><li>Ronald G. Powell, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3GXOyjn" target="_blank">The Reign of the Lumber Barons: Part Two of the History of Rancho Soquel Augmentation</a></i> (Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, 2021). [Amazon Associates link]</li><li>Southern Pacific Railroad Company, Agencies, Stations & Officers books, 1887-1891.</li></ul><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com024J4+CQ Day Valley, CA, USA37.0310438 -121.893038737.027617860528991 -121.89733023442383 37.034469739471007 -121.88874716557618tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-47309330320122121482023-12-07T12:00:00.000-08:002023-12-14T00:44:06.310-08:00Stations: Ellicott<p>Rancho San Andrés west of Watsonville hosted four Southern Pacific Railroad stations at various times, but the oldest and most versatile was Ellicott near the modern-day junction of Buena Vista Drive and San Andreas Road.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCeTE09CZAHHipgcoX1n_Y8J_WUcHpeS2R5-Cw4W_jrPfg6n9sXmJem3SggAMsH1iXnrALWtYV34KsP_q1zGRxd7EFUglufryEIE0jjj6Ejb81AdAOY2c-zI0SXE-7daKmrvcLoppZ_coqDf_bML3ldgI1Hbl7PInbnSN3osfWD56NUPNFctc8FT7BVvXq/s3950/Double-headed%20excursion%20train%20at%20Ellicott,%20Apr%2025,%201948,%20W%20C%20Whittaker%20%5BJim%20Vale%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2266" data-original-width="3950" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCeTE09CZAHHipgcoX1n_Y8J_WUcHpeS2R5-Cw4W_jrPfg6n9sXmJem3SggAMsH1iXnrALWtYV34KsP_q1zGRxd7EFUglufryEIE0jjj6Ejb81AdAOY2c-zI0SXE-7daKmrvcLoppZ_coqDf_bML3ldgI1Hbl7PInbnSN3osfWD56NUPNFctc8FT7BVvXq/w640-h368/Double-headed%20excursion%20train%20at%20Ellicott,%20Apr%2025,%201948,%20W%20C%20Whittaker%20%5BJim%20Vale%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A double-headed Southern Pacific excursion train passing through Ellicott, April 25, 1949. Photo by Wilbur C. Whittaker. [Jim Vail – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Ellicott was established by the Santa Cruz Railroad in 1876 under the name San Andres. By the time Southern Pacific took over the line in 1881, this name had degraded to its common phonetic spelling: San Andreas. Its namesake was a Mexican rancho granted to José Joaquín Castro on November 26, 1833. Several of his descendants remained on the property after his death from smallpox in 1838. At 8,911 acres, Rancho San Andrés was a mid-sized rancho bounded on the north by Ranchos Aptos and Laguna de las Calabesas, the east by Harkins Slough, the south by Watsonville Slough’s outlet, and the west by the Monterey Bay. The area was predominantly ranch- and farmland, with significant sections of forest, a sprawling swamp, and six continuous miles of beach. A two-story adobe home was erected in the 1840s, probably by Joaquín’s son Juan José Castro, on the northeastern edge of the rancho. This survives today as the Castro Adobe State Historic Park. In 1852, Joaquín’s widow, María Antonia Amador, contested his will leading to the first subdivision of the estate. Another lawsuit in 1872 resulted in a second partition, after which the Castro family lost all of their land except for that in Larkin Valley.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGTr-DbacKNOyi5cqtWOvUq5WijIXHrbxDPyS51qeNha4cZlpYHhp6nbwE6HPrUAjws7DcoxOdYy-ZuNcfDzdVEZ-mULnH_WyzXm9kRO8jq6nQhUe6VSryEC8A86hlozX4sePwzSNG86bUXzc3QXXEVso9izJjlOZFGj0OnFutXXmuVTPUC3JIQOiXHx-i/s1916/pn_89_d8_57_x.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="1916" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGTr-DbacKNOyi5cqtWOvUq5WijIXHrbxDPyS51qeNha4cZlpYHhp6nbwE6HPrUAjws7DcoxOdYy-ZuNcfDzdVEZ-mULnH_WyzXm9kRO8jq6nQhUe6VSryEC8A86hlozX4sePwzSNG86bUXzc3QXXEVso9izJjlOZFGj0OnFutXXmuVTPUC3JIQOiXHx-i/w640-h420/pn_89_d8_57_x.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Castro Adobe, early 20th century. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The timing of the second lawsuit benefited the Santa Cruz Railroad, which soon acquired a right-of-way that ran the length of the rancho. Grading began in the spring of 1875 and the site of San Andres Station was reached in late September. The station immediately became a shipping center for wheat, grain, and sugar beets, the latter of which were processed at the recently-opened California Beet Sugar Company’s refinery in Soquel. When the first timetable was published in the Sentinel on June 10, 1876, San Andres was an inaugural passenger station. Around the end of September, a depot was erected on the property of Peter Leonard. By this time, the former rancho had evolved into a farming community, the most prominent feature of which was San Andres School, established in 1861 just south of the railroad station at the corner of San Andreas Road and Whisky Hill Road (Buena Vista Drive).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokXP5cOn9tMpv5LTKPYi7VZTlRSUvLgcYrIMJVVQXHX4vnEa5tBbTvq8tWmGuzUmV0onl_XPXBWiVQR6EgmDE4IMQO_aI1cELip_0abDNMImjBCUFeX6u7Mse0NThr-xAuR6xgewOnCWGoTObiJJOSmVU4po5YV5mUaeNCDDJAE29bHME0hqeJihiu-gv/s1963/Ellicott%20school%20house,%20c%201935%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1195" data-original-width="1963" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokXP5cOn9tMpv5LTKPYi7VZTlRSUvLgcYrIMJVVQXHX4vnEa5tBbTvq8tWmGuzUmV0onl_XPXBWiVQR6EgmDE4IMQO_aI1cELip_0abDNMImjBCUFeX6u7Mse0NThr-xAuR6xgewOnCWGoTObiJJOSmVU4po5YV5mUaeNCDDJAE29bHME0hqeJihiu-gv/w640-h390/Ellicott%20school%20house,%20c%201935%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">San Andreas School with the Santa Cruz Branch passing beside it, Buena Vista Drive in the distance, and San Andreas Road in the foreground, ca 1935. [UC Santa Cruz]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The name San Andreas for the station did not stick, however. When the Northern Division was restructured in 1891, Southern Pacific decided for unknown reasons to change the name to Ellicott. Why this name particular name was chosen is unclear. There is no record of anyone with that surname living in Santa Cruz County at any point in the nineteenth century. The most likely answer is that it was named after Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland, where in 1830 one of the first railroad stations in the United States was erected for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLU2_kXuRpV-3YzMkS_LvODDDG1cVNdBFTTGQASClW_fB2iju-GhBPv3Aj4fPAiMxllCwPWlxt_hcG_fnejRQETUqok9JPQbZQ2Y4BpvtNoKvfLeaiAb31rvtxhpYmy_8m4svoyuoxVMVjur5lyyRw5g2OKDaAimUorfLnfANXTgrXTnXloOQuV-Dnzl0/s1730/View%20of%20Ellicotts%20Mill,%20ca%201858.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1246" data-original-width="1730" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLU2_kXuRpV-3YzMkS_LvODDDG1cVNdBFTTGQASClW_fB2iju-GhBPv3Aj4fPAiMxllCwPWlxt_hcG_fnejRQETUqok9JPQbZQ2Y4BpvtNoKvfLeaiAb31rvtxhpYmy_8m4svoyuoxVMVjur5lyyRw5g2OKDaAimUorfLnfANXTgrXTnXloOQuV-Dnzl0/w640-h460/View%20of%20Ellicotts%20Mill,%20ca%201858.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, ca 1854. Lithograph by E. Sachse & Company, Baltimore. [Library of Congress]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Frustratingly little is known about Ellicott as a destination. No later than 1890, a 256-square-foot platform was installed on the south side of the track, presumably to help local farmers load their freight. In 1897, a telephone was noted as being available at Ellicott. The station likely had at least a spur from the beginning, but no additional trackage was recorded until 1905, when a 421-foot-long siding was noted in an employee timetable. A Southern Pacific-owned warehouse was at the station from at least 1902 and may have been there since the time of the Santa Cruz Railroad. John H. Covell had leased the building for three years when, on January 16, 1906, it burned down, destroying hay, straw, and farm tools owned by George Leonard. The railroad did not rebuild the warehouse, but it installed a 12-foot by 21-foot wood frame enclosed passenger shelter in 1911.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNFGuoZ34Oh12c3i_UYKGjRAwA0IDCcgTu2xLShVWqnvAHQwf4whaymaAfzy2mbABYYCHU_vr5ipztoxFIOm6VOJ27kHFfTn0V8mVJEojQLn650rNwRJy3DVVvlplOAYg7AYDaehkNes5HevbAq0qS567nCMiSZUYnHzgnI2eGb6luQea4SPf1PPlqfvA/s4000/Flooding%20at%20Ellicott,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden,%20Jack%20Hansen%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3027" data-original-width="4000" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNFGuoZ34Oh12c3i_UYKGjRAwA0IDCcgTu2xLShVWqnvAHQwf4whaymaAfzy2mbABYYCHU_vr5ipztoxFIOm6VOJ27kHFfTn0V8mVJEojQLn650rNwRJy3DVVvlplOAYg7AYDaehkNes5HevbAq0qS567nCMiSZUYnHzgnI2eGb6luQea4SPf1PPlqfvA/w640-h484/Flooding%20at%20Ellicott,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden,%20Jack%20Hansen%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flooding in a field beside newly-repaired Southern Pacific tracks at Ellicott, 1909. [Neil Vodden Collection, Jack Hansen – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Despite its new shelter, Ellicott declined in passenger patronage from the 1910s. Its freight customers also declined, though sand gondolas from the Olympia quarries near Felton often parked on the siding in later years. Part of this was due to the creation of stations at Manresa and Cristo just northwest of Ellicott, while the increase usage of trucks to haul out produce grown in the area also greatly contributed to the station’s decline. Regular passenger service along the line ended in 1938 and the passenger shelter at Ellicott was dismantled November 11, 1940, though excursion trains still periodically called at the stop into the early 1960s.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusho4-ICd6gewtV1vQfUVpdVZ1eN9V7yOch9qrWfICim2m4LURamcotT5o1eTGKI2JK7zYJuRZeB8CUgVGH2LD8Lwfpa1gBUyk5I35DC5wkEUmF9SjndhZt1rOI09HNvA6ff0ce0IonaWXbgR47wAV5CrFHpZavgYh5CPXRi7bG8fHakyKNWP9lvdYzfF/s1350/wwii-1942-army-gis-camp-mcquaide_1_ce92cbe6203f9f35a1737d93625d3c4c.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="1350" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusho4-ICd6gewtV1vQfUVpdVZ1eN9V7yOch9qrWfICim2m4LURamcotT5o1eTGKI2JK7zYJuRZeB8CUgVGH2LD8Lwfpa1gBUyk5I35DC5wkEUmF9SjndhZt1rOI09HNvA6ff0ce0IonaWXbgR47wAV5CrFHpZavgYh5CPXRi7bG8fHakyKNWP9lvdYzfF/w640-h424/wwii-1942-army-gis-camp-mcquaide_1_ce92cbe6203f9f35a1737d93625d3c4c.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wide view of Camp McQuaide near Ellicott, 1942. [WorthPoint]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Ellicott had a slight renaissance during World War II as the station point for nearby Camp McQuaide. In 1926, the National Guard had established the facility, named after Spanish¬–American War and World War I veteran chaplain Joseph P. McQuaide who had died two years earlier, on the site of the Capitola Airport near New Brighton. Protests by local poultry farmers as well as residents of the nearby El Salto Resort convinced the National Guard to relocate to the less populated marine terrace south of Ellicott.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCbz_vgT8pKbEZ4UE-BthVrWZpwYCUFS1yg4ZnLJWvwoE0UFZG_SHm3296g6fza3fPUgersXq3QaFu_Vx1IS7s8gBZY_Xw09wjDIOXzYX_Zgs0UVy7UJL8svFRUOiX2e0O8HzRGnfITPZSejpM8DWewVa7W9-Hojr_Smye4NG3CPxd6uzYTsHfD2Ew_nUA/s1333/1_4644fe913bd5a3588ea134dad4a091fa.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="946" data-original-width="1333" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCbz_vgT8pKbEZ4UE-BthVrWZpwYCUFS1yg4ZnLJWvwoE0UFZG_SHm3296g6fza3fPUgersXq3QaFu_Vx1IS7s8gBZY_Xw09wjDIOXzYX_Zgs0UVy7UJL8svFRUOiX2e0O8HzRGnfITPZSejpM8DWewVa7W9-Hojr_Smye4NG3CPxd6uzYTsHfD2Ew_nUA/w640-h454/1_4644fe913bd5a3588ea134dad4a091fa.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">National Guardsmen loading blanks into an artillery cannon, ca 1944. [Derek Whaley]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The new facility was built in part through the Works Progress Administration, which was responsible for upgrading San Andreas Road and other local thoroughfares to support military equipment. The base’s airstrip, completed in 1943, was named Allen Field in honor of U.S. Army artilleryman Captain Francis C. Allen, who had died in October 1941 while responding to an ammunition shed fire in Alaska. The camp initially hosted the 250th Coast Artillery Regiment, but throughout the war, over 12,000 Guardsmen passed through the facility, including members of the Signal Corps, Cavalry Medics, and Naval Radar group. As the war neared its end, the base also became a holding camp for soldiers who had broken the law. The base was decommissioned in 1948.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSP2t1WKw6ngVCJl0f5w7B27n2gTSQS8Xv5AWT3-2g6MqXo2PolUjlC5XSO-e-1QVpm__WQFN8CkMp3jfqfoPBicJkcV1ppssrML4BM4z7nG6RQdUipCCgKcqqEKcHK5b2QsXqxrd60oT2g3c0bn-Di-nR6emKKRppH_7CVKcKVgSHWFi2OL-PqhzwQYs/s1600/Ellicott%20with%20people%20loitering%20around%20tracks,%201948%20%5BThe%20Santa%20Cruzian%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="874" data-original-width="1600" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoSP2t1WKw6ngVCJl0f5w7B27n2gTSQS8Xv5AWT3-2g6MqXo2PolUjlC5XSO-e-1QVpm__WQFN8CkMp3jfqfoPBicJkcV1ppssrML4BM4z7nG6RQdUipCCgKcqqEKcHK5b2QsXqxrd60oT2g3c0bn-Di-nR6emKKRppH_7CVKcKVgSHWFi2OL-PqhzwQYs/w640-h350/Ellicott%20with%20people%20loitering%20around%20tracks,%201948%20%5BThe%20Santa%20Cruzian%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo excursionists loitering around a Southern Pacific train at Ellicott, April 3, 1948. [<i>The Santa Cruzian</i>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The end of the war in 1945 led to the reduction of the siding at Ellicott the next year. Photographic evidence from 1948 suggests that the siding was removed entirely shortly afterwards. Also in 1946, San Andreas School was consolidated into the Freedom School District and the schoolhouse became a private home. Ellicott remained on employee timetables as a station until August 30, 1960, when Southern Pacific petitioned the Public Utilities Commission for abandonment. According to Southern Pacific officials, no local freight customers had used the stop for two years and the newspaper suspected Southern Pacific wanted to avoid paying transit tariffs from the station. Permission for abandonment was granted on December 1, 1960.</p><div><p><b>Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:<br /></b>36.921418, -121.837183<br />13.4 miles from Santa Cruz Union Depot</p><p><span>The station point for Ellicott was located across from the end of Crest Drive, which was likely originally built as the entry road for railroad visitors to Camp McQuaide, now operating as the Seventh-Day Adventists’ Monterey Bay Academy. The siding was located immediately to the west of Crest Drive, where Peaceful Valley Drive runs parallel to San Andreas Road and the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line. Indeed, this section of Peaceful Valley Drive likely predates the rest of the road and served as the loading area for vehicles delivering freight to waiting trains. The Santa Cruz-Monterey Bay KOA Holiday Park is located just to the north of Ellicott, while the area east of the station is now the Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge.</span></p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><ul><li>Henry Bender, SP72.</li><li>Donald T. Clark, <i>Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary</i>, 2nd edition (Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008).</li><li>A. J. Hatch, “Official Map of Santa Cruz County” (San Francisco: A.J. Hatch, 1889).</li><li>Edna E. Kimbro, et al, “<a href="https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/980/files/RSA Castro Adobe HSR - 1.0-2.16 p3-48.pdf" target="_blank">Historic Structure Report for Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe State Historic Park</a>” (June 30, 2003).</li><li>Ronald G. Powell, <i>The Tragedy of Martina Castro: Part 1 of the History of Rancho Soquel Augmentation</i> (Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, 2020)</li><li><i>Santa Cruz Evening Sentinel</i>, <i>Sentinel</i>, and <i>Sentinel–News</i>.</li><li>Capt. H. A. Sherwood, “<a href="https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=rQyaSYMz0fgC&pg=RA1-PA73&lpg=RA1-PA73&dq=%22Allen+Field%22+%22Camp+McQUaide%22&source=bl&ots=oYhmvDa5FK&sig=ACfU3U3P08iVI9f6Nrd3NDHt8ZuAOWT-5g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqibi6j_qCAxWGUWwGHbssDVUQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Allen%20Field%22%20%22Camp%20McQUaide%22&f=false" target="_blank">Coast Artillery Replacement Training Center: Camp McQuaide</a>,” <i>Coast Artillery Journal</i> 86:2 (Mar-Apr 1943)</li><li>Southern Pacific Railroad Company, corporate records.</li><li>Sarah Weston, “A Brief Look Back at Camp McQuaide,” <i>The Mid-County Post</i> 17:16 (August 8, 2006).</li></ul><p></p><div><ul>
</ul>
</div><p></p></div>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com4W5C7+H4 Ellicott, CA, USA36.9213802 -121.83714536.920522468309677 -121.83821788360596 36.922237931690326 -121.83607211639405tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-20092947497330423062023-10-13T09:00:00.001-07:002023-10-13T09:00:00.134-07:00Curiosities: The Beach Street Cafe<p>What is the oldest commercial building on Beach Street in Santa Cruz? Is it the Casino and Neptune's Kingdom—the former Plunge Natatorium? Is it the Carousel or Giant Dipper? Or is it something people see everyday but barely spare a glance at? While several private residences dating to the 1870s and earlier survive across Beach Hill, the structures along the waterfront are relatively new, dating only to the early 1900s. The Casino and Natatorium buildings date to 1907, replacing the earlier Neptune's Casino and Plunge buildings that burned down in 1906. In fact, this fire destroyed most of the oldest commercial buildings on the waterfront, including the Dolphin Bath House, which had been converted into the Tent City Restaurant, and several other associated structures. Only some tents and cottages, as well as the Plunge's powerhouse survived. However, one other building was only partially damaged in the inferno and quickly returned to service: the restaurant today known as the Beach Street Café.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcnEXeRNqdik32w_UZISLmzf75OEWkNQAyjCjIFjVzDzi95Imzii402J7_DA2fN44sTOKTsa3cUs3uexAjiRP3BvkU4eUV3eVIEKD2kWiV_6I7XZKG8x15DT9JicMONQUcMsIxcbHtWu5nluSqZacEqwKz8oGbtrrwq2hwVf8CnjvOJtnBcnqWJau-LVI/s3955/Casino,%20Dabelich's%20Cafe,%20and%20the%20Sea%20Beach%20Hotel,%20ca%201910%20%5BMargaret%20Koch,%20MAH%5Dj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2220" data-original-width="3955" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcnEXeRNqdik32w_UZISLmzf75OEWkNQAyjCjIFjVzDzi95Imzii402J7_DA2fN44sTOKTsa3cUs3uexAjiRP3BvkU4eUV3eVIEKD2kWiV_6I7XZKG8x15DT9JicMONQUcMsIxcbHtWu5nluSqZacEqwKz8oGbtrrwq2hwVf8CnjvOJtnBcnqWJau-LVI/w640-h360/Casino,%20Dabelich's%20Cafe,%20and%20the%20Sea%20Beach%20Hotel,%20ca%201910%20%5BMargaret%20Koch,%20MAH%5Dj.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dabelich's Grill with the Casino to the left and the Sea Beach Hotel in the distance, ca 1910. [Margaret Koch Collection, Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>This little restaurant at 399 Beach Street was erected from March to May 1904 by Ralph Selleck Miller, who had previously co-owned the Miller–Leibbrandt Plunge until Fred Swanton's Santa Cruz Tent and Cottage City Corporation bought it in 1903 to convert it into the Neptune Plunge. Miller bought the land from Frederick Hihn, who owned everything between Main Street and Cliff Street between First Street and the waterfront. A private home, which appears in a few early photographs of the waterfront, once sat at the intersection but Miller had it torn down for his new building. This narrow structure was two stories tall, with three rooms downstairs and four upstairs. Prior to opening, the walls were whitewashed and the roof was painted green. The restaurant was built for around $2,500. At the time it opened, the café was the only independent restaurant on the waterfront, with all other eateries owned by either a hotel or Swanton's company. Miller owned a substantial stake in the amusement center and his café was an expression of faith in the project.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbb5RfiTbTKJHkYbRseo52PnVu2iZcY67HgqcRYlRb0rCY6pol5OhS3hcHU4yTBPMhqc4RQUTg19JX0kmRXCS0mbzVrXDhjuDO4Q95-eUqBSmTyJJl4YqgcOvybhWLr37EeupO8lb0aZsdcGsX837F86_2AHzOap5dLuGvofz8XlNgRKFn_4kWz_9hrmG/s4000/Neptune%20Casino%20with%20Miller's%20Saloon,%20ca%201905%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1640" data-original-width="4000" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbb5RfiTbTKJHkYbRseo52PnVu2iZcY67HgqcRYlRb0rCY6pol5OhS3hcHU4yTBPMhqc4RQUTg19JX0kmRXCS0mbzVrXDhjuDO4Q95-eUqBSmTyJJl4YqgcOvybhWLr37EeupO8lb0aZsdcGsX837F86_2AHzOap5dLuGvofz8XlNgRKFn_4kWz_9hrmG/w640-h262/Neptune%20Casino%20with%20Miller's%20Saloon,%20ca%201905%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neptune Casino and Plunge with the Miller Building just to the left of the Casino beside a building labeled "Restaurant," ca 1905. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Throughout all of its history to the present, the little café at the corner of Cliff and Beach Street has made cameo appearances in thousands of photographs of the Casino and Boardwalk. Though rarely the subject of photographs, it is an ever-present reminder of the enduring legacy of this restaurant. Miller himself had little do with the building once it was erected. As a member of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, he delegated daily management of the café to a Mr. Fletcher of Capitola. From March 1904, he ran the business as a temperance café, though his primary food option appears to have been French fries. Advertisements in the <i>Sentinel</i> ran every day through the summer of 1904 promoting Fletcher's fresh crisps, sold across from the Neptune Casino. Later business owners mostly avoided daily advertisements as unnecessary since the majority of the shop's traffic came during the summer months from tourists.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOG0ODQefr0Cu5zJC4xo9EjlPjTOkuUkUuRzGvmUccTV4FWBwLZ3_nRE2mNdS4TZgLy_vV-4TTtSpIdU9kUE1d2NkcXyVtdmjQI0bP8Y5lqs3_PZ8S5nroo6BM-CaQhFgXn605b_Pc8ZOPvnzmeydMFd2-ypvwczNm3O6fkl4n0Mu2h23-T1xK2SWvR_ny/s1288/Surf,%2006:15:1905,%206.5.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="1288" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOG0ODQefr0Cu5zJC4xo9EjlPjTOkuUkUuRzGvmUccTV4FWBwLZ3_nRE2mNdS4TZgLy_vV-4TTtSpIdU9kUE1d2NkcXyVtdmjQI0bP8Y5lqs3_PZ8S5nroo6BM-CaQhFgXn605b_Pc8ZOPvnzmeydMFd2-ypvwczNm3O6fkl4n0Mu2h23-T1xK2SWvR_ny/w400-h208/Surf,%2006:15:1905,%206.5.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advertisement for Dabelich's Grill from the <i>Surf</i>, June 15, 1905.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In January 1905, management of the café was transferred to George Dabelich, former proprietor of the Pacific Restaurant on Pacific Avenue across from the Pacific Ocean House. He immediately set to work converting the fries shop into a small short-order restaurant. One of the downstairs rooms was converted into a kitchen, while another became a private dining room, with the largest room converted into a public dining room with tables and counter seating and painted entirely in green. The upstairs rooms were converted into private dining rooms with views of the Monterey Bay. Miller took this opportunity to add a cement-lined cellar underneath the building. He also installed a cement walkway around it, possibly the first concrete sidewalk on the beach. The Dabelich's Grill and Bar Room opened to much more fanfare than Fletcher's café on April 3, with seventy-five meals served by Dabelich himself, since he hadn't hired a chef yet.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSNMYdoqvgLuGHSc7f0DvEIOWzAqZaFBjR6vUY1LzLQARlBo0lWIzrzDti1NnTKrIMFsUgEukTfY6aeaIQTFGzwJPXVTlGLOgCWmmZhWlKHawu730-Els0RwA4MdUaXhYuOr67HqIUfJSZXST5oceE4tWuFJPwp_pZstXQfiE5Wi_WGcRJ_3eZ2awEhop/s2000/Tent%20Casino,%20summer%201906%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1348" data-original-width="2000" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSNMYdoqvgLuGHSc7f0DvEIOWzAqZaFBjR6vUY1LzLQARlBo0lWIzrzDti1NnTKrIMFsUgEukTfY6aeaIQTFGzwJPXVTlGLOgCWmmZhWlKHawu730-Els0RwA4MdUaXhYuOr67HqIUfJSZXST5oceE4tWuFJPwp_pZstXQfiE5Wi_WGcRJ_3eZ2awEhop/w640-h432/Tent%20Casino,%20summer%201906%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tent Casino, erected following the fire that destroyed the Neptune Casino, with Dabelich's Grill in the center background, summer 1906.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Daily advertisements for Dabelich's began to appear in the <i>Surf</i> from mid-June 1905 and ran until November 15. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that the grill would close, but the bar would remain open and begin selling cigars and cigarettes. On the morning of June 22, 1906, the great Casino fire burned down most of the structures at the waterfront. Dabelich's Grill suffered serious damage in the inferno, but remained standing. He reported to the <i>Santa Cruz Evening News</i> that he estimated his loss of stock and furniture to be $1,990. Apparently, only two walls and some internal walls of the second floor survived the fires, but the building was partially protected by the fact that a fire hydrant was just outside the building so firefighters were constantly on hand to put out flames. Much of Dabelich's products survived the fire, either because they were stored in the cellar or were removed from the building. Dabelich opened a pop-up shop beside his fire-damaged building the next day. Meanwhile, Ralph Miller immediately set to work rebuilding the restaurant.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBQRaCv-tpiQU8xGONOWu63cW6SjphBK0vrwaxRgp2i533gvNS9xR_mNMTVTbL2GkE_xG6uYZi3LyqKDep84EV-gvmaUOv7RTVyFJUcD6GCnJLRLdh2evr-3yDaVitVzAWdUvPliYX04AA6q3vp6bkmKNFgOcZW-WguxpJXSfXTOVw0CfWYCLmERV01Bu/s4000/Boardwalk%20from%20the%20west%20with%20the%20St.%20Francis%20Grill,%20ca%201940%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2519" data-original-width="4000" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBQRaCv-tpiQU8xGONOWu63cW6SjphBK0vrwaxRgp2i533gvNS9xR_mNMTVTbL2GkE_xG6uYZi3LyqKDep84EV-gvmaUOv7RTVyFJUcD6GCnJLRLdh2evr-3yDaVitVzAWdUvPliYX04AA6q3vp6bkmKNFgOcZW-WguxpJXSfXTOVw0CfWYCLmERV01Bu/w640-h404/Boardwalk%20from%20the%20west%20with%20the%20St.%20Francis%20Grill,%20ca%201940%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, with the St. Francis Grill to the left of the Casino, late 1920s [UC Santa Cruz]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The restored building reopened in mid-July, once more under Dabelich's oversight. Very little is said of the business for the next few years and it may have operated more as a bar than a restaurant as it had before the fire. On May 1, 1909, George H. Collin, a former San Francisco bar owner, took over management of what was then known as the Cliff Saloon. He may have renamed it the Cliff Tavern, but records are unclear. He ran the bar for five summers and then transferred management back to Miller, who was partnered with Mary Spellman at the time. Details are very scarce regarding the restaurant from 1913 to 1921. Next door, where Boardwalk Bowl's courtyard is today, Peter Pappas erected a restaurant, which opened on June 17, 1916. Due to the widening of Beach Street, Miller and Pappas were both forced to move their structures back from the road in late 1919. Miller ran his saloon for another year but, in April 1921, leased his old café to Pappas, who merged the two establishments to create the St. Francis Grill.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyZcl2lFUOUcBDEI3FJcBwdWqgNZMUvhgYA6flWFSv7x1iPlvjGaq1Zjte1mDHvws9cpuVqux9qvpAi-3ED4InEqxG2KaPw_-e0DAR6X3t6wlW0bLGkbQ4jtXahbJXKITUFnOkwJmBVOtRR0eBXcLN2WFLI-3unCwmUEP77CW8ZXxsfJZR2fdkid8QqdPN/s4000/Casino%20and%20St.%20Francis%20Grill%20after%20upgrades,%201950s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2570" data-original-width="4000" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyZcl2lFUOUcBDEI3FJcBwdWqgNZMUvhgYA6flWFSv7x1iPlvjGaq1Zjte1mDHvws9cpuVqux9qvpAi-3ED4InEqxG2KaPw_-e0DAR6X3t6wlW0bLGkbQ4jtXahbJXKITUFnOkwJmBVOtRR0eBXcLN2WFLI-3unCwmUEP77CW8ZXxsfJZR2fdkid8QqdPN/w640-h412/Casino%20and%20St.%20Francis%20Grill%20after%20upgrades,%201950s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The newly upgraded Cocoanut Grove with the St. Francis across the street, ca 1960s. [UC Santa Cruz]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Pappas had been running concessions at the Boardwalk with his brother, Constantine, since 1910. Over twelve years he had amassed a small fortune and made the best of it in April 1922 when he purchased from Agnes Hihn Younger the entire block between Beach Street and First Street, and from Cliff Street to Westbrook, minus the Breakers Hotel and Miller's small café, the latter of which they leased. The combined restaurant and bar was upgraded that same month, doubling the size of the dining room and adding a larger kitchen and cellar.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyj3CDFw0ecIwf76e3R_YDRgkJ5k46qvMLoEgupGjoOVG1mink6ycaICV4wpIeyx3cIaVgo4dIyNA1KufGMw1gLcU9HlIsrE9IdOdzcg9cgvQyMVsdq5GJQz4nCZRndWYxrZJilzhe0JjyNCwD8-v6chq0GiYY-E2hZis0b9NzyMgdlUN8LShyphenhyphenYe8p6ATU/s1874/Evening%20News,%2002:02:1931,%208.5-6.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1874" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyj3CDFw0ecIwf76e3R_YDRgkJ5k46qvMLoEgupGjoOVG1mink6ycaICV4wpIeyx3cIaVgo4dIyNA1KufGMw1gLcU9HlIsrE9IdOdzcg9cgvQyMVsdq5GJQz4nCZRndWYxrZJilzhe0JjyNCwD8-v6chq0GiYY-E2hZis0b9NzyMgdlUN8LShyphenhyphenYe8p6ATU/w640-h342/Evening%20News,%2002:02:1931,%208.5-6.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advertisement for the St. Francis Grill, published in the <i>Evening News</i>, February 2, 1931.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>St. Francis operated for forty years, only closing its doors at the end of the 1961 summer season. Ralph Miller died on August 29, 1950, and at some point afterwards his heirs sold the café to the Pappas family. For an unknown reason, Peter Pappas demolished his original 1916 restaurant around 1955, shifting all focus to the older two-story Miller Building. For decades its site remained a vacant lot until the Seaside Company converted it into a courtyard for Boardwalk Bowl. Management of the St. Francis Grill passed to Peter's children in November 1957, when Tony, Mary, and Ethel Pappas took over and renamed the restaurant the St. Francis Cocktail Lounge.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfW6ybi59nV0yjL4ES_qymDpy16z9yz6gBBaJD297F2jSEOQt5DoOPuN1LBt78rhWa2q-pCetIO0UcCmKpAQQFIjkWjiIB07FE9NWREZHRtOOhfkVocEPrKc84PDZEehYVDcj-v1c-bqRiVjJyQZjGXGuKDwwQUbsCizhUTs2DMRijlw8hlaUWoTd0oJu/s2000/Demolition%20of%20the%20overbridge,%20ca%201952%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1181" data-original-width="2000" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfW6ybi59nV0yjL4ES_qymDpy16z9yz6gBBaJD297F2jSEOQt5DoOPuN1LBt78rhWa2q-pCetIO0UcCmKpAQQFIjkWjiIB07FE9NWREZHRtOOhfkVocEPrKc84PDZEehYVDcj-v1c-bqRiVjJyQZjGXGuKDwwQUbsCizhUTs2DMRijlw8hlaUWoTd0oJu/w640-h378/Demolition%20of%20the%20overbridge,%20ca%201952%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Demolition of the Casa del Rey overbridge, with the St. Francis Grill to the left, early 1950s [UC Santa Cruz]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Pappas sold the property to a collective named Shorebreakers on May 14, 1962. One of the Shorebreakers, Sumner Treanor, a former Chicago Bears player, ran the St. Francis Lounge with his wife, Jo, who played piano and sang each night during the first months that they ran the bar. However, advertisements suddenly stopped on January 8, 1963, and Shorebreakers went out of business at the end of 1965. In May 1964, the collective leased the building to Jim Trillo, who opened Opus de Jazz, a record store and music venue. Despite his bold ideas about operating year-round and trying something new, he could not pay his bills. He declared bankruptcy in September 1965, but probably closed his business before the end of 1964. Basil J. D'Anna took over management of the building in April 1965, presumably as a lessee of Shorebreakers, although they purchased the property at some later point. D'Anna, riffing off his nickname 'Monk,' named the restaurant Monk's Lounge.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTrz5tU9-3A-wAmUERkpWfPK11r3s0MaLUApPyxe-drOY63isBWnEPlpU4i_bWQ8TRivp_F9WfuwIhS5CjHwe3I2eq698Jl8PMWbqQizMM15Evt2THBzOhd4wq4DrLqBtSF0iLSsFpm_cFaZljUBsvoSQweuqyu2LOnujOqyoYg2NZeUUkpF7ApTsc_WB/s1678/Advertisements.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1653" data-original-width="1678" height="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTrz5tU9-3A-wAmUERkpWfPK11r3s0MaLUApPyxe-drOY63isBWnEPlpU4i_bWQ8TRivp_F9WfuwIhS5CjHwe3I2eq698Jl8PMWbqQizMM15Evt2THBzOhd4wq4DrLqBtSF0iLSsFpm_cFaZljUBsvoSQweuqyu2LOnujOqyoYg2NZeUUkpF7ApTsc_WB/w640-h630/Advertisements.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sentinel</i> advertisements for the Treanors' St. Francis Lounge (August 3, 1962), Opus de Jazz (August 20, 1864), and Monk's Lounge (February 11, 1966).</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Monk's ran as the Brown Bag Deli during the day in the summers and as a nightclub in the evenings. Upstairs, one of Santa Cruz's first gay bars ran from 1971 to 1972 as The 141 Club, though it was not widely advertised due to public perceptions about homosexuality at the time. Monk's proved a popular musical venue for a decade, riding out the Hippy era before shutting its doors in 1976. The café passed through several hands after this, with Michael Williams, Louis Russo, and David Leefeldt taking it over in July 1976, followed in April 1979 by Barbara and Paul Tucker, who then leased it to Carlo Boyd and Donald Wallingford in April 1981. The Tuckers sold the property to Michael Hendel in February 1983, who sold it in October 1984 to Willie and Dollie Case, who continue to own the business today. The Cases have decorated much of the restaurant with Maxfield Parrish magazine covers and artwork, while also retaining artifacts from the café's earlier iterations. The couple also owns the Wharf House in Capitola.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0MpK-YOK-OwmixlSZVcdoteMq4JxNMvBMT1aT9RyZFA7F15Md1_5qyvZrN1nb5-Nzz9TwgpvLcWDWAwcdOKxSAoJSZ_sFCz_djLvJJjfNApzWcLgn8fgPDiZYZWEy1d77fO8-s2riR_wD1QmWmULutm4jwBgUFTcPPAwsoVSjR7ukhKMeBPSeciJ1qB7/s2504/Sentinel,%2008:11:1994,%2051.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1670" data-original-width="2504" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0MpK-YOK-OwmixlSZVcdoteMq4JxNMvBMT1aT9RyZFA7F15Md1_5qyvZrN1nb5-Nzz9TwgpvLcWDWAwcdOKxSAoJSZ_sFCz_djLvJJjfNApzWcLgn8fgPDiZYZWEy1d77fO8-s2riR_wD1QmWmULutm4jwBgUFTcPPAwsoVSjR7ukhKMeBPSeciJ1qB7/w640-h426/Sentinel,%2008:11:1994,%2051.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advertisement for the Beach Street Café, published in the <i>Sentinel</i>, August 11, 1994.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>From 1979, the restaurant at the corner of Beach and Cliff Streets has operated under the name Beach Street Café (or briefly Beach Street Deli). While it has certainly changed hands many times, the restaurant/bar/grill/saloon/deli/café has remained open almost continuously since it first opened its doors over a century ago. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk may have some of the oldest buildings on the Santa Cruz waterfront, but this little restaurant has survived fires, earthquakes, and floods to become the oldest commercial building of them all.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEiSmp0r3jXIVUyzgtDXlVWq3aaWE9C-WxczNp01Zw5f_B3QCWq4fZq0zn4Q1L538QiUzHpv3dEKT22t94BcR-KdF-brnqNLiEoJrqrcsNydA41TJsMHnOFDRmEwJakJIyLKZ7kHU8tUiuKW6GWuZX1ip1FfXvJ6noYmoU8Tk3gyaIr8h-OAg7UfYeWGj/s1024/Beach%20Street%20Cafe%20%5BVictor%20Pan%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="1024" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEiSmp0r3jXIVUyzgtDXlVWq3aaWE9C-WxczNp01Zw5f_B3QCWq4fZq0zn4Q1L538QiUzHpv3dEKT22t94BcR-KdF-brnqNLiEoJrqrcsNydA41TJsMHnOFDRmEwJakJIyLKZ7kHU8tUiuKW6GWuZX1ip1FfXvJ6noYmoU8Tk3gyaIr8h-OAg7UfYeWGj/w640-h430/Beach%20Street%20Cafe%20%5BVictor%20Pan%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Beach Street Café at 399 Beach Street, ca 2015. [Victor Pan]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Various articles from the <i>Santa Cruz Surf</i>, <i>Evening News</i>, and <i>Sentinel</i>. 1903-2005.</li></ul><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-86706363277434380322023-09-07T14:00:00.576-07:002023-09-15T00:11:27.334-07:00Car Stops: Arana Gulch and the Catholic Cemetery<p>The eastern limits of the municipal area of Santa Cruz—once comprising the City of Santa Cruz and the Township of Branciforte—have long been set at Arana Gulch, a depression formed by Arana Creek, which has its source far up Hidden Valley Road. The County Road—now Soquel Avenue—snakes through the gulch, splitting at its midpoint to head toward Soquel or Capitola. On the east side of the gulch is Old Holy Cross Cemetery, which was established in 1873 as an overflow cemetery for Catholic residents of the county. Most of the people buried at the old Santa Cruz Mission cemetery were reinterred here in 1885 when the Holy Cross Church was built. All of these facts contributed to the idea that any street railroad system on the East Side of the San Lorenzo River should extend to at least Arana Gulch.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOLUNwO8K-Fv4dDhfm-BclMsCBx-cLh2DC6D-DxMrfvXLyzYs6uIY9Sq-M2srpPVM7EZaI4PSsqim_ukKkOyOXi26TzABkqDhDBQFw2r5vmCpL9GVuK3q7tx6R3GaI2qsbcgvNt5gOvlRHToysLZYEkerxmH8CX_JIOfTrNDtb5cQ8de8o_qZHdJyWfXt/s3897/Woods%20Lagoon%20with%20East%20Santa%20Cruz%20horsecar,%20ca%201892%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1257" data-original-width="3897" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOLUNwO8K-Fv4dDhfm-BclMsCBx-cLh2DC6D-DxMrfvXLyzYs6uIY9Sq-M2srpPVM7EZaI4PSsqim_ukKkOyOXi26TzABkqDhDBQFw2r5vmCpL9GVuK3q7tx6R3GaI2qsbcgvNt5gOvlRHToysLZYEkerxmH8CX_JIOfTrNDtb5cQ8de8o_qZHdJyWfXt/w640-h206/Woods%20Lagoon%20with%20East%20Santa%20Cruz%20horsecar,%20ca%201892%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An East Santa Cruz Street Railroad horsecar running along Atlantic Avenue with a view north across Wood's Lagoon and up Arana Gulch, ca 1892. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The gulch was named after José Arana, who was originally granted Rancho Potrero y Rincón de San Pedro Regaldo by California Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado on August 15, 1842. This 92-acre land grant sat north and northeast of Mission Santa Cruz on the mission's former pastureland. Arana moved to the west side of his namesake gulch around the time that California became a state in 1850. He lived there until his death on March 1, 1868. East of Arana Creek was Rancho Arroyo del Rodeo, originally owned by the family of José Antonio Rodriguez but sold to John Daubenbiss and John Hames in 1845. Prior to Arana's relocation to the area, the depression had been known as Rodriguez Gulch by English-speaking settlers and retained that name into the 1850s.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8RaEjoza7HCyZj6sTJW_HCCBiEd_sc4GvzAk3D-hwSi0uvZeFt9Ph6OT6FQdnXtbHFGDtCYf6N3yxtdFAxx8TB5Ffv6J1_-emg-lvQSrCePX0_zR-LRDME7A2H82fd6XRiKowIQsfMT3CL-Q2JIZZvJnQuIGDLbnDrGEJd0UeMf9dHn3u1j9X6ZqVF4Qa/s4000/East%20Santa%20Cruz%20Railroad%20on%20Soquel%20Avenue%20SCPL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2313" data-original-width="4000" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8RaEjoza7HCyZj6sTJW_HCCBiEd_sc4GvzAk3D-hwSi0uvZeFt9Ph6OT6FQdnXtbHFGDtCYf6N3yxtdFAxx8TB5Ffv6J1_-emg-lvQSrCePX0_zR-LRDME7A2H82fd6XRiKowIQsfMT3CL-Q2JIZZvJnQuIGDLbnDrGEJd0UeMf9dHn3u1j9X6ZqVF4Qa/w640-h370/East%20Santa%20Cruz%20Railroad%20on%20Soquel%20Avenue%20SCPL.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An East Santa Cruz Street Railroad horsecar on Soquel Avenue near Cayuga Street, ca 1893. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the late 1880s, the population density of Santa Cruz had grown such that easier means of transportation were required for people who needed to commute daily from the outskirts. While horse-driven street railroads had reached the West Side by the late 1870s, the East Side only had a brief service from 1876 to early 1881 when the City Railroad, running on the Santa Cruz Railroad's tracks, operated to Railroad (Seabright) Avenue. Following a nearly decade-long lapse in service, William Ely, a well-respected East Side community member, petitioned the Santa Cruz Common Council on November 4, 1889 to extend a horsecar line along Soquel Avenue to the western ledge above Arana Gulch. The council approved the franchise on December 3 and the East Santa Cruz Street Railroad was incorporated a week later.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zoKW0TQXKKUnGpae09ftfYFLzANNDBl-SLP7F-mlfInbx-MEXDNETeF0vQqFEIzvEfObMnkZnpL0IHDVO7PVH7XYbKNp8iHQoE7hfENl02dLtUh-f-sVQJcCfD9hPl_BcIG_KGifjiNzDhNLwG0SYRn2Hby0l7uKwTAsN4OhHVVQOTXOFwauWf2bmTDv/s4000/East%20Santa%20Cruz%20Railroad%20no.%204%20on%20Soquel%20Avenue%20SCPL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2653" data-original-width="4000" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zoKW0TQXKKUnGpae09ftfYFLzANNDBl-SLP7F-mlfInbx-MEXDNETeF0vQqFEIzvEfObMnkZnpL0IHDVO7PVH7XYbKNp8iHQoE7hfENl02dLtUh-f-sVQJcCfD9hPl_BcIG_KGifjiNzDhNLwG0SYRn2Hby0l7uKwTAsN4OhHVVQOTXOFwauWf2bmTDv/w640-h424/East%20Santa%20Cruz%20Railroad%20no.%204%20on%20Soquel%20Avenue%20SCPL.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">East Santa Cruz Street Railroad No. 4 on Soquel Avenue, ca 1895. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Ely was quick to build the line to Cayuga Street and it officially opened on May Day 1890. But rather than extending the line to Arana Gulch, as promised and contractually obligated to do, Ely wanted to redirect the line down Cayuga to Seabright Beach. At a tense meeting with the Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors on May 10, Ely was given permission to build this new branch line, so long as he completed the track to Arana Gulch first. He was given a month to resume building the track the requisite 4,000 feet to its agreed terminus.</p><p>The track to Arana Gulch and the Catholic Cemetery was finally completed on April 17, 1891. Although it was completed with no fanfare, the <i>Santa Cruz Surf</i> noted that it brought the streetcar line one step closer to Soquel and Capitola. It also noted that the fact that the streetcar line ended at the cemetery meant people could more easily visit their deceased friends and relatives. Why it was actually important is unclear—it may have been done to ensure East Siders that they were not forgotten. While the streetcar tracks were being installed down the County Road, the Board of Supervisors used the construction as an opportunity to fill, regrade, and otherwise improve the main road to Soquel. In 1894, plans were announced to extend either the Arana Gulch or Seabright branches to Capitola, but the economic conditions of the time put this project on hold. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mZ-vEuAqjiQidu9oNH_q1bUTGD9wmB5ZuBiGOO1rT4QgcqgHL7PqL_FijeQEIoDI-AQWILqwajzt1F4mO7dFJRL4HlbFBjeP336m32nOL9cMTFAi3eGD-hqDWkX5LtjDk5YjqNQcB2_eEh-DfY1u9aw1gwUqRZxVJHCu6U-vCP-hNTBCu9BiSV1o3rbT/s2462/Santa%20Cruz%20Surf%20advertisement,%201901-10-22%20p2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="876" data-original-width="2462" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mZ-vEuAqjiQidu9oNH_q1bUTGD9wmB5ZuBiGOO1rT4QgcqgHL7PqL_FijeQEIoDI-AQWILqwajzt1F4mO7dFJRL4HlbFBjeP336m32nOL9cMTFAi3eGD-hqDWkX5LtjDk5YjqNQcB2_eEh-DfY1u9aw1gwUqRZxVJHCu6U-vCP-hNTBCu9BiSV1o3rbT/w640-h228/Santa%20Cruz%20Surf%20advertisement,%201901-10-22%20p2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">East Santa Cruz Street Railroad listed for sale, <i>Santa Cruz Surf</i>, October 22, 1901.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the end of the century, it was clear that the future of the line was in electrification or abandonment. Fred Swanton, former owner of the Big Creek Electric Company, already controlled the city's other railroad, the Santa Cruz Electric Railway, and bought a controlling stake in the East Santa Cruz Railroad in the late 1890s. In May 1902, he received permission from the Board of Supervisors to extend the Arana Gulch Branch to Soquel and Capitola, but a better opportunity presented itself. The owners of the Santa Cruz, Capitola & Watsonville Railway Company, which planned to build an electric streetcar line between the named places, offered to buy the aging horse-railway. Swanton and Ely agreed to the sale in August 1902. Electrification of the line was approved by the Board of Supervisors on January 6, 1903, with a proviso that the Arana Gulch track be electrified no later than October 15. By the time the Union Traction Company consolidated all of its predecessors on September 2, 1904, the Arana Gulch Branch had been electrified for nearly a year.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVHRj4Dc4risZrE78PcGn7PjxhdX7Yubepz7wC28hD0dV5PHUoYgUjAuRCU-FdgkxcODt21ySfhdU1V3SHYnNcWFWfKDA0v2JiXRt8dpNLQ6EiSwj5yq7T3LnLTkCjamgi2INr7AFjS_v_YL4JMqamDAAm8GuFZqQEH5bxI7zRfB7QpVQmMAd6k2YDYfY1/s4000/Union%20Traction%20no.%2019%20at%20DeLaveaga%20ca%201909%20SCPL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2740" data-original-width="4000" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVHRj4Dc4risZrE78PcGn7PjxhdX7Yubepz7wC28hD0dV5PHUoYgUjAuRCU-FdgkxcODt21ySfhdU1V3SHYnNcWFWfKDA0v2JiXRt8dpNLQ6EiSwj5yq7T3LnLTkCjamgi2INr7AFjS_v_YL4JMqamDAAm8GuFZqQEH5bxI7zRfB7QpVQmMAd6k2YDYfY1/w640-h438/Union%20Traction%20no.%2019%20at%20DeLaveaga%20ca%201909%20SCPL.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Union Traction Company electric streetcar near DeLaveaga Park, ca 1909. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Very little is actually said of the Arana Gulch and Catholic Cemetery stops. A notice in June 1895 stated that a turntable was to be installed at Arana Gulch, but it is unknown if this ever happened. In January 1902, a letter to the <i>Sentinel</i> reflected on a recent trip the writer took on the horsecar line to Arana Gulch and down Haynes Hill, presumably the name for the western slope of Arana Gulch. This is the only concrete evidence that the streetcar line actually descended into the gulch itself, though there is no evidence it climbed the eastern embankment. Service to Arana Gulch was repeatedly curtailed during years with tight budgets, with the branch being closed most of 1905. However, the line was not abandoned and surveyors working for the Ocean Shore Railway Company hoped to use the Arana Gulch Branch as its mainline between Santa Cruz and Watsonville.</p><p>Perhaps as a reflection of this newfound optimism, the tracks beyond Cayuga Street were replaced with heavier rail in June 1906 in anticipation of the line's extension to Soquel. At the same time, most of the network was upgraded to standard-gauge, which left the short Arana Gulch Branch in a difficult situation. Beginning June 28, horsecars once more plied the branch line from Cayuga to Park Way, not because the branch wasn't electric, but because the new standard-gauge system was not compatible with the older narrow-gauge electric cars. The 160-acre property of Adolph Hagemann, which on the western rim of the gulch, marked the terminus, suggesting that trackage into the gulch, if any ever existed, was abandoned no later than this point. Service to Arana Gulch was every half hour from 7:20 a.m. to 6:20 p.m., and the <i>Evening Sentinel</i> reported that the line was "doing a good business." On June 3, 1907, the Board of Supervisors approved the extension of the line to Soquel and Capitola and its electrification. However, that same day the Board of Supervisors permitted the construction of an entirely new branch line along Water Street and Morrissey Boulevard to DeLaveaga Park.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_JvR9IBK1VdanPIVl9rerzlQws5LUFhXNSLBhkTFETKBs94rNWQKZD0BbnaIbqItajAt9WyCgawNbiFnNCt9jrpvhnXCMYgbiQyyrTUK4t3m10N8622eAdkIzQvtkmUy7CczJdgjpFBQy-BLkoj1mv-Hi5vr8ZUejxCVtHIVD3JmczXGdiHTiAfYL_7pG/s4000/Morrisey%20Union%20Traction%20Stop%20Dec%201%201918%20UCSC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2460" data-original-width="4000" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_JvR9IBK1VdanPIVl9rerzlQws5LUFhXNSLBhkTFETKBs94rNWQKZD0BbnaIbqItajAt9WyCgawNbiFnNCt9jrpvhnXCMYgbiQyyrTUK4t3m10N8622eAdkIzQvtkmUy7CczJdgjpFBQy-BLkoj1mv-Hi5vr8ZUejxCVtHIVD3JmczXGdiHTiAfYL_7pG/w640-h394/Morrisey%20Union%20Traction%20Stop%20Dec%201%201918%20UCSC.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A woman waiting for a Union Traction Company streetcar at Morrissey Boulevard, December 1, 1918. [University of California, Santa Cruz]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>This new line effectively rendered the Arana Gulch Branch redundant. When the DeLaveaga trackage reached the old Arana Gulch track on October 15, 1908, it seems certain that the two lines were linked and the old Cayuga to Morrissey trackage put out of service, though it was not abandoned at this time. The trackage from the new branch along Soquel Avenue to Park Way must have been upgraded to standard gauge at this time. Plans were still in place to eventually extend this trackage to Soquel, while another scheme intended to take the track up Park Way into DeLaveaga Park, where it could more easily reach Laveaga Heights at the top of the park. At the Park Way entrance, a large entry sign would be installed.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrKkBHvuvCe_xo4zFnJNfW5Ob2uin0Nsn-s25edJ4mxFUDwh3suWYU52MScYpqgf9VcyxSI0DTtkbXnpCvZ8RExpyRhufL8AKw_Awih9hizu3Poy2byxp3VK70AbUP9hTaPvh1buY-YWCQdK4znjtWl81SEr49a7U3y24QSYkFEY3DAvOIgPq_v1X9fld/s4000/Park%20Way%20entrance%20sign%20March%201931%20UCSC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2374" data-original-width="4000" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrKkBHvuvCe_xo4zFnJNfW5Ob2uin0Nsn-s25edJ4mxFUDwh3suWYU52MScYpqgf9VcyxSI0DTtkbXnpCvZ8RExpyRhufL8AKw_Awih9hizu3Poy2byxp3VK70AbUP9hTaPvh1buY-YWCQdK4znjtWl81SEr49a7U3y24QSYkFEY3DAvOIgPq_v1X9fld/w640-h380/Park%20Way%20entrance%20sign%20March%201931%20UCSC.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sign welcoming people to the City of Santa Cruz on Soquel Avenue at Park Way, March 1931. [UC Santa Cruz]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>For some reason, this Park Way route was never built despite the newspaper spending many words on it throughout 1910. The Morrissey track to DeLaveaga was electrified in late 1910, signalling the end of plans to create a grand entrance at Park Way. Meanwhile, Union Traction quietly abandoned its Cayuga Street to Morrissey track in October 1911 to allow it to be concreted for automobile traffic. When precisely service ended to the bottom of Park Way overlooking Arana Gulch is unknown, but it was likely around this same time. A decade after the stop was abandoned, a large sign was installed over the road at Park Way welcoming people to the City of Santa Cruz.</p><p><b>Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:</b></p><p>Arana Gulch: 36.981635, -121.998820 (speculative)<br />Catholic Cemetery: 36.983216, -121.994716 (speculative)</p><p>There are no known photographs of either stop's shelter, assuming any such structure was built. To make matters even more frustrating, the precise locations of the streetcar stops for Arana Gulch and the Catholic Cemetery remain uncertain. The Arana Gulch stop was somewhere in the vicinity of Park Way according to multiple sources. Since the County Road crossed Arana Creek in this section, it is plausible that the streetcar line did as well, in which case the stop for the Catholic Cemetery was likely the Capitola Road Extension, which was originally Capitola Road. However, if it did not climb to the top of the eastern hillside, then it probably stopped across from today's La Fonda Avenue, where there was a footpath to the cemetery. The cemetery itself closed in 1946 and fell into disrepair for half a century before volunteers restored it. The area immediately south of the stop sites is now Arana Gulch Open Space, which includes walking trails to Woods Lagoon and the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Clark, Donald Thomas. <i>Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary</i>. 2nd edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.</li><li>McCaleb, Charles S. <i>Surf, Sand & Streetcars: A Mobile History of Santa Cruz, California</i>. 2nd edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Museum of Art & History, 2005.</li></ul><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-28968607917309022762023-08-10T14:00:00.002-07:002023-08-24T00:17:09.919-07:00Curiosities: Railroad School and District<p>Santa Cruz County was still an isolated community in the late 1860s when the first suggestion of a railroad to San Francisco entered the columns of local newspapers. From 1863 to 1866, an increasing number of articles discussed the feasibility, practicability, financial costs, and benefits of such a connection. Debates raged over the best routes and whether Watsonville or Santa Cruz was a more important destination. In 1865, rival survey teams were plotting courses up the San Lorenzo River and along the Pajaro River, with both attempting to prove their route was the best option. Meanwhile, the Southern Pacific Railroad announced plans to extend its San Francisco & San Jose Railroad south to Gilroy, which would mean the Southern Pacific mainline would only be a short seventeen miles away from Watsonville. On January 9, 1868, the Santa Clara and Pajaro Valley Railroad Company was incorporated as a Southern Pacific subsidiary to fulfill this promise.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinWe5s004tRE68zTel0ce8GxxzgX7gi5uID6FPdf5O0L2xYB3DNR8udcYXDUx1UxBEtWi04wG0Z9SNLQcUX8ZSTE1aFTxJ-wxZaFPEBuQDmlz0GxHBYSJjho0hgOjSKhCijFx2hGxrHg0OENUY-O3wKCL2ynvQcKJDCKiSf2hKDzeMnd-BZh3rD0z6BMvZ/s3967/Railroad%20School,%201940s%20%5BUCSC%5D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2585" data-original-width="3967" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinWe5s004tRE68zTel0ce8GxxzgX7gi5uID6FPdf5O0L2xYB3DNR8udcYXDUx1UxBEtWi04wG0Z9SNLQcUX8ZSTE1aFTxJ-wxZaFPEBuQDmlz0GxHBYSJjho0hgOjSKhCijFx2hGxrHg0OENUY-O3wKCL2ynvQcKJDCKiSf2hKDzeMnd-BZh3rD0z6BMvZ/w640-h418/Railroad%20School,%201940s%20%5BUCSC%5D.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Railroad School, 1940s. [UC Santa Cruz – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Everyone knew that a railroad would eventually connect Gilroy and Watsonville—the only questions left were when and how would it do it? Frederick A. Hihn, Charles Ford, Nathaniel W. Chittenden, Lucius Sanborn, and other prominent Pajaro Valley elite decided in mid-June 1867 that they would not leave the matter to chance. They incorporated the California Coast Railroad Company, with the stated goal of connecting the two points via the most practicable route. Only five months later, Southern Pacific strongly suggested that it would continue a branch line from Gilroy to Watsonville and the Salinas Valley as soon as it completed the Santa Clara & Pajaro Valley Railroad to Gilroy. This had the effect of killing the stock-sale drive of the California Coast Railroad's plans, but it invigorating local interest in a railroad.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_3OylmCrILk-LnKPQdpb8IX0-W_1hzzz9b6PmQe4KHT43ANLzrkJARMhXTrkQ0LGFpF1HXINjVWU5IphzRdAcDqe3PeRodvvc2uzftrEQbEZOdC_AcxotOShZphDVG87Q1M7muLOZ4ZvATT5ihko5Qja_WaETzKy6qPZSRy2yGht3q6crSIcHYMDtWKY/s2522/Railroad%20School%20District,%201889%20%5BLoC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2116" data-original-width="2522" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_3OylmCrILk-LnKPQdpb8IX0-W_1hzzz9b6PmQe4KHT43ANLzrkJARMhXTrkQ0LGFpF1HXINjVWU5IphzRdAcDqe3PeRodvvc2uzftrEQbEZOdC_AcxotOShZphDVG87Q1M7muLOZ4ZvATT5ihko5Qja_WaETzKy6qPZSRy2yGht3q6crSIcHYMDtWKY/w640-h536/Railroad%20School%20District,%201889%20%5BLoC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boundaries of Railroad School District, from the Official Map of Santa Cruz County, 1889. [Library of Congress]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>All of this talk of a railroad got the better of some locals. This fact is no clearer than in the optimistic creation of the Railroad School District two miles east of Watsonville. Since the 1850s, dozens of farming families had settled along the north bank of the Pajaro River between the southern end of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Watsonville town limits. This area had been under the jurisdiction of the Carleton School District for several years, but by January 1868, it had sufficient population to justify a division. The boundaries of the new district followed the surveyed route of the California Coast Railroad between Pajaro Gap and Watsonville: it ran from the eastern boundary of Santa Cruz County west along the north bank of the Pajaro River, creating a triangular section that encompassed the lands of the Silliman, Wiley, Driscoll, Fining, Carleton, Folgey, and Casserly families.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqKlu-sOdhl7avBn7CPj8epdRMZpm6TGFKvKv5kKLxMhETt0q-_ZRaheBR6rIZMzbVSBxZlj3-4Vf0dPMq1x6b8f5ON33aG-8JfPIGKtyXWRUj3Rc9Z2zWdORoPxvjq5HX8D4E4FiffwmvLRRWGpYCoWNrU3bQIRQKqKv4iKn1myatjyHvsD-9drOtpz-/s972/Map%20showing%20Railroad%20School,%201915%20%5BUSGS%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="972" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqKlu-sOdhl7avBn7CPj8epdRMZpm6TGFKvKv5kKLxMhETt0q-_ZRaheBR6rIZMzbVSBxZlj3-4Vf0dPMq1x6b8f5ON33aG-8JfPIGKtyXWRUj3Rc9Z2zWdORoPxvjq5HX8D4E4FiffwmvLRRWGpYCoWNrU3bQIRQKqKv4iKn1myatjyHvsD-9drOtpz-/w640-h428/Map%20showing%20Railroad%20School,%201915%20%5BUSGS%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">USGS map showing the location of Railroad School and the original alignment of Riverside Road, 1913.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The earliest history of the school is not well documented. Classes were first held on Max Jones' property, either in his home or in an adjacent existing structure. A small purpose-built schoolhouse was erected nearby in 1869 and later moved to Riverside Road on the land of the Kelly–Thompson family. Today, this site is at the intersection of Riverside Road and Carleton Road. This first schoolhouse was eventually bought by O. H. Willoughby, Sr., in 1878 to allow for the construction of a new, larger building. Willoughby moved the old schoolhouse to his property where he used it as a stable. The second schoolhouse was built by John Aston on the same site. For the next twenty years, very little is said in local newspapers about the school, but it served as a polling place for the local community. In April 1890, a flagpole was installed outside the school and an American flag was raised, the first school to have such a flag in the Pajaro Valley. It became a point of pride to the local population, many of whom pitched in to buy the pole and flag.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlltbbeGjbVsgqFUL_HfmxfhxArDzwMBEQf4T1jdvN5Fi1pjeAA_YhZfbgiFcRGtTfuEzcAoLzqwLAlLJhKcwdzYwITPYpVjIvtJEJa_yn8hvWkqvO1tBgnV_tfd2pHFHcdspx8UX0GMQXoo_mNy1dw7IiigdGTqJkfmyXRRv9oDUXlbgzt_PduhNgfqTS/s3934/Railroad%20School,%20ca%201900%20%5BPVHA%5D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3934" data-original-width="3129" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlltbbeGjbVsgqFUL_HfmxfhxArDzwMBEQf4T1jdvN5Fi1pjeAA_YhZfbgiFcRGtTfuEzcAoLzqwLAlLJhKcwdzYwITPYpVjIvtJEJa_yn8hvWkqvO1tBgnV_tfd2pHFHcdspx8UX0GMQXoo_mNy1dw7IiigdGTqJkfmyXRRv9oDUXlbgzt_PduhNgfqTS/w510-h640/Railroad%20School,%20ca%201900%20%5BPVHA%5D.png" width="510" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Railroad School, ca 1900s. [Pajaro Valley Historical Association – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>A controversial district vote in November 1899—which saw a 4-hour polling window and only 18 people voting in favor of a new schoolhouse out of 35 total voters—led to the erection of a third schoolhouse at the site. The old structure was sold for $100 to the Silliman family and moved to their ranch, where they used it as a cookhouse into the 1930s. The new structure was designed by William Henry Weeks and constructed by a man surnamed Thomas on a budget of $1,200. The structure likely was first used during the 1900-1901 school year.</p><p>The new schoolhouse was anything but perfect. The Railroad School District was often cash-strapped and as a solution, it hired two female students to work as janitors. By 1913, the schoolhouse was covered in cobwebs, the plaster walls were cracking, and the toilets were in disrepair. It was advised by the <i>Santa Cruz Evening News</i> that the district should hire a janitor and install modern septic tanks and toilets, but this still had not been done by 1927. Several additions were made to the school over its nearly fifty years of existence, though, including new classrooms and offices for staff.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7BuYy9l9vw5pVInvlPXZdc4wPYFID59HuYYJQiATrQOCNIXGYoZQMK5DCZ3pK1DlUVPO8Xr8r9ZlLQ5Nk69tQulxuGc87LJNcNbMwMnY6z-Xzhvb8_lit-dAdG9LkCuVx3gZYXxuomDq9LxEsuFWWqR4CVrA5HRQzb6ANE8fk-eHHq1GLd7V1X78fhOaX/s1000/Railroad%20School,%20ca%201920s%20%5BAdi%20Zehner%5D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="1000" height="620" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7BuYy9l9vw5pVInvlPXZdc4wPYFID59HuYYJQiATrQOCNIXGYoZQMK5DCZ3pK1DlUVPO8Xr8r9ZlLQ5Nk69tQulxuGc87LJNcNbMwMnY6z-Xzhvb8_lit-dAdG9LkCuVx3gZYXxuomDq9LxEsuFWWqR4CVrA5HRQzb6ANE8fk-eHHq1GLd7V1X78fhOaX/w640-h620/Railroad%20School,%20ca%201920s%20%5BAdi%20Zehner%5D.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Railroad School, ca 1920s. [Adi Zehner – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Like most rural schools, the district only supported one full-time teacher for much of its history, and most of its teachers only served for a year or two. In later years, the district supported up to three teachers as well as a principal. Newspapers do not list all of the staff, but one of the earliest teachers in his first assignment in the county was John William Linscott. Another was George W. Furlong, who had a long tenure at several different Pajaro Valley schools in the 1880s. Other teachers included Allie Culverwell, Kara Allen, Louise Kidder, Jennie Ross, Ida A. Nohrden, Thomas J. Ready, Eileen Keefe, Irene Strazich, Ruth Sommers, Eldon John Covell, Gladys I. Zobel, Elma Hockabout, Helen Lorentzen, Anna Jensen, Ann Cikuth, Ann Stolich Moe, and Sue Gilbert.</p><p>As fate would have it, the school never lived up to its name. When the Southern Pacific Railroad did eventually complete a branch line down the Pajaro Valley in January 1872, it mostly stuck to the south bank of the Pajaro River and never entered into Watsonville. The only part of the Railroad School District that actually had a railroad was a 2.5-mile-long section through Chittenden, at the extreme eastern end of the district's jurisdiction, but this easternmost section was split off from the Railroad School District by 1886 and joined the Vega School District, which spanned the Pajaro River to San Benito and Monterey Counties. In the 1920s, Vega was split along the county line and the Santa Cruz County portion reverted to the Railroad School District, once more allowing the district to live up to its name, albeit barely.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGR8SbUoaR8xGDXtoN8dsT4Og45I0brNy2tfl1nLFs2EWTPVCoSwxQYwr_PtkkVdAG_cgqC8I1dzqmughqE-eThplgPq3idma0rE6rS5dIauF4j1xJGQo6umPoFfAKZegoY22xnnx7_IFxb6OH5UpEKOa3YeLVroE124aRqxXLsKRGfg44F9FpLY-vMnps/s3921/Railroad%20School,%201935%20%5BDee%20Mosegaard%5D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2577" data-original-width="3921" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGR8SbUoaR8xGDXtoN8dsT4Og45I0brNy2tfl1nLFs2EWTPVCoSwxQYwr_PtkkVdAG_cgqC8I1dzqmughqE-eThplgPq3idma0rE6rS5dIauF4j1xJGQo6umPoFfAKZegoY22xnnx7_IFxb6OH5UpEKOa3YeLVroE124aRqxXLsKRGfg44F9FpLY-vMnps/w640-h420/Railroad%20School,%201935%20%5BDee%20Mosegaard%5D.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Railroad School's students and faculty, 1935. [Dee Mosegaard – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Railroad School District was united to other local primary schools in February 1946 to become a part of the Salsipuedes Union Elementary School District. Railroad Elementary School lingered for another two years before shutting down in the summer of 1948. The schoolhouse was put up for auction in August 1949 for a statutory $500, but received no bids. It's ultimate fate is unknown. The property reverted to the Kelly–Thompson family but is currently the undeveloped lot where Riverside Road turns onto Carleton Road.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Clark, Donald Thomas. <i>Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary</i>. Second edition. Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2008.</li><li>Hatch, Andrew Jackson. "<a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4363s.la000040" target="_blank">Official Map of Santa Cruz County.</a>" San Francisco, CA: A. J. Hatch, 1889.</li><li>Lewis, Betty. "Railroad Hotel and school remembered." <i>Register–Pajaronian </i>(Sept. 1, 2000), 5.</li><li>Various articles from <i>The</i> <i>Pajaronian</i>, <i>Santa Cruz Evening News</i>, <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>, and <i>Santa Cruz Surf.</i></li></ul><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0W8F2+V5 Interlaken, CA, USA36.9246316 -121.699508536.922916222698518 -121.70165426721191 36.926346977301478 -121.69736273278808tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-64584066892182976842023-06-08T14:00:00.002-07:002023-06-09T01:34:46.304-07:00Companies: Union Mill & Lumber Company<p>The story of the Union Mill & Lumber Company shares its origin with the Alpine Lumber Company in that both began with Hubbard Wilson McKoy, an early settler in the Felton area. In 1871, McKoy’s daughter Sierra Nevada married the bartender of his Felton Hotel, Thomas Benton Hubbard. This link soon brought their two families into business together, prompting seventeen years of collaboration.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhydOPjFYaJy0E1nqpWzKQVA-jHuhyutqPFt8dhHergd9mVvl6TXiHTziH2nlijrJNMU0dwV7kxwe0vmHSOz9oUyetqTE4Oz1Z6Jeq-nuBg0JR-sMuNMXNzN2PdO9oaHlPG-UBKkezuuDdfNCgTuE10Kb9AQYZVPl4Ce8MChxkUBuNY07Cs8zaXCBb0Og/s3969/Hubbard%20and%20Carmichael%20mill%20on%20Oil%20Creek,%201890s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2370" data-original-width="3969" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhydOPjFYaJy0E1nqpWzKQVA-jHuhyutqPFt8dhHergd9mVvl6TXiHTziH2nlijrJNMU0dwV7kxwe0vmHSOz9oUyetqTE4Oz1Z6Jeq-nuBg0JR-sMuNMXNzN2PdO9oaHlPG-UBKkezuuDdfNCgTuE10Kb9AQYZVPl4Ce8MChxkUBuNY07Cs8zaXCBb0Og/w640-h382/Hubbard%20and%20Carmichael%20mill%20on%20Oil%20Creek,%201890s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. mill on Oil Creek, one of the headwaters of Pescadero Creek, late 1890s. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Hubbard family had migrated from Missouri and were led by Thomas’s father, Daniel Campbell Hubbard, who went into business with McKoy in 1875. The following year, Thomas began working at George Treat’s mill near the toll house south of Felton, giving him both experience in the industry and a connection with an influential local capitalist. On September 5, 1876, Thomas joined McKoy to form McKoy & Hubbard. For the next three years, the partners ran a mill north of Felton on the line of the San Lorenzo Valley Flume. During this time, they owned a lumber yard near the Railroad Wharf and briefly partnered with Nathaniel Manson and Charles Cummins of Lompoc, operating together as the Santa Cruz Lumber Company. But Manson, Cummins, and Hubbard all wanted more direct control over their operations and eventually went their separate ways in spring 1879.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwiW8zVFgPGmdQ7lu2q3lb9ZGtTDXK_T2bRNU4BByZUzGRZnFl8y_Memtjk5BQ3u_N74GiEZqxJDAeqDHlDp6oRAKEZy8wCkEX6m9JOkaHqsaItbyH6sVw0eR0VxQ8zNBs-SW8TKGOfFcpGD-F5U2EMtyRyIveXv9G74SMUwfpuNAkV_bDn9zKW2Kt4w/s4000/Felton%20in%20the%201870s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2705" data-original-width="4000" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwiW8zVFgPGmdQ7lu2q3lb9ZGtTDXK_T2bRNU4BByZUzGRZnFl8y_Memtjk5BQ3u_N74GiEZqxJDAeqDHlDp6oRAKEZy8wCkEX6m9JOkaHqsaItbyH6sVw0eR0VxQ8zNBs-SW8TKGOfFcpGD-F5U2EMtyRyIveXv9G74SMUwfpuNAkV_bDn9zKW2Kt4w/w640-h432/Felton%20in%20the%201870s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">H. W. McKoy's Central Hotel in Felton, mid-1870s. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>Hubbard soon joined forces with another son-in-law of McKoy, Isaac Newton Hayes, and together they purchased stumpage rights to the lands of H. E. Makinney and T. H. Peterson on Marshall Creek in a gulch soon named after Hubbard. Their mill opened the week of May 22, 1880, and was placed under the management of veteran lumbermen Joseph W. Peery and J. W. Basham. At the end of the year, Hubbard was appointed to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors to replace James F. Cunningham, who had resigned his post. Despite his unexpected shift into local politics, he remained focused on his lumber projects.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3eJot3962bVqZ8KMpN5mfD-_HZgD6wM_2NBCOX3PjTx2wMLiMaeIznJv9ZTggqX4FyjmhhxjDjPPAUu2XGezbMEM161c8y9M0aPHo7EYfoFwWcbpR15Q789GAmHLHuht654cwyLYcF_2Q6JYHTZJYA_I3DDhpu96MlzBbwPz5JgXem3j6TKTJx5CRw/s4000/Hayes%20and%20Hubbard's%20mill%20near%20Felton,%201881%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2460" data-original-width="4000" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3eJot3962bVqZ8KMpN5mfD-_HZgD6wM_2NBCOX3PjTx2wMLiMaeIznJv9ZTggqX4FyjmhhxjDjPPAUu2XGezbMEM161c8y9M0aPHo7EYfoFwWcbpR15Q789GAmHLHuht654cwyLYcF_2Q6JYHTZJYA_I3DDhpu96MlzBbwPz5JgXem3j6TKTJx5CRw/w640-h394/Hayes%20and%20Hubbard's%20mill%20near%20Felton,%201881%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hayes & Hubbard's mill on Marshall Creek, ca 1881. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In May 1881, Hayes & Hubbard sold its mill on Marshall Creek to the Independent Lumber Company of San José, which planned to run the mill until the end of the summer and then relocate the machinery to Soquel Creek. Only two months later, Hubbard partnered with David Lynd Kent, William Armstrong, Isaac B. Kent, and Nathan Robbins Bowes to incorporate the Union Mill & Lumber Company. That same month, the firm opened its first mill a quarter mile upstream of Hubbard’s previous mill. Joe Nichols oversaw construction of the new facility, which had a capacity of 20,000 board feet of lumber per day. The mill opened the last week of August and employed 30 to 40 people.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinV8YWYAs448vlx_mLmFB0HiFcIiRErrLybkpf3Z_zz0Hs0zUZ7zt0dZyc6g7ghJYwBwhtP96cQaAU27zfCSNn6-nwHvRe3qnpiDkuj_m5FeUe98oT316KzWe0KAOvoWB5WihQmDz4ahzrPW6X3QvFeb6nyJBg5RWgFRJxSz6Ypz0KqwmiQyzU6mvaiw/s4000/D%20L%20Kent%20Store%20in%20Felton,%20ca%201880%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2723" data-original-width="4000" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinV8YWYAs448vlx_mLmFB0HiFcIiRErrLybkpf3Z_zz0Hs0zUZ7zt0dZyc6g7ghJYwBwhtP96cQaAU27zfCSNn6-nwHvRe3qnpiDkuj_m5FeUe98oT316KzWe0KAOvoWB5WihQmDz4ahzrPW6X3QvFeb6nyJBg5RWgFRJxSz6Ypz0KqwmiQyzU6mvaiw/w640-h436/D%20L%20Kent%20Store%20in%20Felton,%20ca%201880%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">D. L. Kent's General Merchandise store in Felton, ca 1880. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>Union Mill’s operations in Hubbard Gulch lasted for three seasons. During that time, the mill ran at peak efficiency but the San Lorenzo Valley Flume could not handle its increased output, so the company was forced to transport lumber to Felton by wagon on the County Road (Highway 9). Once in Felton, it was loaded onto waiting South Pacific Coast Railroad flatcars. This was an inefficient system, one that the company hoped to avoid at its next venue. In February 1883, the company bought 400 acres of timberland along Lompico Creek from Peter C. Van Allen for $6,000.</p>
<p>While its Hubbard Gulch mill ran for one last season, the Union Mill & Lumber Company set up a new facility near the confluence of Lompico Creek and Zayante Creek using machinery purchased from the late William Waddell’s defunct mill near Point Año Nuevo. Construction was slow, particularly because the basin was extremely narrow. Crews used this to their advantage and installed a 35-foot-high dam that allowed the millpond to snake up the creek for half a mile. At the top of this, they installed a 330-foot-long canal, which served as a catchment for logs pulled or lowered from above. Once completed, the mill had a capacity of 50,000 board feet of lumber per day, more than double the output of the Hubbard Gulch mill. Probably in early autumn 1884, the South Pacific Coast Railroad extended a 0.4-mile-long narrow-gauge spur to the mill. Ownership and maintenance of the track was split between the lumber company and the railroad, with Zayante Road marking the dividing line. Empty cars were lowered to the mill using gravity and brakes, while horses pulled loaded cars up to the railroad grade. An access road was extended from the mill to Zayante Road in September 1884, and the mill was ready for operation in October.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTwL7crQ_-mA5uEQ2E7I8t2_xbYRBUwIJLbpYd4GDAb3XnBkQRxoTLKKz4duZiUIY52I7-mgcpSI_V_Qvs8ebzD8lT8QwlUSS6e-jHXb6P3ZObIjawn1h43G9IK_SgDre60EwzPj2Hvduuwuasjksby1ChiQmYgKAKoxRSx-7h1qBqW5rJiiGqSgeuKQ/s5779/Union%20Mill%20planing%20mill%20in%20Felton,%201895%20%5BLibrary%20of%20Congress%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3780" data-original-width="5779" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTwL7crQ_-mA5uEQ2E7I8t2_xbYRBUwIJLbpYd4GDAb3XnBkQRxoTLKKz4duZiUIY52I7-mgcpSI_V_Qvs8ebzD8lT8QwlUSS6e-jHXb6P3ZObIjawn1h43G9IK_SgDre60EwzPj2Hvduuwuasjksby1ChiQmYgKAKoxRSx-7h1qBqW5rJiiGqSgeuKQ/w640-h418/Union%20Mill%20planing%20mill%20in%20Felton,%201895%20%5BLibrary%20of%20Congress%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sanborn Fire Insurance map of downtown Felton, showing the dilapidated Union Mill & Lumber Company's planing mill between the end of the Old Felton Branch of the South Pacific Coast Railway and the San Lorenzo River, 1895. [Library of Congress]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Around the same time the Lompico mill was being erected, the Union Mill & Lumber Company also erected a planing mill behind the old Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad’s freight depot on the west side of the San Lorenzo River. The steam-powered facility had a capacity of 8,000 board feet of lumber per day, and, in May 1884, it shipped five carloads of wood products every day. This planing mill was responsible for processing rough lumber, splitstuff, and other wood products that could not be manufactured at the Lompico site.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGvH3dxFY_EQkP_jebZlzJo7wuPlJ9LBPBY6G9fvqZQCpgkBaL7i5eHNr9juR28niRjBsb_XWSo5qE47tddqMQynCP1y5UeMyy2MNAZIiu406OHd0Re6Vy1erclyWX9ftphh1SSuYTbP9Du3q8CSzmbbvg8KN4emOKQVLXLnAlyIpTAVng_nFEP4s5A/s3903/Union%20Mill%20and%20Lumber%20Company%20crew,%20ca%201886%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2332" data-original-width="3903" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGvH3dxFY_EQkP_jebZlzJo7wuPlJ9LBPBY6G9fvqZQCpgkBaL7i5eHNr9juR28niRjBsb_XWSo5qE47tddqMQynCP1y5UeMyy2MNAZIiu406OHd0Re6Vy1erclyWX9ftphh1SSuYTbP9Du3q8CSzmbbvg8KN4emOKQVLXLnAlyIpTAVng_nFEP4s5A/w640-h382/Union%20Mill%20and%20Lumber%20Company%20crew,%20ca%201886%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fellers and piecemakers of the Union Mill & Lumber Company posing around a felled tree above Lompico Creek, ca 1886. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>A <i>Sentinel</i> reporter visited the Lompico mill in October 1885 and reported on the operations there:</p>
<p></p><blockquote><i>This mill is running light at present, with a force of twenty-five men, and turns out about 12,000 feet of lumber per day, though its full capacity is 50,000 feet. This mill can boast of having the largest engine used in any saw-mill in the country, being one hundred horse-power. The system of bringing logs from the woods is different from all other mills in this part of the State, and has resulted in a great saving to the company, who formerly used sixteen yoke of oxen, while at present only four yoke are engaged in hauling the logs to a dam on the Lumbago creek, down which they are floated to within about one hundred feet of the mill, when they are attached to a chain and pulled by the huge engine to the saw. It is very interesting to watch this process, which is a well contrived plan and a much more rapid means of moving logs than was the old system.</i></blockquote><p></p>
<p>Most of the wood products produced at the mill were sent to San José, where Hubbard moved in January 1885 to work as the primary sales agent for the Bay Area.</p>
<p>On January 20, 1886, there was a change in leadership at the Union Mill & Lumber Company when H. W. McKoy was elected president. McKoy had spent the previous three years running the Central Hotel in Felton, but he had been a principal an investor in the lumber company when it first formed five years earlier. As president, he moved to San José and took over the company’s yard there. He only remained in his position for two years, however. In January 1888, he sold his shares in the company and permanently left the lumber industry. He returned to running his hotel until a fire on October 20, 1889, burned much of Felton to the ground. He rebuilt, christening the new structure the Grand Central Hotel, and continued to run the hostelry until his death on August 22, 1895.</p><p>Not long after McKoy took over the Union Mill & Lumber Company, the firm acquired 356 acres of additional land in the Lompico basin from the estate of Charles McLaughlin via a judicial ruling. This solidified the company’s hold over the timber in the Lompico Creek basin. The next year, in July 1887, the company announced plans to build a new mill on San Pedro Street in San José for $32,000. There is some evidence to suggest that it was actually built. The company also acquired timberland four miles north of Boulder Creek and was operating a mill there in March 1887, though no further details of this operation can be found.</p><p>Hubbard’s relationship with the company after this point becomes murky, primarily because local newspapers had a habit of blurring the names of local businesses with the names of their owners. What is clear is that Hubbard was likely in charge of the planing mill in Felton during this time. That planing mill was scheduled to relocate to Lompico in March 1887, but it is unclear if it ever moved since it was still operating somewhere in Felton in February 1888. That same year in October, Hubbard entered into a new partnership with Daniel and Neil Carmichael of Saratoga to harvest timber along Oil Creek, a tributary of Pescadero Creek at the northernmost point of Santa Cruz County.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj776-J1bccFJchYaeJWsEc6OOHdeDaJ-wr4Gwma2FSKXEHqCzNrPRBz4dS9NRpvdhZtMsQVdyRLGRhrnM2cXsAO0SyxXnEXG3rr-cNaie9Fra8abFkNFgRjPxmQRAHce5Acdh6QZBp1yIjkHLKjFY0-NvfuEVS0693ZwsCe12GLScTNjKKuwWWLH2TQ/s4000/Hubbard%20and%20Carmichael%20mill,%20ca%201884%20%5BSCPL%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2426" data-original-width="4000" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj776-J1bccFJchYaeJWsEc6OOHdeDaJ-wr4Gwma2FSKXEHqCzNrPRBz4dS9NRpvdhZtMsQVdyRLGRhrnM2cXsAO0SyxXnEXG3rr-cNaie9Fra8abFkNFgRjPxmQRAHce5Acdh6QZBp1yIjkHLKjFY0-NvfuEVS0693ZwsCe12GLScTNjKKuwWWLH2TQ/w640-h388/Hubbard%20and%20Carmichael%20mill,%20ca%201884%20%5BSCPL%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. first mill on Oil Creek, ca 1890. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Union Mill & Lumber Company must have gone inactive at around this time since the <i>Sentinel</i> notes that Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. relocated the Union Mill’s machinery to its new operation on Oil Creek prior to July 1890. Charles C. Smith is named as president of the Union Mill & Lumber Company in April 1889, but the firm is not mentioned against in newspapers after this date. It may have suffered during the economic downturn of 1893, which severely impacted the local lumber industry, and never recovered. What ultimately happened to the Union Mill & Lumber Company remains a mystery, but it was finally dissolved on December 14, 1905.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmChCHvq91fOWLRJyguhHRx_gTPQq9QngY1SY52ckiBJ4IukebHb4njwO0mfD57DIsb7FL0Oy5UIyNUXNxboYMOZLTBzpBJZXhNq-JE-lGPpSw6fKdjpK0hWt4R6riQW7o1f-rKFNz8xA6SAE6mln_pbH6jzuNMtUI5CB0zixqoId7rpCGFftB0SqeA/s3950/H%20L%20Middleton's%20Mill,%20the%20former%20Union%20mill,%20in%20Big%20Basin,%201901,%20Andrew%20P.%20Hill%20%5BHistory%20San%20Jose%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3077" data-original-width="3950" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmChCHvq91fOWLRJyguhHRx_gTPQq9QngY1SY52ckiBJ4IukebHb4njwO0mfD57DIsb7FL0Oy5UIyNUXNxboYMOZLTBzpBJZXhNq-JE-lGPpSw6fKdjpK0hWt4R6riQW7o1f-rKFNz8xA6SAE6mln_pbH6jzuNMtUI5CB0zixqoId7rpCGFftB0SqeA/w640-h498/H%20L%20Middleton's%20Mill,%20the%20former%20Union%20mill,%20in%20Big%20Basin,%201901,%20Andrew%20P.%20Hill%20%5BHistory%20San%20Jose%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The former Union Mill on Union Creek within Big Basin, ca 1901. Photo by Andrew P. Hill. [History San José – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The story of Hubbard and the physical remains of the Union Mill take different paths from this point. Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. sold the old mill structure and machinery to Henry L. Middleton in March 1895, who moved it to Little Basin northwest of Boulder Creek. Middleton employed around 40 workers at the mill during the three years that it operated there. He then moved the mill further north onto a 160-acre tract on today’s Union Creek within Big Basin that he harvested from 1898 to 1900 at a reduced capacity. This threat posed by this mill, along with a few others owned by Middleton, finally convinced the State of California to purchase land that would become the California Redwood Park in 1902. Following the sale, the mill was dismantled and removed to Boulder Creek in November. Joseph Grahamer later leased the site in 1904 and established the Union Mill Camp and Tavern, one of the earliest campgrounds at Big Basin. Unfortunately, the site was destroyed by fire on September 7, only a few months after it opened.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMjGSxCTrwsH_AYsWWIBtaX7dJj44-B820v_369ZDJ0_bMF4y2a-MBRVGy6E_1lL768Nno_nA5X3qnmcwVfnB62wwuXfzlTHJ-KiX5-c0_fJZza0C774g4Rv3e2vXpaWKzlkuwWEqMfN8d-tkz3LefvQuuzuOD6UFV5PaGbC2YC1BcmApm5XcG9Cehg/s3984/Hubbard%20and%20Carmichael%20waterwagon%20on%20Big%20Basin%20Road,%20Batista%20'Bat'%20Mevin%20driving,%20Andrew%20P.%20Hill%20%5BHistory%20San%20Jose%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3163" data-original-width="3984" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMjGSxCTrwsH_AYsWWIBtaX7dJj44-B820v_369ZDJ0_bMF4y2a-MBRVGy6E_1lL768Nno_nA5X3qnmcwVfnB62wwuXfzlTHJ-KiX5-c0_fJZza0C774g4Rv3e2vXpaWKzlkuwWEqMfN8d-tkz3LefvQuuzuOD6UFV5PaGbC2YC1BcmApm5XcG9Cehg/w640-h508/Hubbard%20and%20Carmichael%20waterwagon%20on%20Big%20Basin%20Road,%20Batista%20'Bat'%20Mevin%20driving,%20Andrew%20P.%20Hill%20%5BHistory%20San%20Jose%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. water wagon on Big Basin Road, ca 1901. Batista 'Bat' Mevin is driving. Photo by Andrew P. Hill. [History San José – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Hubbard & Carmichael Bros., meanwhile, continued their operations on Oil Creek. The company may have closed the mill for a few years from 1893, which explains why the Union Mill was sold to Middleton during this time. When business resumed around 1896, the partners shifted operations downstream of their original mill site into San Mateo County. The mill was moved 0.75 miles off Saratoga Gap to a clearing beside Oil Creek. To get the cut lumber and other wood products to the top of the ridge, where the lumber yard was located, the company built a funicular cable railroad, the first of its type in the county. Horses pulled wagons full of lumber from the mill to the bottom of the incline, where they were attached to a cable and hauled up the grade to the yard. Once in the yard, crews would load wagons and send the material off to Saratoga and San Jose. The mill at this time employed around 50 men and cut 20,000 board feet of lumber per day. The Oil Creek mill remained in operation at this site for at least two seasons.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4KtU5v4ODi_V1jCC6yVha-zz9f9yg_FSISvn_AYRLMAIxu1lRA2RAZ-9-d1a1K6lfToOP0cs2NHa3P_MLv9QcEz-4TvewC77pMou_dqtr9ZOddMcLjbDAzlW8-3eUvs8Iw8nGWAXIEclNNw6ntUPrmVfqE2EOW5_5DNuEBcTboEul80XumyfEecMcg/s3888/Hubbard%20and%20Carmichael%20Bros%20mill%20in%20San%20Jose,%20San%20Jose%20Daily%20Mercury,%20Dec%2022,%201901%20p18,6-7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2655" data-original-width="3888" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4KtU5v4ODi_V1jCC6yVha-zz9f9yg_FSISvn_AYRLMAIxu1lRA2RAZ-9-d1a1K6lfToOP0cs2NHa3P_MLv9QcEz-4TvewC77pMou_dqtr9ZOddMcLjbDAzlW8-3eUvs8Iw8nGWAXIEclNNw6ntUPrmVfqE2EOW5_5DNuEBcTboEul80XumyfEecMcg/w640-h438/Hubbard%20and%20Carmichael%20Bros%20mill%20in%20San%20Jose,%20San%20Jose%20Daily%20Mercury,%20Dec%2022,%201901%20p18,6-7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. mill on West Santa Cruz Street in San José, mid-December 1901. [<i>San José Daily Mercury</i> – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In January 1900, Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. opened a new retail mill and yard on West Santa Clara Street in San José. It would remain the most stable aspect of the firm for the next three decades. The mill on Oil Creek shut down after the 1899 season and relocated to the Morrell Ranch on Two Bar Creek. But it only remained there for two years, shifting back to a new site on Oil Creek in July 1902. The mill resumed using the funicular railroad to bring lumber to Saratoga Gap, but the company’s primary focus had shifted to the hillside west of the mill, with felled trees dragged via cable to the millpond below. Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. finally ended its operations on Oil Creek at the end of the 1905 season, after which it relocated to Waterman Creek just below the California Timber Company’s property.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-LQqDo9S3LY3pRtjR_C82BOvw_QYr5zPTgwqOurPtpQasHaRJZHpy8GNKvn7_o1q6o6LVzwYl7fQy7q0GCz6znOzNKvcW9kdYOeaAkwBwQWAnCjcIRCR_FKaFewv1vzDZBbsAcGInNgWkQSGOWyxrVm90WPNK7nr000MO9ldDrfAi2wyJZnyyxLp0g/s4000/Hubbard%20and%20Carmichael%20Bros%20San%20Jose%20crew,%20ca%201913%20%5BSan%20Jose%20State%20University%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1108" data-original-width="4000" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-LQqDo9S3LY3pRtjR_C82BOvw_QYr5zPTgwqOurPtpQasHaRJZHpy8GNKvn7_o1q6o6LVzwYl7fQy7q0GCz6znOzNKvcW9kdYOeaAkwBwQWAnCjcIRCR_FKaFewv1vzDZBbsAcGInNgWkQSGOWyxrVm90WPNK7nr000MO9ldDrfAi2wyJZnyyxLp0g/w640-h178/Hubbard%20and%20Carmichael%20Bros%20San%20Jose%20crew,%20ca%201913%20%5BSan%20Jose%20State%20University%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. workers in San Jose celebrating 100% union membership, ca 1913 [San José State University – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>During this time and for at least two more decades, Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. became a pillar of the San José lumber scene. The company briefly incorporated as Carmichael Bros. on October 27,1909, perhaps reflecting changes to the firm caused by the San Francisco Earthquake. This entity went out of business on April 13, 1914. Yet four years later, the older Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. was reincorporated and remained a legal entity until December 18, 1944. Not unexpectedly, Thomas Hubbard did not live to see the final end of his lumber empire. He died on November 23, 1917, after which his son Albert L. Hubbard succeeded him as president of the firm. From his start as a bartender in the upstart hamlet of Felton, Thomas became over forty years one of the most prominent lumbermen in Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties, whose legacy lives on in the gulch named after him in Ben Lomond.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i><span>California Office of the Secretary of State. bizfile Online.</span></i></li><li><i>San Jose Evening News </i>and<i> Herald</i>. Various articles.</li><li><i>Santa Cruz Sentinel, Weekly Sentinel, Daily Sentinel, Morning Sentinel</i>, and <i>Evening Sentinel</i>. Various articles.</li></ul><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-90839112055420195772023-05-11T14:00:00.000-07:002023-05-12T18:29:45.589-07:00Sources: Subdivision Plans<p>Almost every property in Santa Cruz County and in the surrounding areas was once a part of a larger property. On the coast and in the Pajaro Valley, most of these were Mexican ranchos. Elsewhere, they were large land grants, often in nearly uninhabitable mountain terrain. Eventually, the forests were cut down, the swamps were drained, and roads were extended, making much of the land in the region usable by settlers. Over time, the large ranchos and tracts were subdivided into smaller, more manageable properties. And the plans of these subdivisions can be very useful in researching local railroad history.</p><p>The railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains passed through several large properties. These included the coastal ranchos, the Pajaro Valley ranchos, Ranchos Zayante and Rincon on the San Lorenzo River, and Rancho Rinconada de los Gatos in Santa Clara County. Other large tracts through which railroads passed include the Santa Clara Valley Mill & Lumber Company's properties high up Zayante Creek, the Pacific Manufacturing Company's properties in the Ben Lomond area, Grover & Company's lands around Brookdale, and the various timber companies that owned property in and north of Boulder Creek. When the early railroads built their routes, these were still large property blocks, so negotiating easements and rights-of-way were relatively straightforward. However, as time passed, these large properties shrunk and subdivisions were created, often directly beside or around the railroad tracks.</p><p>A property developer creating a new subdivision can deal with the presence of a railroad in a number of ways:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>In select cases, they may petition the Southern Pacific Railroad to create a dedicated station for their subdivision. This is how Glen Arbor, Olympia, Call of the Wild, and Seabright all obtained their stations. Similarly, resorts such as the Boardwalk, Mount Hermon, Twin Lakes, Eva, and Manresa were allowed stations because the resort owners petitioned the railroad.</li><li>Alternatively, a subdivision may be created around an already-established station, with the property developers integrating the station into its plans (and the name sometimes changing as a result). This occurred at Eccles, Meehan (formerly Doughertys), Farley (Claus), Glenwood, Laurel (Highland), and elsewhere. In some cases, large-scale communities developed around former freight stations, such as at Ben Lomond (Pacific Mills), Brookdale (Reed's Spur), Aromas (Sand Cut), and Capitola (Soquel).</li><li>In the majority of cases, the property is subdivided with acceptance of the adjacent railroad but no active engagement with it. Sometimes proximity to a nearby railroad station is offered as a perk, other times the railroad goes entirely unmentioned. And in rare instances, it is left off the subdivision plan itself, suggesting that the developer wanted to downplay the presence of the railroad.</li></ul><div>The plans created for subdivisions can often reveal a lot about the developer's strategy regarding the railroad. And other details in the plans including the layout of the subdivision, the year it was surveyed and registered, the people involved, the owners of adjacent properties, and the details of the railroad itself all make them an invaluable resource when researching local railroad history.</div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ways of using this type of source:</h3><p>When it comes to railroad research, the number one reason to view a subdivision plan is to see how the property developers intended to interact with the railroad right-of-way. The area around Brookdale in the San Lorenzo Valley provides several different examples demonstrating the various relationships. Brookdale was developed from the land of Grover & Company, a lumber company, which had been purchased in the late 1890s by James Harvey Logan, a superior court judge. At the time, there were two train stations in the area: Reed's Spur and Steen's Spur. Both of these were industrial spurs catering to local logging operations, which had shut down by the time Logan had purchased the property.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVNJomXsYIisbzolqrn5FiW8HI5yfaJAjBQSjBGGt_DKTjfatnOtG9ZHJWHTrgDJmwzYtURF1hWqR1DRD5Mi8mB9dqvxnW7rgFrtjejyfwGYs6WPGc_E7WP1_MbuAgI-yLco-Gv7e-aJKTol8t7ilXLIGbi0AkGT3ZSguPKzAmrBqF_8EhAb6Re8xJg/s2053/Brookdale%20Map,%201909.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2053" data-original-width="1628" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVNJomXsYIisbzolqrn5FiW8HI5yfaJAjBQSjBGGt_DKTjfatnOtG9ZHJWHTrgDJmwzYtURF1hWqR1DRD5Mi8mB9dqvxnW7rgFrtjejyfwGYs6WPGc_E7WP1_MbuAgI-yLco-Gv7e-aJKTol8t7ilXLIGbi0AkGT3ZSguPKzAmrBqF_8EhAb6Re8xJg/w508-h640/Brookdale%20Map,%201909.jpg" width="508" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of Brookdale (assembled from four tiles), 1910. [Santa Cruz County GIS]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>This map above lays out the town in some detail. By this point, Reed's Spur had become the official station for Brookdale and Steen's Spur had become Fish Hatchery. There was also a new station directly across the river to the southeast called Siesta. Notably on this map, the station locations are emphasized, but the spurs and facilities are nowhere mentioned. This map is primarily about property ownership, so other details are lacking. Yet the importance of the railroad line passing through the property development is obvious. The three stations are mentioned and clearly play some role in the life of the community.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAKesTGZR7xJcvbixRSIeN4pwVrdivVhGNBB9omnAAJxtljEcvqK6U5PvkVQVXWKAWzlVAfATy0jAoeFgrCaW9ndvIlkNXzuJvpn2rXe5yj-qWjitbfdP8slc9o6K8ir4WgsIkDyYyovJD0-eFjbakPyhJaH9bO3dpsvSKSDFtC18W57_CoJonpMs3Q/s1988/Map%20of%20Huckleberry%20Island,%20April%201903.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1432" data-original-width="1988" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAKesTGZR7xJcvbixRSIeN4pwVrdivVhGNBB9omnAAJxtljEcvqK6U5PvkVQVXWKAWzlVAfATy0jAoeFgrCaW9ndvIlkNXzuJvpn2rXe5yj-qWjitbfdP8slc9o6K8ir4WgsIkDyYyovJD0-eFjbakPyhJaH9bO3dpsvSKSDFtC18W57_CoJonpMs3Q/w640-h462/Map%20of%20Huckleberry%20Island,%20April%201903.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of Huckleberry Island, April 1903. [Santa Cruz County GIS]</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>This map of Huckleberry Island is in some ways the opposite of the Brookdale map. The railroad right-of-way is shown, but it is there purely for geographic accuracy, nothing more. The actual railroad passes through an adjacent tract owned by the Hartman family (who are not named on this plan). For whatever reason, no agreement was made with the family and the railroad to allow a flag-stop for Huckleberry Island. Granted, the subdivision was just across a bridge from Brookdale station, but the fact that the developers of the subdivision mostly ignored the railroad in their plans is relevant to understanding the history of this little community.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIjiZYtz4bJWPd7KRHCs7t_vcDaup7RTwg4UNvYQsbEqQinUC-_oU4We7Ul-YE9IPoS907KFZMwvNc_g8Lpq-OqvnmS9kn5vV3hrphfRPeABl8B-Nq5vmMv5k6mJe8S9ayZkaNOee1UlIwVtEmdz5CPZie5ZYadg0l3az0wP_qkvlrTrRzLyB4pGcSXQ/s2724/North%20Brookdale,%20revised%201910%20map.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1966" data-original-width="2724" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIjiZYtz4bJWPd7KRHCs7t_vcDaup7RTwg4UNvYQsbEqQinUC-_oU4We7Ul-YE9IPoS907KFZMwvNc_g8Lpq-OqvnmS9kn5vV3hrphfRPeABl8B-Nq5vmMv5k6mJe8S9ayZkaNOee1UlIwVtEmdz5CPZie5ZYadg0l3az0wP_qkvlrTrRzLyB4pGcSXQ/w640-h462/North%20Brookdale,%20revised%201910%20map.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excerpt from a revised Map of Brookdale, ca 1911. [Santa Cruz County GIS]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>At the other extreme is the above extract from a revision to the 1910 Map of Brookdale. Notice the sudden addition of "North Brookdale Station" at the end of Irwin Way. This station never existed but was rather the fanciful idea of the property developer, surveyor, or cartographer. Yet the suggestion of such a station is reasonable—this community is separated from Brookdale station by a wide bend in the river putting it 0.9 miles away The next nearest station is Harris (formerly Boulder Mill), which is across the river and therefore inaccessible at this time. Thus, the closest station is actually Filbert 0.8 miles to the north along the main county road (Highway 9). It therefore makes sense that the developer would petition for such a station, but there is no evidence that a station was ever requested and Southern Pacific certainly never established one at this site. Its presence on this map is both evidence of hope and a warning to researchers not to trust everything found on a subdivision plan.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJCKme1GZo5DRpywr0L9V4EJTiowvAxr3AGV_k_frhi2_jY0kAhBkVbw4BpUMEOib_-0sjXw2pd86RT9MxaxV4UyhP17w0Q_MbgNu1EF3vG7brJKrnRRzvtKuRlRZ-9t5BvjZmW71Etv4uBFb_ex38Z0shj9W8a--VcLZSXp7PpANsHEmSoJ7NHvv-g/s1457/East%20Brookdale%20Plan,%20August%201909.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1457" data-original-width="999" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJCKme1GZo5DRpywr0L9V4EJTiowvAxr3AGV_k_frhi2_jY0kAhBkVbw4BpUMEOib_-0sjXw2pd86RT9MxaxV4UyhP17w0Q_MbgNu1EF3vG7brJKrnRRzvtKuRlRZ-9t5BvjZmW71Etv4uBFb_ex38Z0shj9W8a--VcLZSXp7PpANsHEmSoJ7NHvv-g/w438-h640/East%20Brookdale%20Plan,%20August%201909.jpg" width="438" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plan of East Brookdale, August 1909. [Santa Cruz County GIS]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Some of the most useful subdivision plans aren't even necessarily of the specific area in question. This plan of East Brookdale from August 1909 shows Siesta station in detail, despite the fact that it's actually focused on an adjacent subdivision. The plan shows the approximate length of the railroad spur and implies a relationship with the subdivision. Curiously, Siesta is not named, perhaps because the station itself did not have a name at the time this plan was made. The station's prominence in this plan makes clear that it would be available to residents and vacationers to the East Brookdale subdivision. For railroad researchers, it is also very helpful that visual details of the adjacent bridge over the San Lorenzo River are provided, making this plan even more helpful.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAzwdxNqSYioWWLnCTfssA6823SQqDjgu5LaWosuD9RPt2Dg-kuEOgpb9IW3LlUo_K1ewCx6EnZFzuj2tROOU6-KoIJzeW-rOiebYwyvVu7S38qHvKElUxCR8XgguVlFRJX4wkDYdPgtoZD9qVK_GUB9f_VDORU8e23M4X04JCncscN6hNad1aiW7OVA/s2440/Excerpt%20of%201910%20Map%20of%20Brookdale.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1417" data-original-width="2440" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAzwdxNqSYioWWLnCTfssA6823SQqDjgu5LaWosuD9RPt2Dg-kuEOgpb9IW3LlUo_K1ewCx6EnZFzuj2tROOU6-KoIJzeW-rOiebYwyvVu7S38qHvKElUxCR8XgguVlFRJX4wkDYdPgtoZD9qVK_GUB9f_VDORU8e23M4X04JCncscN6hNad1aiW7OVA/w640-h372/Excerpt%20of%201910%20Map%20of%20Brookdale.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excerpt of the Map of Brookdale, ca 1911. [Santa Cruz County GIS]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Shifting to another use for these maps, they can be used to identify important people, including those who lived on the property before it was subdivided, those who subdivided it, those who lived on it when the map was made, and neighbors to the subdivision. In this random excerpt from the circa 1911 revised Map of Brookdale, several names jump out, some individuals and some businesses. The most important business is the Brookdale Land Company, which subdivided the property on behalf of Judge Logan. Other important property holders include the Fish Hatchery and the Brookdale Lodge. Then there are individuals: Ralph Miller, former co-owner of the Neptune Baths at the Santa Cruz Main Beach; Fred R. Walti, owner of a large slaughterhouse in Santa Cruz; John W. Linscott, superintendent of county schools; and several other people connected to county business and government. All of these may provide clues as to why the subdivision was created, who it hoped to attract, and how the railroad was involved.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6YLe8Vb7vK72HaoiOyO37NRUUkZ-CXes-eaCEIVLvPggYALi7gaSuietEjMXupME9HxmfeJFH6vZRoXmjMnkR9FOtvIIPDYECQGlT2kWYX5sTew0jMygwxjZ9nCB4gtUPaGTsjNk7iwLus5GHV5ozyoZ98oGtiTybcK4LStep-2iS3BLhkvvhsNRPg/s1120/Map%20of%20Clear%20Creek%20area,%201894.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="978" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6YLe8Vb7vK72HaoiOyO37NRUUkZ-CXes-eaCEIVLvPggYALi7gaSuietEjMXupME9HxmfeJFH6vZRoXmjMnkR9FOtvIIPDYECQGlT2kWYX5sTew0jMygwxjZ9nCB4gtUPaGTsjNk7iwLus5GHV5ozyoZ98oGtiTybcK4LStep-2iS3BLhkvvhsNRPg/w558-h640/Map%20of%20Clear%20Creek%20area,%201894.jpg" width="558" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of the Clear Creek area, 1894. [Santa Cruz County GIS]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>One final important use for subdivision plans, town maps, and similar documents is to show a progression. Brookdale was not always a large property subdivision. Once it was just a lumber mill along the county road to Boulder Creek. This map surveyed by E. D. Perry in 1894 shows a very different area than would later emerge. Everything is in a grid pattern corresponding with a standard township division of 36 sections in a 6 mile by 6 mile grid. The railroad bridges are very helpfully numbered, presumably according to the South Pacific Coast Railway's formula. The relationship between the railroad, San Lorenzo River, and county road are much more apparent since there are no small properties confusing the scene. A 'white sulphur spring' is apparently located on the east bank of the river along a small brook. Most importantly, the names of the several large property owners are visible across the page: Grover and Logan, Castle, Ordway, Peterson, and the Hartman Tract. There's also the promise of some development in the area with 'Island Park' already labeled over Huckleberry Island.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Local history resources:</h3><p>While there are various places you can go to find a few subdivision plans, Santa Cruz County has a one-stop online place to find almost all of them relating to the county. Geographic Information Services (GIS) for Santa Cruz County includes many different maps of the county, but among those are subdivision and other property plans documenting the entire property history of the county.</p><p>You can access the GIS Web portal at <a href="https://gis.santacruzcounty.us/gisweb/">https://gis.santacruzcounty.us/gisweb</a>. Type in or navigate to a property, click on it (make sure only one property is selected, because it sometimes will click two), and then click on "Recorded Maps & Docs." Under the "Recorded Maps" and "Non Recorded Maps" sections are sometimes dozens of items relating to the property or the larger property within which it is found. Most subdivision plans are under "Recorded Maps," but other things such as rancho boundaries, early area surveys, smaller private subdivisions, and court maps may be found under "Non Recorded Maps." There are also several other categories of maps that may be useful, depending on your topic.</p><p>Monterey County has a similar GIS map viewer that can be found here: <a href="https://maps.co.monterey.ca.us/portal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a43bf9d208474b7c941a09eeeea7dea2">https://maps.co.monterey.ca.us/portal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a43bf9d208474b7c941a09eeeea7dea2</a>. Unlike the Santa Cruz version, this GIS site shows many of the subdivisions at the overview level and users can see small thumbnails of the available plans and maps when they click on a property. This makes it both more and less convenient to users, depending on how you want to search for your plans.</p><p>Unfortunately, Santa Clara and San Benito Counties do not appear to have similarly useful online web tools to search for historical subdivisions and property information. While they have GIS websites, these do not seem to allow for historical breakdowns of properties.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Online map tool:</h3><p>To assist researchers and those interested in local history, Santa Cruz Trains is created an online map showing all of the ranchos, named subdivisions, and organized towns and cities in Santa Cruz County. The focus currently is on Felton and Ben Lomond, but the map will be expanded to the entire county as time permits.</p><p></p><p></p><p><iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=1V-wwQD38JlMai1b4qBVbz_O3wvw&ehbc=2E312F" width="640"></iframe></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-38206693257645661232023-04-13T14:00:00.001-07:002023-04-13T14:00:00.155-07:00Events: The Train Wreck of May 23, 1880<p>While train rides in the Santa Cruz Mountains were sometimes fun affairs and more usually just a part of a person’s daily commute, in the afternoon of Sunday, May 23, 1880, an excursion trip became the stuff of nightmares. That morning, a fourteen-car South Pacific Coast Railroad excursion train arrived at Big Trees, today's Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. In it were members of the San Francisco Bohemian Club, the Alameda Harmonie Verein, and the Independent Rifles, among others, about 300 people in total. Picnickers enjoyed the early afternoon walking through the redwood groves and picking wild flowers. Some fished while others just relaxed under the mid-Spring sun. A number of Santa Cruzans had travelled to Felton earlier in the day to join the excursion group. Included among these were Duncan McPherson, editor of the Santa Cruz <i>Sentinel</i>, and Santa Cruz County Sheriff Elmer Dakan.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxPcj6Tr5tl_CrxXpurG9LqlVr4b-V-UqxecN6UmSc_pF1Y-O_L4WQSqHNjVHJ5eEhG3PWXu2xgNuTm5i_nfMbsnWQiJA4LnWx_gCiFjYCyNxsVrHT5iDT0Ls3sOu7ebWmwwu2BkIdAo_-kJpNmbML4ZRpdD9KYWpi2vVsmXust-b5I-mSl9BNS_DuVQ/s1500/Sketch%20of%20the%20wreck,%201880%20%5BThe%20Wasp%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="1500" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxPcj6Tr5tl_CrxXpurG9LqlVr4b-V-UqxecN6UmSc_pF1Y-O_L4WQSqHNjVHJ5eEhG3PWXu2xgNuTm5i_nfMbsnWQiJA4LnWx_gCiFjYCyNxsVrHT5iDT0Ls3sOu7ebWmwwu2BkIdAo_-kJpNmbML4ZRpdD9KYWpi2vVsmXust-b5I-mSl9BNS_DuVQ/w640-h414/Sketch%20of%20the%20wreck,%201880%20%5BThe%20Wasp%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original chromolithograph of the May 23, 1880 wreck commissioned by and published in <i>The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp</i> on June 5. Art by Mr. Keller.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>At around 3:00 p.m., Felton Depot received a request from a group of excursionists for a train to take them to Santa Cruz, where they hoped to enjoy the last hours of the day at the beach. The train of George L. Colegrove, a man experienced with the route through San Lorenzo Gorge, was initially assigned the duty, but this was rescinded and a different crew was tasked with the duty headed by engineer Robert J. Elliott and his fireman, Frank R. Thompson, neither of whom had ever taken the train down the grade. Elliott's train was larger than Colegrove's, which meant that it had to be controlled with more caution as it navigated San Lorenzo Gorge. Colegrove quickly coached Elliott about the dangers of the route, and provided him with his brakeman, Howard D. Anthrum, who knew the line well. Sam Davis, the younger brother of the railroad’s president, Alfred Davis, also insisted on joining the crew in the cab of South Pacific Coast Railroad Locomotive No. 3. Other crew members included Alfred Withers, an attaché of the railroad, and M. D. McLean, the brakeman.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBdPUMV74qhzmic_JBxpxvNs5fs1-4qAtfc-q_2SJjDH9t4ZoUcUF82b-FobbY5wBMYCK9hnoDbb9svkMiKP8auLTM14WulAlxMhG8Tym5pko4VzuOrGMcl5I841Ty-dojpwmsZC8SJwtcDdZWnuyjUBn6DFTtMTDiSA9qPmJXGOLKKfvp2RBgoVgqw/s847/Big%20Trees,%201880s,%20Alfred%20J.%20Perkins%20%5BWorthPoint%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="511" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBdPUMV74qhzmic_JBxpxvNs5fs1-4qAtfc-q_2SJjDH9t4ZoUcUF82b-FobbY5wBMYCK9hnoDbb9svkMiKP8auLTM14WulAlxMhG8Tym5pko4VzuOrGMcl5I841Ty-dojpwmsZC8SJwtcDdZWnuyjUBn6DFTtMTDiSA9qPmJXGOLKKfvp2RBgoVgqw/w386-h640/Big%20Trees,%201880s,%20Alfred%20J.%20Perkins%20%5BWorthPoint%5D.jpg" width="386" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early view of Big Trees before the addition of a siding for passenger cars, 1880s. Photo by Alfred J. Perkins. [WorthPoint – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Rather than use formal passenger cars, Elliott chose to bring flatcars that had bench seats and four-foot guard rails installed, similar in style to the Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railway excursion cars uses today, though more crudely constructed. Elliott’s train arrived at Big Trees at around 3:15 and the engineer sounded the whistle for all aboard. Conductor William D. Bones crowded the picnickers onto three of the open-air excursion cars, which only measured 24 feet in length. By the time the train was ready to go ten minutes later, many passengers were standing precariously or shoved against the poor-quality railings of the cars. For whatever reason, Elliott had decided against turning the locomotive at the Felton turntable and instead planned to back the train down the seven miles of track through San Lorenzo Gorge to Santa Cruz.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2njIN7jzbrkaW3pl-5ouFI0_BGuiLGcXPo4mT6ThbUW5b0EsI1zbVcQgk812wc0a1d8le_BKcfld6RurmwyGZOYwid_ui7m58ghyGN0yeUJ5lXx-7eMauCu3x4HIFYnWcXLdrXn59LsVsJbi8yvr6FHYwPG7a33HrXIaGj4Ygl7_MSYNe2AJJRC4Bg/s3241/Rincon%20with%20train%20approaching,%20ca%201900%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2022" data-original-width="3241" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2njIN7jzbrkaW3pl-5ouFI0_BGuiLGcXPo4mT6ThbUW5b0EsI1zbVcQgk812wc0a1d8le_BKcfld6RurmwyGZOYwid_ui7m58ghyGN0yeUJ5lXx-7eMauCu3x4HIFYnWcXLdrXn59LsVsJbi8yvr6FHYwPG7a33HrXIaGj4Ygl7_MSYNe2AJJRC4Bg/w640-h400/Rincon%20with%20train%20approaching,%20ca%201900%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The area known as Summit, later Rincon, with a South Pacific Coast Railway train approaching on the main line, ca 1900. [UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Three miles along the route, at around 4:00, the train reached Summit, the highest point along the line. The three miles beyond Summit were steep with tight turns, precarious bridges, and a tunnel through the Hogsback above the California Powder Works. Elliott and his crew, looking over the tender of their locomotive, began to back down the grade from Summit and passed into Tunnel No. 7. It was here that all accounts agree things began to go wrong. The train began to gain speed as it curved out of the tunnel toward the grade crossing of West San Lorenzo Drive (Highway 9). Elliott blew the whistle alerting Bones and McLean to begin braking the cars. McLean later claimed that he had already tightened the brakes on the first car, but Bones admitted that he could not get to the brake wheel on the third car because it was overloaded with passengers and he was busy collecting money.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2HUyLKUzSml6d59B742HAn8U4cWplNiIHs1Mv_4oiQO0Kif7jjXPqEGtWmlm2uSV-YGJqlXVP5ElECLAYLpcKVatXYmAMlQEWNud6GfXmeWZYDHwIEQdv_vN6OFtzeqfDdernc2jbZa7O_9Alv4xML1jw5lU14HoTpVtbB-1s-QiaxQQPiiftFomcA/s4000/View%20showing%20the%20exact%20grounds%20of%20the%20accident%20looking%20toward%20Felton-Colorized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1985" data-original-width="4000" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2HUyLKUzSml6d59B742HAn8U4cWplNiIHs1Mv_4oiQO0Kif7jjXPqEGtWmlm2uSV-YGJqlXVP5ElECLAYLpcKVatXYmAMlQEWNud6GfXmeWZYDHwIEQdv_vN6OFtzeqfDdernc2jbZa7O_9Alv4xML1jw5lU14HoTpVtbB-1s-QiaxQQPiiftFomcA/w640-h318/View%20showing%20the%20exact%20grounds%20of%20the%20accident%20looking%20toward%20Felton-Colorized.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sharp curve on the railroad tracks at the West San Lorenzo Drive grade crossing, May 24, 1880. [Alan Young – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Elliott looked through the cab window toward the back of the train and watched as the three flatcars began swaying heavily. He slammed on the engine’s brakes and put the drive wheels of the locomotive in reverse, but this did little to slow the train. A minor buckle in the track, probably caused by heat expansion from the unusually warm Spring day, caused the locomotive to rock severely and lift off the outside rails as the train curved around a tight bend. Centrifugal force pulled the passengers toward the hillside, adding a heavy weight to a poorly-built railing. The railing gave way in the second car when it brushed against a rock outcropping. As the car derailed, passengers began spilling into the hillside and onto the tracks below. The third car also derailed, falling down the opposite embankment toward the road below. More passengers were dumped over the side of the car. Elliott braked as hard as he was able from the front of the train and it slowly rolled to a stop just before the bridge over Shady Gulch. But it was too late.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1Zo9TaQtSiKHYy5rDH9qf5FfZtPi0TKECKpZay3WwPWrOESF_YOcy1AamMvMoWQNtgYF9mi5__uo9Ds2Kk1iwdnpZ_9hZd33nLDPfKynw1czDHInjIB_PQ1XNk3a9CBtnQl8VPzKERijSaokZUvaJp9uAdcK-95xzlKwuJWc1JVDjonv-Rc9G0vzMA/s2073/View%20looking%20northwest%20toward%20Felton,%20showing%20the%20curve%20where%20the%20cars%20jumped%20the%20track-Colorized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1029" data-original-width="2073" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1Zo9TaQtSiKHYy5rDH9qf5FfZtPi0TKECKpZay3WwPWrOESF_YOcy1AamMvMoWQNtgYF9mi5__uo9Ds2Kk1iwdnpZ_9hZd33nLDPfKynw1czDHInjIB_PQ1XNk3a9CBtnQl8VPzKERijSaokZUvaJp9uAdcK-95xzlKwuJWc1JVDjonv-Rc9G0vzMA/w640-h318/View%20looking%20northwest%20toward%20Felton,%20showing%20the%20curve%20where%20the%20cars%20jumped%20the%20track-Colorized.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The deadly rock outcropping where the car derailed, crushing passengers into the hillside, May 24, 1880. [Alan Young – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Scattered across the rails were bodies everywhere. Nearly sixty passengers from the two cars were littered across the tracks. Those from the third car were thrown down the hill, where many of them were badly injured but most survived. The passengers from the second car, though, were less lucky. Dashed against the hillside, many were crushed or, worse, run over by the car that followed. As Elliott, Anthrum, and Davis ran back to the cars, all they heard were screams as the severity of the incident became obvious. It was a massacre. Never in Santa Cruz County history was there such a railroad disaster before or after, and it proved to be the second-worst rail accident in the state to date.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn-qK559jlgSFsyEWtjoVAykzE_SZ7S1RlEPveYo0S467aY4bdm3dr_4unN644guttEfeD1yUFnBHqsyCAPPxWSg8ZPx9GtjdZSz84lPhCq2bmGqbj5sLZJHs4miD2Y9PFwbIWRXwG_WD4x2dd8nQNd6PulRo-t74wc_iY7hEq3LqQzkje030FV7iL_A/s1296/South%20Pacific%20Coast%20Railroad%20Locomotive%20No.%203%20%5BPacificNG%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="1296" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn-qK559jlgSFsyEWtjoVAykzE_SZ7S1RlEPveYo0S467aY4bdm3dr_4unN644guttEfeD1yUFnBHqsyCAPPxWSg8ZPx9GtjdZSz84lPhCq2bmGqbj5sLZJHs4miD2Y9PFwbIWRXwG_WD4x2dd8nQNd6PulRo-t74wc_iY7hEq3LqQzkje030FV7iL_A/w640-h426/South%20Pacific%20Coast%20Railroad%20Locomotive%20No.%203%20%5BPacificNG%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">South Pacific Coast Railroad Locomotive No. 3, 1880s. [ebay – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Realizing that they could do little to help the people, Elliott and Anthrum uncoupled the locomotive and carefully rode it to Santa Cruz to seek help. They quickly gathered medical supplies, doctors, and others and returned to the site of the accident about thirty minutes later. By this point, thirteen people were declared dead and over fifty other passengers were severely injured. The railroad crew quickly recoupled the cars and put the flatcars back on the track. Those dying or grievously wounded were placed on the cars and rushed to Santa Cruz where they were taken up by most of the local hotels including the Ocean House, Germania Hotel, and Wilkins House. Colegrove’s train was brought in from the north and took less injured people and the remaining excursionists back to Felton, where they were loaded onto a larger train bound for the Bay Area.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC03kdIIOJtZjmBaWbpUcMq5BSIDiqf4Xoj-cHaI0exi2hl4Kt5Ly91p94w4d5B4Y4vLoHo2155rrkdnv-1dzhUwK9vo87Q0kXdRZ-YmgTJfIofRGShHCEA8tQdIUcHPqe7J4ie7Luw5cNy_0kW6WGTxZheoMGQvSlZQO7cjlwkIQ7sbRaeJ5VhV-fEw/s4000/View%20looking%20toward%20Santa%20Cruz,%20showing%20the%20curse%20in%20South%20Pacific%20Coast%20Railroad-Colorized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1976" data-original-width="4000" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC03kdIIOJtZjmBaWbpUcMq5BSIDiqf4Xoj-cHaI0exi2hl4Kt5Ly91p94w4d5B4Y4vLoHo2155rrkdnv-1dzhUwK9vo87Q0kXdRZ-YmgTJfIofRGShHCEA8tQdIUcHPqe7J4ie7Luw5cNy_0kW6WGTxZheoMGQvSlZQO7cjlwkIQ7sbRaeJ5VhV-fEw/w640-h316/View%20looking%20toward%20Santa%20Cruz,%20showing%20the%20curse%20in%20South%20Pacific%20Coast%20Railroad-Colorized.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">South Pacific Coast Railroad Locomotive No. 3 parked at the scene of the wreck for the inquest committee to inspect, May 20, 1880. [Alan Young – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before dusk, two more passengers had died. Two final passengers would die on their journey back to San Francisco, resulting in a total of seventeen dead from the accident. These included Santa Cruzans, San Franciscans, and other men and women of the Bay Area. The full list of deaths included Frank Butler, William Costello, Jeremiah Darcy, Louis Falk, Patrick Gallagher, Frank Herringer, George C. W. Huer, Walter Hoyt, Mrs. C. S. Hussey, Ernest R. Jasper, Clayton F. Merrill, Frederick William Opitz, John Ripon, Joseph Salinger, Henry W. Stahle, and John Straub. The South Pacific Coast Railroad paid for all costs incurred by the passengers due to the accident.</p><p>Faced with few options, Dakan arrested Elliott under charges of gross incompetence and manslaughter, although it may also have been for his protection since many of the surviving passengers wished him harm. The sheriff had been on the train in the first car and witnessed the entire affair. While survivors tried to sleep off their injuries and forget the nightmare they had just experienced, crews working for the South Pacific Coast Railroad snuck up to the site of the accident and cleaned up before the full extent of their culpability could be determined.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCeNsHmtdclX6aUy6dU9b5Y76LN67-pz_OH0GGm-PMhRrVnrb0JUCRlBKSZIOVDWVaGDBKezfX7KjbW7epAJbUmNWloiD4Jt7BfOBTi5_CVANhMDOwcb240DO2ly2tyCbl83v88LKQJp33o7h_t-fcUtcUD1pB4rNGdC5oS5_LbBUyVktmBHc3HJVUow/s2072/View%20taken%20from%20the%20embankment,%20looking%20down%20100%20feet,%20showing%20the%20grounds%20where%20the%20disaster%20occurr-Repaired-Colorized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1017" data-original-width="2072" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCeNsHmtdclX6aUy6dU9b5Y76LN67-pz_OH0GGm-PMhRrVnrb0JUCRlBKSZIOVDWVaGDBKezfX7KjbW7epAJbUmNWloiD4Jt7BfOBTi5_CVANhMDOwcb240DO2ly2tyCbl83v88LKQJp33o7h_t-fcUtcUD1pB4rNGdC5oS5_LbBUyVktmBHc3HJVUow/w640-h314/View%20taken%20from%20the%20embankment,%20looking%20down%20100%20feet,%20showing%20the%20grounds%20where%20the%20disaster%20occurr-Repaired-Colorized.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Members of the inquest committee inspecting the tracks, May 24, 1880. [Alan Young – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>That night, Judge John Pope Davenport ordered the coroner’s inquest board to investigate the incident. Early the next morning, the nine-member board headed out to the site of the accident. They found to their annoyance that the entire site had been stripped of evidence, with the flatcars gone, the rails and ties repaired, and the grade raised and freshly ballasted. Almost all evidence of the accident had been erased. While there, a photographer captured at least seven stereographs of the scene, showing where the accident had occurred and several of the surrounding geographic and railroad features. Perhaps surprisingly, these stereographs, with captions explaining their purpose, were sold commercially after first serving as evidence in the inquest.</p><p>On Tuesday, May 25, Davenport and the inquest board began to hear testimony from forty witnesses to the event. Elliott’s competence as an engineer was called into question as it was revealed that he had also failed to adequately control the train when he took it from Alameda to Felton on May 22. The poor quality of the couplers used on the train were also noted. Still others emphasized the poorly-ballasted track with rails that had inadequate anchors and joints, all of which may have been further impacted by the unusually hot afternoon on May 23. The board took a week to come to a verdict, presenting a split decision on Monday, May 31.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoGQ6cag5LhfRpEOECxmalf3fRv_kltg1Qu1fmSXGiF3ThCBgBbkmBIxMjCdprKFBsJhI0doFhM_y3l9CdYfpeA_a8iXvUxE4B79WgwSZE44sRi9BsK_V7mCuwujBC5U_BgHLi3xuCglOhtMXwTXKbNwzfnDtEDkB4hVRDCxop4ypvsIxXzpjFbC_RmA/s4000/View%20looking%20toward%20Santa%20Cruz%20showing%20the%20grounds%20where%20the%20accident%20occurred,%20and%20the%20Coronor&amp;%23039;s%20Ju-Colorized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1990" data-original-width="4000" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoGQ6cag5LhfRpEOECxmalf3fRv_kltg1Qu1fmSXGiF3ThCBgBbkmBIxMjCdprKFBsJhI0doFhM_y3l9CdYfpeA_a8iXvUxE4B79WgwSZE44sRi9BsK_V7mCuwujBC5U_BgHLi3xuCglOhtMXwTXKbNwzfnDtEDkB4hVRDCxop4ypvsIxXzpjFbC_RmA/w640-h318/View%20looking%20toward%20Santa%20Cruz%20showing%20the%20grounds%20where%20the%20accident%20occurred,%20and%20the%20Coronor&amp;%23039;s%20Ju-Colorized.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The inquest committee investigating the site of the wreck, May 24, 1880. [Alan Young – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Three members of the board declared the railroad at fault for assigning an inexperienced crew to the train and not properly notifying the engineer of the sharp curves along the route. Another member blamed the engineer for the entire disaster. And the remining five members refused to place blame at all, claiming that accidents happen and the reasons cannot always be known. Besides the railroad’s cover-up efforts, a considerable reason for this split decision was the different stories told by the forty witnesses, few of whom could agree on specifics.</p><p>The disaster made worldwide news, with newspapers mentioning it as far away as Australia. An inaccurate color sketch based on initial reports of the accident was produced by Mr. Keller for the June 5 issue of <i>The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp</i>. Bay Area newspapers continued to report on the coroner’s inquest for the following two weeks. The wreck led to several changes. The South Pacific Coast Railroad began a program of straightening curves and reducing grades across its lines. It also changed the couplers used in its trains and improved its efforts at ballasting track. More importantly, crews operating along the former Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad’s grade had to receive special training and were expected to follow rules closely to ensure that such an incident as that of May 23, 1880 never occurred again.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Secrest, William B., Jr., and William B., Sr. <i>California Disasters, 1812–1899: Firsthand accounts of fires, shipwrecks, floods, epidemics, earthquakes and other California tragedies</i>. Sanger, CA: Word Dancer Press, 2006.</li><li>MacGregor, Bruce. “Stereo Forensics: An Investigation into the May 23, 1880 South Pacific Coast Railroad Accident,” <i>Stereo World</i> 25:5 (Nov/Dec 1998), 10-15.</li><li>Various newspapers from throughout California and the world, May–June 1880. </li></ul><p></p><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0289 The Royal Arch, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA37.008529 -122.046211237.0076722413189 -122.04728408360596 37.009385758681105 -122.04513831639404tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-28957652461122925592023-03-09T12:00:00.002-08:002023-03-09T17:43:25.734-08:00Companies: Glenwood Lumber Company<p>The Glenwood Lumber Company was one of the longest running logging businesses to originate in Santa Cruz County. Prior to the company’s founding, William Farrington purchased over 500 acres of timberland near the top of Mountain Charlie Gulch, a tributary of Zayante Creek. The land had been owned by Horatio Weymouth, who lost his home on the Santa Cruz Turnpike in a fire on February 20, 1880. In late 1882, Farrington opened a shingle mill near the toll road and operated it through the 1883 logging season. What precisely motivated him to take on partners is unclear, but on March 19, 1884, William H. Covell became the senior partner in the creation of the Glenwood Lumber Company, named after the nearby railroad station from which the firm would ship its lumber. Considering the sheer size of the property, it is surprising that the company only operated on Mountain Charlie Gulch for two more years.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLLCmkFHOFdeDJ6noQxFl6fB8QiVZ5bc5kCTt89F21maH2ezhPewNDVOWba8G0RvJd14sqP2OU2zOg-D2U5HBPkiCdZgI1pvvrTO-bS1-XpobxpfjlG5POtxd3F1JdcBhc8jNGLSAOUFmWCxy0Le2LhKUlFph6Q28UiwSM8-9fJ3oXdS2R69B6mwtisQ/s1513/Ox%20Team%20Near%20Glenwood,%20ca%201890,%20E.%20B.%20Andrews%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="1513" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLLCmkFHOFdeDJ6noQxFl6fB8QiVZ5bc5kCTt89F21maH2ezhPewNDVOWba8G0RvJd14sqP2OU2zOg-D2U5HBPkiCdZgI1pvvrTO-bS1-XpobxpfjlG5POtxd3F1JdcBhc8jNGLSAOUFmWCxy0Le2LhKUlFph6Q28UiwSM8-9fJ3oXdS2R69B6mwtisQ/w640-h384/Ox%20Team%20Near%20Glenwood,%20ca%201890,%20E.%20B.%20Andrews%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oxen team operating on the hills new Glenwood, ca 1890. Photo by the studio of E. B. Andrews. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In September 1885, the shingle mill closed and the machinery was moved three miles to the east to Covell’s property near Vine Hill on the West Branch of Soquel Creek. The new mill was scheduled to open May 1886 and would ship lumber from Highland (later Laurel). As part of this move, the company was reincorporated with Farrington becoming a full partner alongside William Covell’s brothers, Frank M. and Prentice E. Corporate offices were maintained at Glenwood and Laurel, suggesting some residual milling may have continued at the former site. Frank was made superintendent of the Soquel Creek mill.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaX9z35T3KVqrM7yDHQGxdTaslmfBIn9z31w-j7eCXW0M9fLF-EfjJ5_qs_J2Pr4SJNwUpfFrpo5XzF7bIjkq1hNOLYHJrhXFh0DwrzUoMrnJL9wxP9SmbYr_6sParmuELKcIxbdADNgtZXEHJlUWjM-wY2YuJPkW1r6_3zv4vj_Qgilb14opx4ai2w/s3044/Los%20Gatos%20News%201886-05-07%20p7c3-4.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1446" data-original-width="3044" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaX9z35T3KVqrM7yDHQGxdTaslmfBIn9z31w-j7eCXW0M9fLF-EfjJ5_qs_J2Pr4SJNwUpfFrpo5XzF7bIjkq1hNOLYHJrhXFh0DwrzUoMrnJL9wxP9SmbYr_6sParmuELKcIxbdADNgtZXEHJlUWjM-wY2YuJPkW1r6_3zv4vj_Qgilb14opx4ai2w/w400-h190/Los%20Gatos%20News%201886-05-07%20p7c3-4.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advertisement from the <i>Los Gatos News</i>, May 7, 1886.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Beginning in May 1886, advertisements for Glenwood Lumber began appearing in Bay Area newspapers. The business sold a combination of locally sources and imported lumber at its San José yard, which was situated on White Street beside the South Pacific Coast Railroad’s yard. Another retail yard was also maintained briefly in Los Gatos. The Covells left the business in September 1887 and William J. Rogers was brought on as a new partner and superintendent of the mill. At this time, the Glenwood office was closed, suggesting operations had ended on Mountain Charlie Gulch. The company’s Laurel office served as its primary place of business until July 20, 1890, when it was destroyed in a fire. All the company’s paperwork and books were lost.</p><p>Early the next year, Rogers became involved in multiple ongoing lawsuits against the Southern Pacific Railroad. The issue related to freight rates discrimination, with Rogers arguing that the railroad unfairly charged more for shipping lumber to San José from Laurel than it did for shipping from the North Bay, which was further away. He dropped this suit in April but then in September, he testified on behalf of the Santa Cruz Lumber Company, which was suing for the same reason. In June 1892, Rogers petitioned the Railroad Commission with a new complaint that shipping from Boulder Creek was cheaper than shipping from Laurel, which was closer to San José and on the same route. Eventually, the disputes were settled when Southern Pacific adjusted its rates in October.
</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtEmteKpIU3dAEfvO4eOzX_EuMOKWxzIx5fZIA4LyS1LW-ZBFPpCoQqzd7QNj8HiYk1oe287vOtUPnXUg1IYJ5PMkDkH1IgTgKGYgvsk1NgZ88V3SQE0jegKLLdheHh15jmuI1Isy-rxT67CXbHhIHL525IqUiiH2wRcbuTAPxPHB17u8q2_Pu1w96A/s2296/Sunshine,%20Fruits%20and%20Flowers%20photos.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1558" data-original-width="2296" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtEmteKpIU3dAEfvO4eOzX_EuMOKWxzIx5fZIA4LyS1LW-ZBFPpCoQqzd7QNj8HiYk1oe287vOtUPnXUg1IYJ5PMkDkH1IgTgKGYgvsk1NgZ88V3SQE0jegKLLdheHh15jmuI1Isy-rxT67CXbHhIHL525IqUiiH2wRcbuTAPxPHB17u8q2_Pu1w96A/w640-h434/Sunshine,%20Fruits%20and%20Flowers%20photos.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Clockwise) The Glenwood Lumber Company's wharf at the Port of Alviso, its lumberyard at the port, the South Pacific Coast Railway's tracks outside its San José lumberyard, and the main mill and offices of its San José yard, 1895. From <i>Sunshine, Fruits & Flowers: Santa Clara County, California</i>. </td></tr></tbody></table><p>By this point, Rogers had effectively taken control of the Glenwood Lumber Company. On April 29, 1892, it was formally incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000. Its corporate offices moved to 34 N Third Street in San José. On the new board of directors, Rogers served as president, C. M. Ayers was elected vice president, and Joseph B. Collins was made secretary, with William Knox Beans and David B. Moody as additional directors. William Rogers’ brother, Charles A. Rogers, was appointed general manager and served in that role until March 1898, when he left for the Alaskan goldfields.
One of the reasons the Glenwood Lumber Company was incorporated was to bypass Southern Pacific’s monopoly. It began reaching customers directly in whatever ways it could. The company provided most of the lumber to build the town of Morgan Hill in 1893, opening a retail outlet there to speed along construction. The next year, it opened a yard at Rucker, midway between Gilroy and San Martin, probably hoping to repeat the trick. North of Santa Clara at the Port of Alviso, the company built at least two wharves and purchased at least one steamship. This brought in lumber imported from Northern California to supplement the company’s local stock. To reduce the costs of imported lumber, the company bought a substantial stock in the Cottoneva Lumber Company, which operated out of Rockport in Mendocino County. Rogers took on the role of superintendent at the Rockport mill and erected a general store and hotel there. With its lumber empire firmly established, the Glenwood Lumber Company no longer feared the power of the railroad.</p><p>Nevertheless, the company suffered during the financial crisis of the mid-1890s. In July 1896, the company joined the Santa Clara County Lumber Dealers Association, which was an anti-competitive collective that set lumber prices in the depressed market. It also decided to cut costs and closed its retail yard at the end of 1896. From this point onward, the company focused exclusively on wholesale. Another casualty of these cost-cutting measures was likely the closure of the Soquel Creek mill and the sale of its stocks in the Rockport mill. This allowed the company to focus more on resale rather than production. It was around this time that E. Walter Schnabel became vice president of the company, replacing Ayers.</p><p>Over the next several years, William Rogers became distracted with politics and other ventures. He was elected to the San José City Council in 1901. The next year, he became the lead supporter of the Watsonville Transportation Company’s plan to turn Watsonville into a seaport. Rogers made the poor decision on March 31, 1903 to sell the Glenwood Lumber Company to J. H. Routt, owner of the startup San Jose Lumber Company. The set price was $36,000, with $3,000 paid up front. While Routt took control of the company, he would not own it outright until he paid the balance. As insurance, Schnabel remained on the board of the new company as vice president.
Routt spent the next year scamming several local logging businesses out of their lumber. Between March 31 and September 10, 1903, he purchased $1,500 of lumber from I. T. Bloom, $800 from the Gualala Mill Company, $1,600 from the Virginia Timber & Lumber Company, $5,000 from the Wendling Lumber Company, $300 from the Santa Cruz Lime Company, and $90 from the Hartman Bros. To make matters worse, he mixed all the lumber together and gave all of the money he made directly to Rogers rather than repaying the businesses that sold him the lumber. The Glenwood Lumber Company’s reputation took a dive and Rogers sued Routt in February 1905 for damages and failure to fulfil his contract. Rogers had already regained control of the company, but the lawsuits took about two years to resolve. In every case, the judge ruled against Routt.</p><p>Around August 1904, Rogers decided to open a new mill in the Santa Cruz Mountains, possibly to restore local confidence in his firm. He hired the well-respected lumberman I. T. Bloom as manager and opened a mill somewhere near the mountain town of Boulder Creek. According to later reports, Rogers only owned a single share in the company at this time. The controlling interest was held by the Schnabel family, with Bloom and Jacob Miller holding the remaining 999 shares. Walter Schnabel served as general manager. This imbalance may have set Rogers against his partners, though this was not apparent immediately.
The Boulder Creek venture wrapped after only two seasons and Rogers sought new tracts to harvest.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin35-iGGV_O7dgFqlgzNi7JmQUBMes6IN36O7cwneJyHF0r2Dja2WADR9hiiXuOulwuoyyBxeSj-WQx5oHZnXiDPHRCuC1ylqKPfs0ZykAgQ-MCtga-k9V-hecjj0MxgprZEnX9MXl0q2OPj9hieGRiKt28NNmeZaG_jLcGHHlfXq7nVtHTituyVUjbQ/s1956/Daily%20Mercury%201906-04-01%20Burned%20Mill,%20p3c4.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1482" data-original-width="1956" height="485" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin35-iGGV_O7dgFqlgzNi7JmQUBMes6IN36O7cwneJyHF0r2Dja2WADR9hiiXuOulwuoyyBxeSj-WQx5oHZnXiDPHRCuC1ylqKPfs0ZykAgQ-MCtga-k9V-hecjj0MxgprZEnX9MXl0q2OPj9hieGRiKt28NNmeZaG_jLcGHHlfXq7nVtHTituyVUjbQ/w640-h485/Daily%20Mercury%201906-04-01%20Burned%20Mill,%20p3c4.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A <i>San José Daily Mercury</i> photo of the burned mill in San José, taken March 31, 1906.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>He decided to jump on the Ocean Shore Railway bandwagon and, on November 14, 1905, the company bought stumpage rights to 1,450 acres on Gazos Creek in San Mateo County from L. Woodard. The cruising report for the acreage, which sat directly north of Big Basin, estimated that it contained 60 million board feet of timber. Before even the first trees were felled, though, disaster struck. On March 31, 1906, the company’s lumber yard on Fourth Street and St. John in San José burned to the ground, taking with it the company’s records and over $10,000 in lumber. As was common at the time, none of the property was insured. Arson was expected, but the arsonists were never found. Less than three weeks later, the San Francisco Earthquake struck and everything in the Bay Area came to a standstill.</p><p>After over a years’ delay, the first trees on Gazos Creek were felled in spring 1907. The mill, which cost around $30,000 to build, opened in mid-summer of that year. The company cut around 5,000,000 board feet of timber in its first two seasons of operation. However, the earthquake and the financial panic of 1907 caused the halting of construction on the Ocean Shore Railway. Without the railroad, the Glenwood Lumber Company could not ship its lumber. For the 1907 season, the company negotiated shipments with Loren Coburn, who owned a freight warehouse and shipping pier at Pigeon Point. However, in January 1908, Coburn denied them further use of the facilities. The company ignored him and used them anyway. In June, Coburn sued the company and Schnabel decided to shut down the mill the next month. His timing was perfect since a fire burned through the forest in early August, decimating much of the company’s timberland.</p><p>The history of the company after it abandoned Gazos Creek is less clear. Rogers appears to have left the company around the time that the mill opened. Miller was president for a time, but Schnabel eventually rose to the rank no later than 1911. By this point, the company’s offices had moved to 521 South Fifth Street in San José. A proposal to build a new lumber yard at Sixth and Julian Streets in 1913 was rejected, but it is unclear whether the company owned another yard at this time. It still maintained offices in June 1925, and it reportedly auctioned off 150,000 board feet of lumber on March 27, 1954 from a yard at 96 North Twenty-eighth Street. When the Glenwood Lumber Company ultimately closed is unknown.</p><p>Farrington's original timber tract on Mountain Charlie Gulch was later acquired by the Virginia Timber & Lumber Company, which operated a small mill beside the railroad tracks. The former Covell Bros. property south of Laurel was eventually bought by John Dubuis on July 27, 1910, who registered it as the Glenwood Basin tract. He converted the property into twenty-nine 5-acre residential lots, most of which never sold as intended. The subdivision is at the end of Tucker Road, accessible off Highway 17 via Sugarloaf Road.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Various newspapers including the <i>Los Gatos News</i>, <i>San Francisco Examiner</i>,<i> Jose Daily Mercury, </i><i>Santa Cruz Evening News</i>, <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>, and <i>Santa Cruz Surf</i>.</li><li>San Jose Mercury. <i>Sunshine, Fruit & Flowers: Santa Clara County, California</i>. San Jose, CA: San Jose Mercury Publishing and Printing Company, 1895.</li></ul><div>Download this article for your files:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/q86dg5x40ftxjcc/glenwood_lumber_co.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Glenwood Lumber Company</a> (PDF)</li></ul></div><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-16240729479838290082023-02-02T12:00:00.001-08:002023-02-03T13:47:18.890-08:00Curiosities: Storms and the Railroads<p>The watersheds of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay have never been kind to the region’s railroad infrastructure. From the earliest days of local railroading, landslides, sinks, cave-ins, and flooding have been commonplace, rendering various regional branch lines out of commission for months while bridges, tunnels, and rights-of-way are repaired. Because winter storms in particular have historically been so destructive, it is not surprising that some of these have been photographed by the railroad companies and interested parties. However, many storms have gone little recorded and unphotographed. making the creation of a full history of storm damage to local railroad lines nearly impossible.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEiSXlcHCjnTq4Xnyi8EHnPfFDF9rlasGndIiY4-XXwa778z1cGbiG8gdh-eS-yQ5hjYjjrWpbp4VDpJ9jvUI71HD7dYpKml_UZYDlAO9XSa9Rr5kyle2xOOQFcqJ3TJ1yLO3PGi9CWE7eGCXxr0xktnIq56xZXzYq9eqTNugMfybVrk3wJpByBzX3g/s3345/Edric,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2534" data-original-width="3345" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEiSXlcHCjnTq4Xnyi8EHnPfFDF9rlasGndIiY4-XXwa778z1cGbiG8gdh-eS-yQ5hjYjjrWpbp4VDpJ9jvUI71HD7dYpKml_UZYDlAO9XSa9Rr5kyle2xOOQFcqJ3TJ1yLO3PGi9CWE7eGCXxr0xktnIq56xZXzYq9eqTNugMfybVrk3wJpByBzX3g/w640-h484/Edric,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A major washout at Edric near the southern (railroad east) portal of the Summit Tunnel, 1909. [Courtesy Neil Vodden Collection, courtesy Jack Hanson – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>As with similar blog posts of this nature, this article will evolve over time as more information and photographs come to light. If you know of any storms that significantly impacted local railroads not recorded below, or have photographs of any local railroad infrastructure damage from storms, please share your information on Facebook in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/sctrains" target="_blank">Santa Cruz Trains group</a>.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Storms of 1875-1876</h4><p>Not long after the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad opened in 1875, a winter storm threw a section of track south of Felton below Inspiration Point into the San Lorenzo River far below. This became an annual occurrence and the short line railroad did not have the funds to finance a more formal fix to the situation. Each year, the company just cleared slides and repaired damage right-of-way along the stretch of track known as Coon Gulch, and then resumed operations.</p><p>When the South Pacific Coast Railroad took control of the right-of-way in 1879, it attempted to remedy the worst of the problems. It reinforced the hillside trestles along the gulch and built a tunnel underneath Inspiration Point to avoid an especially sharp turn around a rock outcropping that was prone to rockslides. Yet these did not stop the problem—they only made the problem easier to repair. Each year, more rocks would fall on the tracks and the Southern Pacific Railroad (after 1887) gradually extended a shed over the tracks to protect them from these falls. Meanwhile, the largest of the hillside trestles was eventually replaced in March 1905 with a beautiful concrete arch bridge, which has since been the subject of many photographs since it can be viewed from Inspiration Point. Even these adaptations, though, only lessened the financial impact of slides; they did little to stop them from happening. Today, Roaring Camp Railroads clears slide activity along this stretch regularly after even the mildest storm or windy day.</p><p>One other result of the storms of 1875-1876 was the destruction of the Santa Clara Valley Railroad between Alviso and Dumbarton Point. This line was incorporated to build a railroad from Oakland to Santa Cruz via a route through the Santa Cruz Mountains. Its destruction in the storm led to its reincorporation as the South Pacific Coast Railroad in May 1876 with new financial backing but a similar proposed route.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Storm of 1881</h4><p>Storms did have a habit of undermining the short-line railroads of the region. An aggressive January storm in 1881 went so far as to wash out large portions of the Santa Cruz Railroad line, which had experienced annual storm damage since it had first opened less than five years earlier. By January 1881, the company was running on fumes with much of its revenue lost to the South Pacific Coast Railroad, which had a more direct route to the Bay Area. On January 27, the railroad bridge at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River was completely destroyed. The cost to repair the bridge and the rest of the line was too much, so the company fell into receivership. Not long afterwards, it was purchased by the Southern Pacific Railroad in a bankruptcy auction. While the line was rebuilt, it was now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southern Pacific.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8SS2OPRJqtOGhHyws8dtP4WQciiMFb9oQXaFN4RIRseSBht-ny_LhLVFMDsBRfN4dFtNp5j7aBjhb-s2LFbakan4qeRt4K8AiH0QG_Ulac7N3iV9CGgDMUo1f4Jzyjtd-po95wf27un5UH5DI4f_JVf4njH6VxKTYizLgo2DIhpDhmS7eV8zrGbqkQ/s3852/San%20Lorenzo%20River%20bridge%20collapsed%20during%20storm,%20ca%201890%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2435" data-original-width="3852" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8SS2OPRJqtOGhHyws8dtP4WQciiMFb9oQXaFN4RIRseSBht-ny_LhLVFMDsBRfN4dFtNp5j7aBjhb-s2LFbakan4qeRt4K8AiH0QG_Ulac7N3iV9CGgDMUo1f4Jzyjtd-po95wf27un5UH5DI4f_JVf4njH6VxKTYizLgo2DIhpDhmS7eV8zrGbqkQ/w640-h404/San%20Lorenzo%20River%20bridge%20collapsed%20during%20storm,%20ca%201890%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Collapsed trestlework at the approach to the San Lorenzo River bridge in Santa Cruz, January 1890. [Courtesy University of California, Santa Cruz, Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Storms of 1889–1890</h4><p>December 1889 was an exceptionally wet month across California that saw damage to nearly every railroad line in the state. Slides and fallen trees were the main hazard to the railroad and shut the route through the mountains and to Boulder Creek down on multiple occasions. As had become a trend, the steep hillside below Highway 9 and south of the Inspiration Point Tunnel (Tunnel No. 6, later No. 5) collapsed. Other slides happened near the Powder Works station and south of Glenwood above Bean Creek. The entire Boulder Creek Branch was out of commission, with slides most likely happening in the vicinity of Brackney, where the hillside was steepest.</p><p>Another major storm struck in late January 1890 which caused far more destruction than the first. All of Front Street in Santa Cruz was under water on January 25, but more troubling was that the railroad bridge over the San Lorenzo River at the beach had fallen off its foundations. A logjam piled up under the bridge, putting immense pressure on its piers. Crews spent the week after the storm repairing the bridge and also clearing several slides and sinks from across the route to Watsonville. The station in Watsonville, meanwhile, was under water. Elsewhere in the county, the bridge over Newell Creek on the Boulder Creek Branch was heavily damaged, though still in place, and the long bridge over Zayante Creek near today’s Mount Hermon was in a similar condition.</p><p>By the end of the 1889-1890 rainy season, over 124 inches of water had fallen in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The damage was so widespread across the region’s railroad lines that the Santa Cruz <i>Surf</i> speculated it may be easier to grade entirely new routes than restore caved-in cuts and repair sinks, especially south of Felton. Damage to the northern end of the route between Oakland and San Jose was also immense, with much of the trackage flooded around Alviso.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPYHM-Tdh-fLLNeUKIN3vZSDg2vUXHqyPTxWtH0EOX9M4OYxbGnuQuEIINyCpAh8F1Wg7ds-3IN-rWCiFnAe49gCpOL1XlAFao0KuW-914l0mIZWEDgPI-m7Pz2Mi29DvmfdosfZcP9LmgJ4kVsu1YUIcNppkLb6mg8GNQhW3wqmcTMkqKMvGt6Tcj0g/s3984/1893%20Portal%20Reconstruction%20%5BUnknown%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2379" data-original-width="3984" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPYHM-Tdh-fLLNeUKIN3vZSDg2vUXHqyPTxWtH0EOX9M4OYxbGnuQuEIINyCpAh8F1Wg7ds-3IN-rWCiFnAe49gCpOL1XlAFao0KuW-914l0mIZWEDgPI-m7Pz2Mi29DvmfdosfZcP9LmgJ4kVsu1YUIcNppkLb6mg8GNQhW3wqmcTMkqKMvGt6Tcj0g/w640-h382/1893%20Portal%20Reconstruction%20%5BUnknown%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reconstruction of the west portal of the Summit Tunnel, 1893. [Colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Storm of January 1893</h4><p>The year 1893 was ushered in by yet another monstrous storm. In addition to widespread damage throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains, the main casualty of the tempest was the northern (railroad west) entrance of the Summit Tunnel (Tunnel No. 2, later No. 1) at Wright’s Station. About 100 feet inside the portal, a complete cave-in occurred that resulted in a total reconstruction of that end of the tunnel. In the meantime, the Southern Pacific Railroad’s mountain route was closed and all traffic diverted through Watsonville. The new tunnel that was constructed was made of concrete in an oval shape with a concrete channel beside it to divert run-off from the hillside above.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8E9adLmAcCxjCWy4yOsSThl9i9_7xSKMdVyeuUCmHgaodYeSrBOB_-woXWQZlw14K_Ox2rW_Pm_Zds5oY79pPPOiAlNAdnxTfzSkGuzzftcXOQghkbasJ-B4lhCum9xC10gX150HTRw7fHRNMFjzcakncXF0v0I_ubXJshuwzJPGosttfW_WZWrvc2w/s1000/Summit%20Tunnel%20portal%20reconstruction,%201893.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="945" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8E9adLmAcCxjCWy4yOsSThl9i9_7xSKMdVyeuUCmHgaodYeSrBOB_-woXWQZlw14K_Ox2rW_Pm_Zds5oY79pPPOiAlNAdnxTfzSkGuzzftcXOQghkbasJ-B4lhCum9xC10gX150HTRw7fHRNMFjzcakncXF0v0I_ubXJshuwzJPGosttfW_WZWrvc2w/w604-h640/Summit%20Tunnel%20portal%20reconstruction,%201893.jpg" width="604" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reconstruction of the Summit Tunnel nearing completion, Spring 1893. [Colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>One benefit of this reconstruction was that the tunnel was built to standard-gauge scale, meaning it did not have to be rebuilt when the line was standard-gauged from 1906-1909. It also was of sufficient quality that it suffered only minor damage in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. However, a downside is that it was also built of slightly inferior materials, so when the tunnels were dynamited in 1942, the portal at Wrights exploded, whereas the other seven abandoned portals have survived to the present.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Storm of 1899</h4><p>While the Loma Prieta Branch north of Aptos was always an industrial line focused exclusively on logging, it did offer some passenger and excursion services on request and the occasional alternative freight was shipped on the route. Nonetheless, it was a storm in March 1899 that cut the life of the line short. Logging north of the village of Loma Prieta had been on the decline for a few years when the mid-March storm struck. The initial damage to the route was focused in the vicinity of Hell’s Gate, an especially narrow section of Aptos Creek on the road to Monte Vista near Five Finger Falls. While slides along this stretch were not uncommon, the ones in 1899 were severe. Initial reports suggested that the line would be shut down and Monte Vista abandoned, but that wasn’t strictly true. Southern Pacific did, in fact, repair the line and continued to harvest timber beyond it for the next three summers. But the cost of restoring the line to full operations likely convinced the railroad company to downgrade it and wrap up operations north of Hell’s Gate. The passenger station at Monte Vista closed in November 1899, and the route to Monte Vista was abandoned on June 30, 1902.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_PKJERMP2psatXELlSVZCRCqQr9zS-_yeNDkodrLdFsqcvlbVIFF38m59EemawAlxcc4l1iB58DhLEx8CU9DFfolkdoM5_bHA1S4JhhGZq2To9nLs3weNr3uczGfpN6OTG1PXQsvRUfSuWSjWqA0wYzcG8R0GrGICEuXqEonRC41QtlNrO1xD4h1NA/s3357/Temporary%20trestle%20near%20Rincon,%201909,%20Neil%20Vodden%20%5BJack%20Hanson%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2528" data-original-width="3357" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_PKJERMP2psatXELlSVZCRCqQr9zS-_yeNDkodrLdFsqcvlbVIFF38m59EemawAlxcc4l1iB58DhLEx8CU9DFfolkdoM5_bHA1S4JhhGZq2To9nLs3weNr3uczGfpN6OTG1PXQsvRUfSuWSjWqA0wYzcG8R0GrGICEuXqEonRC41QtlNrO1xD4h1NA/w640-h482/Temporary%20trestle%20near%20Rincon,%201909,%20Neil%20Vodden%20%5BJack%20Hanson%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A temporary trestle installed south of Rincon above the San Lorenzo River, 1909. This has since become a permanent raised section of track. [Neil Vodden Collection, courtesy Jack Hanson – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Storm of 1909</h4><p>The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake did a number on all of the region’s railroad lines, knocking the route through the mountains completely out of commission in the process. Rather than repair and reopen, Southern Pacific decided to keep the line closed until all of the tracks could be upgraded to standard gauge. This meant enlarging all six remaining tunnels along the mountain route and rebuilding or expanding many bridges. Most of this work was completed by early 1909 when a sudden storm swept through the Bay Area on January 20.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzP99ZScEbt69odVLGCD6yN5X5uujaxMWzHvMiATHPTrHte3qfLndxDxnQ2fuiMrJKTffGMLn_ymRMLHVyO-mo6i_afkYdJBWYjil5A0UA6nSUPjNTLQWlDd--V-7sjIMTmGkPLVLs-41fo9d4--d0Kdru3Gizd9am-EoL7KKsMrV8TOeIzmrApft6w/s4000/Ellicot,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3027" data-original-width="4000" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzP99ZScEbt69odVLGCD6yN5X5uujaxMWzHvMiATHPTrHte3qfLndxDxnQ2fuiMrJKTffGMLn_ymRMLHVyO-mo6i_afkYdJBWYjil5A0UA6nSUPjNTLQWlDd--V-7sjIMTmGkPLVLs-41fo9d4--d0Kdru3Gizd9am-EoL7KKsMrV8TOeIzmrApft6w/w640-h484/Ellicot,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Receding floodwaters beside the Southern Pacific track at Ellicott, 1909. [Neil Vodden Collection, courtesy Jack Hanson – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The next day, Santa Cruz County was struck by the storm and the Pajaro Valley flooded. Traffic between Santa Cruz and Watsonville was cut, while traffic along the Boulder Creek Branch was also paused due to slides. At Laguna (Nuga), railroad crews dumped hundreds of carloads of ballast into Watsonville Slough in an attempt to stabilize the right-of-way, but most of it washed away soon after being dumped. In the fruit-packing district along Walker Street, the tracks were undermined and washed away. Meanwhile, the main road and railroad between Alma and Wrights at Eva washed out, cutting railroad service between Los Gatos and Laurel. It was only after repairs to the line were made that Southern Pacific was able to finally reopen the full mountain route following three years of closure.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wJAYIKKXj5mwt_BFeh4teaMIU6XJhl7q3Ub2yGEJ9gWp51o1DbxPnXB6-q8RoudOS8GNTOxQ1T9qP2IIbkrkNoepGIbBh1xxW7M-4DmWcEO1N0uxOzJ6L3lnTJFOwOCB0rF_N1M7iKDFCatX2jypi9afxervVbQQkAvyrgSeGVMJdrhWHrK8fESQMg/s4000/Storm%20damage%20at%20Edric%20above%20Burns%20Creek,%20March%2029,%201940%20%5BBruce%20Macgregor%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3065" data-original-width="4000" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wJAYIKKXj5mwt_BFeh4teaMIU6XJhl7q3Ub2yGEJ9gWp51o1DbxPnXB6-q8RoudOS8GNTOxQ1T9qP2IIbkrkNoepGIbBh1xxW7M-4DmWcEO1N0uxOzJ6L3lnTJFOwOCB0rF_N1M7iKDFCatX2jypi9afxervVbQQkAvyrgSeGVMJdrhWHrK8fESQMg/w640-h490/Storm%20damage%20at%20Edric%20above%20Burns%20Creek,%20March%2029,%201940%20%5BBruce%20Macgregor%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Landslide covering the tracks across from the east portal of the Summit Tunnel, February 29, 1940. [Courtesy Bruce MacGregor – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Storm of 1940</h4><p>Jumping ahead several decades, the storm of the night of February 26, 1940, was the most catastrophic to local railroading. Over one night, such extreme damage from weather impacted the railroad route through the Santa Cruz Mountains that Southern Pacific estimated it would cost $46,220 ($966,180 today) to repair. The company’s usual annual cost of maintaining the right-of-way between Los Gatos and Felton was already the relatively high amount of $25,000 ($522,600 today) for about 20 miles of track. Thus, one storm incurred almost double the cost of annual repairs of the line. Only three years earlier, Southern Pacific had spent a considerable sum upgrading track, smoothing curves, reinforcing retaining walls, and making other repairs to the line to ensure its long-term feasibility. Yet none of that mattered in the face of a powerful storm.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3vU1eu8NfUaufDFapJOCkXwyYlN3kgto6lXlFT6KewyswEB8W9fUm8GnZzV2SzGTknHrHANqTs7PW945jIsxLQaekaHdvqLGs0g7fJVlNYELw1hfRvNMGEMethIXab9GxXDVH15_8JGHzyGJDfTsEXkPuvNaWqdNra3UlTXwyQXy6SuYQxuY_epV19g/s4000/Storm%20damage%20at%20Tank%20Siding,%20March%201,%201940%20%5BBruce%20Macgregor%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3085" data-original-width="4000" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3vU1eu8NfUaufDFapJOCkXwyYlN3kgto6lXlFT6KewyswEB8W9fUm8GnZzV2SzGTknHrHANqTs7PW945jIsxLQaekaHdvqLGs0g7fJVlNYELw1hfRvNMGEMethIXab9GxXDVH15_8JGHzyGJDfTsEXkPuvNaWqdNra3UlTXwyQXy6SuYQxuY_epV19g/w640-h494/Storm%20damage%20at%20Tank%20Siding,%20March%201,%201940%20%5BBruce%20Macgregor%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shifting ground across from the water tower at Tank Siding, March 1, 1940. [Courtesy Bruce MacGregor – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>After long discussions and public debates, Southern Pacific decided to abandon 17 miles of track between Los Gatos and Eccles, north of Felton. It would operate the two lines separately. All of the track and infrastructure worth salvaging was removed in 1941 and 1942, and then three of the tunnels were dynamited by the Army Corps of Engineers around late April 1942. Whereas earlier storms had led to buy-outs, reincorporations, and abandonments of short segments of track, this storm led to the end of a 60-year-old railroad route. It also marked the end of regular railroad passenger service in Santa Cruz County, since all earlier passenger lines had already converted to autobuses.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5o5H7R3GSD0YSWQ3X7x3BjnUcZtbNwIej2eZ4iCKL2Qz_wBoF-VJg1hB2fRidHVXQ0xllyPH0FYf6XROG05N3HvwSWZUmt-M44M7sR1Amu9uhIPjFoE2LfLJJhjjohAehjuz4TgeZJxQQThTrNMfblrtkf3rbOZmff-chC_FRjg1PYMyI_B_fT1YqbA/s640/NEWS_120327412_AR_0_RJZLAQODGXGY.jpg.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="640" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5o5H7R3GSD0YSWQ3X7x3BjnUcZtbNwIej2eZ4iCKL2Qz_wBoF-VJg1hB2fRidHVXQ0xllyPH0FYf6XROG05N3HvwSWZUmt-M44M7sR1Amu9uhIPjFoE2LfLJJhjjohAehjuz4TgeZJxQQThTrNMfblrtkf3rbOZmff-chC_FRjg1PYMyI_B_fT1YqbA/w640-h420/NEWS_120327412_AR_0_RJZLAQODGXGY.jpg.webp" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Collapsed Soquel Avenue bridge over the San Lorenzo River, January 1982. [Courtesy Gary Griggs, <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>]</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Storm of 1982</h4><p>One final line in Santa Cruz County was abandoned because of a storm. Over the winter of 1981-1982, constant heavy rains pounded Santa Cruz County, inundating the soil and causing slides and sinks across the northernmost 8.8 miles of the Santa Cruz Branch between Santa Cruz and the former Eccles station. This section had been retained by Southern Pacific because of the two sand quarries located in the Olympia area above Zayante Creek, but by 1981 the company had increased prices such that the remaining company decided to shift to trucks for freight. Southern Pacific was likely to abandon this section anyway, since it was expensive to maintain, but the storm made the decision easier. With so much damage on a line that paid almost nothing, Southern Pacific finally had the excuse it needed to abandon this 107-year-old railroad line. F. Norman Clark had a different idea, though.</p><p>The owner of the Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad, Clark saw the potential of the standard-gauge railroad line to Santa Cruz and offered to buy it from Southern Pacific. He knew that acquiring the line would mean his small amusement park would become a common carrier for San Lorenzo Lumber, other local businesses, and any future quarry traffic. He also knew that his company would be responsible for any annual damage to the line. Despite all of this, he decided to buy anyway. On August 12, 1985, Clark incorporated the Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railway and purchased the line. It has been running between Felton and Santa Cruz almost continuously ever since as the Beach Train.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_cQT6VRfAZ_VJH6bljzpEXi2ACQ2M-yLb6PeyLgPmx3GP3l1-ImU7ko2ZWv92V6lBOZdCBRfD8JxTBApIq1RgTv1Z9OMRowZZeQE2Sc3TkPT2Hs3kgGVUcsHL_PE0h4gMsoQAdrue3usfCpzSIUT2SHnXCoIWT7RLTflr2y7uWJMEFg12pqfkZRp3Gw/s960/16831967_10154637037191284_4300264035626292746_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_cQT6VRfAZ_VJH6bljzpEXi2ACQ2M-yLb6PeyLgPmx3GP3l1-ImU7ko2ZWv92V6lBOZdCBRfD8JxTBApIq1RgTv1Z9OMRowZZeQE2Sc3TkPT2Hs3kgGVUcsHL_PE0h4gMsoQAdrue3usfCpzSIUT2SHnXCoIWT7RLTflr2y7uWJMEFg12pqfkZRp3Gw/w640-h480/16831967_10154637037191284_4300264035626292746_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Undermined tracks beside Gallighan Slough outside Watsonville, 2017. [Courtesy Ben Rylander]</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Storm of 2017</h4><p>Even in more recent times, storms continue to impact local railroading. Besides annual maintenance required along the Beach Train’s line, the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, now routed from Pajaro to Davenport, has required constant repairs. Between 1996 and 2012, this was done by the Union Pacific Railroad, but in more recent years it has been the responsibility of common carriers acting on behalf of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, which now owns the line in trust for the people of Santa Cruz County.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeUD81QMFU9IV_Vb-8XmY81hYqcyOZGhTm_Y5OM102g_138_dydjDhUeYCM1Kq7LeK78GvpGaZNedxIyFkzDaGD_UXiXmWykyrIZoJNAX6TD9hPs1Q2xL71HVEDUUgEYVVRewFsyfdUPhwoFENsJ04JS1o_EAe4bjiKRCShIu3qRZrDZl7xVJDDGuJw/s4032/IMG_1467.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeUD81QMFU9IV_Vb-8XmY81hYqcyOZGhTm_Y5OM102g_138_dydjDhUeYCM1Kq7LeK78GvpGaZNedxIyFkzDaGD_UXiXmWykyrIZoJNAX6TD9hPs1Q2xL71HVEDUUgEYVVRewFsyfdUPhwoFENsJ04JS1o_EAe4bjiKRCShIu3qRZrDZl7xVJDDGuJw/w640-h480/IMG_1467.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overgrown tracks and mud at the washout, October 2017. [Courtesy Derek Whaley]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Iowa Pacific Holdings, operating as the Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay Railway, was the first firm to take responsibility for local lines. However, in early 2017, winter storms undercut the right-of-way beside Gallighan Slough outside Watsonville rendering the entire line beyond that point unusable. Storm water from adjacent agricultural fields was allowed to drain into the right-of-way, which had no drainage system to address this issue, so the result was undermining of the tracks. The storm damage and repair quickly became a political talking point, delaying repairs for over two years. Iowa Pacific pulled out of its contract and Progressive Rail, operating as the St. Paul & Pacific Railway, took over.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9NZZCMLp-vrj1SApHkStcgZOLSqeYkjeCpdo9q153vZnxks1tTnnqRbHdTDMGnuXp877GzBP62hL4UaLQ5c4U4G1E4Q5Xt-pW_rCdul4mOpd2FabszUNL7Tco9uxLUqe8OSMsedim24dIclKuY24vSx6uDWncGoN1jUNwTNhUuOzTMNiNsjE2unMoQ/s960/19225643_10212563682343333_2843914768019511079_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9NZZCMLp-vrj1SApHkStcgZOLSqeYkjeCpdo9q153vZnxks1tTnnqRbHdTDMGnuXp877GzBP62hL4UaLQ5c4U4G1E4Q5Xt-pW_rCdul4mOpd2FabszUNL7Tco9uxLUqe8OSMsedim24dIclKuY24vSx6uDWncGoN1jUNwTNhUuOzTMNiNsjE2unMoQ/w640-h400/19225643_10212563682343333_2843914768019511079_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crews cutting down a fallen tree on the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, June 2017. [Courtesy Howard Cohen]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Due to all of these delays, other portions of the right-of-way have since fallen into disrepair, including multiple large bridges that have been condemned, a perpetually flooded right-of-way near Wilder Ranch, and a migratory sand dune south of Davenport that has entirely consumed the railroad tracks. Roaring Camp Railroads now operates trains along the line on behalf of St. Paul & Pacific, but when rail traffic beyond Ellicott can resume remains an open question. In the meantime, freight traffic remains restricted to the first few miles of track from Pajaro, while separate traffic can hypothetically operate between Olympia, Wilder, Santa Cruz, and Capitola.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Citations & Credits:</h4><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Hamman, Rick. <i>California Central Coast Railways</i>, second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Otter B Books, 2007.</li><li>Powell, Ronald G. <i>The Reign of the Lumber Barons: Part Two of the History of Rancho Soquel Augmentation</i>. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, 2021.</li><li><i>Santa Cruz Evening News</i>, <i>Sentinel</i>, and <i>Surf</i>. Various articles.</li></ul><p></p>
Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-49582592639469217182023-01-05T12:00:00.001-08:002023-04-10T00:30:29.534-07:00Stations: California Street<p>The Coast Line Railroad had already been operating for six years when it established a flag-stop at the intersection of Bay Street and California Street on the West Side of Santa Cruz. While the reason for the station is not entirely clear, it does follow a pattern begun in June 1910, when the railroad added five new flag-stops along its route, probably to undermine the customer base of the rival Ocean Shore Railway. Some of these stops later became permanent stations. On November 16, 1913, California Street first appeared on employee timetables.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqj7ioa13pfXoR2ELX3Lh2LIghSDARdPonqHMSIUi7RSgOz2n6SEfxAqpDBryFH_gO8Z8LNBZuJ30qN4lI9VG-mPPngLZq4yJUhcc7PZCa5UlrtN5-PT6urGJNT1Adi1nzSpT250RsrlY8rR7lFODZ9KFT5cM9Ou4DczYWPrpQVLwv6E-T4S4IwbZg_A/s3917/California%20Avenue%20crossing,%20c%201945%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3056" data-original-width="3917" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqj7ioa13pfXoR2ELX3Lh2LIghSDARdPonqHMSIUi7RSgOz2n6SEfxAqpDBryFH_gO8Z8LNBZuJ30qN4lI9VG-mPPngLZq4yJUhcc7PZCa5UlrtN5-PT6urGJNT1Adi1nzSpT250RsrlY8rR7lFODZ9KFT5cM9Ou4DczYWPrpQVLwv6E-T4S4IwbZg_A/w640-h500/California%20Avenue%20crossing,%20c%201945%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Southern Pacific Railroad excursion train crossing Bay Street at California Street on its way to Davenport, ca 1947. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Why the railroad created a flag-stop at California Street is not entirely clear. Since it does not appear in agency books, the station was likely considered within the boundaries of the Santa Cruz freight yard. Its inclusion as a flag-stop in employee timetables, however, suggests it was primarily a passenger stop. If so, the easiest explanation for its existence is that it was the nearest stop to Santa Cruz High School. Students who lived north of the city along the Coast Line Railroad route could catch a morning southbound passenger train and get off at California Street, where they could then walk the half mile to the school.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOSPMi418JQvejflFdzQZW5_lD7RQjU5Q8tM2qSHcHVh27MZ7o3NX5XCY1WC2zHOso2Msr9tLsV475h_p4gj65GT0yk47PaqDH4Vq5_ce-K8pLSMavzx3bwxnaSrWKjaUq1-gwvjWfHKtgFG5lf6iXqNw3ugpe81581shsn0Z20BDqntnh8S4d4Ni7Q/s3922/Santa%20Cruz%20High%20School%20fire,%20Oct%201,%201913%20%5BSCPL%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2501" data-original-width="3922" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOSPMi418JQvejflFdzQZW5_lD7RQjU5Q8tM2qSHcHVh27MZ7o3NX5XCY1WC2zHOso2Msr9tLsV475h_p4gj65GT0yk47PaqDH4Vq5_ce-K8pLSMavzx3bwxnaSrWKjaUq1-gwvjWfHKtgFG5lf6iXqNw3ugpe81581shsn0Z20BDqntnh8S4d4Ni7Q/w640-h408/Santa%20Cruz%20High%20School%20fire,%20Oct%201,%201913%20%5BSCPL%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original Santa Cruz High School on fire, October 1, 1913. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The timing of the station’s opening is important, though. The June 1913 timetable does not show the station, while the November timetable does. An intermediate timetable released on September 21 has been lost. As a result, it is unknown if the station was established before or after the October 1 fire that burned the high school to the ground. Assuming it was founded after that fire, the flag-stop was probably intended to support students moving between various teaching locations, since classes were decentralized until the school was rebuilt. When the new facility opened in fall 1915, the railroad left the flag-stop on its timetables to continue to support students who lived north of Santa Cruz. As late as the mid-1920s, the station was mentioned in property advertisements as an incentive. A Southern Pacific survey map from 1949 even shows a shelter shed at the location, though no further description of this structure seems to have survived. However, on August 1, 1932, California Street was removed as a flag-stop when regular passenger service ended along the Davenport Branch.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4ZG-ehlKXwg2EO3X0tT_qyozXtDBMQVeW5Urt1Zl1inWi_6nFoBqDqVrpWvI5GQktVZpF2SSQMp_wobgDKBBnNcVnKOGJ7bPXqMRJrKdAWoj3hkbhgVL54-fXcnAbv_Eq_RKBjWXa4oiwJNtGXeGJZotnn5bv7FlhsR9ur0pmaP1bDCNN_qlf9srSw/s3473/California%20Avenue%20crossing%20plan,%20Sep%2015,%201949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2328" data-original-width="3473" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4ZG-ehlKXwg2EO3X0tT_qyozXtDBMQVeW5Urt1Zl1inWi_6nFoBqDqVrpWvI5GQktVZpF2SSQMp_wobgDKBBnNcVnKOGJ7bPXqMRJrKdAWoj3hkbhgVL54-fXcnAbv_Eq_RKBjWXa4oiwJNtGXeGJZotnn5bv7FlhsR9ur0pmaP1bDCNN_qlf9srSw/w640-h430/California%20Avenue%20crossing%20plan,%20Sep%2015,%201949.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific proposed improvement map showing the Bay and California Streets intersection. Although dated September 15, 1949, this is clearly based on an earlier plan since it shows both a station shelter and the start of the pumpworks spur. [California State Archives]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>California Street also marked the junction point of the municipal pumpworks spur with the Davenport Branch. The construction of a sewage pumping station on the west side of Neary Lagoon had been approved in a special election held on June 20, 1887. Bids for construction only went out in March 1888 and the facility was completed in August. In addition to pumping sewage, the Santa Cruz Electric Light and Pump Company was able to produce electricity through the excess power created from the seventy-two horsepower Pitchford Improved Corliss steam engine, which ran the pump.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6122ThAJQ-w-ihl-ENhpbqS5_7J_HCSCnYqHm1t-Ry-Tk7TQeZ-edifBi7wSYE1alVZrj5mh6RaW5DmHDgdrcD220reAO9D5McF-fc91DZgVuWaCzXvW5XEIC2s9c7kv0RmOd82XUjsdhOh4v2H2EGfzEn-mBpu9uboKeFlDyLZLVefPlZ5x8TdbSg/s9995/A81-074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="7495" data-original-width="9995" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6122ThAJQ-w-ihl-ENhpbqS5_7J_HCSCnYqHm1t-Ry-Tk7TQeZ-edifBi7wSYE1alVZrj5mh6RaW5DmHDgdrcD220reAO9D5McF-fc91DZgVuWaCzXvW5XEIC2s9c7kv0RmOd82XUjsdhOh4v2H2EGfzEn-mBpu9uboKeFlDyLZLVefPlZ5x8TdbSg/w640-h480/A81-074.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lands acquired along the Davenport Branch for the sewage pumping plant, 1927. [Santa Cruz GIS]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>A spur off the Coast Line Railroad to the pumpworks was a natural conclusion since the right-of-way passed directly beside the facility. The idea was first suggested in June 1908 and Southern Pacific quoted the city $891 to install a 580-foot-long spur. The primary purpose of this spur was to park oil cars that would provide fuel to the plant. Relocating the oil tankers to this spur would also allow the old oil tanker spur on Park Street, at the site of the former Santa Cruz Railroad depot, to be abandoned. In November, the price was accepted but the spur was not installed due to a dispute over payment between the city and railroad. Southern Pacific finally laid the spur in March 1909, but would not allow the city to use it until the city paid the amount that it owed for the installation. When this amount was paid is unknown.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqzhAZpLaO218d2Q9PDWK76n4UwETy5sjxI_5oz65hdV3SihL08uFux999TBhJaKZH5x-89u8CkX2idXH4zUwFDG6GyI0a-1NNO2rx4OKMkEPePHVrzJwvXlHLjPMq2OJN0KZvKST4XisC03y-eleflpVkhsQJb0jRJXQFvVwaYm_jK3v8ZWPYGPhcw/s1608/Sanborn%20map%20of%20pumping%20station,%201917-33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="949" data-original-width="1608" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqzhAZpLaO218d2Q9PDWK76n4UwETy5sjxI_5oz65hdV3SihL08uFux999TBhJaKZH5x-89u8CkX2idXH4zUwFDG6GyI0a-1NNO2rx4OKMkEPePHVrzJwvXlHLjPMq2OJN0KZvKST4XisC03y-eleflpVkhsQJb0jRJXQFvVwaYm_jK3v8ZWPYGPhcw/w640-h378/Sanborn%20map%20of%20pumping%20station,%201917-33.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sanborn fire insurance map showing the pumping station and incinerator, 1917. [Library of Congress]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The next year, the city announced its intention to build a garbage incinerator beside the wastewater pumping station. The matter went to a long public debate with the plant only opening at the site in early 1915. The facility featured a 176-foot-high chimney and was oil powered, allowing it to use the adjacent oil cars on the spur track. Below the incinerator, the city’s dump quickly emerged, attracting rats, foul odors, and widespread complaints.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9wmbdqYwjHw-K_mORDVz2B-DG5L0IdFVByc8H-GM3d6g02zGsqRCwCmA-NmAYiaws_BM5wyDh_5nBhXJZLxob1LB9BhdkPzdU2-Gvowh-6ylSuAv0kJPvmmAQOFy77WQTI1mYw7EyXZr9OfEbzjD7AveJRb69H7wryq48EGBq9lgZuiiw3w1XVM7qg/s3855/Santa%20Cruz%20Union%20Depot%20across%20Neary%20Lagoon,%20c%201920%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2678" data-original-width="3855" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9wmbdqYwjHw-K_mORDVz2B-DG5L0IdFVByc8H-GM3d6g02zGsqRCwCmA-NmAYiaws_BM5wyDh_5nBhXJZLxob1LB9BhdkPzdU2-Gvowh-6ylSuAv0kJPvmmAQOFy77WQTI1mYw7EyXZr9OfEbzjD7AveJRb69H7wryq48EGBq9lgZuiiw3w1XVM7qg/w640-h444/Santa%20Cruz%20Union%20Depot%20across%20Neary%20Lagoon,%20c%201920%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View across Neary Lagoon looking toward the Santa Cruz Union Depot, ca 1920. [UCSC Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the 1920s, the company that controlled the pumpworks had merged with other local power companies to become Coast Counties Gas & Electric. Under increasing pressure from the public due to water pollution in Neary Lagoon and Cowells Beach and vile smells emanating from the incinerator and wastewater, Coast Counties and the city began downsizing its operations along the Bay Street spur. The incinerator and dump were closed in early 1927 with a new city dump opening on the Scaroni Ranch four miles north of Santa Cruz. Meanwhile, Coast Counties shut down the old sewage plant and relocated it in 1928. Responsibility for the spur and oil tankers was taken over by Central Supply Company also in 1928. Over the next few years, the plant came to rely less on crude oil for fuel. At the same time, a new oil tanker spur had been installed in 1932 on the northern edge of the city limits at the end of Vernon Street. The city eventually negotiated the sale of the old incinerator property in June 1933 for $800 and, at the same time, asked Southern Pacific to remove the spur. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCX13h71KfD6lQyXtLr0Wdo_l3uHvMakWgPwUvXVqTokm6ftI58wXnyElGCiKtXzBH3ztzVnR_Mb3Aji0VgoXVhPoNUD36oStI_bG2P-pZvRIBVqO0c9uCWutRvTxBoqAh_AJt06yDBfkTlQFhicJ7TpoFDg4lEuG0OL2UdM9tZ4BLFnVfqXXJYOOMw/s1898/California%20Street%20stop%20today%20%5BGoogle%20Maps%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1304" data-original-width="1898" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCX13h71KfD6lQyXtLr0Wdo_l3uHvMakWgPwUvXVqTokm6ftI58wXnyElGCiKtXzBH3ztzVnR_Mb3Aji0VgoXVhPoNUD36oStI_bG2P-pZvRIBVqO0c9uCWutRvTxBoqAh_AJt06yDBfkTlQFhicJ7TpoFDg4lEuG0OL2UdM9tZ4BLFnVfqXXJYOOMw/w640-h440/California%20Street%20stop%20today%20%5BGoogle%20Maps%5D.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The empty lot beside the railroad tracks where the California Street shelter once stood, 2022. [Google StreetView]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Santa Cruz Wastewater Treatment Facility still occupies the southern end of the property. The former site of the incinerator is now the location of the Neary Lagoon Park tennis courts and playground. Between these and the lagoon is the former dump site, which is now reclaimed forest. The site of the California Street flag-stop still exists as the undeveloped section of land beside the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line at the corner of California Street and Bay Street.</p><p><b>Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:<br /></b>36.9636N, 122.0357W</p><p>The railroad right-of-way across California and Bay Streets is included within Segment 7 of the Santa Cruz Coastal Rail Trail, which is currently under construction and scheduled to be completed in summer 2023. Once completed, pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to pass directly beside the site of the former flag-stop. Currently, the location is still a stop for Metro buses. Perhaps at some point in the future, when passenger rail service is restored, passengers may be able to entrain and detrain at the Bay Street/California Street stop once again.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Koch, Margaret. <i>Santa Cruz County:</i> <i>Parade of the Past.</i> Santa Cruz, CA: Western Tanager Press, 1991.</li><li><i>Santa Cruz Evening News</i>, various articles, 1908-1932.</li><li><i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>, various articles, 1888-1933</li><li><i>Santa Cruz Surf</i>, various articles, 1887-1888.</li><li>Southern Pacific Railroad, various records, 1905-1941.</li></ul><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-43864698962464344632022-12-01T12:00:00.432-08:002022-12-01T12:00:00.153-08:00Bridges: Woods Lagoon<p>The area known as Twin Lakes referred to a section of unincorporated Santa Cruz County land between Woods Lake and Schwan Lake, both actually lagoons formed at the outlets of Arana and Leona Creeks respectively. While Schwan Lagoon retains much of its wetland charms, Woods Lagoon endured a substantial transformation in the 1960s when it became host to the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. Yet long before this event occurred, the lagoon suffered its first major human terraforming effort, when the Chinese workers of the Santa Cruz Railroad installed a bridge across its midsection in 1875.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk7C4TL_7ghkoZ0odpiCfrT0rzsvXnEE0GgdDLJA061r400GESrM3yChLmQijkNzrYqhuef6fOCuAz9ANhKOTjtz4gy3_vkxpHTgL4fZSYsBVVTvhZuF13OKb5w5vcH1A_Qs1IXenAvzip6g0fiYm9Ocj_INCo1KZG5NUrYdqdIgFWbIb_2ukYISM8lQ/s4000/Suntan%20Special%20SP2764%20crossing%20the%20Woods%20Lagoon%20bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2299" data-original-width="4000" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk7C4TL_7ghkoZ0odpiCfrT0rzsvXnEE0GgdDLJA061r400GESrM3yChLmQijkNzrYqhuef6fOCuAz9ANhKOTjtz4gy3_vkxpHTgL4fZSYsBVVTvhZuF13OKb5w5vcH1A_Qs1IXenAvzip6g0fiYm9Ocj_INCo1KZG5NUrYdqdIgFWbIb_2ukYISM8lQ/w640-h368/Suntan%20Special%20SP2764%20crossing%20the%20Woods%20Lagoon%20bridge.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific #2764 running a <i>Sun Tan Special</i> across the Woods Lagoon bridge, July 28, 1940. Photo by Wilbur C. Whittaker. [Jim Vail – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Woods Lagoon was named after John Woods and Mary Ann Silvey of Georgetown, Ohio. The Woods family moved to California during the Gold Rush but soon gave up and moved to Santa Cruz County. In 1849, John worked at the Bennett mill on Love Creek (today's Ben Lomond). Soon, though, he applied for recognition of a tract of land that he had acquired on the west bank of Arana Creek, which was registered to he and his wife on November 14, 1849.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqNJO2tTZReQ_opz0Mnhz8-fyVr9k4ImnG60Sk_umWhb-LQBME8AYCcFJI4kjhF0FR2-roX5GIgJHIv-UZDNcRZZ2rVlLueqzelgrElGx4IRCHxHVCCpzAliQ2AgVILpnnjPFQG65Pe343RB97I-3VaO-eHB10nDGKY1mbVZDLMblLbBgPqrPMO9zYKw/s4000/Woods%20Lagoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2453" data-original-width="4000" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqNJO2tTZReQ_opz0Mnhz8-fyVr9k4ImnG60Sk_umWhb-LQBME8AYCcFJI4kjhF0FR2-roX5GIgJHIv-UZDNcRZZ2rVlLueqzelgrElGx4IRCHxHVCCpzAliQ2AgVILpnnjPFQG65Pe343RB97I-3VaO-eHB10nDGKY1mbVZDLMblLbBgPqrPMO9zYKw/w640-h392/Woods%20Lagoon.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woods Lagoon, ca 1895. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Over subsequent years, the lagoon became a popular picnic and swimming spot, and it also later became well known to duck hunters. When the Santa Cruz Railroad's surveyors arrived in 1874, the Woods sold them a right-of-way through their property. The completion of the railroad two years later led the Woods to sell substantial acres of their property to interested parties, though the family kept a large section for themselves until after John's death on October 11, 1887. One such party was Samuel Hall, who founded Lake Marina in 1880, in the process briefly renaming Woods Lagoon. His resort failed after only one season, though. Shortly before John Woods' passing, Foster N. Mott founded Camp Seabright in 1884 on a small twelve-acre tract beside the lagoon. As a result, Woods Lagoon was sometimes called Seabright Lake in promotional material.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pNF4j2jpWRMqWee-FmzI4MkaQVBAqZH394vhj4s2CEq0QOoTZ7G6fR3a_YIT3HE80Jonhv9QNwX7mVf3zT7YN1D6iis4cOeX1TIcfOjiu-VLzT6ZGTM4yuPhb9-WF8jAvFjAgezmtmrzH-QahByJKzG4L9XwjK7dYW1De7022LTeuam74k3Y7FvCxw/s4000/Train%20crossing%20Woods%20Lagoon%20bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3192" data-original-width="4000" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pNF4j2jpWRMqWee-FmzI4MkaQVBAqZH394vhj4s2CEq0QOoTZ7G6fR3a_YIT3HE80Jonhv9QNwX7mVf3zT7YN1D6iis4cOeX1TIcfOjiu-VLzT6ZGTM4yuPhb9-WF8jAvFjAgezmtmrzH-QahByJKzG4L9XwjK7dYW1De7022LTeuam74k3Y7FvCxw/w640-h510/Train%20crossing%20Woods%20Lagoon%20bridge.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early Southern Pacific diamond stack locomotive hauling a strange mixed train over the Woods Lagoon bridge, ca 1888. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Woods Lagoon proved to be a mostly insubstantial impediment to the railroad's Chinese construction crews. The western approach to the bridge required a shallow cut that John Woods and his son dug by themselves. Beyond that, the bridge crossed Woods Lagoon at the narrowest point. Although no photographs survive of the original narrow-gauge bridge, it is likely that the later standard-gauge bridge, enlarged by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1883, was in fact just an upgrade to the original structure. The photographs that survive show an austere open deck trestle viaduct with sixteen redwood piling piers, all standing almost perfectly upright, and wood abutments at either end. Some of the fill material pulled out of the shallow cuts on either approach to the bridge may have been dumped at the ends of the bridge to reinforce the abutments.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_Nur-h5Q7UKAZRTUzeu7n8Gd8wu9I0srPNWhN8Dh6m4I3PNHZhDNQLF0WlvG0S-8ZOg9gfzLhkIKvQiiDzu8qwv2IuE5qeME3u6sKRfeKOIx9QTGl2f-iwKGhJQ-sqX5WKY0W9L4P4njO5ltonPWWG6nptq67hiu7rQ20VdqLGP3ZXLtsPZk0ebsnA/s4000/Excursion%20train%20passing%20over%20Woods%20Lagoon%20bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2174" data-original-width="4000" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_Nur-h5Q7UKAZRTUzeu7n8Gd8wu9I0srPNWhN8Dh6m4I3PNHZhDNQLF0WlvG0S-8ZOg9gfzLhkIKvQiiDzu8qwv2IuE5qeME3u6sKRfeKOIx9QTGl2f-iwKGhJQ-sqX5WKY0W9L4P4njO5ltonPWWG6nptq67hiu7rQ20VdqLGP3ZXLtsPZk0ebsnA/w640-h348/Excursion%20train%20passing%20over%20Woods%20Lagoon%20bridge.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excursion train passing over the Woods Lagoon bridge, July 7, 1950. Photo by Wilbur C. Whittaker. [Jim Vail – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>This structure remained across the lagoon until Spring 1911, when it was replaced with a sturdier, more modern design. The new structure was composed of eighteen redwood piling piers, all tilted inward to provide additional support. These supported a redwood girder closed ballast deck with concrete abutments on either end. The abutments were likely installed to help reinforce the fills behind them. This also resulted in a slightly shorter span across the lagoon, with the bridge measuring around 282 feet. Most historical photographs of the lagoon date to this period.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV-Q1gH7Kja9M9HNLfYgOnrZQ7rN8vzPm3ocMByfTYivC_7x0zzxoducaktfzytBWgT_fivO3rv6HouDBwhmkheWp03jElm-o2X4s4BabyWIMwZzFoxMVkX0y20UTlfu7_Tu8uD35ZczhBjGyiSZkjcX9WoEiLj6sU4npEeIxsGdGIrtTvirgK1o-nUA/s3480/Proposed%20Sidewalk%20on%20trestle%20MP%20119.09%20(Woods%20Lagoon),%20May%2031,%201946%20%5BVasona%20Branch%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2210" data-original-width="3480" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV-Q1gH7Kja9M9HNLfYgOnrZQ7rN8vzPm3ocMByfTYivC_7x0zzxoducaktfzytBWgT_fivO3rv6HouDBwhmkheWp03jElm-o2X4s4BabyWIMwZzFoxMVkX0y20UTlfu7_Tu8uD35ZczhBjGyiSZkjcX9WoEiLj6sU4npEeIxsGdGIrtTvirgK1o-nUA/w640-h406/Proposed%20Sidewalk%20on%20trestle%20MP%20119.09%20(Woods%20Lagoon),%20May%2031,%201946%20%5BVasona%20Branch%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific survey map showing a proposed pedestrian sidewalk on the north side of the Woods Lagoon bridge, 1946. [<a href="http://www.vasonabranch.com/railroad/timetables/page34/page34.html" target="_blank">Vasona Branch</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>After over fifty years of relative peace and quiet on Woods Lagoon, things changed rapidly. In 1964, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged out the section of Woods Lagoon between the lagoon mouth and the railroad bridge in order to create the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. Until this time, Santa Cruz did not have a proper harbor protected from the elements, and commercial use of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, built in 1914, had declined to almost nothing. With the new harbor, residents would be able to safely protect their yachts, sailboats, and motorboats from the elements. In the process of creating the harbor, East Cliff Drive was bisected. To correct for this, a new vehicular bridge was extended from the end of Murray Street, which had previously ended at Seabright Avenue, to Eaton Street.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47HZnmAi8S-hO334xYz35UJXYFgUXR_OeCG1EAFK4HwvCEArKcM57A9FeKmspLhGWiz3VgQAz7jxHHaq3ZLU5sGlbWwbxuEfJHLAIPyNTE-c2Ufa5KC0vsc9PGfu8AIU-Cwku9XO9NUnKCVfXVp_0bat-gIBu3JfJdRj9ql9VJaTd69Ih4xTywNd3fA/s600/Santa%20Cruz%20Small%20Craft%20Harbor,%201973%20%5BSCPL%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="600" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47HZnmAi8S-hO334xYz35UJXYFgUXR_OeCG1EAFK4HwvCEArKcM57A9FeKmspLhGWiz3VgQAz7jxHHaq3ZLU5sGlbWwbxuEfJHLAIPyNTE-c2Ufa5KC0vsc9PGfu8AIU-Cwku9XO9NUnKCVfXVp_0bat-gIBu3JfJdRj9ql9VJaTd69Ih4xTywNd3fA/w640-h446/Santa%20Cruz%20Small%20Craft%20Harbor,%201973%20%5BSCPL%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor with the Glen E. Coolidge Memorial Bridge and railroad bridge at upper-center, 1973. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Plans to replace the railroad bridge began in July 1968. The trestle viaduct blocked access to Woods Lagoon beyond the railroad grade. Plans for a new bridge were finalized in December 1969 and work began the next year. To maintain continuous rail service, the railroad bridge was built between the viaduct and the Murray Street bridge. Rather than a trestle, which would not allow boats to pass under it, the new design called for a concrete girder closed ballast deck bridge suspended above the lagoon via six concrete piers and two concrete abutments. The bridge reached a height of 31.88 feet above the mean tide line. To achieve this extra height, the bridge had to begin further back along the railroad grade, extending the final length of the bridge to 425 feet. Once the new bridge was completed, the old viaduct was completely dismantled. The expansion of the upper harbor began in 1972 and was completed the following year, adding 560 more berths for boats.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjapBqBKO2Mb3AQp605eGggZmJ3psY7fumpt--UJ9TPRGfRMfYvCStnaCwQVMCoYmzG6SBX2mE-zq7t8Zhgo2YF9DIAxnGcCC2jGqVIQ6x4oGKEha_DKMtsqxvFetBg8BkXYOxRago9iAgLaBAuY1ewGp-d2jEru221t5DufsyWKSTQuMkCKyOes84VWA/s4032/Woods%20Lagoon%20bridge,%202017%20%5BDerek%20Whaley%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjapBqBKO2Mb3AQp605eGggZmJ3psY7fumpt--UJ9TPRGfRMfYvCStnaCwQVMCoYmzG6SBX2mE-zq7t8Zhgo2YF9DIAxnGcCC2jGqVIQ6x4oGKEha_DKMtsqxvFetBg8BkXYOxRago9iAgLaBAuY1ewGp-d2jEru221t5DufsyWKSTQuMkCKyOes84VWA/w480-h640/Woods%20Lagoon%20bridge,%202017%20%5BDerek%20Whaley%5D.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bridge over the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor, 2017. [Derek Whaley]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The 1971 railroad bridge remains in place today and is one of the more recent bridges along the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line. However, due to the closure of parts of the line further to the east, the bridge is only currently used for maintenance-of-way vehicles.</p><p><b>Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:</b><br />Western abutment: 36.9681, -122.0036<br />Eastern abutment: 36.9681, -122.0022</p><p>The Woods Lagoon bridge is one of the easiest railroad bridges to view since it runs directly to the north of the Glen E. Coolidge Memorial (Murray Street) Bridge over the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. It can also be viewed from below by parking at the northern end of the Mariner Park Way parking lot off Atlantic Avenue and taking the road under the bridge alongside the harbor. Another road beneath the railroad bridge is accessible off Murray Street on the east side of the harbor. As with the entire Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, the railroad right-of-way is owned by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission and any walking along the tracks without permission is trespassing.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Clark, Donald. <i>Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary</i>, second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Otter B Books, 2002.</li><li><a href="https://gis.santacruzcounty.us/gisweb/" target="_blank">Santa Cruz County GIS maps</a>.</li><li><i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>. Various articles 1874–1973.</li></ul>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0Glenn .E Collage memorial bridge, 159-101 Murray St, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA36.9679799 -122.002952936.964550981047537 -122.00724443442382 36.971408818952469 -121.99866136557617tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-45857990261454720172022-11-03T13:00:00.000-07:002022-11-03T13:00:00.152-07:00Railroads: Bridge Creek Railroads<p>From the earliest years of logging activity within the Aptos Forest, the narrow canyon of Bridge Creek has attracted the interest of lumber companies. Three companies built railroads along the feeder creek's banks and each railroad required creative engineering to overcome the obstacles of such a confined space. Today, remnants of all of these railroads can be found in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQzZQAKMRxsnBOAKZ9DkXPI5aN9N26VN2GLkh0ujQ24zxyj4DXL9e8i6Z9Q6QqIX7-CtQ82bF7xwNsDhiIBmf4G06cpbamAeDzH4TJY81TxdsTTN-dE4X6MbjjIjU-YXNMj6Xq1SPgy8fdYjHo1fz5O3d2k_zb6st9-A_Z4QTC-9rmysrqmfts3nUZw/s3928/%20Back%20to%20album%20%20Carolyn%20Hansen%20and%20Christinia%20Johnston%20near%20Hoffman's%20Camp,%20ca%201919%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3034" data-original-width="3928" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQzZQAKMRxsnBOAKZ9DkXPI5aN9N26VN2GLkh0ujQ24zxyj4DXL9e8i6Z9Q6QqIX7-CtQ82bF7xwNsDhiIBmf4G06cpbamAeDzH4TJY81TxdsTTN-dE4X6MbjjIjU-YXNMj6Xq1SPgy8fdYjHo1fz5O3d2k_zb6st9-A_Z4QTC-9rmysrqmfts3nUZw/w640-h494/%20Back%20to%20album%20%20Carolyn%20Hansen%20and%20Christinia%20Johnston%20near%20Hoffman's%20Camp,%20ca%201919%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carolyn Hansen and Christinia Johnston walking on the Big Tree Gulch railroad line near Hoffman's Camp, ca 1919. [Aptos History Museum – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Bridge Creek Spur (1898)</b></h3><p>When the Loma Prieta Branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad was first constructed up Aptos Creek, the company and its associate, the Loma Prieta Lumber Company, decided not to extend a track up Bridge Creek. The reason was rather straightforward: the west bank of the creek was owned by Timothy Hopkins, the east bank by the lumber company, and the headwaters by the F. A. Hihn Company. The complicated relationship between the three made any effort to extend a railroad through the narrow canyon something to postpone until all other timber tracts were spent. In the meantime, a long, switchbacking spur starting near Spring Creek meandered over the east bank of Bridge Creek so that logging crews could harvest the timber within the lumber company's land.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-a18Fz3nX8IYK9bcAoT-0ot-HtzBH2OyTE01CwSl040JqajdPLl-8y_Rn_0WSBXe29av7ZODkDFqCWASauviMWOrVGAFwYbjWi6GweuQES5CwN3Vji2gpy93vmwPwj8Kke8E-BIb2hRWzmy42CLoyA7KG6i4yYZ6PFRmZ6gAoc9TILHiW1KqsFHrHiQ/s1411/Bridge%20Creek%20Spur.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="882" data-original-width="1411" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-a18Fz3nX8IYK9bcAoT-0ot-HtzBH2OyTE01CwSl040JqajdPLl-8y_Rn_0WSBXe29av7ZODkDFqCWASauviMWOrVGAFwYbjWi6GweuQES5CwN3Vji2gpy93vmwPwj8Kke8E-BIb2hRWzmy42CLoyA7KG6i4yYZ6PFRmZ6gAoc9TILHiW1KqsFHrHiQ/w640-h400/Bridge%20Creek%20Spur.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Location of the Bridge Creek Spur and Baird's skid road, 1898. Map by Ronald Powell.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In 1898, after the last timber was cut at the headwaters of Aptos Creek, the Loma Prieta Lumber Company finally decided it was time to harvest timber along Bridge Creek. The Hopkins property extended about 0.7 miles north of the Loma Prieta Branch just north of the village of Loma Prieta. The terrain through this section was fairly level, so the lumber company paid the railroad to extend a spur 1,700 feet along the west side of the creek to a point just north of the confluence of Bridge and Aptos Creeks. The route required at least four bridges, three small ones across seasonal streams and a more substantial bridge across Porter Gulch directly behind the Porter House.</p><p>William Baird built several long skid roads up China Ridge down to this new spur, the longest measuring around 3,000 feet. These met the spur at two points. The northernmost was in a roughly 500-foot-long cut, which allowed logging crews to roll logs directly onto waiting flatcars. The cut can still be seen today on the west bank of Bridge Creek. A little to the south, a loading ramp was built beside the track where logs brought down from Hinckley Ridge could be pulled onto waiting flatcars with assistance from a donkey engine that was installed across on the east side of the tracks. This loading ramp still existed until the storm of January 1982 washed all traces of it away. No known photographs of this short-lived spur survive.</p><p>At the end of the 1898 logging season, the lumber company decided to shift its focus further south to Love Gulch, so Southern Pacific tore up the tracks to repurpose them. Although most of Hopkins' land was logged out as a result of this harvesting effort, portions of the Loma Prieta Lumber Company's land on the east bank of the creek and all of the Hihn Company's land remained available for harvesting.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Splitstuff Area Railroad (1912–1918)</b></h3><p>In coordination with the construction of the Molino Timber Company's railroad along China Ridge to Hinckley Gulch, the F. A Hihn Company decided in 1911 that it was time to harvest the timber in its property at the headwaters of Bridge Creek. The new railroad would be passing right above the property, so the opportunity was too good to let pass. The problem, however, was that the terrain was too steep from the top of the ridge to the shelf below, a distance of 350 feet, to actually connect the two areas. As a result, the Hihn Company built its own narrow-gauge railroad on the shelf and transferred pallets of splitstuff up to the other railroad via a cable hoist situated at Sand Point.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38GTW9uFQGvFZFesHBUjHHzcccg4e1Tjcs-SL_IVbJtBO7eks_Y7uiHsnDPVvFoJ3Bxpq7ve-_7X8DKA9PVKqbxDbF6h8aRERLiv8u8vbtMgJlhsQpV7Q1j5t9SSQhcaG0WvN4HWTyQzIqlVC63SBaffIr7EFCyAK3905TfVDW0YWdEZOpDnwYwm0jg/s1385/Splitstuff%20Area.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1111" data-original-width="1385" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38GTW9uFQGvFZFesHBUjHHzcccg4e1Tjcs-SL_IVbJtBO7eks_Y7uiHsnDPVvFoJ3Bxpq7ve-_7X8DKA9PVKqbxDbF6h8aRERLiv8u8vbtMgJlhsQpV7Q1j5t9SSQhcaG0WvN4HWTyQzIqlVC63SBaffIr7EFCyAK3905TfVDW0YWdEZOpDnwYwm0jg/w640-h514/Splitstuff%20Area.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approximate layout of the Splitstuff Area at the headwaters of Bridge Creek, ca 1915. Map by Ronald Powell.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Molino railroad reached Sand Point around May 1912 and installed at least two short spurs to hold flatcars. From this point, the Hihn Company set to work laying the groundwork for its own railroad below. The so-called Splitstuff Area is actually two separate shelves that encompass about 100 acres. A 200-foot drop separates the upper from the lower shelf. The shelves are not level, but have a more even grade, which gave room for pieceworkers to cut splitstuff. Railroad tracks were only laid in the upper landing—the lower was accessed via a steep skid road that passed through a narrow cut.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimCGv0HjUIAdSyx-9VLq6ZuLxQ6k4SmpiJf4wObCTaZQXYZfpM-amF1yOl3_2geWEBQx995f5ghr_y-bu3FROeGMtmSao8H2SndV-GvGxYm4cNvyylfmIfZoN5EKIFPRUFEdg5_-rUSxmOW3zcPRBc3_ImScqiV1fniYzzDwtiubmIBYcqXk0FInHDgg/s3930/Largest%20steam%20donkey%20operating%20on%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201920%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3147" data-original-width="3930" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimCGv0HjUIAdSyx-9VLq6ZuLxQ6k4SmpiJf4wObCTaZQXYZfpM-amF1yOl3_2geWEBQx995f5ghr_y-bu3FROeGMtmSao8H2SndV-GvGxYm4cNvyylfmIfZoN5EKIFPRUFEdg5_-rUSxmOW3zcPRBc3_ImScqiV1fniYzzDwtiubmIBYcqXk0FInHDgg/w640-h512/Largest%20steam%20donkey%20operating%20on%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201920%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Loma Prieta Lumber Company's largest steam donkey operating on Bridge Creek, ca 1920. [Aptos History Museum – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The upper landing grew into a maze of tracks, although it is likely that the tracks were moved once one section was cleared of usable timber. A long track ran from the bottom of Sand Point west before curving around the side of the hill toward today's West Ridge Trail Camp. Many spurs broke off of this main track, some curving in curious ways to follow the contours of the land and maintain a manageable grade. One spur even reached today's Hinckley Fire Road and followed it a short length before descending back down toward a feeder stream of Bridge Creek. The precise arrangement of the tracks and the order in which they were built remains a mystery since the Hihn Company did not document such details and no known photographs survive of the operations here.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpzOuUor_JR1XuHsoCBkNV7XmAWDuggnNSntSUMS8Oi_Xf-t1jJ4sovXlcvRlwHjhLscBDkjekNgKY0cky_F6RFekGW8_5iCtinH0qcxtoAJ7FLAg_m9rO12s-0Pn4uuwC__oVcICuDrOyclZKsjbYMB0SteQMvmAvLSvksQEGEmrxN3-zs2wpzr9oA/s3932/Donkey%20engine%20in%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201920%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2306" data-original-width="3932" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpzOuUor_JR1XuHsoCBkNV7XmAWDuggnNSntSUMS8Oi_Xf-t1jJ4sovXlcvRlwHjhLscBDkjekNgKY0cky_F6RFekGW8_5iCtinH0qcxtoAJ7FLAg_m9rO12s-0Pn4uuwC__oVcICuDrOyclZKsjbYMB0SteQMvmAvLSvksQEGEmrxN3-zs2wpzr9oA/w640-h376/Donkey%20engine%20in%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201920%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A donkey engineer on his engine in a clearcut area of Bridge Creek, ca 1920. [Aptos History Museum – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>This isolated railroad relied upon the services of the company's <i>Betsy Jane</i> locomotive, which had been used at the Valencia Creek and Gold Gulch mills before disappearing from the records for a decade. The locomotive was disassembled, hauled to Bridge Creek in parts, and then reassembled on site.</p><p>Following Frederick Hihn's death in 1913, the F. A. Hihn Company was reincorporated as the Valencia–Hihn Company and continued operating as it had previously. However, low profits and tensions between Hihn family members finally led the company to sell its Bridge Creek holdings to the Loma Prieta Lumber Company in 1917. The lumber company immediately took over operations and expanded its vision for the area. The company would extend a railroad up Bridge Creek from the south and link into the railroad already at the headwaters. The issue of different gauges of track would be dealt with when the time came. In the meantime, Loma Prieta began sending large logs via highline from Hinckley Gulch to Bridge Creek. A new spur was extended across the Hinckley Fire Road specifically to collect these logs, which were directly loaded onto waiting flatcars. The cars took the logs to one of several small millponds, where they would await the extension of the Bridge Creek track to the Splitstuff Area.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Bridge Creek Railroad (1918)</b></h3><div style="text-align: left;"><p>By the spring of 1917, the Loma Prieta Lumber Company was already anticipating its coming acquisition of the Valencia–Hihn Company's Bridge Creek property. As such, it began grading a new railroad along the east bank of Bridge Creek from just behind the Porter House. While the ultimate plan was to connect this track with the Splitstuff Area, the interim plan was to extend the railroad to Maple Falls. To construct this line, Loma Prieta disassembled the Molino Timber Company's trackage beyond Sand Point and repurposed the tracks. Since that railroad was still operating in some capacity, Loma Prieta also bought a new narrow-gauge Shay locomotive that it could use along the new trackage.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9BvuF7XcogzixVFXTFHi23vlqaWeqamdxbovtmbba-h3DrxCT4ZrqtLauC4wLixnVZWWIrxJl1AfqrVqVELRzgNHFUfDfqHzdi2-WJOS7lD9QOv2IsZArTe19mVW7y8TBGgkzFJ-Dk5L6Av87fZ_7kUPvfYCSck_M_q4HTE0jrr0YiFmzXPyujkiFg/s1958/Bridge%20Creek%20Railroad.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1958" data-original-width="1377" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9BvuF7XcogzixVFXTFHi23vlqaWeqamdxbovtmbba-h3DrxCT4ZrqtLauC4wLixnVZWWIrxJl1AfqrVqVELRzgNHFUfDfqHzdi2-WJOS7lD9QOv2IsZArTe19mVW7y8TBGgkzFJ-Dk5L6Av87fZ_7kUPvfYCSck_M_q4HTE0jrr0YiFmzXPyujkiFg/w450-h640/Bridge%20Creek%20Railroad.jpg" width="450" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Composite map showing the routes of the Molino Timber Company's railroad on China Ridge, the isolated Splitstuff Area railroad, the Bridge Creek railroad, and the Big Tree Gulch railroad, with modern trails noted, 1917-1921. Map by Ronald Powell.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Actual construction of the new line did not begin until after the 1917 logging season had ended. The route was about 1.85 miles long and crossed Bridge Creek twice. Indeed, at least fourteen bridges and half-bridges were needed to take the track this distance along an increasingly narrow gulch. Along a short section of track on the east bank, an intricate pile of redwood logs were stacked to allow the right-of-way to cross a deep depression. This feature still exists today along the Bridge Creek Trail as one of the only noticeable remnants of the former railroad grade. Near the end of the track, Camp 4 was established—retaining its numbering from the Molino Timber Company's camps—and several short spurs were built here for transloading stations.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOb2-FRsQDsgDx52cXBAI7vSGe2h_5EKM25O7aiHpOzB9yxNS1qdavpNOC4QqzwL5SDBV0GJjBaTekjhfLo1AkTjiAZ2NmB17dm9csVQZ-6YOkTJq28jQxtezV5evX8H3HRpYBIgM1Ooo5lC12LljdQvP2GcCgYZtG8egGiWh5x1UVUrV5ChCaNx6VlA/s3941/Locomotive%20operating%20on%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201919%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2864" data-original-width="3941" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOb2-FRsQDsgDx52cXBAI7vSGe2h_5EKM25O7aiHpOzB9yxNS1qdavpNOC4QqzwL5SDBV0GJjBaTekjhfLo1AkTjiAZ2NmB17dm9csVQZ-6YOkTJq28jQxtezV5evX8H3HRpYBIgM1Ooo5lC12LljdQvP2GcCgYZtG8egGiWh5x1UVUrV5ChCaNx6VlA/w640-h466/Locomotive%20operating%20on%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201919%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loma Prieta's Shay locomotive helping grade the Bridge Creek line, early 1918. [Aptos History Museum – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The camp operated effectively through the 1918 season and plans were still in place to extend the line further north the next year, but fate stepped in. On the evening of September 11, an unusually violent storm struck the Aptos Forest with devastating effect. Both the Splitstuff Area and Camp 4 were devastated, with large sections of track destroyed or rendered unusable. The <i>Betsy Jane</i>, meanwhile, fell off its rails and into one of Bridge Creek's feeders, where it was soon buried under piles of mud and debris. Once all of the damage was inspected, the Loma Prieta Lumber Company decided to give up on the Splitstuff Area and abandon its Bridge Creek trackage in favor of a new line located further up the western ridge. The loss of so much track also led the company to abandon the Molino railroad along China Ridge so that it could reuse the tracks along the new railroad grade it intended to build to Big Tree Gulch on Bridge Creek.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJw8f72psCNJMMFTarn1_2y3xWJiEoAH_YUKe2yEVof6sMTNpTRcT0CQuE_GXeIOhRxk2uWiEGzdOJjHmh2zot0SoQvHF2OzQU8VibLcAo1QdoEM2uuR_eJAQ4ilGnqrjzY9Np6QaNaIotptD7ETJ9RGDAJl9MgiWtd1DlApEyyZT47XS0i3UNuhwCw/s3926/Steam%20donkeys%20and%20a%20train%20operating%20on%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201920%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2415" data-original-width="3926" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJw8f72psCNJMMFTarn1_2y3xWJiEoAH_YUKe2yEVof6sMTNpTRcT0CQuE_GXeIOhRxk2uWiEGzdOJjHmh2zot0SoQvHF2OzQU8VibLcAo1QdoEM2uuR_eJAQ4ilGnqrjzY9Np6QaNaIotptD7ETJ9RGDAJl9MgiWtd1DlApEyyZT47XS0i3UNuhwCw/w640-h394/Steam%20donkeys%20and%20a%20train%20operating%20on%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201920%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steam donkeys and a train operating on Bridge Creek, ca 1918. [Aptos History Museum – colorized using MyHeritage]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Big Tree Gulch Railroad (1919–1921)</b></h3><p>Following the destruction of the Splitstuff Area and the lower railroad along Bridge Creek, the Loma Prieta Lumber Company decided to build a new track along the western wall of Bridge Creek gulch. The initial route was surveyed to be three miles to a section known as Big Tree Gulch due to an especially large tree that stood there. Like its predecessor, the company hoped to extend the line all the way to the Splitstuff Area so that it could recover its abandoned logs and harvest the remaining timber along the way.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyCZypGHNzjtOgYrZNoMlgSPxiul_6ZIcqIR5ZYIk5uDT-mcTNY3_bcsMw8-YkRKBkmGlyUILFcYjLsdDQEYPEOm0t2bIrZKAglfsjD1hObia3iIFve9N6wOdGO2CzDH3FyvvqPSGlwfMeqEIbdzTIZrLPGHZKIjBJt6sqFUaho7bxZhcAVYej_-wgIA/s1550/Hoffman's%20Camp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1550" data-original-width="1391" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyCZypGHNzjtOgYrZNoMlgSPxiul_6ZIcqIR5ZYIk5uDT-mcTNY3_bcsMw8-YkRKBkmGlyUILFcYjLsdDQEYPEOm0t2bIrZKAglfsjD1hObia3iIFve9N6wOdGO2CzDH3FyvvqPSGlwfMeqEIbdzTIZrLPGHZKIjBJt6sqFUaho7bxZhcAVYej_-wgIA/w574-h640/Hoffman's%20Camp.jpg" width="574" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Layout of Hoffman's Camp along the Big Tree Gulch railroad, 1920. Sketch by Ronald Powell.</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>To access the new railroad grade, a switchback was built behind and above the Porter House. The switchback had a 20˚ grade, which the company's two Shay locomotives could surmount, but only if they were hauling no more than four empty flatcars. Gravity and brakes were responsible for returning rolling stock to the bottom of the switchback. The main track only had a 3˚ grade but crossed over several gullies and sinks resulting in at least ten bridges and half-bridges, though none as substantial as those found on the lower track. Large portions of this right-of-way are now part of the Loma Prieta Grade Trail beyond the Porter House.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDD4EMCWF14CHJ5q6TcVdNq31wSB81zKwzgSqZ_xDkpTNFZpknJHH_2Pmlw2IeEoH_0MdI2nS50EdfpeHL-iFr_971nbA7L0_r8HtmjtB3soZ0DEgPOeMDT-H8PGn1rEpLHHEuDR0cUOku4cUIrdoKXddXLKlya9bgzxcyoQDN-EPRSAgdjStkEHpNpg/s3938/Hoffman's%20Camp,%20ca%201919%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2668" data-original-width="3938" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDD4EMCWF14CHJ5q6TcVdNq31wSB81zKwzgSqZ_xDkpTNFZpknJHH_2Pmlw2IeEoH_0MdI2nS50EdfpeHL-iFr_971nbA7L0_r8HtmjtB3soZ0DEgPOeMDT-H8PGn1rEpLHHEuDR0cUOku4cUIrdoKXddXLKlya9bgzxcyoQDN-EPRSAgdjStkEHpNpg/w640-h434/Hoffman's%20Camp,%20ca%201919%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hoffman's Camp viewed from a distance, ca 1920. [Aptos History Museum – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Just within the boundary of the former Valencia–Hihn Company's land, the Loma Prieta Lumber Company built Camp 5, more commonly known as Hoffman's Camp. It featured one long spur, used mostly for maintenance, and a full camp for workers, including cabins, stables, a bunkhouse and cookhouse, and other amenities. The camp's superintendent was Louis Hoffman, and his wife served as the cook. The track extended 0.6 beyond the camp to Big Tree Gulch, where a final switchback brought the line to its terminus just beside the eponymous big tree. Frederick Hihn had left this and three other trees standing in the hope that they would be preserved as the last of the old-growth giants in the Aptos Forest. The lumber company only saw profit, though, and cut them down. A further extension of the line 1.5 miles to the north into the Splitstuff Area never happened, either due to lack of funds or insufficient timber to justify the expense.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9wmiDmCxzRdtXPiJTmN2YAAJFSB8Ugdc4P6Hm_goFbivHZoUccEfP6NeP_zrCMR3Zjne88Ttlnh2tCHg9LQOMhFacHbi81UJv7NodJbIsd4QEPOP8OIMcpS4q_LUIIRX5XQx1Ah5hTK6P07KKEvbBx_UipUY-0enj2ZiHMOmCARs598DjDZ2tuDhiQ/s3919/Molino%20shay%20operating%20on%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201920%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2103" data-original-width="3919" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9wmiDmCxzRdtXPiJTmN2YAAJFSB8Ugdc4P6Hm_goFbivHZoUccEfP6NeP_zrCMR3Zjne88Ttlnh2tCHg9LQOMhFacHbi81UJv7NodJbIsd4QEPOP8OIMcpS4q_LUIIRX5XQx1Ah5hTK6P07KKEvbBx_UipUY-0enj2ZiHMOmCARs598DjDZ2tuDhiQ/w640-h344/Molino%20shay%20operating%20on%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201920%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Molino's shay hauling splitstuff shortly after it was moved to the Big Tree Gulch railroad, 1919. [Aptos History Museum – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Logging crews worked along the Big Tree Gulch railroad for two and a half seasons before they were rather deceptively dismissed midway through the 1921 season. The truth is that the Bridge Creek operations did not result in a profit. The trees along the creek, especially in the Splitstuff Area, were poor quality, and there was also less timber available for harvesting than had been estimated. Costs had also gone up since the end of World War I. Thus, after the last of the Big Tree Gulch trees were harvested, the lumber company decided to wind up operations in the Aptos Forest. It shut down its mill on Aptos Creek and shipped its remaining uncut logs to the San Vicente Lumber Company's mill on Santa Cruz's West Side. The tracks and ties along Bridge Creek were pulled and sold for scrap, and the rolling stock was placed in storage to be sold. Over the years, the company sent crews to the Splitstuff Area at least two times to retrieve logs and pallets abandoned there in 1918, but these were hauled out by truck rather than train.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXcGbM1eCYDMROFOuiekeGCS3747NRq1rgIg9UZ9WlfUqp5Pfbw-aReHEkfxzBWRzWKvHBQujBKMTaliRM3aKnCY9SCPd4940TEjJAWFdIR1WNHaAo0TcX8jxUvS6RG5MBA0HteFuwSM5I2Wd11M-6etzb5GYy_VDjapo8jR63VP8EeDfjv1pRtq8zA/s1292/Logs%20heading%20to%20the%20mill%20from%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201920%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="1292" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXcGbM1eCYDMROFOuiekeGCS3747NRq1rgIg9UZ9WlfUqp5Pfbw-aReHEkfxzBWRzWKvHBQujBKMTaliRM3aKnCY9SCPd4940TEjJAWFdIR1WNHaAo0TcX8jxUvS6RG5MBA0HteFuwSM5I2Wd11M-6etzb5GYy_VDjapo8jR63VP8EeDfjv1pRtq8zA/w640-h460/Logs%20heading%20to%20the%20mill%20from%20Bridge%20Creek,%20ca%201920%20%5BAptos%20Museum%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large logs from Big Tree Gulch being hauled behind the Loma Prieta Lumber Company's mill on Aptos Creek, ca 1920. [Aptos History Museum – colorized using DeOldify]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Citations & Credits:</b></h3><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Hamman, Rick. <i>California Central Coast Railways</i>. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Otter B Books, 2007.</li><li>Powell, Ronald G. <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3DcrfzQ" target="_blank">The Reign of the Lumber Barons: Part Two of the History of Rancho Soquel Augmentation</a></i>. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, 2021. (Amazon Associates link)</li><li>Powell, Ronald G. <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3DAsqLe" target="_blank">The Shadow of Loma Prieta: Part Three of the History of Rancho Soquel Augmentation</a></i>. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, 2022. (Amazon Associates link)</li><li>Southern Pacific Railroad, miscellaneous records.</li><li>Stoodley, Bert, personal papers.</li></ul><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-61117012747693962672022-10-06T13:00:00.000-07:002023-01-13T13:43:05.744-08:00Tunnels: Sand Cut<p>In the late spring of 1871, construction along the Southern Pacific Railroad's Watsonville Branch was progressing at a feverish pace between Gilroy and Watsonville. The grade was relatively flat and there were few technical obstacles. A brief debate over whether the railroad would continue along the north or south side of the Pajaro River ended when the citizens of Watsonville failed to fund a $50,000 "subsidy" for the railroad. As a result, the Big Four chose a southerly route, which crossed the river at the western end of Pajaro Gap and continued west until reaching the tiny hamlet of Pajaro in Monterey County. This petty jab at Santa Cruz County proved to be an expensive misstep for the railroad barons, however, since it meant that the right-of-way now had to pass through the northernmost leg of the Gabilan Range.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJY_3bIL3hmuaeDKugkUHd5KUYHHjn8ajfXCyJ7go-zSd7KBDhcbbg9RttLKZD2FMbNtT1ggvkrxhvkK0Zax6ctVk2qdYeVlQIQLL5dhPolgvVaRKc0O3pyPhpId3_9quGYxYEOMAhITsC1ZHww_FPvpWlyB0Hk_K14o9CWdp-0UBkDiRY1RtZ37aHg/s1150/Aromas%20cut,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="1150" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJY_3bIL3hmuaeDKugkUHd5KUYHHjn8ajfXCyJ7go-zSd7KBDhcbbg9RttLKZD2FMbNtT1ggvkrxhvkK0Zax6ctVk2qdYeVlQIQLL5dhPolgvVaRKc0O3pyPhpId3_9quGYxYEOMAhITsC1ZHww_FPvpWlyB0Hk_K14o9CWdp-0UBkDiRY1RtZ37aHg/w640-h484/Aromas%20cut,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Survey photograph showing storm damage at Sand Cut between Aromas and Vega stations on the Southern Pacific Railroad's Coast Division mainline, 1909. [Neil Vodden – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The width of the hill was wider in 1871 than it is today. Over 150 years of farming in the adjacent fields have slowly eroded it away where it is now about 1,600 feet across in the area where the railroad passes. When grading crews first encountered the hill, it was probably over 4,000 feet across and presented an imposing roadblock to progress. Southern Pacific decided that the best course of action was to build a tunnel through the impediment. The <i>Alta California</i> reported that the “great tunnel…will, we believe, be when finished, the second largest in the State,” although it neglected to mention its actual anticipated length. Around 300 Chinese laborers were brought in to perform the task under the watchful eye of Superintendent Strowbridge. Construction began in September 1871. In the meantime, a bypass was built that likely followed the contour of the river further to the north until reconnecting with the mainline near San Juan Road west of the hill.</p>
<p>It seems that, while still under construction, the tunnel completely collapsed in mid-December. What was left was a deep, sandy sink that the <i>San Francisco Examiner </i>described as a sand cut. The name stuck, and from that point forward, regardless of the nature of the right-of-way between the former Mexican land grants of Rancho Las Aromitas y Agua Caliente and Rancho Vega del Río del Pájaro, the Coast Division mainline through the hill has been known as Sand Cut. Indeed, the name was so popular that the train station for the rural hamlet and workers’ village to the east of the tunnel became known officially as Sand Cut, a name that stuck until 1894 when it was renamed Aromas, after the rancho.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi284qaQ6GGNxP0_AOOwPNK83jGEvYNgCM4OfZtN4ODmMJt5TAEzgxO0Y7eu1yxt4Z3-vHzNRSoPqk-gRtvmWDitZxDm5va6F5KamGXMXlFtHfU4C1fC_0plTV3VxSbiVzoyO8oAHs9gza5QF773YyKb7QKYdmSaT3ffRrjZNZSYrLsYEtJ119rwe6brg/s1361/Subdivision%20map%20of%20Aromas,%201893%20%5BStanford%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="1361" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi284qaQ6GGNxP0_AOOwPNK83jGEvYNgCM4OfZtN4ODmMJt5TAEzgxO0Y7eu1yxt4Z3-vHzNRSoPqk-gRtvmWDitZxDm5va6F5KamGXMXlFtHfU4C1fC_0plTV3VxSbiVzoyO8oAHs9gza5QF773YyKb7QKYdmSaT3ffRrjZNZSYrLsYEtJ119rwe6brg/w640-h430/Subdivision%20map%20of%20Aromas,%201893%20%5BStanford%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://exhibits.stanford.edu/ruderman/catalog/dw743vv7201" target="_blank">Map of Samuel Rea's subdivision of the Bardue Ranch</a>, showing the Southern Pacific Railroad's right-of-way and the railroad west (geographic east) portal of the Sand Cut Tunnel, 1893. [Stanford University]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>According to the records of J. W. Snyder, an early resident of Watsonville, it took two around two years for workers using pick, shovel, and dump cart, to clear the cut and reduce the grade sufficiently for a train to pass through it. Southern Pacific attempted to keep the cut open as a thoroughfare, but this proved a costly endeavor that set back the railroad many times what it would have saved had the track remained on the northern bank of the Pajaro River. Later accounts suggest that every vibration caused sand to fall back onto the railroad tracks, forcing crews to clear the right-of-way constantly. Within a few years, the railroad had enough and rebuilt the tunnel. Rather than bore a hole through the sand, though, the cut was cleaned and a shed was installed over the tracks. This was then backfilled with sand. This tunnel was open no later than December 1875.</p>
<p>For the years that it existed, the Sand Cut tunnel marked an important transition point on the Coast Division’s mainline. To the east of the tunnel was the curvy, narrow, and mountainous Pajaro Gap. To the west was the open plains of the Pajaro Valley blending seamlessly into the Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean beyond. Yet the tunnel was always troubled by cave-ins and sandy tracks. For example, in November 1900, a dry summer and fall led to a catastrophic collapse of the Sand Cut tunnel when a heavy rain saturated the foothills. It took several days for the cave-in to be repaired and service through the tunnel to be restored.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwiCYgzcmMjkgTGxrqGzltphgTRl4kwt3S_41Qpc3cpANtRZrazn08Ae4Yy1QA8NNTqwnQpG-pg7JWdVBnFec8Pk1QVYi1ZgGz8C2fLK-1IrdHFvOpvte-srQDE985EKytwWhvUwBvUnBvWrFCUs_5Lx21aDD6aIMZlGiSnh8sUPNGOR3tHDVt4s_RYQ/s4000/Aromas%20Apricot%20Loading,%201920s%20%5BMonterey%20County%20Libraries%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2828" data-original-width="4000" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwiCYgzcmMjkgTGxrqGzltphgTRl4kwt3S_41Qpc3cpANtRZrazn08Ae4Yy1QA8NNTqwnQpG-pg7JWdVBnFec8Pk1QVYi1ZgGz8C2fLK-1IrdHFvOpvte-srQDE985EKytwWhvUwBvUnBvWrFCUs_5Lx21aDD6aIMZlGiSnh8sUPNGOR3tHDVt4s_RYQ/w640-h452/Aromas%20Apricot%20Loading,%201920s%20%5BMonterey%20County%20Libraries%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aromas Station with boxcars being loaded with apricot pits. The Sand Cut is visible in the distance behind the depot, 1920s. [Monterey County Libraries – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The tunnel was not a complete financial drain, though. Sand from around the tunnel was essential in the expansion of the freight yard at Pajaro in 1901. As the Coast Division neared its long-awaited connection with Los Angeles, Southern Pacific expected a huge uptick in freight passing through the Pajaro Valley and heading south. As a result, it upgraded and realigned much of the trackage at Pajaro, and all of this required tons of ballast and fill. According to the <i>Pajaronian</i>, more than 300 carloads of sand were hauled from Sand Cut and taken to the yard to fill holes and provide a bed for the crossties.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLbwvv5k-_qEe4FYfXOUaFcr7EPV3UOdrs6pgty8mmDMQpfuolyMPfvXKjO9S2kJAXT0rx0D6ckqB9lmwV0214i56zsa9FrpaSfihEA7O21XgAeU4KXm7uo3MYSsfuKuPMB0RrJvFnSuQrreC7Yg4WqjxWp70yrC-L8jJNVnOLHd71s9oxqkG0Kjjcg/s656/Aromas,%201914%20%5BUSGS%20Map%5D.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="656" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLbwvv5k-_qEe4FYfXOUaFcr7EPV3UOdrs6pgty8mmDMQpfuolyMPfvXKjO9S2kJAXT0rx0D6ckqB9lmwV0214i56zsa9FrpaSfihEA7O21XgAeU4KXm7uo3MYSsfuKuPMB0RrJvFnSuQrreC7Yg4WqjxWp70yrC-L8jJNVnOLHd71s9oxqkG0Kjjcg/w640-h532/Aromas,%201914%20%5BUSGS%20Map%5D.tiff" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">United States Geological Survey map of Aromas, with the Sand Cut at left, 1914.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>Tunnel or cut, Sand Cut was destined to be a problem. When the San Francisco Earthquake struck on April 18, 1906, the tunnel was a mostly unremarked casualty. A simple report in the <i>Santa Cruz Surf </i>stated that “the sand cut between Watsonville and Gilroy is said to have been filled in by the temblor.” Considering the tunnel suffered cave-ins from even moderate storms, an earthquake with its main fault less than a mile away would certainly make in impression. In June 1906, Southern Pacific announced that the tunnel would be daylighted. Section Foreman Donahue with two work trains, a steam shovel, and about twenty men tore down the structure and leveled the cut. Sixty flatcars of sand were hauled out daily during the operation, and the final cut was about 60 feet wide when it was completed around mid-August. Southern Pacific hoped that the wider cut would “prevent any possible chance of a slide damaging the track.” However, turning the Sand Cut Tunnel into just Sand Cut was easier said than done.</p><p>In early March 1907, reports reached the <i>Evening Sentinel</i> that “all of the workmen within a long distance of Pajaro have been rushed to the [Aromas sand cut]. It was stated Monday evening that the sand was sliding into the cut almost as fast as it was taken out.” The slide was a result of a recent rainstorm. In an attempt to remedy it, Southern Pacific installed a retaining wall along the north side of the track. The problem never stopped, though, and every storm caused more sand to fall into the cut. On New Years’ Day 1910, the cut washed out again prompting “a big force of men” to drop what they were doing to help reopen the line. A second storm later in the month repeated the problem. The <i>Evening News</i> noted that “the sand is washing onto the tracks during rains, requiring constant work to keep it clear.” This is still the case even today.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVP1MGrTzsEPuIZ01YRUDyFv8MaorOtQPaW22-hfcGhtpn8CQB-DpDOhU4cQ0dzJhfYg-PP4Ua9gd-T5oaH5QThsyd7K2MfsCLLtr_ZnMXu1lmz8frCXYFoFdWUKn5NjucFf_jcqCqdoqQTvo0BD5CPI-2pq3Rkh364KgUT6SCTbPjFUp79mFW-8fDcA/s2936/Google%20Street%20View%20of%20the%20Sand%20Cut.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2936" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVP1MGrTzsEPuIZ01YRUDyFv8MaorOtQPaW22-hfcGhtpn8CQB-DpDOhU4cQ0dzJhfYg-PP4Ua9gd-T5oaH5QThsyd7K2MfsCLLtr_ZnMXu1lmz8frCXYFoFdWUKn5NjucFf_jcqCqdoqQTvo0BD5CPI-2pq3Rkh364KgUT6SCTbPjFUp79mFW-8fDcA/w640-h298/Google%20Street%20View%20of%20the%20Sand%20Cut.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Sand Cut from the curve on Aromas Road, 2011. [Google Street View]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Over the past century, the gradient through the Sand Cut has been gradually lowered and the width of the cut increased until today it supports two parallel tracks. But sand remains a constant problem. The high, steep walls at the center of the cut are now supported by trees and anchor plants, yet sand still seeps through the roots, especially during winter storms. While no remnant of the old tunnel survives at Sand Cut, passage through the cut is still a claustrophobic journey along an otherwise pleasant stretch of railroad.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:</h3><p>East (Railroad West) portal: Approx. 36.8911N, 121.6512W<br />West (Railroad East) portal: Approx. 36.8928N, 121.6646W</p><p>The Sand Cut is located to the west of Aromas Community Park along the trackage of the Union Pacific Railroad. This stretch of right-of-way remains in daily use. No trespassing is allowed and doing so can be highly dangerous.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Citations & Credits:</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Alta California</i></li><li><i>Evening News</i></li><li><i>Evening Pajaronian</i></li><li><i>Evening Sentinel</i></li><li><i>Salinas Morning Post</i></li><li><i>San Francisco Examiner</i></li><li><i>San Jose Herald</i></li><li><i>San Jose Weekly Mercury</i></li><li><i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i></li><li><i>Santa Cruz Surf</i></li><li>Southern Pacific Railroad, various timetables.</li></ul></div>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0251 Aromas Rd, Aromas, CA 95004, USA36.8904638 -121.655926836.876734860787309 -121.67309293769532 36.904192739212689 -121.63876066230469tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-87068205781756322662022-09-08T14:00:00.000-07:002022-09-08T14:00:00.167-07:00Curiosities: Travel Times and Speeds<p>Railroads do not operate in a vacuum—they run according to schedules. For large-scale railroad companies such as Southern Pacific, these are extraordinarily complex schedules that must take into account hundreds of its own trains as well as the schedules of other railroad companies and various bus systems. Thus, it should be unsurprising that railroad timetables, both public and internal-use, are invaluable sources of information to railroad historians. Yet, in the end, the primary purpose of any timetable is to keep a schedule. In fact, the entire standarization of time itself into zones was done for this precise purpose: to make it possible for railroads to run on time. And like all railroads, those that operated in and around the Santa Cruz Mountains ran according to these published schedules.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilSsa6ROSGyKg-5HZ4Dly12qUYZV4LiU6qhzMtwq7v3iKHGo3VvQ1kVVcdbEgGwW_MIDT8mrz1nvixLXcm8uKO6Qt_OmhRLZP0Bl62oFX7XHutgETj3a87hDqyULSMRLCfehB-c2g1aLhDp6zEghyrX3-O6IdeM5lc8FlR637Nw0xCMqMRxBPtAONMEg/s4000/Santa%20Cruz%20Depot,%201911%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2977" data-original-width="4000" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilSsa6ROSGyKg-5HZ4Dly12qUYZV4LiU6qhzMtwq7v3iKHGo3VvQ1kVVcdbEgGwW_MIDT8mrz1nvixLXcm8uKO6Qt_OmhRLZP0Bl62oFX7XHutgETj3a87hDqyULSMRLCfehB-c2g1aLhDp6zEghyrX3-O6IdeM5lc8FlR637Nw0xCMqMRxBPtAONMEg/w640-h476/Santa%20Cruz%20Depot,%201911%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men at the ticket window of the Santa Cruz Union Depot, 1911. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Digital Collections – colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Travel times for regularly-scheduled trains can vary greatly depending on the length of the route, the terrain, the gauge of rail, and the type of train. In the Santa Cruz Mountains, the terrain was a major factor, with many sharp curves and steep grades. Travel speeds through the forest were also often quite slow due to the risk of debris falling on the track that could potentially derail the train. As a result, Southern Pacific passenger train speeds were limited by 1940 to:</p><p>• 30 miles per hour between Vasona Junction and Los Gatos<br />• 20 mph between Los Gatos and Eva<br />• 25 mph between Eva and Santa Cruz, with a brief 15 mph section between Wright and Glenwood<br />• 20 mph between Santa Cruz and Davenport<br />• 30 mph between Santa Cruz and Watsonville Junction (Pajaro)<br />• 20 mph between Felton and Boulder Creek<br />• Between 40 and 75 mph (depending on locomotive type) between Gilroy and Watsonville Junction</p><p>In the earliest days of travel in Santa Cruz County, most trains ran as mixed, which means they carried both passenger and freight cars. On the other hand, the South Pacific Coast Railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad both ran dedicated, regularly-scheduled passenger trains from the early 1880s. They did continue to operate mixed trains, but many of their trains were either regular or express passenger trains. Regular trains could stop at any registered station or flag-stop, as well as various recognized but unrecorded stops. These are, therefore, the slowest trains. Express trains, in contrast, usually only stop at a few locations along a line in order to achieve a faster travel time. Some express trains, such as the Del Monte Limited, Santa Cruz Limited, San Francisco Limited, and the seasonal Sun Tan Special were given names due to their popularity.</p><p>Early Santa Cruz County railroads, namely the Santa Cruz Railroad and the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad, were narrow-gauge and rather crudely-built. This meant that they had slow travel times and often experienced delays or outright cancellations of service due to problems with the line or mechanical failures. When the railroads were operating normally, though, they were much better means of conveyance than the alternative of wagons or walking between destinations.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVzegbUC14LAWxfpaX-ERd7mulL3ZFk5574hy6UFOYMlTSnIzolvEA5HI_y6PE_exCkZKHVH8w98Nb9xL2Cp94BWwgIPvxXk_Vi6SScodIfU_xYKUciN47G-DFNojbRa-gLZiYzb-nVt_IWj7Duq1FgSNZFmT2UvtRcY1gjUGjPfoDo2rKpU95zDN2w/s4000/Cherry%20Street%20Depot%20%5BVan%20Gorder%20-%20MAH%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2366" data-original-width="4000" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVzegbUC14LAWxfpaX-ERd7mulL3ZFk5574hy6UFOYMlTSnIzolvEA5HI_y6PE_exCkZKHVH8w98Nb9xL2Cp94BWwgIPvxXk_Vi6SScodIfU_xYKUciN47G-DFNojbRa-gLZiYzb-nVt_IWj7Duq1FgSNZFmT2UvtRcY1gjUGjPfoDo2rKpU95zDN2w/w640-h378/Cherry%20Street%20Depot%20%5BVan%20Gorder%20-%20MAH%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa Cruz Railroad's Santa Cruz depot on Park Street (now Chestnut Street), ca 1880. [Harold van Gorder Collection, Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Santa Cruz Railroad and Branch</b></p><p>The earliest schedule that exists for a county railroad is that of the Santa Cruz Railroad, published in the <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i> on May 15, 1875. At this time, the line was only completed between Santa Cruz (Park Street Station) and Aptos on a journey that took about 50 minutes to cover 8.7 miles of track resulting in a train running at about 10.4 miles per hour. The first full timetable for the 21.5-mile-long Santa Cruz Railroad from Santa Cruz to Pajaro was released on June 10, 1876. At the time, an express train from Santa Cruz to Pajaro took 1 hour, 50 minutes, which translates to an average speed of 11.7 mph. The regular mixed train, in contrast, took 1 hour, 55 minutes, resulting in an average speed of 11.2 mph. Both of these trains were scheduled to meet with Southern Pacific passenger trains travelling along the Coast Division line between San José and Salinas. By 1879, the schedules had become drastically reduced, with the regular having a 1 hour, 45-minutes run and the express 1 hour, 25 minutes, resulting in speeds of 12.3 mph and 15.2 mph respectively.</p><p>When Southern Pacific took over in 1881, it immediately set about streamlining the system. The regular passenger train's time was reduced to 1 hour, 40 minutes run, while the express train was reduced to 1 hour, 3 minutes. On the final timetable before the line was standard-gauged in 1883, the time of the regular train was reduced further to 1 hour, 30 minutes, while that of the express increased slightly to 1 hour, 10 minutes. These meant that regular trains were running at 14.3 mph and express at 20.5 mph at the end of the narrow gauge era.</p><p>The upgrade to standard gauge tracks made trains larger but slightly safer to operate. Over time, this led to a gradual reduction in travel times across the Santa Cruz Branch. In 1890, regular trains took 1 hour, 25 minutes to travel from Pajaro to Santa Cruz, but express trains could make the distance in only 53 minutes. That resulted in speeds of between 15.2 and 24.3 mph. These were reduced further to 1 hour, 10 minutes for regular trains and 50 minutes for express trains by 1909. The speeds by this time, therefore, reached an average of 18.4 mph and 25.8 mph. These times remained the standard for the next 29 years, until regular passenger service ended along the Santa Cruz Branch.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4PABlbVPMtpYzdJOvgq-XEx8KFtaBFoJbrqP9sBI8fnTI0epAPe-bEgHeqpvoOIiyGnsr8CmQThnwRvFQZm-DL9B-zrj0DrE8x3nCspUSLRMQe5qepvaX3ezHQbgYAKXTEbSCvbQ4yeBDuzo61MTM_kI3rIudgCzLjKV6VZjSnKH4VKUrQi9TUZo8Q/s1452/Southern%20Pacific%20Timetable%20%E2%80%93%C2%A0February%2010,%201883%20%5BSC%20Sentinel%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1452" data-original-width="692" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4PABlbVPMtpYzdJOvgq-XEx8KFtaBFoJbrqP9sBI8fnTI0epAPe-bEgHeqpvoOIiyGnsr8CmQThnwRvFQZm-DL9B-zrj0DrE8x3nCspUSLRMQe5qepvaX3ezHQbgYAKXTEbSCvbQ4yeBDuzo61MTM_kI3rIudgCzLjKV6VZjSnKH4VKUrQi9TUZo8Q/w306-h640/Southern%20Pacific%20Timetable%20%E2%80%93%C2%A0February%2010,%201883%20%5BSC%20Sentinel%5D.png" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific Railroad schedule published in the <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>, February 10, 1883.</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>San Francisco to Santa Cruz via Pajaro</b></h4><p>The Santa Cruz Railroad was the first system in the county with the ability to connect to the Southern Pacific Railroad's Coast Division mainline at Pajaro, later Watsonville Junction. Once Southern Pacific took over and upgraded the line, a fluid exchange could happen linking Santa Cruz directly to San Francisco, although in reality there was rarely a through line between the points. Most of the time, passengers had to detrain at Pajaro and board a local train.</p><p>Passenger travel between Santa Cruz and San Francisco via the Coast Division mainline was never fast. In 1882, travel between the points—a distance of 121 miles—took around 5 hours, 10 minutes. This meant that the average speed of a journey to san Francisco was 23.4 mph. Around 1890, an express option was added that took just over 4 hours, which averaged 30.1 mph. Over the next twenty years, the time was cut down further, eventually reaching 3 hours, 35 minutes in 1913. That brought the average speed up to 33.8 mph. From there, though, times increased again since all through traffic to San Francisco was directed north along the former South Pacific Coast route and then via the Los Altos Branch, popularly called the Mayfield Cutoff. By the end of passenger service along the Santa Cruz Branch in 1938, travel time from Santa Cruz to San Francisco via Watsonville Junction was 4 hours, 11 minutes, averaging a speed of 28.9 mph. Sun Tan Specials running from 1940 used this line to bring people to the Santa Cruz Beach and its travel time was 3 hours, 30 minutes, essentially the same as the regular passenger trains of the early 1910s.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd7kxqsW__u3yx5nLtL2w2xaGhOWI6Vh7hS1tHdWzjwtuDsPsQloxqccZPXg87cLuPxAj7zK5mpuQqGaIg_qb2CFZzkbG9b6h6Xl5EIJOhfxQMbycWGDQm-ZnUMwJwNUgNjkpjTZG5_8dClbBQTw5vQQ1-er2BYSs3CaQdS-SS8-A_pYMq189Sm5nYrw/s2086/Santa%20Cruz%20and%20Felton%20Time%20Table%20No.%202,%20February%2010,%201877%20(Sentinel).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="2086" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd7kxqsW__u3yx5nLtL2w2xaGhOWI6Vh7hS1tHdWzjwtuDsPsQloxqccZPXg87cLuPxAj7zK5mpuQqGaIg_qb2CFZzkbG9b6h6Xl5EIJOhfxQMbycWGDQm-ZnUMwJwNUgNjkpjTZG5_8dClbBQTw5vQQ1-er2BYSs3CaQdS-SS8-A_pYMq189Sm5nYrw/w640-h208/Santa%20Cruz%20and%20Felton%20Time%20Table%20No.%202,%20February%2010,%201877%20(Sentinel).png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad Time Table No. 2, from the <i>Sentinel</i>, February 10, 1877.</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;">Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad</h4><p>In some ways, the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad was the shortest-lived of all the railroads in the county since it was wholly absorbed into the South Pacific Coast Railroad's mainline system in May 1880. It also did not formally engage in passenger service until several months after it began freight service in late 1875. But during the four years that it operated as a passenger railroad, it had a set scheduled that appeared in the local newspapers. Its No. 2 timetable, published in February 1877, gave travel time between Santa Cruz—then located at the Railroad Wharf—and Felton—near the Mountain Community Resources—as 1 hour exactly. This means that the 7-mile-long route transported passengers at a speed of...7 miles per hour. The Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad offered three runs in each direction. Later in the year, this was reduced to two runs, and in mid-1878 only one run each direction. This remained the status until the South Pacific Coast took over.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtLkb13agtkE-lPA_6I2PenlQc-Pc4X9XEQyCgoB8jx9xLgX8uhT-3PO85N1iuJOgbl_wXNThjI4N_G0dIYU9iiOl8llo04dN1Nnxmowr3JLvw1AxEc5tfZOfThA8CmvMIL9niWDPkgnQlmhoU-KHF6N9lelB4LP-TzwalWDiqLJNrL7xBoocMPAOxQ/s2828/spcrr1886timetable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2029" data-original-width="2828" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtLkb13agtkE-lPA_6I2PenlQc-Pc4X9XEQyCgoB8jx9xLgX8uhT-3PO85N1iuJOgbl_wXNThjI4N_G0dIYU9iiOl8llo04dN1Nnxmowr3JLvw1AxEc5tfZOfThA8CmvMIL9niWDPkgnQlmhoU-KHF6N9lelB4LP-TzwalWDiqLJNrL7xBoocMPAOxQ/w640-h460/spcrr1886timetable.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover of South Pacific Coast Railroad time table no. 3, March 28, 1886.</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>South Pacific Coast Railroad and Railway</b></h4><p>The opening of the South Pacific Coast Railroad to Santa Cruz in 1880 heralded the first (nearly) seamless direct service between San Francisco and Santa Cruz. Nearly because a ferry was still required to transfer passengers from San Francisco to the Alameda Mole near Oakland. The South Pacific Coast was a narrow-gauge railroad that ran directly through the Santa Cruz Mountains, passing through Fremont, San José, Los Gatos, and eight tunnels before reaching the seaside town. Little changed along the line even after Southern Pacific acquired it in 1887, by which point it had reincorporated as the South Pacific Coast Railway. The entire line was not standard-gauged until spring 1909, after which most Santa Cruz–San Francisco traffic went via the Mayfield Cutoff rather than by the original Alameda route.</p><p>In the nearly thirty years from 1880, travel times between Alameda Junction and Santa Cruz remained remarkably stable. The speed of the train was always fastest between Alameda and Los Gatos, after which trains encountered a meandering track of steeper grades and sharper curves. Nonetheless, the route as a whole made good time. The April 4, 1881 timetable gave the travel time as 3 hours, 37 minutes, which resulted in an average speed of 20.8 miles per hour across 75.3 miles of trackage. Two years later, the time was reduced to 3 hours, 19 minutes leading to an uptick in the average speed to 23 mph. The timetables soon stabilized for the next decade at the slightly faster time 3 hours, 22 minutes, with trains travelling at an average speed of 22.4 mph. Perhaps due to safety concerns or constant repairs along the line, Southern Pacific eventually moved the time up around 1894 to 3 hours, 30 minutes, averaging 21.5 mph, which it retained until the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake shut down the line and it was standard-gauged.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrZgfONbfEVyZUOVmVKZt-dg4KHMbJjoz6b8DB9PMpi_oE7S-RUUJ8K1MFTC13OcHw6Inl6Qn3_JEiFRXmCgftPPsBoIlx3Rhayi0-nkTfwWffu3wnvYDqXgjDHoYpBrzoR6K1ujZ1tlo76Z-GcBuYaKIyKeH1v4VXjfHwbGddp3szXaSIz6MAX_JLg/s3782/Ben%20Lomond%20with%20three-rail%20tracks,%20ca%201907%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2543" data-original-width="3782" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrZgfONbfEVyZUOVmVKZt-dg4KHMbJjoz6b8DB9PMpi_oE7S-RUUJ8K1MFTC13OcHw6Inl6Qn3_JEiFRXmCgftPPsBoIlx3Rhayi0-nkTfwWffu3wnvYDqXgjDHoYpBrzoR6K1ujZ1tlo76Z-GcBuYaKIyKeH1v4VXjfHwbGddp3szXaSIz6MAX_JLg/w640-h430/Ben%20Lomond%20with%20three-rail%20tracks,%20ca%201907%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passengers boarding a South Pacific Coast Railway train at Ben Lomond, ca 1907. [UCSC Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>Felton & Pescadero Railroad and Boulder Creek Branch</b></h4><p>Travel time on the 7.30-mile-long Felton & Pescadero Railroad, a subsidiary of the South Pacific Coast Railroad, varied depending on which direction the train was travelling between Felton and Boulder Creek. If the train was heading north, it took 45 minutes to reach Boulder Creek. If it was heading south, possibly because trains needed to use their brakes more, it took 50 minutes to reach Felton. This meant that trains were travelling 9.7 and 8.8 miles per hour respectively. When Southern Pacific took over the line in 1887, it managed to cut the average travel time down to 33 minutes, which more or less remained standard for the next twenty years. Trains, therefore, could transport passengers between the two termini at a speed of 13.3 mph.</p><p>In 1908, when the line shifted to standard gauge, trains were finally able to run at a faster clip. For the first year, trains transported passengers between Felton and Boulder Creek in only 22 minutes! This meant the trains were running at an average speed of 19.9 mph. Clearly this was deemed unsafe, or perhaps the company changed to less efficient locomotives, since in 1909 the time was moved back to 30 minutes. Over two decades, the speed bounced between 25 and 30 minutes for the remainder of its time as a passenger line, which ceased around May 1931. Taking an average travel time of 27.5 minutes, the trains during the final years of the Boulder Creek Branch ran at a speed of 15.9 mph.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUfLzcbQu8WGzYnrRXJDzW8xfISHs-YsKX-l9P6LF3JWIvXU4OFznkyXjuqNZ5hcZNcJ2lEx2bOh8vIpwC4GVo9RlsVgeERzxzNDKw5muIANyfiOeuKzHJ7Dqa5nOl2y-o1-DPzl0qlgeMx3f0JdF5g6zGj8mW5uoctdUPqHfC9ARgZ53tEyX7zGtWNA/s7483/osrr1911timetable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5499" data-original-width="7483" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUfLzcbQu8WGzYnrRXJDzW8xfISHs-YsKX-l9P6LF3JWIvXU4OFznkyXjuqNZ5hcZNcJ2lEx2bOh8vIpwC4GVo9RlsVgeERzxzNDKw5muIANyfiOeuKzHJ7Dqa5nOl2y-o1-DPzl0qlgeMx3f0JdF5g6zGj8mW5uoctdUPqHfC9ARgZ53tEyX7zGtWNA/w640-h470/osrr1911timetable.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ocean Shore Railway timetable no. 19, July 16, 1911.</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;">Davenport-bound Railroads</h4><p>Two railroads traversed the northern marine terraces of Santa Cruz County: the Ocean Shore Railway, later Railroad, and the Coast Line Railroad, a subsidiary of Southern Pacific. Both standard-gauge railroads were built at about the same time—between 1905 and 1907—and both had the stated, though unrealized, goal of linking Santa Cruz to San Francisco via a coastal route. The Ocean Shore did make it as far north as Swanton, 15.5 miles from Santa Cruz, but the most important destination along the line was Davenport, at least in the earlier years. This location was 10.8 miles from Santa Cruz on the Ocean Shore Railway, and 11.4 miles on the Coast Line Railroad.</p><p>The Ocean Shore's short, fourteen-year existence running passengers along the coast was a relatively consistent affair. All of the company's regular trains were mixed and trains took 28 minutes to run between Santa Cruz and Davenport. This resulted in an average speed of 23.1 miles per hour. The Coast Line, in contrast, began running incredibly slow trains. Initially, mixed trains took up to 1 hour, 15 minutes to transport passengers from Santa Cruz to Davenport, probably due to the number of freight stops trains along the way. So much time resulted in a dismal 9.1 mph speed. This soon picked up, though, and Southern Pacific managed to cut the time to 1 hour in late 1909, allowing trains to run at 11.4 miles per hour. By 1913, enough passenger traffic had picked up that dedicated passenger trains could operate, and these only took 30 minutes, matching the Ocean Shore's travel time and running at a far more comfortable speed of 22.8 mph. Both railroads retained this time for passenger trains until each ceased regular passenger service, in 1920 for the Ocean Shore, and in 1932 for Southern Pacific.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZyE_gbJlqZVOD6CRqAyUC2K72-G25_AmL-ry3BiQ4J-ZSQ8UoVt6TWSGqpuEbp2ox7t-ieRamfDAZ9Gp5cVmy432H-lvRSQFKkid5lBogimdm4QPx_UEgVIyQdXzCYve7y-jSTGwY9sFzZh4XlbUl5NgE8jMcHP5eLznhOczopKMCr_li3R2mqwQkA/s4000/Santa%20Cruz%20train%20at%20San%20Francisco,%20August%2019,%201937%20%5BWhittaker%20-%20Jim%20Vail%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2159" data-original-width="4000" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZyE_gbJlqZVOD6CRqAyUC2K72-G25_AmL-ry3BiQ4J-ZSQ8UoVt6TWSGqpuEbp2ox7t-ieRamfDAZ9Gp5cVmy432H-lvRSQFKkid5lBogimdm4QPx_UEgVIyQdXzCYve7y-jSTGwY9sFzZh4XlbUl5NgE8jMcHP5eLznhOczopKMCr_li3R2mqwQkA/w640-h346/Santa%20Cruz%20train%20at%20San%20Francisco,%20August%2019,%201937%20%5BWhittaker%20-%20Jim%20Vail%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific's morning Santa Cruz express train arriving at San Francisco, August 19, 1937. Photo by Wilbur C. Whittaker [Jim Vail – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>The Mayfield Route</b></h4><p>The most efficient service that ever ran between Santa Cruz and San Francisco was the direct trains that Southern Pacific ran along the Los Altos Branch, commonly called the Mayfield Cutoff. What it "cut off" was San José, saving trains a major bottleneck of a station and saving several miles of track miles travelled. The Los Altos Branch, between Vasona Junction and Mayfield near Palo Alto, opened in 1908 and allowed through service from Santa Cruz beginning in mid-1909. The route proved so efficient that the mile markers along the Santa Cruz Branch were actually reversed so that they oriented north through the mountains rather than south toward Pajaro. By 1909, the latter route had been reduced to 120.5 miles between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, while the new Mayfield route was a trifling 79.2 miles.</p><p>In the early years of the Mayfield route, trains running between the two termini took 3 hours, 20 minutes to reach their destination. That meant they ran at an impressive average speed of 23.8 miles per hour. As with the South Pacific Coast Railway before it, the speed would have been considerably faster north of Los Gatos and slower through the mountains. In the early 1920s, Southern Pacific managed to shave off nearly half an hour from travel, reducing the time to 2 hours, 52 minutes, resulting in trains running at 27.6 mph. Over the subsequent twenty years, this time only got faster. By February 1940, just prior to the sudden shutdown of the route, regular trains travelling on the Mayfield route could reach San Francisco from Santa Cruz in only 3 hours, 9 minutes at a speed of 26.0 mph. But more incredible was the travel time of express trains, which could make the morning commute in 2 hours, 38 minutes at the then-incredible speed of 30.1 mph.</p><p>This was the end of regular or express commuter service in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Except for the occasional excursion train and the seasonal Sun Tan Specials, locals who wished to travel anywhere by train first had to drive or take a bus to Watsonville Junction, Los Gatos, or San José. An era of efficient, comparatively rapid transport had ended.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>Citations & Credits:</b></h4><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Nanney, Duncan. Personal correspondence.</li><li><i>Santa Cruz Sentinel.</i> Various articles, 1875-1940.</li><li>Southern Pacific Railroad Company, various records. California State Railroad Museum.</li></ul><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-38094574119263089122022-08-11T14:00:00.149-07:002022-08-12T23:19:35.535-07:00Stations: Eva<p>One of the primary appeals of a railroad through the Santa Cruz Mountains was its picturesque nature. However, much of the route through which the South Pacific Coast Railroad passed in 1880 was less verdant than it is today. Logging along Los Gatos, Bean, and Zayante Creeks had largely deforested the areas. Nowhere was untouched and only the Welch’s Big Trees Grove near Felton and parts of San Lorenzo Gorge to the south retained a semblance of wilderness. Because of this and because the South Pacific Coast Railroad was focused primarily on expanding its lines, the company never established its own picnic stop in the mountains. But when the Southern Pacific Railroad took over in 1887, it found a ready picnic ground on the east bank of Los Gatos Creek at a place it christened Forest Grove.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsclidEMHg6nsDslAbp6gzjBCjSrdF7Kdjtr5mFnDUYxIiTvvbAMMUP15UTi5vy3MZkEzHry2es_FQXkZNXAGVmK4TOHwF0e1ipnSDvKxTZBcKMj9ITpG6cKEtWUuCLaf_NFBH2ZO9gH2E8AH-FmGICjrXVdHdz9EeZra8Zx_6kDtMriAUN9RziCNePA/s1164/Toro%20Club%20at%20Forest%20Grove,%20Nov%204,%201894%20%5BeBay%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1164" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsclidEMHg6nsDslAbp6gzjBCjSrdF7Kdjtr5mFnDUYxIiTvvbAMMUP15UTi5vy3MZkEzHry2es_FQXkZNXAGVmK4TOHwF0e1ipnSDvKxTZBcKMj9ITpG6cKEtWUuCLaf_NFBH2ZO9gH2E8AH-FmGICjrXVdHdz9EeZra8Zx_6kDtMriAUN9RziCNePA/w640-h390/Toro%20Club%20at%20Forest%20Grove,%20Nov%204,%201894%20%5BeBay%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Members of the Toro Club gathering at Forest Grove, November 4, 1894. [Colorized using MyHeritage]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>What would become Forest Grove had probably existed as an informal stop since the arrival of the South Pacific Coast Railroad to the area in 1879. In the first Officers, Stations & Agencies book published by Southern Pacific following the acquisition of the South Pacific Coast Railroad in 1887, the location was named Casey’s. This likely derived from the South Pacific Coast Railroad’s former roadmaster and superintendent of bridges, Thomas Casey, who was responsible for maintaining the right-of-way between San José and Santa Cruz between December 1880 and June 1884. He had previously worked in the same role for the Central Pacific Railroad during the construction of the first transcontinental railroad in the late 1860s. In summer 1884, he was given the task of laying the track for the Felton & Pescadero Railroad to Boulder Creek. Casey was well-respected by his peers and known in settlements across the South Pacific Coast Railroad’s network. He fell ill in January 1886 and died November 4, 1888 in San Francisco.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8nGJrNIQcQmS8D3fCxBFDezqNl-oq4hWGHVx0EhzSS-HGMCULkhhV3NZ1-LAo4qCJS8UBoOQyC-uhr4awZLMHeBCLlkz_Kpe8A2_xiJAagJ-FT0LMvhoG9HhZZl17NTYqkN3aW-KYPMhSVwEMNopCZRqRezn4VD7w88462vJTy8ca7jm-25Oe3DMgYA/s1502/San%20Francisco%20Examiner,%2006-02-1899%20p8.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="1502" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8nGJrNIQcQmS8D3fCxBFDezqNl-oq4hWGHVx0EhzSS-HGMCULkhhV3NZ1-LAo4qCJS8UBoOQyC-uhr4awZLMHeBCLlkz_Kpe8A2_xiJAagJ-FT0LMvhoG9HhZZl17NTYqkN3aW-KYPMhSVwEMNopCZRqRezn4VD7w88462vJTy8ca7jm-25Oe3DMgYA/w640-h144/San%20Francisco%20Examiner,%2006-02-1899%20p8.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>San Francisco Examiner</i> advertisement for Forest Grove, printed June 2, 1899.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The seventeen-acre rectangular property was mostly on the east bank of Los Gatos Creek just south of Hooker Creek and 5.8 miles south of Los Gatos. The railroad purchased the land from John Young McMillan and Dr. William S. McMurtry of the Los Gatos Manufacturing Company on June 15, 1878 under the condition that the right-of-way remains in continuous use and maintenance. Considering the location—1.6 miles north of Wrights and the Summit Tunnel—it seems likely that the station began life as a staging ground for construction and maintenance crews. After the line was completed in May 1880, Casey’s probably became a maintenance yard, which would explain why the property was so large and why it was named after the roadmaster, who would have operated out of the station to perform many of his duties in the mountains.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQIMSq47JQUuLxNb1lSruRyBIwdYWjKTbBS3ScmqvQBAsK6nu20oIRAIL4AH17G3M9rXVYUrZWVy1ZQfad6wejLU30Od1N3CF6f04z-qRb_9d0lTNP0mk4QryAtbpGLNnN-xfkryMAlVg_gFrWuWcp-1ZaAwPy9a6cUoe8GaPBSZBvaay_FKnA20h1w/s2000/Eva%20bridge,%201912%20%5BGinger%20Constantine%20Navarrete%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1611" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQIMSq47JQUuLxNb1lSruRyBIwdYWjKTbBS3ScmqvQBAsK6nu20oIRAIL4AH17G3M9rXVYUrZWVy1ZQfad6wejLU30Od1N3CF6f04z-qRb_9d0lTNP0mk4QryAtbpGLNnN-xfkryMAlVg_gFrWuWcp-1ZaAwPy9a6cUoe8GaPBSZBvaay_FKnA20h1w/w516-h640/Eva%20bridge,%201912%20%5BGinger%20Constantine%20Navarrete%5D.jpg" width="516" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woman on the Hooker Creek bridge north of Eva, 1912. [Ginger Constantine Navarrete – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Southern Pacific clearly had less interest in maintaining a remote maintenance yard, but it was looking for potential picnic stops in the mountains. Although the area around Hooker Creek had been logged over in the 1860s and early 1870s, second growth redwood trees were already appearing and the large meadow where the maintenance equipment had likely sat was ideal for a picnic ground. The railroad sent out W. T. Fitzgerald, general passenger and freight agent for the narrow-gauge division, to inspect the property and make sketches of it that could be used in marketing.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZERrzxtUWM_2xtkfmf2-8AINQJ9s199sDttCYKHabY_HI3mo0DesmlbKo4IF_sCCSKiugHiPnddX4f-KENRdOe20fhiD1V3Ie8OR6BwL3swd_AR4CNd-mP5SodRmzWMigpFv3OHCeu6R9IZLJPD5aV9zFxE5y0CiXSHMZh64Xg7N0zN-ZDNHFsrQH4w/s1696/Los%20Gatos%20Times-Saratoga%20Observer,%2007-23-1974%20p6d.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1168" data-original-width="1696" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZERrzxtUWM_2xtkfmf2-8AINQJ9s199sDttCYKHabY_HI3mo0DesmlbKo4IF_sCCSKiugHiPnddX4f-KENRdOe20fhiD1V3Ie8OR6BwL3swd_AR4CNd-mP5SodRmzWMigpFv3OHCeu6R9IZLJPD5aV9zFxE5y0CiXSHMZh64Xg7N0zN-ZDNHFsrQH4w/w640-h440/Los%20Gatos%20Times-Saratoga%20Observer,%2007-23-1974%20p6d.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Members of the local Elks Lodge vacationing at Eva Vista, ca 1910. Printed in the <i>Los Gatos Times–Saratoga Observer</i>, July 23, 1974.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The picturesque station opened under the name Forest Grove on April 20, 1888, with a group of Presbyterians traveling from Brooklyn, New York, as its first visitors. The railroad provided picnic tables and accessories, and the people were responsible for bringing food. Though few amenities were provided to the revelers, they loved the place, noting that the “mountains covered with redwood forests, valleys and ravines in which marvelous ferns grow and wild flowers abound, and through which gurgling brooks flow in crystal streams, give abundant scope for romping and climbing by young America.” Over subsequent years, many different groups held annual picnics at Forest Grove, including the Knights of Pythias, the Native Sons of the Golden West, and Southern Pacific itself. The popularity of the picnic stop was such that in 1889, the Oakland Tribune declared it superior to Big Trees.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2m1hpN4ThPA7HVyzxwN049Kik1cEaCw2AhtbadRiNnf4mz6l1K-ffkOh-Rphl7Fg3SHt-6lObvklQkM7nzxVY-0-7JEJG0cpCAezcDlrpXij7uB21ji1qqzk6BFcGbklzMD37bbxSVJ0E-04Hp9jVLKI7dq0t1_bYwL2ScvZpzDCwOK7IZ9Myls7HQ/s1692/Los%20Gatos%20Times-Saratoga%20Observer,%2007-23-1974%20p6b.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="1692" height="548" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2m1hpN4ThPA7HVyzxwN049Kik1cEaCw2AhtbadRiNnf4mz6l1K-ffkOh-Rphl7Fg3SHt-6lObvklQkM7nzxVY-0-7JEJG0cpCAezcDlrpXij7uB21ji1qqzk6BFcGbklzMD37bbxSVJ0E-04Hp9jVLKI7dq0t1_bYwL2ScvZpzDCwOK7IZ9Myls7HQ/w640-h548/Los%20Gatos%20Times-Saratoga%20Observer,%2007-23-1974%20p6b.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the resort looking south, with the Southern Pacific tracks to the left of the photographer and Los Gatos Creek to the right, ca 1909. Printed in the <i>Los Gatos Times–Saratoga Observer</i>, July 23, 1974.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Forest Grove continued to serve Southern Pacific as its chief picnic resort in the Santa Cruz Mountains until the end of the 1895 summer season. The next spring, the company opened Sunset Park south of Wrights and all picnic traffic was redirected there. For two years, Forest Grove seems to have languished, but in 1899 it was leased to Thomas M. Silvey of Wrights, who promoted fishing, hunting, and bathing in the San Francisco Examiner. In late 1889, W. R. Sterne of Los Angeles took over the lease and purchased the adjacent estate of the late Frederick A. Marriott, editor of the San Francisco News Letter tabloid.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0caLJcIPso7ixupwseWclrKH_UjNSBMHn4uhv8-UjvyB_vgsnYJE_2SY3cYNdcOrzDCCEl4mpgZIY5Bw0aN0GVOEuQ1757THy-MspS5nBNrKV4FcjXBnwSEOfN_kyQ-_GWT4pZ5UKPchIs2Z09Oiis81_Q_bkB4_kh_W10ssEGjM8AcL0fY_FKk4RA/s2162/Los%20Gatos%20Times-Saratoga%20Observer,%2007-23-1974%20p6a.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1476" data-original-width="2162" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0caLJcIPso7ixupwseWclrKH_UjNSBMHn4uhv8-UjvyB_vgsnYJE_2SY3cYNdcOrzDCCEl4mpgZIY5Bw0aN0GVOEuQ1757THy-MspS5nBNrKV4FcjXBnwSEOfN_kyQ-_GWT4pZ5UKPchIs2Z09Oiis81_Q_bkB4_kh_W10ssEGjM8AcL0fY_FKk4RA/w640-h436/Los%20Gatos%20Times-Saratoga%20Observer,%2007-23-1974%20p6a.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eva Vista Hotel beside the artificial lake and outbuildings, ca 1910. Printed in the <i>Los Gatos Times–Saratoga Observer</i>, July 23, 1974.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sterne dammed Los Gatos Creek in order to create a small lake in which people could swim. He also began improving his newly-acquired property, erecting the Eva Vista Hotel up on the hill overlooking the lake and railroad tracks. The station, meanwhile, was renamed Eva to better promote the resort. Sterne never enjoyed the property, though. In May 1903, he sold the estate and the lease to H. R. Judah, assistant general passenger agent for the Southern Pacific. Judah soon erected a tent city and club house on the picnic grounds and expanded the hotel’s restaurant to support a larger crowd.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNG3xhuAKVyPIWzjYCmKE6RkzIyLnNwBgJkewlN02VIIcgui1DhHKC4Wyv20BbHMyNVgP7RpuQxWpuUEDWZ_POUcJ9he7YK7goGYLnsJbSeZSou0wWtTPQgfPSqrEoiJgKjN79BO7ITVAfe0zYj0LNblWL3VgToCZg0BCk-BS-yIlj2UC2G22S6H_t6g/s3163/Evavista%20Hotel%20postcard,%201910.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1916" data-original-width="3163" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNG3xhuAKVyPIWzjYCmKE6RkzIyLnNwBgJkewlN02VIIcgui1DhHKC4Wyv20BbHMyNVgP7RpuQxWpuUEDWZ_POUcJ9he7YK7goGYLnsJbSeZSou0wWtTPQgfPSqrEoiJgKjN79BO7ITVAfe0zYj0LNblWL3VgToCZg0BCk-BS-yIlj2UC2G22S6H_t6g/w640-h388/Evavista%20Hotel%20postcard,%201910.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Postcard of Lake Evavista with an inset image of the cookhouse, 1910. [WorthPoint – colorized using DeOldify]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Unfortunately for Judah, his resort was not to last. When the San Francisco earthquake struck before the start of the 1906 season, it caused a landslide that blocked Los Gatos Creek causing it to overflow and flood the railroad tracks and much of the resort grounds at Eva Vista. Railroad traffic was canceled beyond Alba until August 1907, with only repair trains passing through to fix the right-of-way and widen the Summit Tunnel at Wrights. However, the flooded resort was only cleared in December, long after the picnic season had ended. The Panic of 1907 and the widening of the tunnel between Laurel and Glenwood in 1908 made the prospect of reopening Eva Vista infeasible.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09WghGQX8PVHOw_p2k6Epu2TOk2t75VpPCpYhW7OFapKE3WgNYOtsK67VG7s8zK-q6-PYYGi2SOiPDIqSfUqQWO6gDU5dgJGxZocE_SaX5iROJm4QptIC5hQitW2YxNhrMJyg7KD4f1bzNv6g0U0q2DfzMOSq642moox2KgSQrigo9noAlxLcYA4khw/s1612/San%20Francisco%20Chronicle,%2006-02-1909%20p10.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1612" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09WghGQX8PVHOw_p2k6Epu2TOk2t75VpPCpYhW7OFapKE3WgNYOtsK67VG7s8zK-q6-PYYGi2SOiPDIqSfUqQWO6gDU5dgJGxZocE_SaX5iROJm4QptIC5hQitW2YxNhrMJyg7KD4f1bzNv6g0U0q2DfzMOSq642moox2KgSQrigo9noAlxLcYA4khw/w640-h328/San%20Francisco%20Chronicle,%2006-02-1909%20p10.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>San Francisco Chronicle </i>advertisement for Evavista Resort, printed June 2, 1909.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>When it finally welcomed visitors again in 1909, the resort was under the management of Peter Charles Trobock and his brother, Barton N. Trobock, who rebranded it Evavista. The resort’s ultimate fate three years later was outside anyone’s control. On August 27, 1912, mice nibbling on matches in the hotel started a fire. The structure burned to the ground, taking several nearby buildings with it. The last recorded picnic excursion to Evavista was on October 16, 1915 by juniors and seniors from Los Gatos High School.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGlpXO5a2fmmH367UY5ldE5mI-EQGR0ejn1SDDwplX9oW351ivG1eHGhNBZb9g33Dmb96oIhfXp8Fxi7YLlBVsBG33v8z6ZXmW010RmWYUTUsS8U0udEhzwbtu12yDrVkoCWo13fiD7was63YQwaMBCWDwiQvfWVR1LbIWsgLvOQihOGY5CASnNyv0zA/s2353/Washout%20at%20Eva,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1777" data-original-width="2353" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGlpXO5a2fmmH367UY5ldE5mI-EQGR0ejn1SDDwplX9oW351ivG1eHGhNBZb9g33Dmb96oIhfXp8Fxi7YLlBVsBG33v8z6ZXmW010RmWYUTUsS8U0udEhzwbtu12yDrVkoCWo13fiD7was63YQwaMBCWDwiQvfWVR1LbIWsgLvOQihOGY5CASnNyv0zA/w640-h484/Washout%20at%20Eva,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Storm damage to the Southern Pacific right-of-way near Eva, 1909. [Neil Vodden – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>The resort site quickly fell into disrepair but the railroad station remained on timetables for 25 more years. When the line was standard-gauged in 1905, a long siding measuring 2,340 feet—capable of holding 28 cars—was installed along the east side of the right-of-way. It broke off from the mainline just south of the Hooker Creek bridge and paralleled the main track for most of its length, reconnecting with the mainline just beyond the border of the rectangular parcel. A short spur continued from the end of the siding to allow up to three cars to park at the station without blocking the siding. The siding was cut back in late 1909 to 1,821 feet, enough space for about 22 cars.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJi4a5dc6qyk8AmNuMg6uga21pznMzHd0TC67s24dzp00wHVrKAAlIL45HAFONksnjaA-aR1XRjwaHmURBKaAQi13s9bId5pMMB5wbV3CVT0xXQxQg63M0eHSmioCzmCc1OGDTXEA907TTCAzLwTb1jCP1X6EUcfzed6jFYT8SnU71920rgZ9FQFHGQg/s2365/Flatcars%20at%20Eva,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="2365" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJi4a5dc6qyk8AmNuMg6uga21pznMzHd0TC67s24dzp00wHVrKAAlIL45HAFONksnjaA-aR1XRjwaHmURBKaAQi13s9bId5pMMB5wbV3CVT0xXQxQg63M0eHSmioCzmCc1OGDTXEA907TTCAzLwTb1jCP1X6EUcfzed6jFYT8SnU71920rgZ9FQFHGQg/w640-h488/Flatcars%20at%20Eva,%201909%20%5BNeil%20Vodden%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flatcars parked on the siding at Eva, 1909. [Neil Vodden – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The long siding may not have been intended just for passenger trains. During standard-gauging, Eva was likely used as a staging ground in the off-season for work crews. This was even more likely in the three years after the earthquake, where Eva probably served as a storage site for repair equipment and building supplies, considering the land to the east of the tracks remained Southern Pacific property. Meanwhile, in 1900, a vein of copper was discovered on the eastern hillside a mile south of Eva near the railroad right-of-way.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhtMh-AWWc4oAJ4YX_p91e43dtJmqOqOH1xDQ5Ahi0x3wHz1C9Mv6XAiQRIFJ7HTEl87iMyKJ1pbuD-aAPd_O5Ii1w88Z4LCsW2Z6KCtfM-2kmbpUnSajs0c1gdErYhPDfFs2evFtCQ3t85gJaL_Z6wx-LJUhqoZsaTAJRbAhvlMer4Y1HPGUArDynsQ/s2950/Eva%20with%20train%20on%20siding,%201914%20%5BGinger%20Constantine%20Navarrete%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2950" data-original-width="2376" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhtMh-AWWc4oAJ4YX_p91e43dtJmqOqOH1xDQ5Ahi0x3wHz1C9Mv6XAiQRIFJ7HTEl87iMyKJ1pbuD-aAPd_O5Ii1w88Z4LCsW2Z6KCtfM-2kmbpUnSajs0c1gdErYhPDfFs2evFtCQ3t85gJaL_Z6wx-LJUhqoZsaTAJRbAhvlMer4Y1HPGUArDynsQ/w516-h640/Eva%20with%20train%20on%20siding,%201914%20%5BGinger%20Constantine%20Navarrete%5D.jpg" width="516" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific locomotive and caboose parked on the siding at Eva, 1914. [Ginger Constantine Navarrete – colorized using DeOldify]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Perhaps because of the resort, no mining was performed until 1917, when an experimental adit was dug by H. E. Casey, J. E. Casey, and G. W. Stollery of San Mateo. The partners employed fifteen men for several months, who dug two tunnels, one 300 feet long and the other 185 feet. They found high concentrations of copper, and smaller veins of chalcopyrite, azurite, malachite, gold, and silver. However, due to poor market conditions and a lack of interest by potential buyers, they decided not to pursue further mining. The mines were sold to Dr. H. C. Adair in 1929, who promptly resumed prospecting. Four adits were dug into the hillside, with the largest supported by a timber frame. Large quantities of pyrite and other sulfides were discovered. A second attempt by Adair in 1936 found a quantity of gold and silver, resulting in the only profit gained from mining operations near Eva. The two longest tunnels, 235 and 500 feet in length, were abandoned in 1938. It is unclear if these operations used Eva station, but they are likely the reason why the railroad retained the station for so many years after the closure of the resort.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNd8qJqQL9OzUUed6DlM-VxKY-_a3l5k47iVVlwXjfPwLfELn4XeoZwpegKHFb5YAUyrb66zu9Zi29SIrA7uwqdY3AqnG-8VVP_XHf9hmpZYBZhyJ3nSNAEbTGv9Su1M4oj-ssRnOCPB8Y8cnaThWr8UkCl9s7J6y15J7WE1tPSSzDPEk2U9hkCNiiPA/s3172/Eva%20Station,%20July%209,%201939%20%5BWilbur%20C.%20Whittaker%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1744" data-original-width="3172" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNd8qJqQL9OzUUed6DlM-VxKY-_a3l5k47iVVlwXjfPwLfELn4XeoZwpegKHFb5YAUyrb66zu9Zi29SIrA7uwqdY3AqnG-8VVP_XHf9hmpZYBZhyJ3nSNAEbTGv9Su1M4oj-ssRnOCPB8Y8cnaThWr8UkCl9s7J6y15J7WE1tPSSzDPEk2U9hkCNiiPA/w640-h352/Eva%20Station,%20July%209,%201939%20%5BWilbur%20C.%20Whittaker%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Southern Pacific commuter train stopped at Eva, July 9, 1939. Photo by Wilbur C. Whittaker. [Jim Vail]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Eva Station was approved for abandonment on August 9, 1937 due to disuse, with Southern Pacific records showing it closed on October 15 of that year. It was removed from employee timetables in May 1939. The closure of the mountain route the following February put an end to any hope of rejuvenating the area around Eva. Following the legal abandonment of the line on March 25, 1941, the property reverted to its original owners, who had several years earlier sold the property to the San Jose Water Company. At the time, nobody lived in the vicinity of Eva to contest abandonment.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTb14R_j2AmxMvusEnF-ZWAmUjKOJkMzluRmRvIxcYNxhTKr8kBHILZS56KqWykD_EXEkYEkzPp0ngosAVKiELNhGKjqleAVh_9XiFgiiGhhnQZWYFiJHot9Qs96ze0ylbLpyq-jI0683TxtxXTQ-_zYUfmmAKvgroVZ-iUZqnSCSrQ3HBY8fGZ8__1Q/s2353/Eva%20-%20Storm%20Damage%201940.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1684" data-original-width="2353" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTb14R_j2AmxMvusEnF-ZWAmUjKOJkMzluRmRvIxcYNxhTKr8kBHILZS56KqWykD_EXEkYEkzPp0ngosAVKiELNhGKjqleAVh_9XiFgiiGhhnQZWYFiJHot9Qs96ze0ylbLpyq-jI0683TxtxXTQ-_zYUfmmAKvgroVZ-iUZqnSCSrQ3HBY8fGZ8__1Q/w640-h458/Eva%20-%20Storm%20Damage%201940.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific survey photo of the Hooker Creek bridge just to the north of Eva, March 1940. [Bruce MacGregor]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<h3>Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:</h3>
37.153˚N, 121.960˚W
<p>The San Jose Water Company continues to own the land, though the right-of-way through the former site of Eva is so overgrown with poison oak and Scotch broom that it is virtually impassable. As a result, the company has not blocked access to this section of the grade, though trespassing is not advised for health and safety reasons.</p>
<h3>Citations & Credits:</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Bender, Henry, "SP22."</li><li>California Division of Mines, <i>California Journal of Mines and Geology</i>, 50 (January 1954).</li><li><i>California Journal of Mines and Geology</i> 50 (January 1954).</li><li>California Public Utilities Commission, Decision No. 30018.</li><li>Hamilton, Fletcher. <i>Report XVII of the State Mineralogist</i> (San Francisco, CA: California State Mining Bureau, 1921).</li><li>Interstate Commerce Commission, Vol. 242.</li><li><i>Los Gatos Mail</i>, 1915.</li><li><i>Oakland Tribune</i> and <i>Evening Tribune</i>, 1884–1890.</li><li><i>Record-Union</i>, 1888.</li><li><i>Sacramento Bee</i>, 1882.</li><li><i>San Francisco Call</i>, 1905.</li><li><i>San Francisco Examiner</i>, 1899.</li><li><i>San Jose Daily Mercury</i>, 1903.</li><li><i>San Jose Evening News</i>, 1912.</li><li><i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>, 1885–1903.</li><li>Southern Pacific Railroad Company, various records.</li><li>Whaley, Derek R. <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1508570736/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1508570736&linkCode=as2&tag=santacruztr0a-20&linkId=ceba0dc6aa65c4cb02b11654ab5d65d8" target="_blank">Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains</a></i> (Santa Cruz, CA: 2015).</li><li>Wiley, Marlene. “<a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:nA3h_h9o-I4J:www.mnn.net/pictrain.htm+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz&client=safari" target="_blank">Riding the Picnic Trains</a>,” Mountain Network News (date unknown).</li><li>Young, John V. <i>Ghost Towns of the Santa Cruz Mountains</i>, expanded edition (Santa Cruz, CA: Western Tanager Press, 1984).</li></ul></div>
Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com6523Q+M4 Lexington Hills, CA, USA37.154160399999988 -121.962132837.153305295482895 -121.96320568360596 37.155015504517081 -121.96105991639405tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-74002662608919770902022-07-08T09:00:00.002-07:002022-07-08T23:49:31.606-07:00Sources: Aerial Photographs<p>The invention of the hot air balloon, photography, and, many years later, airplanes, made capturing the passage in time over a large geographic area much easier. Whereas maps and surveys are incapable of capturing all of the contours and developments in an area with precision and completeness, aerial photographs can capture everything just as it was on the day a kite, balloon, or airplane flew over a specific place and took a photograph. Balloon- and kite-based aerial photographs usually only captured one or a couple photographs of a place, but airplane-based aerial photographs often captured a series of photographs that could later be pieced together to create a long sequence (a mosaic).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicvZMc8RKh3L50CxvTcku7LPvDcBZFEWaufWNhMi8Tpwxpc3nCoDgcEJ6DErItprqk36HzansCobaQ3vsy3QcVVgIRgHA3-j-mHcP3rwcbFvAGX6oXZgD9FlCQ9IPtB3IfsFWEfb9Zr3jL4Mr_pJNGX_pSIGZsc6I86kimbo6KDFGnASLf-73H3VGK_Q/s4819/Panoramic%20birds%20eye%20view%20of%20Santa%20Cruz,%201906,%20George%20R.%20Lawrence.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1797" data-original-width="4819" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicvZMc8RKh3L50CxvTcku7LPvDcBZFEWaufWNhMi8Tpwxpc3nCoDgcEJ6DErItprqk36HzansCobaQ3vsy3QcVVgIRgHA3-j-mHcP3rwcbFvAGX6oXZgD9FlCQ9IPtB3IfsFWEfb9Zr3jL4Mr_pJNGX_pSIGZsc6I86kimbo6KDFGnASLf-73H3VGK_Q/w640-h238/Panoramic%20birds%20eye%20view%20of%20Santa%20Cruz,%201906,%20George%20R.%20Lawrence.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George Lawrence's panoramic photograph of the Santa Cruz Main Beach, 1906. [Bancroft – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>When it comes to researching local history, aerial photography does not always come to mind. And this make sense. Assuming a researcher is looking into the history of a location, the first place they may turn is ground-based photographs. From there, they will likely look into primary and secondary sources, such as newspapers, land deeds, and history books. Even after that, they may turn to more specific visual resources such as fire insurance maps, panoramas and street scene photographs, and family or corporate histories to try and piece together what's missing from the earlier sources. Thus, aerial photographs are often forgotten and, even if not, may be a resource of last resort. That's because they can be difficult to use, are often low resolution, and often do not provide any additional information. Nonetheless, aerial photographs should not be dismissed out of hand.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ways of using this type of source:</h3><p>Like with much of the Central Coast of California, local aerial photograph dates to a coastal panorama of the Santa Cruz Main Beach captured by George Lawrence in mid-1906. He began his career using various balloons to take photographs, but after several accidents, he switched to using kites that carried 50 lbs. cameras and took photos with four feet wide negatives. These highly-detailed images were not taken from the top looking straight down, as with later airplane-based photographs, but were taken from about a 35˚ angle, which allows the contours of the horizon and the scale of buildings to be more prominent.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXtnbgXuA9gjf64F_cp-KFd-dViFTSzBPt2lQXZwRUQ9-sk5eH12_Wbk2BBGG5c1BhtMjgHsk-lXZNXU53cPdJQSgAvjRx6DK0z4jTIOB38jRpUm0alAtnQ9FVemMhSCnordmNkEgns9VT4-Xp5mHi4h8PW0PGHVWu5r6SRyyt_f-y1j-Pytig1ivjQ/s1853/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%201906.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="1853" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXtnbgXuA9gjf64F_cp-KFd-dViFTSzBPt2lQXZwRUQ9-sk5eH12_Wbk2BBGG5c1BhtMjgHsk-lXZNXU53cPdJQSgAvjRx6DK0z4jTIOB38jRpUm0alAtnQ9FVemMhSCnordmNkEgns9VT4-Xp5mHi4h8PW0PGHVWu5r6SRyyt_f-y1j-Pytig1ivjQ/w640-h182/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%201906.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up from the George Lawrence panorama of Bay St. at the Ocean Shore Railway crossing, with Gharkey St. in the foreground, 1906. [Bancroft]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>These early aerials are more of a transition from traditional panoramic photography and airplane-based aerial imagery. This lends it the strengths of both. In regard specifically to Lawrence's photograph, you can see several features that a traditional overhead aerial photo would miss, such as the Bay Street bridge over the Ocean Shore Railway's tracks with a wagon passing over it, electrical or telephone lines running along West Cliff Drive, the pilings under the Cowell and Railroad wharves, or more generally the visual styles of the buildings on Beach Hill. Meanwhile, the photo also allows you to view the Santa Cruz Beach and downtown from an angle a traditional photograph would be unable to capture—taken as it is from high above the Point Santa Cruz Lighthouse—and it shows the viewer things that would probably not be photographed, such as how undeveloped the Seabright/Twin Lakes area was or how denuded the hills were of trees. For more on this specific aerial panorama, check out Peter Nurkse's article on the subject here: "<a href="https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/134531#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0" target="_blank">Notes on the 1906 Aerial Panorama of Santa Cruz by George Lawrence</a>."</p><p>The earliest aerial photograph of Santa Cruz County date to 1928, over twenty years after George Lawrence's kite cameras. The technology used was first tested during World War I, with airplanes flying high over battlefields and behind enemy lines looking for enemy movements and positions. The cameras and how they were mounted onto planes were refined substantially throughout the war but were still not entirely ready for public use afterwards. The cost of the technology alone made it difficult to justify. By the mid-1920s, though, aerial photography planes—many of them war surplus—became available for commercial use and several companies popped up across the United States to capture aerial images for use by local governments, companies, and individuals. Many of the early aerial photographs of Santa Cruz County were captured by Fairchild Aerial Surveys, incorporated in 1924.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM44EJHv8EtRI7NCexO8REHmZclJHJ5yKXKsPGt016Lfa4fikWa5R_1vr7-cGyH7ue_72GIy9Mlbpg3OVE1KXor4cA6NLZy5dNDQQof8wqMlGrLo4uQTSPUGQfi03sd1BuKS5qXqgKoQxF9XhNxy2MBdWiG4kP58VOQkG4tQdaSV7OvmB09DNcixvuGg/s1940/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%201931.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="1940" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM44EJHv8EtRI7NCexO8REHmZclJHJ5yKXKsPGt016Lfa4fikWa5R_1vr7-cGyH7ue_72GIy9Mlbpg3OVE1KXor4cA6NLZy5dNDQQof8wqMlGrLo4uQTSPUGQfi03sd1BuKS5qXqgKoQxF9XhNxy2MBdWiG4kP58VOQkG4tQdaSV7OvmB09DNcixvuGg/w640-h404/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%201931.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1931 aerial photograph showing the remnants of the Ocean Shore Railroad right-of-way from Bay St. (top right) to Delaware Ave. (far left). [UC Santa Barbara]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Aerial photographs by their very nature need to be high-resolution. Thus, even in the 1920s, they show a high degree of detail. Their primary use in research is to identify when specific structures or other features visible from the air first were built and how they were situated. Parcels are quite often distinct due to boundary fences, roads, agricultural plantings, and different yard layouts, meaning that aerial photographs can be quite useful in determining the physical boundaries of an estate or business. They also can show to some degree the layout and quality of roads, waterways, railroads, and other human-made topographical features.</p><p>Over the decades, the quality of film changed, especially following World War II, when aerial photography shifted from a convenient tool for reconnaissance into a precision bomb-targeting tool. As before, technological improvements quickly dispersed from the military after the war into the public and private sectors. Thus, aerial photographs from the 1950s and 1960s are often of a very high quality, even by today's standards. From the early 1970s onward, color photographs increasingly replaced two-tone, allowing researchers to see an even greater range of details in the photographs. This remained the state of aerial photography more or less into the late 1990s.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg15nz0PuxcIQXuVAL_KMkrbiC_sBltrwtIU1Fj-cBjb3SoMY_yO-Hph7UqE6tspLyQEE8EG8ZFT3KPIDlvfj3MHhxsl2avjlu5nggEhiaxCgz22c0tw7cQvU0NY-Z81J-clFRRyOo80NiZHpiAaFaVksCMsZlsK_trzK9xB9oywebnGhkohzalK6HtzA/s1273/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%201964.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="1273" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg15nz0PuxcIQXuVAL_KMkrbiC_sBltrwtIU1Fj-cBjb3SoMY_yO-Hph7UqE6tspLyQEE8EG8ZFT3KPIDlvfj3MHhxsl2avjlu5nggEhiaxCgz22c0tw7cQvU0NY-Z81J-clFRRyOo80NiZHpiAaFaVksCMsZlsK_trzK9xB9oywebnGhkohzalK6HtzA/w640-h436/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%201964.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aerial photograph of Laguna St. and the former Ocean Shore Railroad right-of-way, ca 1964. [UC Santa Barbara]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the major features of later twentieth century aerial photograph was higher contrast photographs. In the first half of the century, photos were usually pretty flat, with shadows muted and even many details slightly fuzzy. World War II aerial photographers realized that higher shutter speeds could capture sharper images. This also resulted in sharper shadows and generally brighter photographs. Certain details, such as color shading on roofs and fields could be better discerned, often making property boundary markers easier to see, and features such as automobiles and railroad tracks also became more visible.</p><p>The late 1990s and especially the early 2000s had the most substantial shift in aerial photography in that it shifted from the troposphere to the exosphere. The first such global positioning system (GPS) satellites went into the upper atmosphere in the late 1970s, but it was not available to the public until the mid-1980s and not widely until 2000. The rapid expansion of GPS meant that commercial firms, non-profits, and public government agencies could take high-resolution photographs from space and send them back to earth. These can be taken constantly and are stored digitally, so they do not require the same type of infrastructure—planes, film, and photo paper—to maintain. While a few companies still capture aerial photographs in the old manner, this is usually done for specifically outlined reasons and the results are often not made public. The most recent airplane-based aerial survey of Santa Cruz County was made in 2003.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrlon_c-OFqojSM2VAg5rX0cSCPjfrBH6tpGtKm1GWEIUSEtiKMzZv_12QevwHlsRUlLIk-EalEpfVxCDJovMBFyBtj6QpvPJ1kng5UPYgIYxeR17_wtC2OjhFI7KIK3TZ2vsc4yyVYTLvdqGIaVVT7G8eeCCL6S_S1h2bidgeOla0GkYpvFBrdRrEnw/s1069/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%202016%20(Google%20Maps).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="1069" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrlon_c-OFqojSM2VAg5rX0cSCPjfrBH6tpGtKm1GWEIUSEtiKMzZv_12QevwHlsRUlLIk-EalEpfVxCDJovMBFyBtj6QpvPJ1kng5UPYgIYxeR17_wtC2OjhFI7KIK3TZ2vsc4yyVYTLvdqGIaVVT7G8eeCCL6S_S1h2bidgeOla0GkYpvFBrdRrEnw/w640-h406/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%202016%20(Google%20Maps).png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google Maps satellite image showing Laguna St. and Delaware Ave., ca 2016. [Google Maps]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There are several different websites and applications that allow people to view GPS-recorded photographs, but none are more popular than Google Maps and Google Earth. Indeed, Google Maps always maintains two separate sets of satellite images, one called "Globe View" (which also allows for an artificial 3D effect based on stereoscopic technology) and one simply called "Satellite." The desktop app version of Google Earth, meanwhile, allows for limited historical views, which are made up of old airplane-based mosaics superimposed on an otherwise modern map. The benefits of Google Maps and Earth are obvious: a user can zoom in quite close with quite a good level of detail and then quickly move somewhere else without having to find another photograph or mosaic. The aerial photographs are so seamlessly sewn that you often don't even know you're looking at thousands of overlapping images. The compression factor in the file sizes also means that you don't have to download huge TIFF files to view details, as you do with traditional aerial photographs, and the color quality is maintained since the images are digitally native.</p><p>For researchers, there are many reasons why satellite imagery is superior. The color and level of detail often far outpace traditional aerial photographs. If you can find historical satellite aerials, such as on the Google Earth desktop app, you can see progressions of development in an area over a relatively short space of time. Even by comparing the two different Google Maps layers—"Globe View" vs. "Satellite"—you can see changes, since the two maps do not reflect the same exact moment in time and may be a few years different.</p><p>Whether you are looking at kite panoramas from 1906 or Google Maps from 2022, aerial photographs can be helpful when doing local history research. These photographs, unlike almost any other resource, depict visual representations of change over a long period of time. They can show urbanization, the expansion of roads and railroads, the development or collapse of industries, and even the damage caused by natural disasters. And unlike so many other sources, they show things agnostically: an aerial photo captures both the target of its attention and all the details around it, which sometimes is a lot.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Downsides and problems with this type of source:</h3><p>Just because aerial photographs can be extremely helpful in research doesn't mean they don't have problems. Earlier aerial photos suffered from several issues. They depicted both a larger and a smaller area than airplane-based aerial photos—larger because they could see beyond the range of a top-down photograph, smaller because the details become increasingly difficult to discern the further the camera is from the subject. Airplane-based aerial photos capture everything from the same distance more or less. Earlier panorama aerials also were taken far enough away that individual details can't always be made out, such as business names, the routes of roads that may be obscured by buildings or trees, or the nature of features far in the distance.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX9J2lzd9AdM6JnEQ9EVJtkHYRMgcavpyt63NGMoV9zg1Fg-LpCYL6hpTIY7E-VvcDHA6aHLKYIsWDx0d2KOMi_RUdemzbluaLeP--NCpQf4Axo_gcb5MuO8MDk68q7wmMFE22ehGxTDeWm8VMd22PfSJbBkb1TcuSoXGQypKexg_Cq-vy4PLQW5_Cqw/s715/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%201957.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="715" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX9J2lzd9AdM6JnEQ9EVJtkHYRMgcavpyt63NGMoV9zg1Fg-LpCYL6hpTIY7E-VvcDHA6aHLKYIsWDx0d2KOMi_RUdemzbluaLeP--NCpQf4Axo_gcb5MuO8MDk68q7wmMFE22ehGxTDeWm8VMd22PfSJbBkb1TcuSoXGQypKexg_Cq-vy4PLQW5_Cqw/w640-h454/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%201957.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Low-resolution aerial photograph of Laguna St. and the Ocean Shore Railroad right-of-way, 1957. [UC Santa Barbara]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Airplane-based aerial photographs became the standard from the 1920s and had several of their own issues. First and foremost, it is almost impossible to gauge depth on a single aerial photograph, especially in the first half of the century. While multiple photographs can be turned into stereographs—a technique used by the military to gauge the terrain and size of buildings—single photos just show rooftops. Thus, you can't get much detail from them regarding the style and makeup of structures except for their physical location, footprint, and maybe their roofing type. Similarly, other features such as trees and gardens, vehicles, and even roads can be difficult to discern. Roads can often be obscured by tree cover and railroads are sometimes too pale against the landscape to follow with accuracy. These issues improved after World War II, but they never disappeared entirely.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0ozWsB2qGLLvlNkBf9miU4-sUw4OxiUtLg9avEeefeXhvbGTDqOoeP9pSmQ-tZ2G4up2CWBpGMpivUE-QKaKrNkLuuWJr-7ugnBVjhNcSjIKTA8QyPpkWNOAUtwpAQOgF-Sn2dIBWBF4tcl9QoNQU0PSkFXvTJias31ry0QlKBhDeHdEDhdC9jOe9g/s536/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%201972.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="536" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0ozWsB2qGLLvlNkBf9miU4-sUw4OxiUtLg9avEeefeXhvbGTDqOoeP9pSmQ-tZ2G4up2CWBpGMpivUE-QKaKrNkLuuWJr-7ugnBVjhNcSjIKTA8QyPpkWNOAUtwpAQOgF-Sn2dIBWBF4tcl9QoNQU0PSkFXvTJias31ry0QlKBhDeHdEDhdC9jOe9g/w640-h472/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%201972.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Low-resolution color aerial photograph of Laguna St. and Delaware Ave., 1972. [UC Santa Barbara]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A strange step-back occurred in the 1970s, as an increasing number of aerial photography cameras shifted to using color film. While adding color had its benefits, the film quality itself was often subpar, rendering blurrier photographs and low resolutions. Color film also had a strong tendency to fade over a relatively short period of time, especially when left out in any light. This problem persisted throughout the entirety of the color film period until digital photography replaced film in the early 2000s. In most cases and despite its clear downsides, two-tone photographs are often better for researching aerial photographs. Another problem with all film-based photography is that high-resolution versions are saved in TIFF files, which are immense, slow to download, and often difficult to browse online.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxJLyfY8XAeIPsKI2aH7muXbeaoxO_1mrlOvkHCZw2yz6DarklsFRrgwgtMywvWvIf3k1KfXQ8u-zIf5QxID5HU4gp4qNNRy870I-Jy_RRwDyvV0NrDMm4m_dDCD0aWsnsvNi94tpR_RlabKMbYRZYeLbwZ2tKnuENvOXg6eoE0jZrsiJ-Xjb7NEmaw/s1391/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%202001.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="931" data-original-width="1391" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxJLyfY8XAeIPsKI2aH7muXbeaoxO_1mrlOvkHCZw2yz6DarklsFRrgwgtMywvWvIf3k1KfXQ8u-zIf5QxID5HU4gp4qNNRy870I-Jy_RRwDyvV0NrDMm4m_dDCD0aWsnsvNi94tpR_RlabKMbYRZYeLbwZ2tKnuENvOXg6eoE0jZrsiJ-Xjb7NEmaw/w640-h428/Laguna%20and%20Delaware,%202001.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Color aerial photograph of Laguna St. and Delaware Ave., 2001. [UC Santa Barbara]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Satellite imagery has many different problems from its predecessors. Since satellite images today are all digital, the color doesn't fade. Also, compression software means loading the images is less of a problem. Downloading the images, however, is nearly impossible now since the mosaics are no longer separable—they are glued together prior to uploading. So if a person wants a satellite image of a place, they must use screen captures, which can be tedious and breaks copyright. Earlier satellite photos, such as those from the 1990s and early 2000s, are also often poor quality since the digital images were not yet of a sufficient quality. Even more problematic, though, it is often impossible to determine the precise date that a specific satellite image was taken since it is often a mosaic composed of several different photos taken over an unspecified period of time. For example, the "Globe View" of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk right now still shows the park's pre-2016 configuration, while the "Satellite" view shows its current layout.</p><p>3D technologies such as that used on Google Maps and Google Earth also sometimes distort things, making them appear different than they truly are. The superimposition of street Labels, too, can cause unconscious problems by giving you a false sense of a street's history based on its modern name. It's often a good idea to turn off Labels when researching if you feel it may distract. The seamlessness of Google Street View is another potential problem in that, much like the different aerial views, it may glue together photographs from several different photo shoots but gives you a sense of continuity. The Street View of the Boardwalk, for example, was taken in 2011, which fortunately is noted at the bottom of the screen.</p><p>Like all research resources, aerial photographs have their upsides and their downsides. In many cases, they are tools of last resort, but they should not be dismissed out of hand. Just be cautious when using them and remember that they depict a specific time and place and not everything may be as it appears.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Local History Resources:</h3><p>The following is a selection of California-specific aerial photograph databases that have material available online. It is by no means a complete list and more material may be added as it is discovered or made available digitally.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><i>UC Santa Barbara Library's Aerial Photography database</i></h4><p>By far the most accessible source for California-specific aerial photographs is UC Santa Barbara Library's Aerial Photography database (<a href="https://www.library.ucsb.edu/geospatial/aerial-photography">https://www.library.ucsb.edu/geospatial/aerial-photography</a>). This repository includes millions of mosaics and individual aerial photographs from throughout the state and many of them can be downloaded for free directly from the website. The FrameFinder tool is the easiest means of finding photos, although it can be quite overwhelming. Individual dots are placed on the map, each oof which represents an aerial photograph, usually part of a larger mosaic. You can click the Flight ID record for information relating to the flight, including usually a list of all of the photographs that are include in the mosaic and their individual record numbers. More simply, you can click the Free Download link beside Scan to see and download the photograph. The FrameFinder is currently the best way of accessing photographs, unfortunately, because the other method—the AP Flights Catalog—doesn't allow you to select individual photographs to view.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Fresno State University Henry Madden Library's Map and Aerial Photograph Collections</h4><div>Fresno State University has its own collection of maps and aerial photographs (<a href="https://guides.library.fresnostate.edu/mapcollections/aerialphotocollection">https://guides.library.fresnostate.edu/mapcollections/aerialphotocollection</a>) that cover all of California, although their collection is far less extensive than UC Santa Barbara's. Its MALT indexing tool is regrettably only useful for the Fresno area, so users from outside that area must search for photos from the Digitized Collections website, which can be more tedious. Nonetheless, nearly 4,000 photographs are available of Santa Cruz County ranging from 1937 to 1993.</div><div><h4 style="text-align: left;">UC Santa Cruz University Library's Maps & Aerial Photos database (currently offline)</h4></div><p>The most convenient option would be to access UC Santa Cruz's collection of maps and aerial photographs (<a href="https://guides.library.ucsc.edu/maps">https://guides.library.ucsc.edu/maps</a>), but unfortunately the digitized photographs were taken down in 2020 and are still not back online. It is still possible to look through the Aerial Photo Flight Indexes to determine if UCSC has a photograph you need for your research. The index PDFs include specific details of the flight an the customized maps on the pages allow you to identify precisely what photograph would be the most useful.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Google Maps and Google Earth</h4><p>The easiest and two of the best options for accessing current and near-current satellite photographs of Santa Cruz County are Google Maps (<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/">https://www.google.com/maps/</a>) and Google Earth (<a href="https://earth.google.com/web/">https://earth.google.com/web/</a>). On Google Maps, to avoid distraction, turn off Labels, and for the most recent map turn off "Globe View" (this will also avoid the 3D effect and avoid you accidentally going to Street View). Capturing images from it is a pain, so use your computer's screen capture app. Also remember that all Google Maps are under copyright, so using them in commercial products is legally not allowed.</p><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-12296473577466402902022-06-02T14:00:00.001-07:002022-06-02T14:00:00.148-07:00Stations: Farley<center>
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<div><p>Claus Spreckels was a prominent individual within Santa Cruz County throughout his life. By 1871, he was already becoming the sugar king, importing 125 tons of raw sugar per day from Hawaii, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and isolated areas of California to his refinery in San Francisco. But in 1872, he became interested in refining sugar from beets to maintain his thriving empire. He turned to Santa Cruz County and settled his eyes upon roughly 1,000 acres of Rancho Aptos.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfjX3o9cRlUcDBwoVTifTUxtlYYC1C0Wersn_quv1KjCvwRrqHKHPz0CYiuckHQATEomVAwazKgYdXucg7j_3z_rogVzoHMBqKgEAP5yyOuUjXfqXk9Rw_g5nCJ5AJFzZfx3g7rRLudHDzW880cjMOdFbbVhKB-lmXHuvM_R5OZi71by1O3x31MiOFrg/s692/output.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="692" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfjX3o9cRlUcDBwoVTifTUxtlYYC1C0Wersn_quv1KjCvwRrqHKHPz0CYiuckHQATEomVAwazKgYdXucg7j_3z_rogVzoHMBqKgEAP5yyOuUjXfqXk9Rw_g5nCJ5AJFzZfx3g7rRLudHDzW880cjMOdFbbVhKB-lmXHuvM_R5OZi71by1O3x31MiOFrg/w640-h332/output.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stereograph of the Aptos Hotel, late 1870s, by C. W. J. Johnson. [California State Library – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Rancho Aptos had been a Mexican land grant given to a member of the Castro family, Rafael de Jesús Castro, in 1833. Castro continued to hold most of the land for the next forty years, primarily using the sprawling marine terrace to raise cattle. However, he also built a 500-foot-long pier near the mouth of Aptos Creek around 1850, from which he shipped lumber, flour, and cattle hide. This was extended another 500 feet in 1867 by Titus Hale, allowing larger ships to dock at the pier. Hale used the pier during these years to ship cords of oak to San Francisco, where it was used to heat homes during the winter. Castro finally relinquished ownership of most of his property in 1872, when his wife, María Soledad Cota, abandoned him. Spreckels swooped in and bought it for $80,000.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8TZa6ELjVngtkVVR8OlvKBHwwprqy994qpvrC04m9xR1oaBVWbhV-970GmuDBtCHjdnqjdblBbLrjlUNQtisaq-2i8INBF18L69EYdF42UKk6s5FeJ9K1mfJ8Ps47Kb6vTXmQr-MipbNLhO4sHS2G_qn2dTvSHvyGHlSuR_cKOgPaoB3tN1bhV2sPXw/s1280/api5wiecx__56627.1626695079.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="979" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8TZa6ELjVngtkVVR8OlvKBHwwprqy994qpvrC04m9xR1oaBVWbhV-970GmuDBtCHjdnqjdblBbLrjlUNQtisaq-2i8INBF18L69EYdF42UKk6s5FeJ9K1mfJ8Ps47Kb6vTXmQr-MipbNLhO4sHS2G_qn2dTvSHvyGHlSuR_cKOgPaoB3tN1bhV2sPXw/w490-h640/api5wiecx__56627.1626695079.jpg" width="490" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lithograph of Claus Spreckels, ca 1875. [Public domain]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the grand scheme of his enterprises, Spreckels’ operations in the Aptos area were minor, although not insignificant. There were signs that the region was primed for beet growing and Spreckels needed to experiment before expanding his operations. However, Santa Cruz County was exceptionally isolated, with only a few rugged mountain roads and steamships providing ways out. To the south, however, the Southern Pacific Railroad had opened a new route to San Francisco the previous year. To make shipping goods easier, Spreckels joined with Frederick A. Hihn to finance and support the construction of the Santa Cruz Railroad, which passed through his property on its way to Pajaro in 1875.
Meanwhile, Spreckels began planting beets while closely observing the activities of the nearby California Beet Sugar Company, based out of Soquel. Spreckels' precise relationship, if any, with this firm is unclear, and it is unknown if he ever produced a commercial crop at his Aptos property. Nonetheless, he saw the potential of Aptos as a tourist destination and continued to invest in the area.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBWd3F4VUHRgUqLxhIyQ4POXTMxzikPjE-1N5dbIQLZHDtMlVR762Q7--GCJSGB8n_3yL5goCwqdZsS75_PWcmwbuvN6hjkNgJzkt6c7TjcZS93WWUfWD5YLWj89XwylF3oYcX8AQeBgQW8xP3bhHWJ_p993HsSsurjGb8EFjaFHdQd1GMVmclXO8XA/s1887/Aptos%20Hotel%20complex%20engraving,%201880s,%20W.%20W.%20Elliott%20&%20Co%20%5BUCSC%5D%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1207" data-original-width="1887" height="409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBWd3F4VUHRgUqLxhIyQ4POXTMxzikPjE-1N5dbIQLZHDtMlVR762Q7--GCJSGB8n_3yL5goCwqdZsS75_PWcmwbuvN6hjkNgJzkt6c7TjcZS93WWUfWD5YLWj89XwylF3oYcX8AQeBgQW8xP3bhHWJ_p993HsSsurjGb8EFjaFHdQd1GMVmclXO8XA/w640-h409/Aptos%20Hotel%20complex%20engraving,%201880s,%20W.%20W.%20Elliott%20&%20Co%20%5BUCSC%5D%20copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Engraving of the Aptos Hotel complex, late 1870s. By W. W. Elliott & Company. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Legacy Digital Collections]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>On May 22, 1875, Spreckels opened the luxurious Aptos Hotel above the cliffs between the railroad tracks and the Monterey Bay south of Aptos. The <i>Santa Cruz</i> <i>Sentinel</i> of March 27, 1875, says of the hotel complex:</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><i></i><blockquote><i>This establishment is quite a village of itself. Besides the main building, which is nearly as large as any hotel in the country, there are two large buildings which will be used for club-room, reading-room, billiard saloon, library, etc., etc. There are also in course of erection several cottages for the use of such guests as may wish to be a little to themselves. This establishment is supplied with water from one of the cool mountain streams and the whole buildings will be lighted with gas and furnished in a handsome and convenient style.... For the convenience of guests there will be connected with the hotel a livery stable, well supplied with horses and carriages, and also at the beach there will be a fine sail boat, where the lovers of old ocean, and other lovers, can have a sail on the ocean wave. There will also be at the lake before mentioned—to which a nice drive has been graded from the hotel—a sail boat better suited to those of a less daring nature. This place will also be a favorite resort for picnic parties.</i><span></span></blockquote><span><!--more--></span><p></p><p>The hotel featured gas lighting, indoor plumbing, an elevator, high ceilings, and verandas that overlooked Aptos Creek and the ocean. The surrounding area also featured cottages, a dance pavilion, and other recreational facilities. As a major investor in the railroad, Spreckels also ensured that the Santa Cruz Railroad established a stop directly beside the hotel property.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfpSDdXfzPPbGIAUZKqEMzCEKNZgD053Yizirwc9-cBYxiaYCAnZGOi4q20zXOp54JKg8lvpr1R3eJAe99wXOlcRPc_ccFcVh73apH_oQK4z4qHKXoIqWsHY8-7vZCaJSzAFj7rtZyO1rsptv-qANEoT80pgQw2u49g2qx5BQ8gc6GYHy3OGagigakhw/s1925/Aptos%20Hotel%20engraving,%201880s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1925" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfpSDdXfzPPbGIAUZKqEMzCEKNZgD053Yizirwc9-cBYxiaYCAnZGOi4q20zXOp54JKg8lvpr1R3eJAe99wXOlcRPc_ccFcVh73apH_oQK4z4qHKXoIqWsHY8-7vZCaJSzAFj7rtZyO1rsptv-qANEoT80pgQw2u49g2qx5BQ8gc6GYHy3OGagigakhw/w640-h381/Aptos%20Hotel%20engraving,%201880s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Engraving of the Aptos Hotel's main building with private cottages on the hill in the background, late 1870s. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Spreckels and the hotel’s proprietors continued to enlarge the hotel over the years in a desperate bid to compete with the growing number of rival resort hotels on the Monterey Bay, especially the Hotel Del Monte, Capitola Hotel, and Douglas House (later Sea Beach Hotel). Spreckels’ hotel had a good balance of features, but each of its rivals had better singular attractors: expansiveness of property, beach comforts, and accessibility respectively. The hotel remained in continuous operation until 1880, and then operated periodically through the 1884 summer season, after which Spreckels abandoned attempts to maintain the decade-old structures. Recurrent proposals to revive the aging complex fell on deaf ears and in 1896, Spreckels decided to demolish the resort and convert it into his private summer residence, although he never actually built his new home. Parts of the old hotel went toward the construction of Spreckels’ massive sugar beet refinery outside Salinas.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIx6oBSMGXVZlFkhA9fleJk7K2MJ9Oetn4m41NfkoLbphOOoZ7MPi2NHq5eLSZ8fJL3XX1Uj4yl1yYGP_EQXgKh_7wcVHJhfY6CYHG5XMoqwYs6f3_F9ouvYn2DauUGI8sXLftwc5O3F7_JEpWRIF-DXkmSMYE71yzkzbUPnXH_rh_O2bknMHdJBN3Q/s800/Aptos%20Wharf,%20ca%201885%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="800" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIx6oBSMGXVZlFkhA9fleJk7K2MJ9Oetn4m41NfkoLbphOOoZ7MPi2NHq5eLSZ8fJL3XX1Uj4yl1yYGP_EQXgKh_7wcVHJhfY6CYHG5XMoqwYs6f3_F9ouvYn2DauUGI8sXLftwc5O3F7_JEpWRIF-DXkmSMYE71yzkzbUPnXH_rh_O2bknMHdJBN3Q/w640-h394/Aptos%20Wharf,%20ca%201885%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aptos Wharf with Spreckels' Aptos Hotel complex in the center distance, ca 1885. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Spreckels still retained an interest in Aptos because of his private properties and the small seaport he had established at the mouth of Aptos Creek. Castro’s pier, which had been extended in 1867, was lengthened another 300 feet in 1880 to support the large vessels of Spreckels’ Oceanic Steamship Company. From the pier, Spreckels received sugar directly from Hawaii and shipped back prime Valencia and Aptos Creek redwood that was used in the construction of new buildings in Hawaii. Between Aptos Landing and downtown Aptos, a wooden mule-powered rail line was installed to make deliveries between the two points easier. This would later evolve into Aptos Wharf Road. Sugar received at Aptos Landing, meanwhile, was shipped to San Francisco from Spreckels’ private siding. The pier at Aptos was damaged in a storm in 1889 and Spreckels ceased to use the port thereafter. In any case, lumber could just as easily be delivered via railroad to anywhere within Spreckels’ empire after the Santa Cruz Branch was standard-gauged in 1883.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ZP1tSbQEY4GvZCfEqnc4PWhbmFhIVuj7RVxalQxd_FXtcwIYVv29hu51HckwUcnyVJUcEbH_eOVEKk_Kb1116AeERI_Wlv7f34RpQ6kNcWnmB2-8mIiaOsOZ6IIBl3PsdOiSPvCeyHO1sKcoT0Y2ACyOyVPpiQxEJxRvGlB1Db4ECtKf9Lml6dseRg/s1915/Aptos%20Hotel%20pavilion%20engraving,%201880s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1171" data-original-width="1915" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ZP1tSbQEY4GvZCfEqnc4PWhbmFhIVuj7RVxalQxd_FXtcwIYVv29hu51HckwUcnyVJUcEbH_eOVEKk_Kb1116AeERI_Wlv7f34RpQ6kNcWnmB2-8mIiaOsOZ6IIBl3PsdOiSPvCeyHO1sKcoT0Y2ACyOyVPpiQxEJxRvGlB1Db4ECtKf9Lml6dseRg/w640-h391/Aptos%20Hotel%20pavilion%20engraving,%201880s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Engraving of the club house pavilion at the Aptos Hotel, late 1870s. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>When Spreckels lost access to his primary source of revenue—Hawaiian sugar cane—in 1886, he was forced to reassess his options. He turned once again to Santa Cruz County, realizing that his years experimenting with beet sugar may in fact be the solution to his problem. In 1888, he founded the Western Beet Sugar Company and began building a massive sugar refinery in Watsonville. Mid-county growers suddenly had a new outlet for their produce and a new era began for the Aptos-area beet industry. Possibly to support these customers or else to cater to Spreckels’ ranch, Southern Pacific officially registered Spreckels’ Siding as a station at this time, located 0.6 miles from Aptos. It included a 268-foot-long siding, enough to hold about five cars, on the north side of the branch line. The stop was renamed Claus—after Claus Spreckels—in 1898 and appeared in employee timetables the next year.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEF-39srC5fulobAs2TN06K_BX5svUt37Mg00A-v0W2OO9KZUmQ-DPpeE2EtahpRUgO0Bdp83UAtCFRWjlVDxDiGXcMEq8kcw61z-MPTeXxb25vl3Xmi1VFuKPESmezs4l52qepmAk1rykvlpI9c70ub3hB7p2cFR-oCrmpnkieWoz2ry10GAHA1GrBQ/s2076/Aptos%20Ranch,%201895%20%5BCabrillo%20Times%20and%20Green%20Sheet,%20Feb%2011,%201971%5D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1343" data-original-width="2076" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEF-39srC5fulobAs2TN06K_BX5svUt37Mg00A-v0W2OO9KZUmQ-DPpeE2EtahpRUgO0Bdp83UAtCFRWjlVDxDiGXcMEq8kcw61z-MPTeXxb25vl3Xmi1VFuKPESmezs4l52qepmAk1rykvlpI9c70ub3hB7p2cFR-oCrmpnkieWoz2ry10GAHA1GrBQ/w640-h414/Aptos%20Ranch,%201895%20%5BCabrillo%20Times%20and%20Green%20Sheet,%20Feb%2011,%201971%5D.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workers at Spreckels' former hotel property preparing for a horse race, 1895. [Cabrillo Times & Green Sheet]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the turn of the century, Spreckels had become disinterested in Santa Cruz County and his Watsonville refinery had shuttered. Although some farmers in the Aptos area continued to grow beets, the Sugar King directed his attention increasingly to the lower Pajaro and Salinas Valleys. Reflecting this, Claus was renamed in 1904, taking the new name Farley. The origin of Farley remains unclear. The surrounding property remained part of the Spreckels estate until 1910 and it had owned the property for thirty years, so it was not named after another property owner. Donald Clark proposes that it was named after an Irish farmer, Michael Farley, who lived nearby in the 1890s, but there is little reason for this connection. A more likely source is Henry R. Farley, a Monterey County sheriff who was murdered in 1899, the trial of whose murderer lasted for five years. The Farley family was prominent in the Salinas area, where Spreckels built his new refinery in 1899. Two final options are that the station was named after either James Edward Farley, a long-time conductor on the Santa Cruz Branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, or J. M. Farley, an engineer of the Coast Division. The true origin of the name may never be known.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzJ4vDVcU-yzq_dWHjAYD5Z_pyaxDiq6Esm87GXnq_OlH3p7DH2dcdG37M0NnmMSCX0kzfKpGo1mt8KCWnXhbMCe8_kGWDVVq7E-oH4IQ2kED9YI0kPbvq3wmqaup0_wb7VXlJn3jKEJFKRGBKHf67lfvrDnOOS-L9f7B9Pejhnhceo9-1Sv-feDfzQ/s2537/Farley%20Station,%201939.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2024" data-original-width="2537" height="511" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzJ4vDVcU-yzq_dWHjAYD5Z_pyaxDiq6Esm87GXnq_OlH3p7DH2dcdG37M0NnmMSCX0kzfKpGo1mt8KCWnXhbMCe8_kGWDVVq7E-oH4IQ2kED9YI0kPbvq3wmqaup0_wb7VXlJn3jKEJFKRGBKHf67lfvrDnOOS-L9f7B9Pejhnhceo9-1Sv-feDfzQ/w640-h511/Farley%20Station,%201939.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farley siding at the top of Farley Drive and behind Sumner Avenue, 1939. [Santa Cruz County GIS]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The later life of Farley as a railroad station is almost completely unknown, but the history of the surrounding property is better documented. Spreckels died in 1908 leaving his company and estates to his wife and children. Shortly afterwards, his widow, Anna Christina Mangels, transferred the titles of the Aptos Hotel property to the San Christina Investment Company, possibly as a means of avoiding paying inheritance taxes. Farley station became a public flag-stop the same year. After a decade of legal battles, San Christina Investment finally decided to sell everything in 1922 to Fred L. and Phoebe F. Somers, who intended to construct a resort hotel and golf course on the property. For some reason, this venture failed and nothing more was heard of it. Three years later, in May 1925, a new organization led by the property development firm [Lee G.] Monroe, [William C.] Lyon & [Lawrence J.] Miller, Inc., set out plans to build the Aptos Beach & Country Club resort and housing subdivision. However, in all its marketing, the firm used the name Aptos-by-the-Sea, and soon the country club just became an aspect of the resort, which included a golf course, polo field, tennis courts, pleasure pier, hotel, casino, and beach. In April 1926, the developers re-christened the resort Rio del Mar, the name it retains today.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmu-cf7uVCeQp5zEIPQokw90SLYk-UPBpdcp7VdyTNoEo5BfwePVdHDJKTt7VwODMliCWxh9m1vAEqX54ndywtzdVsx25WRxdRLAr8O1l-NuX_p7PRKcIC5-P2551vxsFbR2KwklYFMW9hpFFVhDGhQ8jQE0YmS8yxR7sGzZ5tmi0ZvY0_CpdAKQwnQ/s800/Rio%20Del%20Mar,%20late%201920s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="800" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmu-cf7uVCeQp5zEIPQokw90SLYk-UPBpdcp7VdyTNoEo5BfwePVdHDJKTt7VwODMliCWxh9m1vAEqX54ndywtzdVsx25WRxdRLAr8O1l-NuX_p7PRKcIC5-P2551vxsFbR2KwklYFMW9hpFFVhDGhQ8jQE0YmS8yxR7sGzZ5tmi0ZvY0_CpdAKQwnQ/w640-h498/Rio%20Del%20Mar,%20late%201920s%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aerial view of the Rio Del Mar subdivision, late 1920s. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Throughout this entire period, the small flag-stop at Farley remained with its short siding and simple station sign. Whether this was used frequently by Spreckels family visitors or Rio del Mar guests and residents remains unknown, but it was never a scheduled stop. Rio del Mar provided access to the flag-stop from the northern end of Farley Drive, but seemingly did not advertise the railroad as a means of patronizing the resort. The abandonment of regular passenger service along the Santa Cruz Branch in February 1938 prompted the closure of this station on July 15, 1939. What happened to its siding is unknown, but it was likely removed shortly afterwards and nothing remains today except a wider right-of-way.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:</h3><p>36.9675N, 121.8931W<br />Northern end of Farley Drive behind the homes.</p><p>Today, the site of the station is owned by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, while the adjacent property is all privately-owned. The station site sits between Sumner Avenue and Townsend Drive beyond the end of Farley Drive, which serves as the only reference to the former station. The siding itself ran behind the homes on Sumner Avenue. Rio del Mar to the south of the tracks remains a densely-populated area of more than 9,000 residents.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Citations & Credits:</b></h3></div><ul><li>Bender, Henry E., Jr. "SP Santa Cruz Branch [SP72]." 2017.</li><li>Bryant, Mary. “<a href="https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/134439" target="_blank">The Days of the Sugar Pier: Aptos Wharf Once Stretched Quarter Mile from Shore</a>.” Santa Cruz Public Libraries: Local History Collection, 2000.</li><li>Clark, Donald. <i>Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. </i>Scotts Valley, CA: Kestrel Press, 2003.</li>
<li>Collins, Allen. "<a href="https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/files/original/aa1465611aedbbabe44a9f362d9fbbba.pdf" target="_blank">The Spreckels Era in Rio Del Mar, 1872-1922</a>." Santa Cruz Public Libraries, 1995.</li><li>Hibble, John. "<a href="https://aptoshistory.org/?p=481" target="_blank">The Grand Hotel of Aptos</a>". Aptos History Museum, 2020.</li><li>Newhouse, Kevin, and the Aptos History Museum. <i>Images of America: Aptos. </i>Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2013.</li><li>Southern Pacific Transportation Company. Coast Division Employee Timetables. 1884–1938.</li><li>Southern Pacific Transportation Company. Stations, Officers & Agencies books. 1889–1938.</li><li>Various articles. <i>Santa Cruz Evening Sentinel</i>, <i>Sentinel</i>, and <i>Surf</i>. 1872–1938.</li><li>Whaley, Derek R. "The End of the Line: The Abandonment of Passenger Services in Santa Cruz County, California," <i>Railroad History</i> 215 (Fall-Winter 2016), 12–33.</li><li>Whaley, Derek R. <i>Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Coast</i>. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, forthcoming.</li></ul>
Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0418 Sumner Ave, Aptos, CA 95003, USA36.9684204 -121.893948336.967563197978606 -121.89502118360596 36.969277602021393 -121.89287541639405tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-68346929077755922812022-05-05T14:00:01.452-07:002022-07-29T04:11:56.491-07:00Curiosities: Returning Commuter Service to the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line<p>On the evening of February 26, 1940, something momentous happened in Santa Cruz County. Earlier in the day, a massive rain storm had passed over the Santa Cruz Mountains causing landslides and sinks in several places along the Southern Pacific Railroad's branch line over the Santa Cruz Mountains. The evening commuter train to San Francisco could not return across the mountains so buses were brought in to collect passengers in Felton and shuttle them to Santa Cruz, where the train took them to the Bay Area via Watsonville Junction and the Coast Division mainline. Nobody knew it at the time, but this evening train was the last regularly scheduled commuter train to run in Santa Cruz County.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="479" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6137b75a4ecd077a890bd77e/c368681a-108e-4c51-a0e3-901feab9b5b8/Chestnut+Street.png" style="-webkit-user-select: none; cursor: zoom-in; display: block; margin: auto; user-select: none;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Coast Futura demonstration electric trolley on Chestnut Street, October 2021. [Coast Futura]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Over eighty years have now passed since Santa Cruz County last had regular commuter service on any of its lines. Several attempts have been made over the decades to revive service in both the mountains and along the coast, however. While the former has become increasingly unlikely as the years march on, the latter remains possible since the tracks are still in place between Watsonville Junction and Davenport. Indeed, the entire route had been in daily use as a freight line until 2010, when the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company plant in Davenport closed, and parts of it have remained in continuous use to the present.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipj7xbldCUjaRBgk7fPJMqP7OKn0t1R0eO5CpHG9nIsr9lShwLtpv5KiXQeKWaVxa4HKegfZwT3IYkSbi5zzfgXpyfAw_QUvZgfbOPVpl_lb2h_rMIIVJEyvMtPwMq93xZNE9spCOq-yubF7g0qO7G-e47ID7_9AwrN8hHaxDNxOrxwNdqAD3eM2geYw/s960/Laurel%20Station.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="960" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipj7xbldCUjaRBgk7fPJMqP7OKn0t1R0eO5CpHG9nIsr9lShwLtpv5KiXQeKWaVxa4HKegfZwT3IYkSbi5zzfgXpyfAw_QUvZgfbOPVpl_lb2h_rMIIVJEyvMtPwMq93xZNE9spCOq-yubF7g0qO7G-e47ID7_9AwrN8hHaxDNxOrxwNdqAD3eM2geYw/w640-h488/Laurel%20Station.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific Railroad survey photo showing storm damage in Laurel, April 9, 1940. [Bruce McGregor]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Following the end of rail transportation across the mountains in 1940, Southern Pacific shifted to providing bus service through Pacific Greyhound. The railroad did this as a cost-saving move, but gathered support for it through lies and half-truths. In 1940, the company promised efficient commuter bus service, at same or similar prices, and the same level of support provided to rail passengers. It also resumed seasonal <i>Sun Tan Special</i> excursion trains, now via Watsonville Junction, to the relief of the Santa Cruz Seaside Company and many other summer businesses. Yet World War II allowed the company to reduce its services substantially and back out of many of its commitments.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VdPlJZdqeL4vpMGgqiMng_YqsOi--Cvsz-OmEXEDHvgX-B3eWxXxEFUbo2--peivjWpL8ngVNdA57-ADYPLBcN6Sya7qeFfgP9jUYKy4HjKG3vYt0qr3_VmCEqNX94Pdxu1XCsOlOSg-r5Ae18QWuRMXAih5H9pqWrpH7E9vHXgjliX3p1DHJ0Lk7Q/s960/970536_592926644063857_336562073_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="960" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VdPlJZdqeL4vpMGgqiMng_YqsOi--Cvsz-OmEXEDHvgX-B3eWxXxEFUbo2--peivjWpL8ngVNdA57-ADYPLBcN6Sya7qeFfgP9jUYKy4HjKG3vYt0qr3_VmCEqNX94Pdxu1XCsOlOSg-r5Ae18QWuRMXAih5H9pqWrpH7E9vHXgjliX3p1DHJ0Lk7Q/w640-h436/970536_592926644063857_336562073_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sun Tan Special</i> at the Boardwalk, mid-1950s. [Joshua Reader]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The end of the war marked a return of demand for passenger service. In 1946, the local railroad agent, A. L. Andrews, stated that commuter service would be made available if there were a demand for it. The <i>Sun Tan Special</i> returned in June 1947 to much hype and signalled a return to normalcy after the war. The service continued every summer until Labor Day 1959. Other hired excursion trains resumed too beginning in May 1947, taking visitors to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Davenport, and Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park (Big Trees), and these continued to operate through 1965, after which all forms of passenger service were discontinued in the county and the railroad tracks were downgraded to light freight-only status.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-8figdooKtdIld3nVEJPpxFjWA_vYFQL6GgjS9vK3AKtRVaWFN0fQ07Da9zjtLi_0nbB9ERmWfyEQ230JEw5NpcObcZNhdSkap-omaTUq-wNv7j6N-4R9eSW1dzdbaS4DDwpW0l03KL2hv7ys01A71DF5OJfjYGX1VYDW9uIvo42VihTBX7E988CGg/s2386/Suntans%20-%20600dpi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1565" data-original-width="2386" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-8figdooKtdIld3nVEJPpxFjWA_vYFQL6GgjS9vK3AKtRVaWFN0fQ07Da9zjtLi_0nbB9ERmWfyEQ230JEw5NpcObcZNhdSkap-omaTUq-wNv7j6N-4R9eSW1dzdbaS4DDwpW0l03KL2hv7ys01A71DF5OJfjYGX1VYDW9uIvo42VihTBX7E988CGg/w640-h420/Suntans%20-%20600dpi.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sun Tan Specials</i> at the Santa Cruz freight yard awaiting a return to San Francisco, 1950s. [Jim Vail]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>These hints at passenger service did not satisfy locals, though. While seasonal tourist service enlarged Southern Pacific's coffers, locals were left only with year-round freight and undependable bus service. The local train stations, mostly servicing freight customers, continued to sell bus and rail tickets to the public, but they were poorly patronized and most were closed by the mid-1950s. A system-wide bus strike in 1952 gave hope to potential customers that commuter service would return to Santa Cruz County; however, Southern Pacific admitted that it did not have enough passenger cars to support commuter service even if it wanted to, which it did not. A 1959 <i>Sentinel</i> editorial outlined the plight of the railroads and how little interest Southern Pacific had shown toward maintaining any passenger service in Santa Cruz County whatsoever. From subpar passenger coaches on excursion trains to poor upkeep of the Santa Cruz Union Depot to the reduction of freight service to rural stations, the editor made it clear that Southern Pacific had failed in its duty to the county.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ZCU6K8V8_xfDaL-Me6EvmbdhlUb1GbdQS3BUpY04En2nRZRlqU1Z8zuMogJ4yhP8dogyqCkaIuozAeKGmBHQhNvU2gDWu1cyr2fdogofwVmB2myaURTTcDMh2A13fT44FMcUW6MDkAJvQmJ5ZP5XrlPnyMytPKiPUmPDgEnCzppsE9r4pRDCtMbjOg/s3727/SC%20Freight%20Yard,%201960s%20%5BJim%20Vail%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3727" data-original-width="2758" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ZCU6K8V8_xfDaL-Me6EvmbdhlUb1GbdQS3BUpY04En2nRZRlqU1Z8zuMogJ4yhP8dogyqCkaIuozAeKGmBHQhNvU2gDWu1cyr2fdogofwVmB2myaURTTcDMh2A13fT44FMcUW6MDkAJvQmJ5ZP5XrlPnyMytPKiPUmPDgEnCzppsE9r4pRDCtMbjOg/w474-h640/SC%20Freight%20Yard,%201960s%20%5BJim%20Vail%5D.jpg" width="474" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific diesel locomotive switching freight cars at the Santa Cruz yard, 1960s. [Jim Vail]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>From 1966, Southern Pacific fought any attempt to return passenger service to the county. The railroad was entirely in favor of a buy-out, though. As early as 1971, Southern Pacific expressed interest in leasing or selling Santa Cruz County's trackage to a third party. This would allow passenger service to resume, force the third party to maintain the tracks, and also allow Southern Pacific to bypass its workers' union. Unfortunately, Amtrak, which formed in 1971, was not interested in reviving passenger service since its main focus was on long-haul routes. However, in 1974, a feasibility study revealed that a revival of the <i>Sun Tan Special</i> could be economically feasible if enough rolling stock could be earmarked for the service. Despite strong support by State Senator Alfred Alquist, Amtrak decided against running an experimental service to Santa Cruz at this time.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXtRk1eucsaDPzzua58RTyFFzlEbintMuAQ2a-853Z3XS8FHZ969cc0ftZA3hLX06AAWAKPj_gcyaOwMGnHPUbxLcjcuHOnNNXl9zJdpyXVon6VzTe-7Dq9sfsG9y6ijzpT-spQ9rGqfvnc7rFTygHmrMMeLR3wNbJCN8tgtn2ka7ge4bPYdlo3SVAA/s1204/Untitled2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1028" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXtRk1eucsaDPzzua58RTyFFzlEbintMuAQ2a-853Z3XS8FHZ969cc0ftZA3hLX06AAWAKPj_gcyaOwMGnHPUbxLcjcuHOnNNXl9zJdpyXVon6VzTe-7Dq9sfsG9y6ijzpT-spQ9rGqfvnc7rFTygHmrMMeLR3wNbJCN8tgtn2ka7ge4bPYdlo3SVAA/w546-h640/Untitled2.png" width="546" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The three routes assessed in the 1977 California Department of Transportation feasibility study.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Throughout the rest of the 1970s and 1980s, Southern Pacific remained opposed to any expansion or continuation of passenger service in the Bay Area. Even local government-controlled commuter systems in the Santa Clara Valley could make no headway with the railroad. Its position was that anyone interested in reviving commuter service on its rails would have to buy or lease the route first. Proposition 5 (1974) provided state funding for local transportation initiatives, including for the maintenance of rights-of-way, purchasing of rolling stock, and supplementing of transportation income. A feasibility study conducted by the California Department of Transportation in 1977 found that restoration of commuter service along the Santa Cruz Branch was a viable option.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheUaRiUonvR8AfeSSvQ_hDZM7FkZfp-bABsZCmznjbcg5jzjEPdz-xvBCkjQDz3AxjVGSuitudVV3yhcup2VTLhdZH45JdfDSz9ppyMP_q0FHMjh-PypoPmYY3pCh7JbRIoLEuMR_oGILo3-NaSNWyUdeAN3CXxw41wphQWw9BV4Hui75ERi1a7u2Xg/s800/davenportwiki_2008.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheUaRiUonvR8AfeSSvQ_hDZM7FkZfp-bABsZCmznjbcg5jzjEPdz-xvBCkjQDz3AxjVGSuitudVV3yhcup2VTLhdZH45JdfDSz9ppyMP_q0FHMjh-PypoPmYY3pCh7JbRIoLEuMR_oGILo3-NaSNWyUdeAN3CXxw41wphQWw9BV4Hui75ERi1a7u2Xg/w640-h426/davenportwiki_2008.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Southern Pacific freight train heading south beside Davenport, 1988. [<a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/28101583@N07" target="_blank">Drew Jacksich</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) reports released in 1980 and 1983 also indicated the feasibility of commuter service along the Santa Cruz Branch, although it would have to be subsidized to not run at a loss. The earlier report championed daytime commuter and nighttime freight service, while the latter study found that jointly operated daytime service was preferred. The 1983 report estimated annual ridership would be 335,800 to 568,550 passengers, 75 percent of whom would be commuters. The system would use diesel trolley cars slightly larger than a bus to run 24 trips per day from 7:00am to 7:00pm. The most patronized stops would be Watsonville, Capitola, and Santa Cruz, although the proposed service would also include stops for UCSC, Aptos, Soquel, Live Oak, and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The annual operating costs were estimated at between $343,000 to $588,000, and state subsidies could cover up to $700,000.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFyXKD-w2uLmflK-kwONzt4IX116UWoX5sO6gusxod8j4rf9XN0tmTRKS9v8v1WbddvFfP9pDaSSNGfkeqKGl2xmSMyX01Nw5pDVZfPXMLrE-c2Pz7dAypnCFfoS_2vxZdT1gfhCD8ZoXloH7p7YMT7ki_XeXguyUfNEU9WFpo7zovmjeyQnhCzWweXA/s1599/southern-pacific-sp-gp9e-3344_1_fbc2eb7cc1e2c0a4dac563fe5d863b26.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="1599" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFyXKD-w2uLmflK-kwONzt4IX116UWoX5sO6gusxod8j4rf9XN0tmTRKS9v8v1WbddvFfP9pDaSSNGfkeqKGl2xmSMyX01Nw5pDVZfPXMLrE-c2Pz7dAypnCFfoS_2vxZdT1gfhCD8ZoXloH7p7YMT7ki_XeXguyUfNEU9WFpo7zovmjeyQnhCzWweXA/w640-h436/southern-pacific-sp-gp9e-3344_1_fbc2eb7cc1e2c0a4dac563fe5d863b26.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific freight train hauling ballast through Watsonville, early 1980s. [WorthPoint]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Warren Weber, chief of rail service for Caltrans, suggested that the most viable option for the county was to buy the right-of-way. As expected, Southern Pacific balked at any suggestion that passenger service could resume on the freight-only, "Salad Bowl Express" route. The railroad insisted that any commuter service would interrupt its produce shipping schedule in Watsonville, and that freight was the only source of potential railroad revenue in the county. Opposition also came from the shippers themselves, 52% of whom stated that any change in shipping time would disrupt their service. Lastly, a vocal minority of local leaders came out against any restoration of commuter service, citing the possible fiscal deficit that could result from the service, competition with the existing public transportation network, and the long journey time of the service. The RTC decided to defer responsibility to the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO) in July 1983 for them to conduct their own feasibility study.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdAcxd7aNGm8CwaLxa8CoPKYkAlp2K3j3Vh0cplyCnFWYWwgt3cTw5J_rP0b9CHsVm5OIah4gTrGRcNmTSrSzh5WdXFkMqdhrvOGz-8Ji8gM0Yi5knT408EL2qlE05EccYZuA8PZWmX9aUtIuZ_2HoYeOfrLKIQhhCkgzD-RqNLFSDxtKXf8tNQEm-yg/s902/2501499908_e718daed13_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="902" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdAcxd7aNGm8CwaLxa8CoPKYkAlp2K3j3Vh0cplyCnFWYWwgt3cTw5J_rP0b9CHsVm5OIah4gTrGRcNmTSrSzh5WdXFkMqdhrvOGz-8Ji8gM0Yi5knT408EL2qlE05EccYZuA8PZWmX9aUtIuZ_2HoYeOfrLKIQhhCkgzD-RqNLFSDxtKXf8tNQEm-yg/w640-h466/2501499908_e718daed13_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railway locomotives beside the Boardwalk, 1989. [<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/7552532@N07/2501499908" target="_blank">ATOMIC Hot Links on Flickr</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The earlier studies prompted the formation of the first community action group, Renaissance of the Railroad, in August 1980. Its goal was to restore seasonal excursion service to the Santa Cruz Branch by working with a private operator. The RTC supported the venture and provided limited staff resources to investigate the option. Renaissance estimated that the cost of a two-year pilot program would be $646,000. The disastrous storm of 1982 provided the county with an opportunity to act. The Olympia part of the Santa Cruz Branch was damaged in the storm and Southern Pacific was no longer interested in catering to the two remaining freight customers along the line. As a result, Norman Clark of Roaring Camp Railroads stepped in and bought the 8-mile section from Laurel Street in Santa Cruz to the end of track at Eccles north of Felton for around $2 million. In 1986, the first recreational passenger train of the Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railway ran from Felton to the Santa Cruz Union Depot. The next year, service was extended to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The service has run seasonally ever since. Although Clark had said that he would support a commuter service along the line, no such service materialized.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="427" src="https://cdn.myportfolio.com/3d16a84ed77d4c08c39fb26d5d5f5d5a/9592f16b-e185-4f1f-ad6d-15213cbfcd42_rw_1200.jpg?h=236854f9765506a7aa4df61e67c6c884" style="-webkit-user-select: none; display: block; margin: auto; user-select: none;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Southern Pacific freight train heading through Watsonville to the mainline at Watsonville Junction, mid-1980s. [<a href="https://samreevesphoto.com" target="_blank">Sam Reeves</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Meanwhile, others worked to resolve the commuter rail impasse along the Santa Cruz Branch. Following a year of research, METRO decided unanimously to put the matter to a public vote. Measure A (1984)'s goal was to secure state funding provided by Proposition 5 for the research and development of fixed guideway public transportation systems in the county. While some of the touted ideas included a downtown-beach monorail, a Capitola to Santa Cruz streetcar line, movable walkways, and light rail, the heart of the idea was the restoration of commuter rail service. Unlike later measures, this one had the full support of all local politicians. If passed, the measure could secure around $11 million in funding from state and national agencies. On November 6, citizens voted overwhelmingly in favor of Measure A with 83% voting "yes." Commuter rail was back on the table.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEjSKujIUY1iyZc1OG5V-vXJx8OhW1UQ9BR_W8naKJ9vNlDPsQfXq1-xcSlVlDMbqKou8VMHRTFhhQaAW9emnxG0jrJoA1Owy8YVQhwG90WaEZUA2854IreIAy3fWxD7_TgQO6obU_Sr1jykVXbmm7cWLwOFDcLEEO-433S-rDmdJE79fCbxPDuL4Fg/s1588/Aerial%20tramway%201989.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1462" data-original-width="1588" height="590" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEjSKujIUY1iyZc1OG5V-vXJx8OhW1UQ9BR_W8naKJ9vNlDPsQfXq1-xcSlVlDMbqKou8VMHRTFhhQaAW9emnxG0jrJoA1Owy8YVQhwG90WaEZUA2854IreIAy3fWxD7_TgQO6obU_Sr1jykVXbmm7cWLwOFDcLEEO-433S-rDmdJE79fCbxPDuL4Fg/w640-h590/Aerial%20tramway%201989.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Potential locations for stops of along an aerial tramway, 1989. [<i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Until June 1985, submissions were solicited by METRO to explore the range of fixed guideway systems that the county could potentially support. A federal consultant submitted a preliminary report in November that ruled that the best option for a fixed guideway system was between Pogonip or UCSC and the Boardwalk via downtown, primarily because it would provide easy transportation for tourists and would have public support. At the same time, the consultant rejected every other existing option in the county because they would conflict with existing conveyances. Frustratingly, this meant that federal funds could only be applied to an entirely new fixed guideway rather than utilizing the existing Southern Pacific right-of-way. While many options for this new route were discussed, an aerial tramway from UCSC to the Boardwalk via Harvey West Park and downtown was considered the best solution.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="depot.jpg" height="446" id="theMainImage" src="http://watsonvillememories.com/gal/_data/i/upload/2015/05/03/20150503174005-227b2881-me.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="depot - depot.jpg" usemap="#mapmedium" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The freight and passenger depot at Watsonville Junction, 1980s. [<a href="http://watsonvillememories.com" target="_blank">Watsonville Memories</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The October 17, 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake briefly led to a resurrection of commuter passenger service for Watsonville. For three weeks beginning October 23, Southern Pacific restored passenger service to Watsonville to help commuters get to the Bay Area, since many of the local roads were barely usable. Around 40 commuters used the service, with stops at Salinas, Gilroy, and Morgan Hill adding another 130 passengers. The journey to San José took about an hour. Unfortunately, the service came to an abrupt end on November 10 due to insurance and liability problems, and it was never reinstated.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="429" src="https://www.american-rails.com/images/SPCRUZ.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; display: block; margin: auto; user-select: none;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A triple-header Southern Pacific freight train on its way to Davenport, 1987. [<a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/28101583@N07" target="_blank">Drew Jacksich</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Also in 1989, a second countywide report revealed that using the existing Santa Cruz Branch was by far the most logical solution for commuters. Initial estimates suggested that up to 6,000 people would use the service per day between La Selva Beach and Natural Bridges State Park, as well as between Felton and Santa Cruz. It further estimated that over 30,000 daily commuters would ride the train by 2005. The preferred means of conveyance were diesel-powered railroad cars, or railbuses, that could hold up to 100 people each. Spur lines to Cabrillo College and the Santa Cruz Metro Center were planned.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pxZ_7EnzaEnM1W98rwTn4A4KeSBVTLEjllGvG6sRBXic_88PgwpHA3q31MdbNL_0Z0t7qrj0BbXpvSgjJFgH9mzWiiJbIbrlLob38iCoPCi0emAbBp7HaCvaZlYhksvdDXIiKbCSOvWR2RYZ9Azbcwc2G5jcccyKDGKXtSgecvNOPjtG_bts9ktGBg/s1024/20638123240_73db4db8ab_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pxZ_7EnzaEnM1W98rwTn4A4KeSBVTLEjllGvG6sRBXic_88PgwpHA3q31MdbNL_0Z0t7qrj0BbXpvSgjJFgH9mzWiiJbIbrlLob38iCoPCi0emAbBp7HaCvaZlYhksvdDXIiKbCSOvWR2RYZ9Azbcwc2G5jcccyKDGKXtSgecvNOPjtG_bts9ktGBg/w640-h426/20638123240_73db4db8ab_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Pacific freight train crossing the Manresa State Beach bridge, 1996. [<a href="https://samreevesphoto.com" target="_blank">Sam Reeves</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The 1990s saw an increase in discussions regarding the feasibility of restoring commuter passenger service to the county. Proposition 116 (1990), which gave state subsidies for alternative transportation projects, passed with 60% approval in Santa Cruz County. In 1995, another feasibility study found that using the Santa Cruz Branch for commuter service was still viable. Yet the overwhelming defeat of Proposition 185 in November 1994, which would have allocated substantial funding to local rail projects, likely made any expansion of rail services in the county infeasible. Meanwhile, at the end of 1991, financial difficulties forced METRO to pass responsibility for the project back to the RTC, which formed a Fixed Guideway Oversight Committee in response. The RTC has been responsible for all county railroad projects ever since.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYTtjaWpbey_SMINbAtAIQ92fhq-xhJIJzGimSpgNNHuTP0zC-70CHDEh2Xdc4w83gaJAImh_HxMTe8LLSK5gU8Kj3M4kICFl2-sMlf5FgdwkoEwP-0Kk22t95m8ZyqrKMlv6iZCWRwvtCMPImlEkGY8y5tdZT5HV4BiYMCqH68Z_hISR1XijfXgZHw/s1680/Barbara%20Rodak%20of%20RAILS,%20Sentinel%2008-16-1993.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1302" data-original-width="1680" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYTtjaWpbey_SMINbAtAIQ92fhq-xhJIJzGimSpgNNHuTP0zC-70CHDEh2Xdc4w83gaJAImh_HxMTe8LLSK5gU8Kj3M4kICFl2-sMlf5FgdwkoEwP-0Kk22t95m8ZyqrKMlv6iZCWRwvtCMPImlEkGY8y5tdZT5HV4BiYMCqH68Z_hISR1XijfXgZHw/w640-h496/Barbara%20Rodak%20of%20RAILS,%20Sentinel%2008-16-1993.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Staff photo from the <i>Sentinel</i> showing Barbara Rodak of RAILS at her home in Aptos, August 16, 1993.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Proposition 116 and the railbus plan prompted the creation of a community action group, Community Rail Transportation, which lobbied local governments to support commuter rail. In response, another group, Aptos-based Right-of-way Alternatives In Local Suburbs (RAILS), formed to oppose any expansion of rail services and to convert the railroad right-of-way to a hiking/biking trail. Around the same time, Santa Clara County Supervisor Rod Diridon announced his support for restoring the <i>Sun Tan Special</i> by any means necessary, while Santa Cruz County Supervisor Gary Patton became the first loud voice against restoring passenger service. He feared that extending commuter rail service to Santa Cruz County—which he admitted would be financially viable and a generally successful idea—would turn the county into a satellite of the Silicon Valley. It was a short-sighted sentiment that was already contradicted by the reality that Santa Cruz had long been considered a part of the wider Bay Area.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbQLy081Zh9aMQ6UFtadvWmHainp0zOTDDitSJgzx89HlNfx2YATaC4bXO73WfbHZooVqwh41Ay92TwYnV8pp8QenswniD0B2-HN9C9MCXBKelQb8mpKZt3L_bo1_wxfmGNux2zxkvgCb/w640-h427/Suntan+Special+1996.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; cursor: zoom-in; display: block; margin: auto; user-select: none;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "Return of the Sun Tan Special" train at Aptos, May 18, 1996. [Aptos Museum]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Debate continued throughout the late 1990s even as no further progress was made. In 1996, County Supervisor Walt Symons came out vocally in support of converting the Santa Cruz Branch to a hiking and biking trail, surely not the first local official to do so but one of the first to make their opinion public. By 1998, a plan was in place to purchase part of the railroad's right-of-way to build a county-wide bike path, but the California Transportation Commission rejected using Proposition 116 funds for the project. Meanwhile, pro-rail supporters finally got their long-sought return of the <i>Sun Tan Special</i> that year when three demonstration runs from Watsonville Junction to the Boardwalk were conducted by Amtrak and RegioSprinter. All three were successful but did not convince Union Pacific (which had taken over Southern Pacific that year) of the viability of regular or seasonal passenger service along the Santa Cruz Branch. A feasibility study conducted by the RTC in 1999 reported that commuter service would cater to no more than 5,000 daily riders, thereby making the prospect unappealing.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="221" src="https://i0.wp.com/coastconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/FORT_Logo_Fina-e1590015423730.png" style="-webkit-user-select: none; display: block; margin: auto; user-select: none;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Official logo for Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail & Trail.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>At the turn of the millennium, Santa Cruz County's options for restoring commuter rail were slim. After decades of research, funding applications, and public debate, the RTC's commissioners were prepared to drop the concept from its 25-year plan. But they didn't. Instead, with public encouragement and the support of the newly-formed Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail & Trail (FORT), the commissioners dug in their heels and bought the Santa Cruz Branch from Union Pacific using all funding sources they could find. Negotiations with the railroad began in 2002 and continued for a decade. During this time, the CEMEX-owned Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company refinery in Davenport closed, ending over a century of freight traffic along the North Coast. Freight traffic along the Roaring Camp-owned Olympia Branch had also come to an unofficial end when ProBuild absorbed the San Lorenzo Lumber Company and shifted to using trucks.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikw1HDbo3r0zNchF5ux74jHc4KrDUHuEkbm0YTiO5ZZ2wvyY7rqPQm7DmWozHq923NnXn0GucxFDo1cw9Tb_jIIfDlZ_lqy6W5y-b7qghrn8uLPNyqc-0M-m73fCNZJxHLzSFaVzeFWRX9G0AxobB5vFJaqMfoInKlFdXQiSSn9Q9M6c7CdteFuq-_eg/s2048/IMG_0141.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikw1HDbo3r0zNchF5ux74jHc4KrDUHuEkbm0YTiO5ZZ2wvyY7rqPQm7DmWozHq923NnXn0GucxFDo1cw9Tb_jIIfDlZ_lqy6W5y-b7qghrn8uLPNyqc-0M-m73fCNZJxHLzSFaVzeFWRX9G0AxobB5vFJaqMfoInKlFdXQiSSn9Q9M6c7CdteFuq-_eg/w640-h480/IMG_0141.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First run of the Iowa Pacific train on the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, November 2012. [Derek Whaley]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In 2012, the RTC finally closed escrow on the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line (SCBRL) for a price of $14.2 million, taking heavily from Proposition 116 funds. The purchase required that the line be used for freight and passenger service. Union Pacific's contracted common carrier along the line, Sierra Northern Railway, was uninterested in providing the latter and terminated its contract. Iowa Pacific Holdings took over under the subsidiary Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay Railway and brought in a vintage diesel locomotive and consist to provide seasonal excursion service along the line. It also took over freight duties in Watsonville. For three years, things were looking bright. In 2014, a plan was completed that integrated the county's rail and rail-trail future with that of Monterey County. The next year the RTC completed a feasibility study setting out the path forward to restore commuter services in the county. And finally in 2016, the passage of Measure D allocated 25% of a sales tax increase to rail and trail projects. Yet trouble was brewing.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOM3bNWl6iiL1UKS4n2DsdECtkHCdvZeb2oj6pkzzQD4abk_49clerrKNFt5kb095XmQsT9SrxfLPh_AGHImePMTVFDcxpO32uszXS2d-b68i_lL7FZGx24NEtbUxA7bsAcabkYT2cgQk19hLYvCRD6gCUMb641YLSalYR_tyh4tscRnA87sAEEAnaw/s1116/vfeREGYPwnGUlLf-1600x900-noPad.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1116" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOM3bNWl6iiL1UKS4n2DsdECtkHCdvZeb2oj6pkzzQD4abk_49clerrKNFt5kb095XmQsT9SrxfLPh_AGHImePMTVFDcxpO32uszXS2d-b68i_lL7FZGx24NEtbUxA7bsAcabkYT2cgQk19hLYvCRD6gCUMb641YLSalYR_tyh4tscRnA87sAEEAnaw/w640-h360/vfeREGYPwnGUlLf-1600x900-noPad.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Official advertisement from Greenway, formerly the Great Santa Cruz Trail Study Group, 2017. [change.org]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The end of regular freight service outside Watsonville combined with a poorly-maintained right-of-way and the gimmicky nature of Iowa Pacific's excursions added fuel to the fire of the anti-train lobby. Trail Now was formed in 2013 to promote the idea of removing the railroad tracks and building a multimodal trail. The next year, the Aptos Rail-Trail Investor Group formed to petition more formally against the restoration of rail services throughout the county. This grew into the Great Santa Cruz Trail Study Group and, ultimately, Greenway in 2017. While touting itself as a grassroots organization of like-minded local residents, in reality it is run by wealthy property investors and tech millionaires whose only formal plan is to disrupt and delay any decisions related to using the SCBRL.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGDnkpbLJc3qTiLM4hWNnMfrnYWlSQ76EcOsRmC1tJTf7E_-JcA4kwSRcBsfeiwt02DyWuKvj7MnoanuJbeVVuEpZDg2DfcCl-LoxfiBJ28pLf9KeYOBGnCjVfUHRMWzYMDnhKDvQdqujKfis4azpcUmkfBZt16fIJDTYznMyysGGmWVg6xla7vSyNw/s4032/IMG_1468.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGDnkpbLJc3qTiLM4hWNnMfrnYWlSQ76EcOsRmC1tJTf7E_-JcA4kwSRcBsfeiwt02DyWuKvj7MnoanuJbeVVuEpZDg2DfcCl-LoxfiBJ28pLf9KeYOBGnCjVfUHRMWzYMDnhKDvQdqujKfis4azpcUmkfBZt16fIJDTYznMyysGGmWVg6xla7vSyNw/w640-h480/IMG_1468.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A section of track suspended above a washout near Watsonville Slough, October 2017. [Derek Whaley]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Not all problems were caused by rail opponents, though. In 2016, Iowa Pacific found itself in legal and financial trouble. It eventually announced its decision to abandon its contract in Santa Cruz County in 2017, leaving the RTC in a tough position. Around the same time, heavy winter rains caused a major washout beside Watsonville Slough, making all rail transportation impossible beyond that point except by Roaring Camp or smaller maintenance-of-way vehicles. State and federal regulators, mixed with Greenway obstacles, delayed repairs until 2019. In the meantime, Progressive Rail was brought in as the new common carrier, operating as the St. Paul & Pacific Railway, under similar conditions as its predecessor. However, those conditions were dependent on the repair and upkeep of the SCBRL, which was the responsibility of the RTC. Greenway has ensured that every obstacle possible falls in the way of the RTC performing its duties.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbTFGtLsNMHp4q_hGPcdlD-1jmXIr4wzTbgHYYwIecTLVFIUmeWB2VNYk1T5O89GlYAIA5TGV2Fp844uqjFSz1bfDQzLCWLA4BmPIm36Lupn-iGfuFq9rD_S_DSmVyTvH8MXQLqjfoZaEdeYGXyL36OB6Be3iOMYJU_XJWf6gTYTQD1-tewTgZcV2Dw/s2048/1055530904.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbTFGtLsNMHp4q_hGPcdlD-1jmXIr4wzTbgHYYwIecTLVFIUmeWB2VNYk1T5O89GlYAIA5TGV2Fp844uqjFSz1bfDQzLCWLA4BmPIm36Lupn-iGfuFq9rD_S_DSmVyTvH8MXQLqjfoZaEdeYGXyL36OB6Be3iOMYJU_XJWf6gTYTQD1-tewTgZcV2Dw/w640-h426/1055530904.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Coast Futura electric trolley running alongside a section of the rail-trail, November 2021. [FORT]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The release of the Unified Corridor Investment Study in 2019 paved the way for the RTC to finally develop the SCBRL properly. In December 2020, the first of many segments of trail opened alongside a portion of the SCBRL, with a second segment opening in July 2021. In October, a commuter demonstration Coast Futura electric trolley ran in both Watsonville and Santa Cruz to general acclaim. This coincided with the RTC staff's recommendation to adopt a similar modern electric passenger trolley as the preferred technology for use in a commuter rail system along the SCBRL.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="360" src="https://www.goodtimes.sc/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/05/locomotive-rp.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; display: block; margin: auto; user-select: none;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the two Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railway locomotives trapped in Watsonville performing common carrier duties on behalf of Progressive Rail, May 2021. Photo by Tarmo Hannula. [<i>Santa Cruz Good Times</i>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>But Greenway has continued to obstruct in whatever way possible. An influential member was elected to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors in November 2020. He quickly worked to split the RTC evenly between pro- and anti-rail commissioners. The obvious impasse this would present prompted Progressive Rail to throw in the towel. It contracted out its common carrier duties to Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railways, which had bought two diesel locomotives to supplement its fleet in 2018 only for them to become stranded in Watsonville because of the RTC's failure to keep the line operable. In early 2022, the RTC proposed revoking Roaring Camp's right to operate as a common carrier along the Olympia Branch. This was part of a grander attempt by the Greenway-influenced RTC to abandon the SCBRL. When this failed, Greenway gathered signatures to put a new measure on the June 2022 primary ballot: Measure D. The measure attempted to force the RTC to abandon the SCBRL and strip all language relating to rail transit from the 20-year general plan.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_aZHScJeGsLfvYo3A0jld_INyyaPov5-M17jivIdzPwub1RQFyxEcpa_zM9DbWzmWBa75gWZrO2S-7fURFsYnKKC513HvllVe83JYCgkUyHZgoWeIr0pLzF-50oHShDyin_oVGxo0x5Oz79TvY98FbZLZCOvyjsD_C_Zv06TzolqElr2JrfPyDFwFw/s1000/Artwork-Design1-e1417542388820.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="1000" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_aZHScJeGsLfvYo3A0jld_INyyaPov5-M17jivIdzPwub1RQFyxEcpa_zM9DbWzmWBa75gWZrO2S-7fURFsYnKKC513HvllVe83JYCgkUyHZgoWeIr0pLzF-50oHShDyin_oVGxo0x5Oz79TvY98FbZLZCOvyjsD_C_Zv06TzolqElr2JrfPyDFwFw/w640-h326/Artwork-Design1-e1417542388820.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Concept drawing of the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line beside a two-lane paved trail. [FORT]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Despite a very well funded campaign, Greenway and its Measure D lost on June 8, 2022, with the results an overwhelming endorsement for shared rail and trail usage along the SCBRL. With the status quo maintained and Greenway reeling from the defeat, it is up to the RTC, Progressive Rail, and Roaring Camp Railroads to decide Santa Cruz County's railroad future. Feasibility study after feasibility study dating to the 1970s has shown the strong potential of commuter services in the county, yet still the residents of Santa Cruz County wait for the promises of Measure A and Proposition 116 to come to fruition. Will the <i>Sun Tan Special</i> return? Will electric trolleys run commuters between Santa Cruz and Watsonville? Will Santa Cruz County ever rejoin the California passenger rail network? Only time can tell.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail & Trail. "<a href="https://www.railandtrail.org/bignews/history-of-the-rail-trail-project-progress-vs-obstruction" target="_blank">History of the Rail & Trail Project: Progress VS Obstruction</a>." March 16, 2022.</li><li>Various articles. <i>Santa Cruz Evening News</i>, <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel-News</i>, and <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>.</li><li>Weller, Jim. "<a href="https://brattononline.com/august-4-10-2021/" target="_blank">Case against Greenway in Santa Cruz, or...do not support the Greenway fraud!</a>" Bratton Online, 2021.</li><li>Whaley, Derek R. "The End of the Line: The Abandonment of Passenger Services in Santa Cruz County, California," <i>Railroad History</i> 215 (Fall-Winter 2016), 12-33.</li><li>Whaley, Derek R. <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1508570736/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1508570736&linkCode=as2&tag=santacruztr0a-20&linkId=ceba0dc6aa65c4cb02b11654ab5d65d8" target="_blank">Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains</a></i>. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.</li>
</ul>
Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-3795036329418857032022-04-07T14:00:00.002-07:002022-04-08T17:03:11.317-07:00Curiosities: Local Railroads in Film<center>
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<div><p>In the era before World War II, Santa Cruz County provided a perfect location for dozens of film productions. From the Santa Cruz Beach to the headwaters of the San Lorenzo River to the fields of Watsonville and the distant North Coast, film crews came and recorded hundreds of hours of content. The earliest known local movie was the silent film <i>A Diamond in the Rough</i> released in December 1911 by the Selig Polyscope Company. At Laveaga Park, the Fer Dal Film Manufacturing Company, run by Edward Ferguson of Soquel, filmed around a dozen silent films beginning with <i>The Tip</i> in 1916. All considered, over 100 films have been wholly or partially filmed within the county to the present.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4lt7XAk1Sh-08wlApq06CvYzYJXaIrjGUQX1XkY-BULrJ3QQkBRLlPCiCjFbWjHLdaBrRneU95Toi4LgwFXuZQjfL8mU3ITC3OBwsz5SC6Tg5654gc75ODccfEgyqCFG95o3ZR8J-sjHHBpCHKhdzFaK-TelIbI2TBQzbZCgEpqhd8idCGfzhKZSEQ/s754/Film%20crew%20of%20The%20One-Way%20Trail%20filming%20from%20the%20Loma%20Prieta%20millpond%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="754" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4lt7XAk1Sh-08wlApq06CvYzYJXaIrjGUQX1XkY-BULrJ3QQkBRLlPCiCjFbWjHLdaBrRneU95Toi4LgwFXuZQjfL8mU3ITC3OBwsz5SC6Tg5654gc75ODccfEgyqCFG95o3ZR8J-sjHHBpCHKhdzFaK-TelIbI2TBQzbZCgEpqhd8idCGfzhKZSEQ/w640-h438/Film%20crew%20of%20The%20One-Way%20Trail%20filming%20from%20the%20Loma%20Prieta%20millpond%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Film crew for <i>The One-Way Trail</i> recording from a log raft on the millpond at the Loma Prieta Lumber Company mill on Aptos Creek, 1919. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The popularity of film mixed with the ubiquity of railroads in the first half of the twentieth century meant that several local film productions featured local railroads in some capacity. Although the railroads depicted were never portrayed as local, they nonetheless served as an important setting. The following films are those where local railroads feature prominently in the plot or where other railroad-related locations are used.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3zpHGLMzL4EJCO7e4meW3XYf4_-RHW7wF-HLgcG-zE4Rok-Mo-C-tawQ-JNuggvnzd05c5vzYWP1M-f5se5J3b3e7-fJIn0aGosoPqCHSq6MwZYSlafdM75cVuQZ9yd05U1lcNReapafuNK_paOr45JqFmTDYPt44m5MyhgsImXerR7Ncg8kOwinkw/s733/Sudden_Jim.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="529" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3zpHGLMzL4EJCO7e4meW3XYf4_-RHW7wF-HLgcG-zE4Rok-Mo-C-tawQ-JNuggvnzd05c5vzYWP1M-f5se5J3b3e7-fJIn0aGosoPqCHSq6MwZYSlafdM75cVuQZ9yd05U1lcNReapafuNK_paOr45JqFmTDYPt44m5MyhgsImXerR7Ncg8kOwinkw/w462-h640/Sudden_Jim.jpg" width="462" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Promotional poster for <i>Sudden Jim.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Sudden Jim (1917)</b></h3></div><div><p>The earliest confirmed film to involve local railroads in some capacity is <i>Sudden Jim</i>, filmed in early 1917 by Triangle Film Corporation. Based on a novel by Clarence Budington Kelland, it stars Charles Ray in the role of James "Jim" Ashe, Jr., who takes over a clothespin manufacturing plant from his father. However, Moran, a local strongman, tries to ruin Jim by withholding a lumber contract he had made with Jim's father. In retaliation, Jim and his workers seize control of the railroad that shuttles the lumber to the small town of Diversity. Left with no other choice, Moran is forced to fulfil the contract and Jim's business is saved. The film released July 22, 1917.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQm_t9eCyh6-QBeNnZ7bd1qrhJUXwA13qsSoNqpSQD9tZPNZHzT94DSLcQpLt8P-gi9nIxPhh0DKAnWjssAZEDjwAZnfocxV6zkpYwc67OSpwTXrr_0bMDsjPblqe_Im5c6vcXsQB3ynir0LlNJLoFFU1CtNEeYqZbWEMsbdZiGGfB24ESb54WJX-ew/s758/San%20Vicente%20Lumber%20company%20mill%20and%20millpond%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="758" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQm_t9eCyh6-QBeNnZ7bd1qrhJUXwA13qsSoNqpSQD9tZPNZHzT94DSLcQpLt8P-gi9nIxPhh0DKAnWjssAZEDjwAZnfocxV6zkpYwc67OSpwTXrr_0bMDsjPblqe_Im5c6vcXsQB3ynir0LlNJLoFFU1CtNEeYqZbWEMsbdZiGGfB24ESb54WJX-ew/w640-h466/San%20Vicente%20Lumber%20company%20mill%20and%20millpond%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The San Vicente Lumber Company's mill in Santa Cruz. [UCSC Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The mill scenes were all filmed at the San Vicente Lumber Company mill on the northern edge of the Santa Cruz city limits, where Antonelli Pond is today. A portion of Boulder Creek was transformed into the town of Diversity for the film, and Felton Depot served as the train station. The film also included scenes taken at Gregory Ranch and elsewhere in the mountains. Other than one or two marketing photographs, no visual elements of this film, including the original recording, have survived.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnpTOKWkpMDS4_nhyHeleKxnPIg6WH0DFSapAMpEOvkY3DY_uz4YjsbbMKyuX2LwnnpIRRBlIC_kYKLONwJ6QlrfuYbyQNOT3KEU2mMZVtgUcgbOHjHEz6KiH6MImvNOeinklnXD5RVjB54Wtv9vle-yqOTxtmGqOAs6dFaJhpp6B-jVsFsvz3YjhbEQ/s720/MV5BNTFiMzMyYTgtZjAyNC00NDkwLTk3ODMtYmI3MmYzMDg2OTA1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjA5MTAzODY@._V1_FMjpg_UY720_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="487" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnpTOKWkpMDS4_nhyHeleKxnPIg6WH0DFSapAMpEOvkY3DY_uz4YjsbbMKyuX2LwnnpIRRBlIC_kYKLONwJ6QlrfuYbyQNOT3KEU2mMZVtgUcgbOHjHEz6KiH6MImvNOeinklnXD5RVjB54Wtv9vle-yqOTxtmGqOAs6dFaJhpp6B-jVsFsvz3YjhbEQ/w432-h640/MV5BNTFiMzMyYTgtZjAyNC00NDkwLTk3ODMtYmI3MmYzMDg2OTA1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjA5MTAzODY@._V1_FMjpg_UY720_.jpg" width="432" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Promotional poster for <i>False Evidence.</i> [Colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;">False Evidence (1919)</h3></div><div><p>Perhaps the only film on this list to leave a long shadow, <i>False Evidence</i>'s main claim to fame is accidentally perpetuating false information about Welch's Big Trees. The film, originally titled "Madelon of the Redwoods," was an adaptation of Mary E. Wilkins' novel <i>Madelon</i>. It was filmed by Metro Pictures in March 1919 and released on April 21. It features Viola Dana in the role of Madelon MacTravish, a betrothed young women seeking a way out of her obligations. After several hijinks including a stabbing, coercion, and a near-hanging, a redwood tree falls on Madelon's betrothed freeing her to marry the man she loves.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3H5i6UGJpv_etdeHRrcrK0S0ltmytAu2HpgZboTMfH_GqjIFetz4EMh0Q2O3kqGDD1D7DL5EETksxkj_VeVOBoy9-Vjufkyi1-t0aH4680PDo0vsvkh-XcB2_d0WnctqyIz9IBSvk7ZFn-RmkQzX8ltbc4cmhRlxpvtsXpE5YuVE6rs6YBDLuKopXA/s774/False%20Evidence%20cast%20filming%20a%20scene%20at%20night%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="774" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3H5i6UGJpv_etdeHRrcrK0S0ltmytAu2HpgZboTMfH_GqjIFetz4EMh0Q2O3kqGDD1D7DL5EETksxkj_VeVOBoy9-Vjufkyi1-t0aH4680PDo0vsvkh-XcB2_d0WnctqyIz9IBSvk7ZFn-RmkQzX8ltbc4cmhRlxpvtsXpE5YuVE6rs6YBDLuKopXA/w640-h346/False%20Evidence%20cast%20filming%20a%20scene%20at%20night%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A night-time scene in <i>False Evidence</i>, filmed on location at the Welch's Big Trees hotel. [UCSC Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Although the film does not feature any of the local railroads, one of its main set pieces is the former resort hotel that was at Welch's Big Trees, which today is the redwood loop of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Postcards sold by the Welch family in the years following the film's production often included a description of the former resort complex as the "Old Pony Express Office." In reality, this was a fabrication created for the film that remained after the production left. The establishment of the hotel postdated the Pony Express by fifteen years and, in any case, there was never a Pony Express office in Santa Cruz County. As with <i>Sudden Jim</i>, <i>False Evidence</i> is considered a lost film and most promotional material for the film has been lost. Fortunately, a decent collection of behind-the-scenes photos have been preserved and are available to view at the <a href="https://digitalcollections.library.ucsc.edu/catalog?utf8=✓&locale=en&search_field=all_fields&search_field=all_fields&q=false+evidence" target="_blank">UC Santa Cruz Digital Collections website</a>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHYXAJezK4dbkabsNegP4ipefCsSW5JNKIcIoGu0soaX66mc5XdnndCGqhyCdwS3lL8cMpk8gcOpVj5znZg2Ok-oJHaQsQWM5R4py06O24_5JjXUYiplJjAD01uolmDog62hmdv_rYes6JBXPMLsBCmlvodCH_HeevjzJFqFLXIiCTY-GPMydv2e8eA/s1452/The%20One-Way%20Trail.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1257" data-original-width="1452" height="554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHYXAJezK4dbkabsNegP4ipefCsSW5JNKIcIoGu0soaX66mc5XdnndCGqhyCdwS3lL8cMpk8gcOpVj5znZg2Ok-oJHaQsQWM5R4py06O24_5JjXUYiplJjAD01uolmDog62hmdv_rYes6JBXPMLsBCmlvodCH_HeevjzJFqFLXIiCTY-GPMydv2e8eA/w640-h554/The%20One-Way%20Trail.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newspaper advertisement for <i>The One-Way Trail</i>.</td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;">The One Way Trail (1920)</h3></div><div><p>The following year saw the release of one of the best-photographed local films, <i>The One-Way Trail</i>. Starring Edythe Sterling and Gordon Sackville, the film was produced by Republic Pictures and filmed at the mill of the Loma Prieta Lumber Company on Aptos Creek in Autumn 1919. According to a summary by the <i>Dayton Daily News</i>:</p><blockquote><p>The timberland of Canada is the locale of "The One Way Trail"... The action is not unlike that of the ordinary western thriller, there being quick drawing of weapons, much gun-play, the conflict between crime and law and order, and other things so dear to the heart of the movie fan. But the story is very different and the settings, too, are Canadian instead of Western United States. Views of the lumber mill in operation are particularly interesting. The story centers around Wanda Walker, whose father once had been sent to prison for a crime he did not commit and the effort of the real criminal to win Wanda for his own by threatening to expose him as an escaped convict. But, fortunately, there is the brave limb of the Canadian mounted police on hand to thwart the arch-conspirator and criminal and to bring retribution for his crimes upon his head. And there is Wanda, second only to him, to fight for the father and the man she loves. </p></blockquote><p>The film was released in February 1920 to relatively little fanfare. Only a single, low-quality promotional photo and no movie posters have survived.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJ5xKaZiD9fC6XgG1V14eHTCJfTnKgjPlS2bHQtuWng-L81aHeLQyl3MvEgGLl9E0534RJcf-oZT3LOt-eVXGv1mFlNCjuKjTRosPuvVrrgpAGIw62GM7ASr2wgnHNavHLuDKGA0-MjyrE-GNrox28uYRzBTDF7tFEXUdZjjOvz1FTM5KGvTsq9gmfQ/s759/One-Way%20Trail%20scene%20with%20Gordon%20Sackville%20and%20crew%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="759" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJ5xKaZiD9fC6XgG1V14eHTCJfTnKgjPlS2bHQtuWng-L81aHeLQyl3MvEgGLl9E0534RJcf-oZT3LOt-eVXGv1mFlNCjuKjTRosPuvVrrgpAGIw62GM7ASr2wgnHNavHLuDKGA0-MjyrE-GNrox28uYRzBTDF7tFEXUdZjjOvz1FTM5KGvTsq9gmfQ/w640-h436/One-Way%20Trail%20scene%20with%20Gordon%20Sackville%20and%20crew%20%5BUCSC%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An epic train disaster from <i>The One-Way Trail</i>, filmed on location along the Bridge Creek railway in the Aptos Forest. [UCSC Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Of all the lost films of Santa Cruz County featuring railroads, this is the one to mourn the most. The <i>Evening News</i> wrote of the film on November 29, 1920: "The most spectacular and natural scenes were those taken at the Loma Prieta mill, showing actual milling and logging operations, as well as railroad operations." Although the film is lost, dozens of production photos survive showing the actors and crew on location in the mountains and elsewhere. These photos provide an incomparable look at the final years of operation on the Loma Prieta Branch along Aptos Creek and can be found at the <a href="https://digitalcollections.library.ucsc.edu/catalog?utf8=✓&locale=en&search_field=all_fields&search_field=all_fields&q=one-way+trail" target="_blank">UCSC Digital Collections website</a>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlxvqWJLvUe3sGZxGl1bLdjvRJU9w_d87CPK_PfoGifi-L8qB43v7yMGU_zTOK27kHbwdnDw9Zf0Sbq9Rrs8ps6YPkxPjbceF9cmze2ff9diI-jJPfnrBMKyEk9IRshLQheW3PW2shgxYGmx0jYyVr59NDl5gC-FmkPCO1hqdy6_VINPnzOX_HF5hlHQ/s1231/The_Kingdom_Within_(1922)_-_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="1231" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlxvqWJLvUe3sGZxGl1bLdjvRJU9w_d87CPK_PfoGifi-L8qB43v7yMGU_zTOK27kHbwdnDw9Zf0Sbq9Rrs8ps6YPkxPjbceF9cmze2ff9diI-jJPfnrBMKyEk9IRshLQheW3PW2shgxYGmx0jYyVr59NDl5gC-FmkPCO1hqdy6_VINPnzOX_HF5hlHQ/w640-h418/The_Kingdom_Within_(1922)_-_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marketing supplement for <i>The Kingdom Within</i>.</td></tr></tbody></table></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Kingdom Within (1922)</h3><div><p>In April 1922, Director Victor Schertzinger, who had directed <i>Sudden Jim</i>, brought a large film crew to Santa Cruz to continue the tradition of using the San Vicente Lumber mill as a movie set. This production, <i>The Kingdom Within </i>(originally titled "The Red Geranium") by Hodkinson Pictures, focuses on Amos Deming and Emily Preston, the former of whom is disabled and the latter of whom has an ex-con as a brother. Because of this, their town dislikes and distrusts the pair. After the local mill's owner tries to peg another crime on Emily's brother, Amos intervenes only to have his disability miraculously fixed during the fight. With the boss defeated and Amos and Emily having redeemed themselves and their families, the couple lives happily ever after. The film released on Christmas Eve 1922 to general acclaim.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-aA9y0lHwv7L35CLIxnOBEsiaeZzYObIp99HD43xdC40JOFsqxAe_YC73uV2e_AG5wn95ZaaKOop78nTSOgjul3jRaQ54PV62NnU4BCUNjSrkNrlUXpF2dFdBxObjkCgWC-8p0HRhKjiVr3hOxbAEpkKtA-5W0dH0bBrWzjuxFyX2dDN3-aBOi7Pppw/s727/The%20Kingdom%20Within%20promo%20still.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="727" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-aA9y0lHwv7L35CLIxnOBEsiaeZzYObIp99HD43xdC40JOFsqxAe_YC73uV2e_AG5wn95ZaaKOop78nTSOgjul3jRaQ54PV62NnU4BCUNjSrkNrlUXpF2dFdBxObjkCgWC-8p0HRhKjiVr3hOxbAEpkKtA-5W0dH0bBrWzjuxFyX2dDN3-aBOi7Pppw/w640-h514/The%20Kingdom%20Within%20promo%20still.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amos standing up to the mill owner in a newspaper photograph from <i>The Kingdom Within</i>. [Colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The film is notable for recording scenes at several locations around the county. In addition to the mill, crews recorded in Felton and at Big Trees, as well as at the California Redwood Park (Big Basin) and around Santa Cruz. Promotional shots, advertisements, and production photos survive of the film, but the film itself does not. A small selection of set photos can be found at the <a href="https://digitalcollections.library.ucsc.edu/catalog?utf8=✓&locale=en&search_field=all_fields&search_field=all_fields&q=kingdom+within" target="_blank">UCSC Digital Collections website</a>.</p></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8bty9M2tsKQC9ml0-ghz-_Qx6bD5ZsdXQSpHgk4qfWg7FFBq0DvnMTY6zK9F2ojsZTTjtHG3ecd1l20qtbIYH-RH4jkQ3l85k33sBsgHHn8yue7CVKhFqQoOGY52Ud-qL5PE1WSzN6Vedc2c2o11JRt_-Iq-pcPh4IClH9KzYSrjrdYlADTvAVBfwg/s1000/The%20Amazing%20Vagabond%20poster%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="771" data-original-width="1000" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8bty9M2tsKQC9ml0-ghz-_Qx6bD5ZsdXQSpHgk4qfWg7FFBq0DvnMTY6zK9F2ojsZTTjtHG3ecd1l20qtbIYH-RH4jkQ3l85k33sBsgHHn8yue7CVKhFqQoOGY52Ud-qL5PE1WSzN6Vedc2c2o11JRt_-Iq-pcPh4IClH9KzYSrjrdYlADTvAVBfwg/w640-h494/The%20Amazing%20Vagabond%20poster%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Promotional poster for <i>The Amazing Vagabond</i>.</td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Amazing Vagabond (1929)</h3><p></p><div><p>A film named <i>The Amazing Vagabond</i> must surely include railroads—and indeed it does. Filmed in late 1928 by FBO Pictures, the movie was one of the last silent films produced in the county. Similarly to most previous railroad-related films, the focus of this was on a lumber town in the redwoods. Jimmy Hobbs is the reckless son of a wealthy lumber baron who flies stunt planes and chases women. To punish him, his father sends him to a lumber mill, but the plan backfires when Jimmy falls in love with the superintendent's daughter and discovers that the mill foreman is selling lumber off the books. By outmaneuvering the foreman, Jimmy wins the respect of his father and the superintendent. The film had lackluster reviews when it released on April 7, 1929.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-z_Mj6GNOdDcmUAU9WwPCiP-OziRcbRjv5qYlve_DU5q_Bab3SgSS5h3NH7I4OsIudkjLWx7yle9uwkps6ZEeY9wULGq6eL2GqZSJ-xQKrzxny8pEO9QEvmG1zQqLHmFrl0-T02ne9xWz9okKQsfygeZzXYgt10bp9K3IcHJyUG6A2FaE7hjHXGLvwQ/s358/The_Amazing_Vagabond_poster.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="358" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-z_Mj6GNOdDcmUAU9WwPCiP-OziRcbRjv5qYlve_DU5q_Bab3SgSS5h3NH7I4OsIudkjLWx7yle9uwkps6ZEeY9wULGq6eL2GqZSJ-xQKrzxny8pEO9QEvmG1zQqLHmFrl0-T02ne9xWz9okKQsfygeZzXYgt10bp9K3IcHJyUG6A2FaE7hjHXGLvwQ/w640-h496/The_Amazing_Vagabond_poster.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Promotional still for <i>The Amazing Vagabond</i>.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Shifting to yet another area of the county, Glenwood north of Scotts Valley features heavily in <i>The Amazing Vagabond.</i> As such, it showcases much of the surrounding area on the cusp of the Great Depression. Rather humorously, during filming, there was an incident involving a boxcar that was parked on a siding at Glenwood. In September 1928, Perry Murdock, an actor, was napping in the boxcar before a scene when he was locked in! The rest of the crew, not realizing their mistake, went to shelter from poor weather at nearby Glenwood Station. When the weather didn't clear up, crews began to pack up to leave when Thelma Daniels, another actor, realized she had lost her purse. While searching for it, two members of the crew found Murdock in the boxcar yelling for help. Like all the silent movies of Santa Cruz County's railroads, this film is now considered lost.</p></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZOFeeoR7yx5HBDgNGC9XxtUmx50eWeoRPZ1FTW02sCdebCynrFuNqUcB4KfWupZjnvSxFMYlSCfoVYpiHu8xIbDenZlhhZ-kjWZxZljWvFvVEDIZMObAbhQjcCNc0ThFeBG64BXoUS1PlGBkRahAT2ck96UptsEvQMJas-3i47_osMCdkcH-_rpGwQg/s1024/gettyimages-1137317434-1024x1024.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1024" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZOFeeoR7yx5HBDgNGC9XxtUmx50eWeoRPZ1FTW02sCdebCynrFuNqUcB4KfWupZjnvSxFMYlSCfoVYpiHu8xIbDenZlhhZ-kjWZxZljWvFvVEDIZMObAbhQjcCNc0ThFeBG64BXoUS1PlGBkRahAT2ck96UptsEvQMJas-3i47_osMCdkcH-_rpGwQg/w640-h498/gettyimages-1137317434-1024x1024.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Promotional poster for <i>West Bound Limited</i>.</td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;">West Bound Limited (1937)</h3><div><p>The Great Depression led many film companies to cut their budgets, especially since "talkies" required more time to produce and edit. This meant that most on-location films shifted to within a few hours' drive from Hollywood to save money. As a result, Santa Cruz County's golden age of film came to an end. From Black Tuesday to Pearl Harbor, only eleven feature films included scenes recorded in the county and only one featured a local railroad.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAptVplnQIvZLkMWTvuBfnwjzpjdKT6mYsMPvtplEofCgGvBfJvAo_c_IkkxeSG3H0E9dTO4DGPk4Uy59sLGNVtg4114_56wmGq_VDct_24D86fzZLDsyhpHMbKSPnP2txTmmZBkNlnHwFgHp36DtsiDFjrFA51ZnbWjE9YDv0fjSaiVlseZTbLJk0_g/s780/Westbound%20Limited%20promo%20shot%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="780" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAptVplnQIvZLkMWTvuBfnwjzpjdKT6mYsMPvtplEofCgGvBfJvAo_c_IkkxeSG3H0E9dTO4DGPk4Uy59sLGNVtg4114_56wmGq_VDct_24D86fzZLDsyhpHMbKSPnP2txTmmZBkNlnHwFgHp36DtsiDFjrFA51ZnbWjE9YDv0fjSaiVlseZTbLJk0_g/w640-h360/Westbound%20Limited%20promo%20shot%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Promotional photo for <i>West Bound Limited</i>.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In spring 1937, Universal Film Company and Hollywood glitterati descended upon Santa Cruz County to film an action movie deep in the mountains entitled <i>West Bound Limited</i>. The Hotel Palomar in downtown Santa Cruz became the temporary home of celebrity director Ford Beebe, famed art director Ralph DeLacy, associate producer Henry McRae, and popular actor Lyle Talbot. Other actors, such as Henry Hunter, Polly Rowles, Henry Brandon, and Frank Reicher, joined them, spending their free time at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and other local sites.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZEinQoDflphMJxAxIByJQPMInx4N1Sos11VRk2uCHuuYplyy00qpLPGwrx7oNcoiSK_oTKCGoRZ_cbQn1KgYTxqUMyY0Rdq68PVxQXD0axSzfqtcLfqP5_IVKp67ztad5eONDzgoJDwRsn-dbL9S1htf00IlJ_pGMHssjscA76KMgwwfzyW8YwRqiXg/s732/Westbound%20Limited%20promo%20shot%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="732" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZEinQoDflphMJxAxIByJQPMInx4N1Sos11VRk2uCHuuYplyy00qpLPGwrx7oNcoiSK_oTKCGoRZ_cbQn1KgYTxqUMyY0Rdq68PVxQXD0axSzfqtcLfqP5_IVKp67ztad5eONDzgoJDwRsn-dbL9S1htf00IlJ_pGMHssjscA76KMgwwfzyW8YwRqiXg/w640-h506/Westbound%20Limited%20promo%20shot%201.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lyle Talbot in a promotional still for <i>West Bound Limited</i>. [Colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The film follows the story of Dave Tolliver (Talbot), a night dispatcher in the town of Hargraves who works for a short-line railroad. While on duty, the payroll for the Bonanza Gold Mine arrives and a masked man steals it. Tolliver tries to retrieve the stolen goods, but unwisely abandons his post in the process, resulting in a deadly railroad collision. He is imprisoned for manslaughter but escapes to a rural town where he takes over for a local dispatcher who has become ill. While there, he discovers the identity of the thief and reveals him, exonerating himself.</p><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZiJTsa97zFIR3MtQc-7GQD8s5eSDbWx9a6cqUFFSeksU3aQPemZ4uquW3yb_7UWMdCJZJJgzGk1PfllzIirc2w89LrwTIqmsMGab37M-1az9Pzht2LwoEzw4qHj2bKy7yH0hEUj7xkU3y1Qqki69b_0WRNeG0P3bZMA5UhxYclWU8kF8X3RPDUxDYA/s800/West%20Bound%20Limited%20newspaper%20still%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="800" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZiJTsa97zFIR3MtQc-7GQD8s5eSDbWx9a6cqUFFSeksU3aQPemZ4uquW3yb_7UWMdCJZJJgzGk1PfllzIirc2w89LrwTIqmsMGab37M-1az9Pzht2LwoEzw4qHj2bKy7yH0hEUj7xkU3y1Qqki69b_0WRNeG0P3bZMA5UhxYclWU8kF8X3RPDUxDYA/w640-h378/West%20Bound%20Limited%20newspaper%20still%201.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i> photograph of the production set of <i>West Bound Limited</i> at Zayante Station. [Colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>This movie features a lot of the San Lorenzo Valley's railroad infrastructure only three years before the route through the mountains was ended. The otherwise poorly documented Zayante Station was chosen as the primary set for external scenes due to its remoteness, the sounds of rushing water from Mountain Charlie Gulch and Zayante Creek, and its accessibility via train and road. A special studio train brought in production materials and shuttled the crew and actors daily from Santa Cruz to Zayante, where a temporary train order tower was erected across from the actual Southern Pacific station shelter. Interior scenes were filmed at Felton Depot, while others scenes were completed at Big Trees, Olympia, and Inspiration Point on Highway 9. Production lasted for a week and involved the studio renting a passenger and a freight train from the Southern Pacific. Al G. Hemmerstram from the railroad remained on site to ensure the authenticity of all railroad scenes. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvX5MgfXDaW_-cy5cgRXi_9qrWjhAGyHGQgfvRa5OX8DLGbmuOSrEghoXkEnTF7akwTh67W8DD1tAWfvWHvYVMLvLGp5f4HZhqGfLZpe6Sz8J1jJJU90tboWURFu8BUSQa8cLQJrCUE7qaXUZFOB214ZBbNCNGkKGwFfsLpUiPw0gb7aRUmxxbv1gjTg/s653/West%20Bound%20Limited%20newspaper%20still%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="538" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvX5MgfXDaW_-cy5cgRXi_9qrWjhAGyHGQgfvRa5OX8DLGbmuOSrEghoXkEnTF7akwTh67W8DD1tAWfvWHvYVMLvLGp5f4HZhqGfLZpe6Sz8J1jJJU90tboWURFu8BUSQa8cLQJrCUE7qaXUZFOB214ZBbNCNGkKGwFfsLpUiPw0gb7aRUmxxbv1gjTg/w528-h640/West%20Bound%20Limited%20newspaper%20still%202.jpg" width="528" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sentinel</i> photograph of the cast and crew of <i>West Bound Limited</i> eating at a long table sandwiched between Zayante's station shelter and a Southern Pacific passenger train. [Colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Production was hampered by intemperate weather, an unimpressive stream, and numerous landslides along the tracks. These were all common and predictable occurrences for the San Lorenzo Valley that time of year. Additionally, a special lightning effect nearly exploded, but Talbot and Beebe were able to defuse it before it injured any of the nearby and unaware crew. Zayante’s remoteness kept down the usual number of visitors to the filming location, but dozens of local extras were employed in scenes in Felton and elsewhere. Filming wrapped on May 3, only days before a Federated Motion Picture Crafts strike was scheduled to begin. Cast and crew were feted at one final well-attended dinner at Hotel Palomar before heading back to Hollywood. The release of the film on July 11, 1937 marked the last substantial film focused on local railroad infrastructure.</p></div><p>The film is available on DVD from the Mountain Parks Foundation Nature Store at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjol0svN76w-TL57X2X1FIrfnpLAUqGL7uqlsm6MwX7fR3iqlP8RrR8Ifg8ePUOicoJ1OdAlmb5TwfmxyM07E4MQe-_NHqagkfq40Z7E0gyGy0tzLvyDUOezuRfeDi04ASn82Mk2AEk57SZOOdQl4Ln9spUgygZ7QB2fo6U6pZF-VE6vNxhMwM4lig2Gw/s1500/s-l1600.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1102" data-original-width="1500" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjol0svN76w-TL57X2X1FIrfnpLAUqGL7uqlsm6MwX7fR3iqlP8RrR8Ifg8ePUOicoJ1OdAlmb5TwfmxyM07E4MQe-_NHqagkfq40Z7E0gyGy0tzLvyDUOezuRfeDi04ASn82Mk2AEk57SZOOdQl4Ln9spUgygZ7QB2fo6U6pZF-VE6vNxhMwM4lig2Gw/w640-h470/s-l1600.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Promotional poster for <i>The Lost Boys</i>.</td></tr></tbody></table></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Lost Boys (1987)</h3><p style="text-align: left;">The final film on this list is not a local railroad movie and is only included here to correct a misconception. <i>The Lost Boys</i>, distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by Joel Schumacher, was primarily filmed in various places in the Santa Cruz County in 1986, most notably at the Boardwalk and Pogonip. However, one of its early iconic scenes, of Michael Emerson and several of his new vampiric friends leaping off of a railroad truss bridge, was not filmed locally. Contrary to popular belief, the bridge in the film is not that over the San Lorenzo River beside the Boardwalk but rather a bridge in Santa Clarita on today's Iron Horse Trailhead. Presumably this location was chosen because the bridge was near the film studio and was suspended over a seasonal creek rather than a year-round river. The Lost Boys Bridge, as it is called on the trail, and much of the former railroad right-of-way has been converted into a pedestrian trail.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdcluJlZvOxyWyJO5Xkjo7v9ni8sZTx8rzFN8LRXUN_XLklb3CNMWpq0VzNIq7z0_reLWVRoFqceRJFOhMPJXrIHXqWYPyvIj6-4_k9RiiyElhbE2BkuLzt2HuA7yP6S69j33pg37gYeajtQD2Se8M4A1utEa5Y5yUIxdfXbsTEaG-AtXB2IfIzbzpw/s960/EXXVnThUYAAWN39.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="960" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdcluJlZvOxyWyJO5Xkjo7v9ni8sZTx8rzFN8LRXUN_XLklb3CNMWpq0VzNIq7z0_reLWVRoFqceRJFOhMPJXrIHXqWYPyvIj6-4_k9RiiyElhbE2BkuLzt2HuA7yP6S69j33pg37gYeajtQD2Se8M4A1utEa5Y5yUIxdfXbsTEaG-AtXB2IfIzbzpw/w640-h422/EXXVnThUYAAWN39.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Production still of actors or stuntmen hanging off the truss bridge in Santa Clarita, ca 1986.</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">If you know of any other studio films that depict Santa Cruz County's railroads, please let us know! Click one of the "Contact" options to the right of the screen or email <a href="mailto:author@santacruztrains.com">author@santacruztrains.com</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Citations & Credits:</b></h3>
<ul>
<li>"<a href="https://www.santacruz.org/film/production-credits/" target="_blank">Production Credits.</a>" Visit Santa Cruz County, 2022.</li><li>Various film summaries at <a href="https://www.tcm.com" target="_blank">Turner Classic Movies</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com" target="_blank">IMDB.com</a>.</li><li>Various newspapers articles, especially from the <i>Santa Cruz Evening News </i>and <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>.</li><li>Young, Ann. "<a href="https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/files/original/2036effe7415bd77c2918b96af5dc9e4.pdf" target="_blank">On Location in Santa Cruz County</a>." Santa Cruz: SC Public Libraries, 1998.</li>
</ul>
Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-8748376141957271522022-03-10T12:00:00.004-08:002022-03-11T23:36:18.796-08:00Companies: Molino Timber Company<center>
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<td width="60%"><b>Now you can hear it!</b><br />
<iframe width="100%" allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="175" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1230335146&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;">
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<td width="40%"><b>Or watch it!</b><br />
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<p>Rancho Soquel Augmentation still had thousands of acres of unharvested old growth redwood trees in the spring of 1910. Yet the Loma Prieta Lumber Company, which owned the land, had spent the better part of the past decade failing to harvest anything other than the most accessible acreage. Conservative in its outlook and methods, the company hesitated when it should have asserted. By 1910, it had abandoned operations in Hinckley Gulch and its small mill on Mill Creek north of Davenport was quickly running out of usable timber. If the company was to remain viable going forward, it needed help.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWNavcqNtwS041N78FKMte1eo0OfbYYdnbU7pRHQrKQHioL3e6zyLUUu8kIVhL08Nts512xyPOmFQCldL9oJ4MhIUVDgRb_4ccJS7q2WP9Qn8DW9HgjtoQJeJoqwGP3RxGgPCWi5J6ClP9TgvQOJZD9VKjw8_GAQxQstLpViCghNmFV0Xi1CEAEgiXMw=s737" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="737" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWNavcqNtwS041N78FKMte1eo0OfbYYdnbU7pRHQrKQHioL3e6zyLUUu8kIVhL08Nts512xyPOmFQCldL9oJ4MhIUVDgRb_4ccJS7q2WP9Qn8DW9HgjtoQJeJoqwGP3RxGgPCWi5J6ClP9TgvQOJZD9VKjw8_GAQxQstLpViCghNmFV0Xi1CEAEgiXMw=w640-h424" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Molino Timber Company's locomotive backing a train of empty wagons into the forest above Hinckley Gulch, 1910s. [Woods Mattingly Collection, Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Assistance came from Alfred Williams, Oscar E. Chase, Albretto "Bert" Stoodley, Fred Daubenbiss, and Fred Severance, who on May 31, 1910 joined forces to incorporate the Molino Timber Company. All of the men were employees of the Loma Prieta Lumber Company and retained their positions within the firm. The stated goal of the new company was to harvest difficult-to-access timber on behalf of the Loma Prieta Lumber Company so that the latter could eventually plant eucalyptus trees throughout its properties within the Augmentation. What the directors lacked in money they made up for in ambition and vision. Their first task was to send crews along Aptos Creek to chop up abandoned and overlooked trees for firewood. This would generate some initial revenue from which they could further invest in equipment. Then, in late 1910, the company was made a subsidiary of the Loma Prieta Lumber Company and given the contract for harvesting the remaining timber in Hinckley Gulch.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirueiDozNoXEkRxSF4iW5s_OxNAD_cn1-gFbT4c8IteyofgJ3lF7CPz_UMPLhoaoc4SEtnBiEIgAoT7pqsnHkvgya-Dwq4b_RapXYtYp9pzc1uyNdY2J5_89u3Dzc5JyvNqMzgDKqwCdChspJJjiFRGF0O9ak-OAwOJxQq7N8fGcj-YU3NaznI0YJPKQ=s786" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="528" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirueiDozNoXEkRxSF4iW5s_OxNAD_cn1-gFbT4c8IteyofgJ3lF7CPz_UMPLhoaoc4SEtnBiEIgAoT7pqsnHkvgya-Dwq4b_RapXYtYp9pzc1uyNdY2J5_89u3Dzc5JyvNqMzgDKqwCdChspJJjiFRGF0O9ak-OAwOJxQq7N8fGcj-YU3NaznI0YJPKQ=w430-h640" width="430" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The flooded remains of the Loma Prieta Lumber Company's Hinckley Gulch mill following the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. [Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>This narrow, remote tributary of the East Branch of Soquel Creek had eluded thorough timber harvesting since 1901. The canyon was difficult to access and vulnerable to natural disasters such as flooding, landslides, and earthquakes. On April 18, 1906, several lumbermen and a Chinese cook were killed in a massive landslide triggered by the San Francisco Earthquake. The Loma Prieta Lumber Company never recovered from this loss and eventually gave up on the gulch and its millions of board feet of timber. But the Molino Timber Company had some ideas that were more risky and the Loma Prieta Lumber Company was keen to make money.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4zWgsUhvJwG9TDIFFpPUe8BpRduMgxaun2ltiHDvJMgiPUABU7r2xXZkMxWjb_xbV5Kxr1bnGU37tRD42y1e4NVXBAY1Jb1pKYemGynskIggfylLScWmcsGhasYg16-TZZj2Kzkvn206OJxXQJ-VkPlPYEMU2nRZA7LeRU0a1m4oS3dj_jyZi9PrWCg=s776" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="776" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4zWgsUhvJwG9TDIFFpPUe8BpRduMgxaun2ltiHDvJMgiPUABU7r2xXZkMxWjb_xbV5Kxr1bnGU37tRD42y1e4NVXBAY1Jb1pKYemGynskIggfylLScWmcsGhasYg16-TZZj2Kzkvn206OJxXQJ-VkPlPYEMU2nRZA7LeRU0a1m4oS3dj_jyZi9PrWCg=w640-h364" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Narrow-gauge tracks on the old Loma Prieta Branch right-of-way, 1910s. [Woods Mattingly Collection, Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Molino directors reasoned that the only way to profitably extract the timber was via a railroad. But the Loma Prieta Branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad had recently been cut back to the old village of Loma Prieta, far south of where any line to Hinckley Gulch would need to be located. Meanwhile, a route up Bridge Creek could potentially get to Hinckley Gulch, but at too high of an elevation to be useful. The conclusion the directors of the company came to was that any useful railroad would have to run along China Ridge, which was substantially higher in elevation than the current railroad grade. A 30-inch narrow-gauge railroad was the only affordable option and, in any case, would allow trains to make very sharp turns and pass through very narrow cuts. A switchback, meanwhile, could get the train to the top of the ridge. Unfortunately, over three miles of track would be needed to achieve this goal. In addition, another three miles would be needed to reach Hinckley Gulch, and four more miles to reach the heart of the the timberland. This was simply not practical.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgshfR1CGHzF5LLbWId4clWlU3_TZyK0XWSY53hrVc_EJ9ygdN5fyMCN5RFN1CFlc4mnFHzKShteHwP7CKqpDMlUfMkenWWpnHgDlwrLbdAybD2zz_L1mQ8IfPVL6sapWMur3L7eQNaSOU2tVDe9rvrB1CNhAhkD4NvIOZaKyRERAO0QSzZbUX6msP8IA=s711" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="425" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgshfR1CGHzF5LLbWId4clWlU3_TZyK0XWSY53hrVc_EJ9ygdN5fyMCN5RFN1CFlc4mnFHzKShteHwP7CKqpDMlUfMkenWWpnHgDlwrLbdAybD2zz_L1mQ8IfPVL6sapWMur3L7eQNaSOU2tVDe9rvrB1CNhAhkD4NvIOZaKyRERAO0QSzZbUX6msP8IA=w382-h640" width="382" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bottom of the Molino incline, 1910s. [The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park Collection, Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>After much debate, the directors finally agreed on building a 2,250-foot-long, steam-powered cable incline. It wasn't the first in the county—a similar incline had run at Waterman Switch north of Boulder Creek, but that operation did not have a railroad running within Waterman Gap. This incline would serve as the midpoint of a timber-cutting network that would operate in two sections, one at the top of China Ridge using a small 10.5-ton Shay locomotive, and one along Aptos Creek using first a modified gas-powered Maxwell automobile and later a Scott-Hall gasoline rail speeder. The product brought out of Hinckley would not be logs, but rather splitstuff such as railroad crossties, grape stakes, fence posts, and shingle and shake bolts. This would keep the carloads light and obviate the need for ballast. The splitstuff would be hauled to the railroad grade either on pack mules or via highlines, where it would be loaded into waiting wagons.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5ZR4dZk2TM9FF5FmmoH4rmtpCgll4BXT2RAqKtyWJIKxcBiyZS3aZsIuPO4RZvdgmt3adV2eTuqyAZf4zqWVKky3fsCh6LAx8B-V6_O3zkZ7oRFLzS7l4zwmXnkgSKt1VBf5_3Q0NuCKXuNrQNFVaAsrWAZl8cR3VJjB7bRckEWPOCsBxicfpREajvw=s751" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="751" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5ZR4dZk2TM9FF5FmmoH4rmtpCgll4BXT2RAqKtyWJIKxcBiyZS3aZsIuPO4RZvdgmt3adV2eTuqyAZf4zqWVKky3fsCh6LAx8B-V6_O3zkZ7oRFLzS7l4zwmXnkgSKt1VBf5_3Q0NuCKXuNrQNFVaAsrWAZl8cR3VJjB7bRckEWPOCsBxicfpREajvw=w640-h416" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Piles of splitstuff lining the dual-gauge tracks at Molino Junction, 1910s. [Woods Mattingly Collection, Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Splitstuff was also quick to produce. As a result, the railroad tracks from Loma Prieta to the southern boundary of the Augmentation were lined with stacks of splitstuff awaiting pickup by Southern Pacific trains. Even before the railroad was completed, the F. A. Hihn Company hired the Molino Timber Company to haul out splitstuff from its logging operation at the headwaters of Bridge Creek. Stacks of its splitstuff were placed side-by-side with Molino stacks, with the incline being used to haul both down to the Aptos Creek grade. It was the duty of the lumberjacks to keep straight which piles of splitstuff were Molino's and which were Hihn's.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioY9tZ5jv8FQnbgiKjS9RODeRdz5wp_kdgoQCyCPsfG4qd0Z-XjjjnBp-xPOMM2kF9eyLzZPYxVqJQjTViH_7i6TWH0hqecNlEju3WOzStFHXvt_UOnldtn69uCGF25j4mI4t1wC_GXuY8GEHuHZCjMooBMjxFJSuh4gKdH34tBzBB6MmGKNjllEqm7Q=s739" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="739" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioY9tZ5jv8FQnbgiKjS9RODeRdz5wp_kdgoQCyCPsfG4qd0Z-XjjjnBp-xPOMM2kF9eyLzZPYxVqJQjTViH_7i6TWH0hqecNlEju3WOzStFHXvt_UOnldtn69uCGF25j4mI4t1wC_GXuY8GEHuHZCjMooBMjxFJSuh4gKdH34tBzBB6MmGKNjllEqm7Q=w640-h394" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Molino train passing beside a water tower along the Molino grade, 1910s. [The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park Collection, Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Construction of the line began in spring 1912. Southern Pacific readily agreed to allow a third rail to be added to its tracks between the end of the Loma Prieta Branch at the village of Loma Prieta and the former Schilling's Camp (today's Porter Picnic Area in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park). For the first time, the private switch at Molino, which had initially split off for the Molino shingle mill in 1884 and later for the main Loma Prieta mill from 1886, was upgraded to a formal stop by Southern Pacific. A former county engineer, Arnold Baldwin, was hired to build the line. Around 100 workers were employed that summer, half to build the railroad and the other half to cut splitstuff in the forest.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi70-Jx6v0QOeJNMdJJhA4SrCxS38DR5JurAJyjz-KFOBE1ys0-UuPoxBPv_uGd8U3pCcgCzlLgCaC_ZllmfNJrNxsi4PaWgGLRThzSWAnIg_KSD47FRUD4yiE3hjseXgx2Qda_msUATN7rCbxar5QCg0vxGmK0Va1q1JaoCWYOYXaTUzsGDE4LZrrb6g=s785" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="785" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi70-Jx6v0QOeJNMdJJhA4SrCxS38DR5JurAJyjz-KFOBE1ys0-UuPoxBPv_uGd8U3pCcgCzlLgCaC_ZllmfNJrNxsi4PaWgGLRThzSWAnIg_KSD47FRUD4yiE3hjseXgx2Qda_msUATN7rCbxar5QCg0vxGmK0Va1q1JaoCWYOYXaTUzsGDE4LZrrb6g=w640-h412" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Molino workers posing for the camera at Camp No. 1, with the incline's cable hoist and the top of the incline in the center, 1910s. [Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Molino Timber Company's operation eventually had three camps and a waypoint along China Ridge. Camp No. 1 was at the top of the incline and included the massive donkey engine that operated the cable hoist, locomotive storage and repair facilities, homes for the hoist operators and mechanics, sidings for spare and under-repair rolling stock, a water tower and wood bunker to resupply the locomotive, a blacksmith shop, and other facilities for the small group of people that lived there. After 1912, no logging took place in the vicinity of Camp No. 1 and it only hosted a small population of workers.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVyjhqpiSB_kZLxeu6b_FVZk498nnxaHhO7QEUzBpBCjZpNikHymCFd2XUk3nUGgboHzLa4EcPg7aDRn5gbVT7hObV3Z6slISXawzT6zSaLaM6tbxgSJ3ZPbG5ghyOaT0fzFYPySvzknsqecmE043C3c78JVyZqSFjq7RjPXUbuNdhc1dEvpbWMpHooA=s757" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="757" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVyjhqpiSB_kZLxeu6b_FVZk498nnxaHhO7QEUzBpBCjZpNikHymCFd2XUk3nUGgboHzLa4EcPg7aDRn5gbVT7hObV3Z6slISXawzT6zSaLaM6tbxgSJ3ZPbG5ghyOaT0fzFYPySvzknsqecmE043C3c78JVyZqSFjq7RjPXUbuNdhc1dEvpbWMpHooA=w640-h410" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Probably the F. A. Hihn Company's splitstuff camp at the headwaters of Bridge Creek below Sand Point, 1910s. [Woods Mattingly Collection, Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In 1913, railroad construction crews reached Sand Point 3.5 miles beyond Camp No. 1, where Hinckley and China Ridges meet. It was here that the F. A. Hihn Company's splitstuff from the headwaters of Bridge Creek was hoisted up via highlines to the railroad grade for transfer to the incline and beyond. To support this effort, the location had at least two sidings to allow the loading of rolling stock. To reach Sand Point, ten bridges and numerous half-bridges were needed to cross all the gullies above Bridge Creek. These were crude structures made of stacks of logs and splitstuff and held together with the same. Unlike the Loma Prieta Branch, which was built to Southern Pacific standards, this route was a remote logging railroad and the Molino Timber Company cut costs wherever possible. The one-mile route from Sand Point to Camp No. 2 was even more rugged, crossing over several deep gullies via six more bridges.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBZxFWMLEaBTXXsxHAl13ht0au97os9R4lsf1tKc-OMDeP9CuEnVgINJ0CzU4h8UUmJrDahhAJdTO1jPHIwqNPehzW8Ssc8bqU2yIUQa_72Yt7Yta8JWQs5QyqoVJlHu6gg1JCU6EFSZcNYAyM0IPaaDcU8Okp9Pn-KVSZqbAdPcc5cCOrtaGKf7zVfw=s788" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="788" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBZxFWMLEaBTXXsxHAl13ht0au97os9R4lsf1tKc-OMDeP9CuEnVgINJ0CzU4h8UUmJrDahhAJdTO1jPHIwqNPehzW8Ssc8bqU2yIUQa_72Yt7Yta8JWQs5QyqoVJlHu6gg1JCU6EFSZcNYAyM0IPaaDcU8Okp9Pn-KVSZqbAdPcc5cCOrtaGKf7zVfw=w640-h420" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camp No. 2 on the slopes of Santa Rosalia Ridge, ca 1915. [Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>It was at Camp No. 2, reached in late 1913, that the majority of the workers lived in crudely-built shacks atop the adjacent hill. The place had the unfortunate monicker of "Jap Camp" due to the high number of Japanese lumbermen who worked here during the high season. The camp had many worker cabins and a dormitory, a cookhouse, and small amenities to keep the men occupied in the evenings. Around 70 workers lived in the forest during the harvest season, with some chopping trees, some stripping them, others cutting them and preparing them for transport. At the end of the day, most returned to Camp No. 2 except for the most hardy cruisers, who ranged deep into the forest to identify potentially profitable groves. The railroad built two spurs at the camp to park rolling stock. A switchback to the top of the ridge was also built to more easily access timber near the summit.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVR4egUlHUkFxxNXs8XKWe7jvZ6pjZD0mOjazH33zheJCYd86pBPGcJZN3kd8JPgJEnwFKv9qmAhTUMRSAvbZ6YihUTu78apva98MTqGI9zmHXTIpZFJ_5dfAoKjZP_5ypkjpkpGZ2V3PjupOdw2FzdYuL4UoHEmeVPCQ4BGQTj2TEiJnLQuRsxF8GDg=s706" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="706" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVR4egUlHUkFxxNXs8XKWe7jvZ6pjZD0mOjazH33zheJCYd86pBPGcJZN3kd8JPgJEnwFKv9qmAhTUMRSAvbZ6YihUTu78apva98MTqGI9zmHXTIpZFJ_5dfAoKjZP_5ypkjpkpGZ2V3PjupOdw2FzdYuL4UoHEmeVPCQ4BGQTj2TEiJnLQuRsxF8GDg=w640-h378" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workers posing with a wagon on a trestle bridge along the Molino grade, 1910s. [Woods Mattingly Collection, Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The majority of the Molino Timber Company's logging operations were centered at Camp No. 2. Work crews took pack mules down into the gullies of Hinckley Gulch each day and returned in the evenings. Most splitstuff was cut on site and brought up to the railroad grade either by mule or via highlines that were suspended across the entire gulch, which spanned a mile from ridge-to-ridge. Larger logs were also sometimes hauled to the camp, where they were processed on site rather than in the gulch due to poor terrain for cutting. Most piecemakers—splitstuff cutters—worked by themselves or in tandem, and the Japanese workers in particular did not like working with each other. The railroad would make two to three runs on most days, hauling four to six cars per run. This system worked from late 1913 through mid-1916, when most of the available timber around Camp No. 2 was exhausted.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzfR5qmKKfF59AkmOwHfIm3abdG6GteUq-_DKlbEa0iP4tp4bgV0bBpviP4BaMGtvbohVYLZlrvWFLUPWz1Bedg0PGGhg5voHSB_agw8V3R4IfNjrEW5kNGm28FE5CW2-zLq60_zROL-FheeSxFYVv3mWmcPpAEgYveMqG_EyDaOJtbNdnfG0a-6ozFQ=s732" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="415" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzfR5qmKKfF59AkmOwHfIm3abdG6GteUq-_DKlbEa0iP4tp4bgV0bBpviP4BaMGtvbohVYLZlrvWFLUPWz1Bedg0PGGhg5voHSB_agw8V3R4IfNjrEW5kNGm28FE5CW2-zLq60_zROL-FheeSxFYVv3mWmcPpAEgYveMqG_EyDaOJtbNdnfG0a-6ozFQ=w362-h640" width="362" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A wagon passing through a narrow cut along the Molino grade, 1910s. [Woods Mattingly Collection, Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Beginning in late 1915, the railroad line was extended deeper into the forest toward the headwaters of Hinckley Gulch, but it did not reach Camp No. 3 until mid-1916. Part of the reason for this slow progress was the extreme terrain, which involved deep gullies, narrow cuts, and near-vertical drops. Another sixteen bridges and six deep cuts into the hillside were required to reach Camp No. 3, only two miles away from Camp No. 2. Once the camp was reached and the area prepared, Camp No. 2 shut down and the buildings and machinery were moved north. The large highline donkey engine was also relocated to the camp and work resumed.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPLcbQJeD6wPm8z2RSyCXPPFsXStSB3wDm2LUFhc6m0m-CCP-ALFT58uRy4esBP7d8qAZidK0YRQJVATenOAdVv7_BR2F6PTsXoDcsb3RWtW3x_fqTJq8KF4lRZMQ1rAsI1tn_cUGvh1VuJNRkw_v4wbHkmRQAN3ynzbxrYHXzel3bl4y5VBrvSG8bNw=s409" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="409" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPLcbQJeD6wPm8z2RSyCXPPFsXStSB3wDm2LUFhc6m0m-CCP-ALFT58uRy4esBP7d8qAZidK0YRQJVATenOAdVv7_BR2F6PTsXoDcsb3RWtW3x_fqTJq8KF4lRZMQ1rAsI1tn_cUGvh1VuJNRkw_v4wbHkmRQAN3ynzbxrYHXzel3bl4y5VBrvSG8bNw=w640-h638" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Man pulling himself along the mile-long highline cable over Hinckley Gulch, ca 1916. [Woods Mattingly Collection, Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In spring 1917, disaster struck the company when the mile-long highline snapped and all attempts at repairing it or replicating it with other lines failed to achieve profitable results. After nearly shutting down the operation permanently, management decided to extend the railroad further to the top of Hinckley Creek. However, it is unclear whether this decision was made by the directors or Timothy Hopkins, president of the Loma Prieta Lumber Company. To reach the new area, the railroad switchbacked twice before finally crossing the creek, where it terminated in two forks on the west bank. The landing here allowed cars to be loaded directly from nearby mule tracks, which reduced crews' reliance on highlines and donkey engines.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvTuNWrdrFT3ex7Z6yT-GBMSIHwhwsZn0jYw5HNPXw8jZgM1QRkHyQqLzsKY6ibbYSA3VIQk1k2hSfWHRjCsqELFc4BS6KUBwPZOw8H-d9DjVAgyvK0ZRoO3o7VRRiwLTw7IM3wKuckNWb0Qa4gtzeqi1zyT-bp8OVlT77lsbg1B2E-AurRanEnccFbQ=s769" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="769" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvTuNWrdrFT3ex7Z6yT-GBMSIHwhwsZn0jYw5HNPXw8jZgM1QRkHyQqLzsKY6ibbYSA3VIQk1k2hSfWHRjCsqELFc4BS6KUBwPZOw8H-d9DjVAgyvK0ZRoO3o7VRRiwLTw7IM3wKuckNWb0Qa4gtzeqi1zyT-bp8OVlT77lsbg1B2E-AurRanEnccFbQ=w640-h380" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workers posing for the cameraman at Camp No. 3, ca 1917. [Woods Mattingly Collection, Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>At the end of the 1917 season, all logging at the headwaters of Hinckley Creek ceased. It was a sudden decision sent by Hopkins after the workers had mostly left for the year. Although there was still useable timber in the area, it was deemed too difficult to extract and unlikely to generate sufficient profit. By the late autumn, Hopkins had sent in crews to remove most of the tracks beyond Camp No. 2 in order to use them on a new route the Loma Prieta Lumber Company was building along Bridge Creek. The track that remained continued to be used to remove splitstuff from the headwaters of Bridge Creek. It also supported a small group of pieceworkers that returned in spring 1918 to harvest the remaining timber on the slopes of Santa Rosalia Ridge, just to the north of Camp No. 2.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhAcjblh1qJQM2cviW0RQy1ADg_jf5_AypzQWVTGA8zNMYEpyUYAMyavRzFWxaS5XcNjwlpIiz26myD37t_aA_hYdxLD67ZPPSItov1ZS4-DdgRlyt-70UVWu65EkOwBEg_KaI3O25LdAjIddXy3ykaKbead2lyy4IhvimLL1dDfD09J9uHEGjFaF3bzw=s783" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="783" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhAcjblh1qJQM2cviW0RQy1ADg_jf5_AypzQWVTGA8zNMYEpyUYAMyavRzFWxaS5XcNjwlpIiz26myD37t_aA_hYdxLD67ZPPSItov1ZS4-DdgRlyt-70UVWu65EkOwBEg_KaI3O25LdAjIddXy3ykaKbead2lyy4IhvimLL1dDfD09J9uHEGjFaF3bzw=w640-h414" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Molino locomotive somewhere along the line, 1910s. [Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A disastrous storm in September 1918 severely damaged parts of the new track on Bridge Creek as well as the Molino Timber Company's grade and the tracks at the headwaters of Bridge Creek. The former F. A. Hihn Company's saddleback locomotive <i>Betsy Jane</i> was lost in the mayhem. As a result of the storm, the Loma Prieta Lumber Company salvaged what they could from what was available. The tracks along the ridge were pulled to replace the damaged tracks along the lower portion of Bridge Creek. In spring 1919, the Molino's Shay locomotive and the remaining rolling stock on the ridge were hauled down the incline. Crews then dismantled the remaining track and the incline. Lastly, the massive donkey engine that had run the cable hoist for the past seven years was lowered down to Aptos Creek. On December 1, 1919, the Molino Timber Company was voluntarily dissolved by its directors and all of its remaining assets were transferred to the Loma Prieta Lumber Company.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgutzPytGgaijb7lwz_z7lHa5LcQUT--LeJ19IDYqGYMkkkvkZu3PevTNApEfhIFFxI-u7CMe5kPl9bE1IXJgmemnzK9xohpCF_qxIx7zIHlvl6cv_jQVz3Rb7QgBddfxAlv5RVLifZeRZQ_lNyyGpNFsWjRrKmxBhtZb_8Hd1YQp-woyqfuDQbQ0u_SA=s785" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="785" data-original-width="591" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgutzPytGgaijb7lwz_z7lHa5LcQUT--LeJ19IDYqGYMkkkvkZu3PevTNApEfhIFFxI-u7CMe5kPl9bE1IXJgmemnzK9xohpCF_qxIx7zIHlvl6cv_jQVz3Rb7QgBddfxAlv5RVLifZeRZQ_lNyyGpNFsWjRrKmxBhtZb_8Hd1YQp-woyqfuDQbQ0u_SA=w482-h640" width="482" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Molino shay being lowered down the incline to the grade below, 1919. [Aptos Museum – colorized using DeOldify]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The legacy of the Molino Timber Company's route along China Ridge survives today in the form of the Aptos Creek Fire Road in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. After reaching the top of the switchback, hikers and bikers arrive at the site of Camp No. 1, the top of the incline. Continuing down the road, they follow the railroad right-of-way except where it originally deviated over bridges and half-trestles, remains of which can sometimes be found at the bottom of gullies. The Sand Point Overlook marks the start of the Hinckley Basin Fire Road, which once provided logging crews access to the headwaters of Bridge Creek. Continuing on along the main road, the railroad grade eventually veers off to the west while the road continues its climb north up the ridge. This is the site of Camp No. 2 and marked where the railroad first entered Hinckley Gulch. Because of the temporary nature of the camp, nothing survives today except the vague trace of a railroad grade disappearing into the forest.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Powell, Ronald G. <i>The Shadow of Loma Prieta: Part Three of the History of Rancho Soquel Augmentation</i>. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, forthcoming.</li></ul><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-26945127980983331412022-02-10T12:00:00.003-08:002022-02-19T19:00:45.819-08:00Companies: California Beet Sugar Company<p>The Pajaro Valley was primed for an agricultural revolution in the late 1860s. Unfortunately, produce transportation methods were simply not refined enough to make most crops profitable. One crop that could work, however, was beets, which could last several months if stored properly. Claus Spreckels, the Sugar King of Hawai'i, was interested in the prospect of growing beets on the West Coast and it may have been one of the motivating factors that led him to buy part of Rancho Aptos in Santa Cruz County and erect the Aptos Hotel there. As early as April 1873, the <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i> envisioned Spreckels enlarging his sprawling resort (today's Rio del Mar) into a rival to Santa Cruz, with features such as a paper mill, chicory factory, and sugar beet refinery. But the only hitch in the plan was a railroad. Fortunately for local entrepreneurs, the Santa Cruz Railroad was incorporated (with Spreckels' financial support) on June 18, 1873, initiating a three-year construction project to connect the city of Santa Cruz by a narrow-gauge railroad to the Southern Pacific Railroad's station at Pajaro. The news of the railroad invigorated the hopes of sugar beet producers, but Spreckels was not yet ready to invest his money in a poorly-tested replacement for cane sugar. Instead, the troubled California Beet Sugar Company of Alvarado (Union City) decided to relocate to Soquel and try its luck.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiELj_DUyVCOgeMhlp2oW8lJZKHqOo6DywFsGAOn02ymi0hRYdgHcu9TUcgYzXbPFKOF4pdE9QFZgKUUaTlBr_rJhAgr1Br0cEcLO3J-xcNmW4uIpqUpST6grVxf3pHfAh9DVsLzy_4OF8sfkttXfgSeqGFbmvTPht2NrnAeegUXPNe2X78av5BHbOZWg=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="800" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiELj_DUyVCOgeMhlp2oW8lJZKHqOo6DywFsGAOn02ymi0hRYdgHcu9TUcgYzXbPFKOF4pdE9QFZgKUUaTlBr_rJhAgr1Br0cEcLO3J-xcNmW4uIpqUpST6grVxf3pHfAh9DVsLzy_4OF8sfkttXfgSeqGFbmvTPht2NrnAeegUXPNe2X78av5BHbOZWg=w640-h356" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the California Beet Sugar Company in Soquel, ca 1880. [University of California, Santa Cruz, Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The idea of growing sugar beets as a replacement for sugar cane, which required a very specific climate, had originated in France under the Napoleonic Empire of the early nineteenth century. The processes were rudimentary, though, and it took many years for adequate sugar to be produced from beetroots. In 1869, a group of Bay Area entrepreneurs incorporated the California Beet Sugar Company as the second beet sugar enterprise in California's history. It was led and financed by Ebenezer Herrick Dyer, General C. I. Hutchinson, Timothy Guy Phelps, and other San Francisco Bay area capitalists, as well as Augustus D. Bonesteel, Andrew Otto, and Ewald Klineau of Wisconsin. The company's refinery was built by B. F. Ingalls on the Dyer farm outside Oakland and opened in November 1870. The operation ran for four seasons but never returned a dividend to its investors. Nonetheless, it seemed to be at least breaking even since each year the facility was enlarged slightly and the equipment upgraded or replaced with her quality components. One of the reasons for the poor return of the refinery was that the quality of the soil was too poor in the Oakland area due to nearby salt marshes. In addition, fuel wood had to be imported a considerable distance to keep the dehydrators running at sufficient temperatures—the Alvarado facility used between 2,600 and 3,000 tons of coal per year.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGFs_s6lOi4dIEF0SdqS71rRqiYsD4CyD7rnkoW-qybs5hTXE5mNgzZAhco-TzToRWJSjG2FzzvZS5qmwNETwggvSx-UjRlXPSb01F7lvIXq76e70x3x0lTq2cc3zunUJG_abe5rf70scQaAgPUAIgpaCorYGkYPN7dju6flVugRrVkXAc4OtYNHdQfA=s626" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="626" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGFs_s6lOi4dIEF0SdqS71rRqiYsD4CyD7rnkoW-qybs5hTXE5mNgzZAhco-TzToRWJSjG2FzzvZS5qmwNETwggvSx-UjRlXPSb01F7lvIXq76e70x3x0lTq2cc3zunUJG_abe5rf70scQaAgPUAIgpaCorYGkYPN7dju6flVugRrVkXAc4OtYNHdQfA=w640-h440" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sketch of the original Alvarado refinery of the California Beet Sugar Company, 1870.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Around December 1873, the directors of the California Beet Sugar Company announced their planned move to Santa Cruz County to a 30-acre property leased from Frederick A. Hihn on the east bank of Soquel Creek midway between Soquel and Camp Capitola. The reason for this move was that land, labor, and cultivation costs were estimated to be half that of Alvarado. Dyer, still confident that his property could support a beet sugar refinery, did not follow the venture south but rather continued to experiment, later incorporating the Standard Sugar Manufacturing Company in 1879. Meanwhile, the excited <i>Sentinel</i> forecasted a population boom in Soquel, the next step in the town's long-sought campaign to replace Santa Cruz as the chief city in the county. The sugar company shipped farming equipment, beetroot, and beet seeds to encourage local farmers to take up the industry, and many farmers heard the call and began planting in the hope of cashing in on the new industry. Speculators estimated that 2,000,000 tons of beets could be grown in the first year, amounting to 1,000 tons of refined sugar.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRn4mWAUzfoDYEU9hVDrB7Zyt3dBDqtl_IjIFCfNgiqmquFbiu6NHqpFk9qj3aDmdDc-FDGmeRsf8_GW48UUBcwxdzkYemtY0qbUEgj0gFTR7lLnH0HuxEQPpxUPgf_ggZNm8IjYEsSziHKcVYTTAwkgPfN-vhUNjB92-NazMdtyeHh1yzuS4Q20smww/s749/Camp Capitola, 1876, Romanzo E. Wood [CSU Chico].jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="749" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRn4mWAUzfoDYEU9hVDrB7Zyt3dBDqtl_IjIFCfNgiqmquFbiu6NHqpFk9qj3aDmdDc-FDGmeRsf8_GW48UUBcwxdzkYemtY0qbUEgj0gFTR7lLnH0HuxEQPpxUPgf_ggZNm8IjYEsSziHKcVYTTAwkgPfN-vhUNjB92-NazMdtyeHh1yzuS4Q20smww/w640-h388/Camp Capitola, 1876, Romanzo E. Wood [CSU Chico].jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camp Capitola looking west toward Soquel Landing and Opal Cliffs, 1876. Photo by Romanzo E. Wood. [California State University Chico – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>As soon as the rainy season ended, Bonesteel, Otto, and Klineau began work erecting the facility. By late April 1874, the ground was prepared and construction began on the refinery itself. The machinery for the facility arrived at Soquel Wharf from Alvarado in late June. At the same time, it was announced that Professor Partz's cube sugar process would be used at Soquel, a system that made sugar easier to ship and sell. The refinery was completed the week of July 18 but the company still had to wait three months before the first beets were ready for processing. In anticipation of this, Alexander Getchmann of the Park House threw a grand ball in September under the starry sky with Chinese lantern decorations. The use of these lanterns was no mere convenience.</p><p>Chinese workers had been associated with the California Beet Sugar Company since the beginning. In 1870, they did most of the manual labor for the factory. In Soquel, they did even more. Of the approximately 200 employed by the sugar company, nearly three-fourths were Chinese. Some worked at the refinery itself hauling cartloads of beets or doing the uncomfortable work of stoking the furnaces, but most worked in the fields under contract. White property owners provided water, land, and seeds or beetroots, and Chinese workers cultivated and picked the beets. While labor intensive, it was not without profit for either party. The Chinese contractors and workers made good money growing and shipping the beets to Soquel. Indeed, the factory's managers even acknowledged that the company would not have succeeded without them. Predictably, the heavy use of Chinese labor sparked anti-Chinese sentiments among even the local newspapers' editors. By 1878, the company had reduced its reliance on Chinese labor, thereby increasing its overall operating costs. Most of the out-of-work laborers entered the Pajaro Valley fruit industry, cultivating strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYXVrps0DXAUgarz2oxkn8NAIPpAY5OqTy1UffpoTuYzsWSbSOwOX8FNM1q9UjCqbWzXHO9F5OMTACx_Lit8gy53tfOfxSAiDwKW4Dewb7QMfmaYgffWmJnrPfTq8-ZLbGbINIyo-O9LdjwQNnbfonyV5OD5RLWHN26mnlVdURXns2q7-orxQG0Hf5bQ=s782" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="782" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYXVrps0DXAUgarz2oxkn8NAIPpAY5OqTy1UffpoTuYzsWSbSOwOX8FNM1q9UjCqbWzXHO9F5OMTACx_Lit8gy53tfOfxSAiDwKW4Dewb7QMfmaYgffWmJnrPfTq8-ZLbGbINIyo-O9LdjwQNnbfonyV5OD5RLWHN26mnlVdURXns2q7-orxQG0Hf5bQ=w640-h378" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Distant view of Soquel Creek with the California Beet Sugar Company's refinery in the distance, ca 1880. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Returning to 1874, the new refinery opened on October 12 to universal acclaim and strong optimism. The facility was three and a half stories and built beside a short hill that allowed gravity to assist in processing. Stated in brief, beets would be dumped into a chute in the third story and sugar cubes would be shipped out of the first. Five steam boilers and engines ran all of the machinery inside. Elsewhere on the property, the company had a blacksmith shop, coopery, and three-story barn with a cupola atop. The factory operated all day, every day for seven months of the year, and around sixty men and women worked within the building. On average, it produced between 50 to 60 tons of pure white sugar every 24 hours. The beet pulp and other byproducts were sold as fertilizer and possibly animal feed. The <i>Sentinel</i>'s editor reported of the first crop that the sugar was "as white as any of our best sugar in market, while for strength and flavor, one could not distinguish it from cane sugar." In 1875, the facility was enlarged to provide pastureland for 500 cattle and homes for mill workers.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiD87ih6A50J-QhSR1r3div7Ck4__vC_sKBz9YGiq3vVJ3EC85sKeI7Smn2TiXJQ6Oi-_whQbCQ0eXq9BunZ1JPIYF106lojTquscJn5Un1OYH0WkHDYETMuu5UeKpd1CdPyg96FrS6rh2HWc_I7GsPfCgINn9kX3usWnGFquLdZ5AFeI0RB5mBnpRrA/s600/Soquel Wharf, ca 1875, Romanzo E. Wood [SJPL].jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="600" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiD87ih6A50J-QhSR1r3div7Ck4__vC_sKBz9YGiq3vVJ3EC85sKeI7Smn2TiXJQ6Oi-_whQbCQ0eXq9BunZ1JPIYF106lojTquscJn5Un1OYH0WkHDYETMuu5UeKpd1CdPyg96FrS6rh2HWc_I7GsPfCgINn9kX3usWnGFquLdZ5AFeI0RB5mBnpRrA/w640-h434/Soquel Wharf, ca 1875, Romanzo E. Wood [SJPL].jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soquel Wharf looking toward the Monterey Bay, 1875. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Transportation remained a problem for the company. In its first year of operation, most of the beets were grown in the Soquel area, but the best agricultural land was fifteen miles away in Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley. For the first two years that the refinery operated, the mill shipped the bulk of its non-local products to San Francisco via the steamship <i>Santa Cruz</i>, the first being 500 barrels of grain sugar shipped from Soquel Wharf on November 5, 1874. Plans were in place from the beginning, though, to connect the refinery to the Santa Cruz Railroad. The problem was that the railroad was taking longer than anticipated to build. It was finally completed to Pajaro on May 7, 1876 and in September a spur was installed to the beet sugar facility. The newspaper gave the length of the spur as only 200 feet, enough to accomodate eight boxcars. This was far from sufficient to reach the mill and it was likely an inaccurate number. An earlier statement had estimated that the mill sat 200 yards from the tracks—a still inaccurate distance but probably closer to the actual length. Indeed, by December, Hihn was discussing the possibility of extending the track beyond the mill to the town of Soquel, although this never happened. Unfortunately, little more is known about the spur to the mill and no photos survive. It probably broke off from the main track near the later location of Capitola Depot and it was likely removed when the Southern Pacific Railroad standard-gauged the Santa Cruz Branch in 1883. This makes the spur one of the only that catered exclusively to a Santa Cruz Railroad customer.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZMSY-5f7p4ZA2-KQdiquzbcDH0sQ88H16IBbX4BCjcEXPhhXFELJPQAhtYEKJemWPIb0mAd8nNXCdvyvb5cmN5JhihAInvyddUVrspe_L0Q2PEDLuuX-OcSaIHHDVc8dAGoWZFy6NluhxPnJu1yuXPs-BGxdLE-rfL3LbIw_jXhOGGMKMOeToJW1Tbg=s756" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="756" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZMSY-5f7p4ZA2-KQdiquzbcDH0sQ88H16IBbX4BCjcEXPhhXFELJPQAhtYEKJemWPIb0mAd8nNXCdvyvb5cmN5JhihAInvyddUVrspe_L0Q2PEDLuuX-OcSaIHHDVc8dAGoWZFy6NluhxPnJu1yuXPs-BGxdLE-rfL3LbIw_jXhOGGMKMOeToJW1Tbg=w640-h524" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View looking down Soquel Creek toward the Southern Pacific Railroad bridge, ca 1890. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The years 1875 and 1876 saw little change. Production slowly ramped up and Pajaro Valley farmers entered the scene in 1876, responding to the increased accessibility provided by the Santa Cruz Railroad. Indeed, in an interview, Hihn stated that "without the [rail]road the factory would have closed down" in 1877. A mysterious new group of investors from San Francisco took over the company in July 1876 but retained the local management and staff. Whether this was Spreckels, Hihn, or some other group is unknown—none of them are ever named in local newspapers. In early 1877, the Sacramento Beet Sugar Company's mill shut down, leaving the California Beet Sugar Company as the last beet sugar refinery in the state. This same year, the company abandoned growing its own beets and shifted entirely to sourcing beets from area farmers. Hihn encouraged farmers to grow beets by lowering the freight costs of shipping on the Santa Cruz Railroad. Confident in the continuing success of its venture, the company purchased from Hihn the refinery's property for $6,000 on December 10, 1878.</p><p>The <i>Sentinel</i> and other Central Coast newspapers continued to laud the company throughout 1878 and 1879 even as hints of impending calamity began to appear between the headlines. Rumor in 1878 suggested that the mill was going to move to Watsonville, to be closer to the beet farmers, but this was later undermined by the purchase of the refinery property. Meanwhile, some of the farmers began disputing the profitability of beets, with evidence suggesting that crops such as wheat and hay were becoming more profitable to grow. In spite of these rumors, the year 1878 was the company's most productive year on record, with the mill averaging 64 tons of beets per day and 10,000 tons for the season. Eight carloads of beets were shipped to Soquel daily. The mill at the time employed eighty workers and investors in 1879 reported good dividends.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhygnPSRXjYz0VAiWWLfmv9y8CUYAsVGJkJr1fkwtXunwhq72UTAaG5pOW-ZxGExDFtwy3OjqqyMP_BRj1RF_VHFxOCgSPB77PbA5m6aTUXbaCIJwIOkrB8tSPvqxxKxSqRm4xDUTjZNnrF3XtAaDZ1abkaSgDgzA-FmuS8vA_2hmek_kBuHN4K5wVKyQ=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="800" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhygnPSRXjYz0VAiWWLfmv9y8CUYAsVGJkJr1fkwtXunwhq72UTAaG5pOW-ZxGExDFtwy3OjqqyMP_BRj1RF_VHFxOCgSPB77PbA5m6aTUXbaCIJwIOkrB8tSPvqxxKxSqRm4xDUTjZNnrF3XtAaDZ1abkaSgDgzA-FmuS8vA_2hmek_kBuHN4K5wVKyQ=w640-h440" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View looking up Soquel Creek from atop of the Southern Pacific Railroad bridge, ca 1900. [UCSC Legacy Digital Collections – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Yet 1879 would be the company's last year, with production continuing through early 1880. John T. Porter was one of the company's largest beet suppliers, planting 400 acres of crop in the Pajaro Valley in 1879. By September 1879, the California Beet Sugar Company had apparently failed to uphold the terms of its contract with Porter and the latter took the former to court. In what proved to be a controversial trial, Porter was awarded $12,755.95 in damages from the beet sugar company, which was far more cash than it had on hand to deliver. As a result, Judge Belden ordered that the 30 acres of land and the refinery upon it be sold at auction on October 4, 1879. Before the auction was held, the company managed to have it delayed until the next year, allowing it to complete its current season. Reports for the season stated that fewer beets were grown but the company still likely turned a small profit.</p><p>On April 30, 1880, Sheriff Robert Orton auctioned the Soquel property to none other than Porter for slightly under the required amount. Presumably the difference was paid in cash or in kind. Porter apparently was uninterested in the actual machinery of the sugar refinery and had it sold at another sheriff's auction in December. Hihn bought it all for $100. For the next few years, rumors persisted that the mill would move to Watsonville and reopen, and that the old mill site would become a fruit packing plant. Neither ever happened. Meanwhile, a long appeal by the California Beet Sugar Company passed through the California court system, ultimately resulting in the company being granted a retrial in 1886. But by that point, their company had been long defunct and it is unclear if the former directors actually took the matter to trial again, settled out of court, or dropped the matter.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLcx9uSMCS-HT_pxE98HHdu89a513Sm9_2gYFAZ8JHHhloPR7CoL13ejs1P-yniqHigjjQ2eGh5vZHeyj8FjF_WDdw8rgM3tNhwqvW0h96enSdao3goY5AobYxdZEEX-eGgfQkNN1-xi7M_K1qiLNqIyRUzVQ7xmRSDOx6z1oG1hjrBRRRZhiLTz-4nA=s3526" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3526" data-original-width="2828" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLcx9uSMCS-HT_pxE98HHdu89a513Sm9_2gYFAZ8JHHhloPR7CoL13ejs1P-yniqHigjjQ2eGh5vZHeyj8FjF_WDdw8rgM3tNhwqvW0h96enSdao3goY5AobYxdZEEX-eGgfQkNN1-xi7M_K1qiLNqIyRUzVQ7xmRSDOx6z1oG1hjrBRRRZhiLTz-4nA=w514-h640" width="514" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excerpt of a map showing property owners in the Soquel area with John T. Porter's 30 acre tract, formerly owned by the California Beet Sugar Company, in the center, 1881</td></tr></tbody></table><p>After sitting on the property for decades, the Porter family or a subsequent owner finally subdivided the refinery property in 1924 into Riverside Terrace Subdivision 1, which today occupies everything between Soquel Creek and Bay Avenue/Capitola Avenue from Center Street to Beverly Avenue. A building from the refinery was later moved to become the Capitola Park Hotel, which later was renamed the Lewis House. Meanwhile, Watsonville finally got its long-promised sugar beet refinery in 1888 when Spreckels returned to the county to establish the Western Beet Sugar Company. Some of the first locals he hired were Chinese fruit growers who had first come to the county in 1874 to work at the Soquel beet sugar factory.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Perry, Frank. Personal correspondence.</li><li>Street, Richard Steven. <i>Beasts of the Field: A Narrative History of California Farmworkers, 1769-1913. </i>Stanford: University Press, 2004.</li><li>Various articles from the <i>Los Angeles Herald</i>, <i>Pacific Rural Press</i>, <i>Petaluma Weekly Argus</i>, <i>Record-Union</i>, <i>Sacramento Bee</i>, <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>, </li><li>Wiley, Harvey Washington. <i>The Sugar-beet Industry: Culture of the Sugar-beet and Manufacture of Beet Sugar. </i>Washington: Government Printing Office, 1890.</li><li>Willey, S. H., C. L. Anderson, Edward Martin, and W. H. Hobbs. <i>History of Santa Cruz County, California. </i>San Francisco: Wallace W. Elliott & Co., 1879.</li></ul><p></p>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0701 Riverview Dr, Capitola, CA 95010, USA36.9785754 -121.95613236.97771831449127 -121.95720488360595 36.979432485508724 -121.95505911639404tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-77244247521356453792021-12-16T12:00:00.003-08:002021-12-18T15:33:11.980-08:00Railroads: Hihn's Early Railroad Schemes<div><p>Railroads did not appear in Santa Cruz County overnight. Between the first whisper of a local railroad published in the <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i> in December 1862 and the completion of the county's first railroad in October 1875, several plans were made and companies incorporated to build a railroad somewhere within the county. Without question, the most enthusiastic promotor of local railroad schemes was Frederick A. Hihn, whose wealth, vast land holdings, political influence, and general popularity afforded him much leverage in pursuing his grand vision for the county. Following a brief debate published in the <i>Sentinel</i> over several weeks in January 1866, Hihn pushed forward with his plan to build a standard-gauge railroad that would connect Santa Cruz County to the San Francisco & San José Railroad, which had opened January 16, 1864. Surveys were undertaken and public forums were held to compare the merits of a route to San Francisco via the San Lorenzo Valley—promoted by "Sayante" (probably Thomas S. Farmer)—versus a route along the coast and up the Pajaro Valley to San José. It took over a year for two rival companies to materialize. The San Lorenzo Railroad formed first on June 20, 1867. Two days later, on June 22, Hihn incorporated his own company with the aim of linking Watsonville to San José via Gilroy.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYjHW8gsrOoGxARGEL2l0WFzuBA57FIHkROneqkXSTkONLLfnAOHpEeaZsvW4wQjh-EkkuxB-119rWEziUMlTYycyWw98k5vnP3ry9lKWzNAG3qo8BDhvUTyyO5sqECRcSunduvYylLc-mMsNR4wwwGulT9bFyxQdGac4vGFypS-0zLrmtKh84u3T97g=s600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="461" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYjHW8gsrOoGxARGEL2l0WFzuBA57FIHkROneqkXSTkONLLfnAOHpEeaZsvW4wQjh-EkkuxB-119rWEziUMlTYycyWw98k5vnP3ry9lKWzNAG3qo8BDhvUTyyO5sqECRcSunduvYylLc-mMsNR4wwwGulT9bFyxQdGac4vGFypS-0zLrmtKh84u3T97g=w308-h400" width="308" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frederick A. Hihn wearing a Society of California Pioneers sash, 1880s. [University of California, Santa Cruz — colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>California Coast Railroad Company (1867 – 1870)</b></h3><p>The California Coast Railroad was financed by a great many members of Watsonville and Pajaro Valley society, including Nathaniel Chittenden, Charles Ford, Lucian Sanborn, and James Sargent. It was a bold but plausible plan with a moving target that hoped to connect with the nascent Southern Pacific Railroad wherever it was convenient. At the time, the exact plans for the Southern Pacific Railroad were unclear except that it hoped to construct a railroad south from San José through Gilroy. Two options from there were to continue down the San Benito Valley and cross into the San Joaquín Valley at the first opportunity. Alternatively, the route could turn down the Pajaro River and continue south via the Salinas River. Most surveyors at the time favored the former option, and indeed the Southern Pacific Railroad did initially attempt that before changing its mind and taking the Pajaro Valley route. In any case, that was in the future. Hihn and his colleagues wanted to ensure that they got their connection regardless of Southern Pacific's eventual decision.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRJD0fuMy7Q856HXM0u8hkiWH9O3b1nrq0SouBvcK8a2UqjCVCQd7kYqdK3tQe7t55hl-oat9lVv6Z4EHNwiAN4bQbDq_JsMKkAOhyOevC7YOzorX6By0_pxdFXKAf130YlsyJ-OhMupaG0g1TMn3ZL1nxGnszX6d_cQwGVdTt2AZ4LpC_Fz_i6WAOtg=s1405" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="1405" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRJD0fuMy7Q856HXM0u8hkiWH9O3b1nrq0SouBvcK8a2UqjCVCQd7kYqdK3tQe7t55hl-oat9lVv6Z4EHNwiAN4bQbDq_JsMKkAOhyOevC7YOzorX6By0_pxdFXKAf130YlsyJ-OhMupaG0g1TMn3ZL1nxGnszX6d_cQwGVdTt2AZ4LpC_Fz_i6WAOtg=w640-h390" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sketch of Pajaro Landing, October 1856, by William Birch McMurtrie. [Bancroft]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Surveys were conducted throughout late 1867 but little more progress was made and subscriptions were not actively solicited outside the initial backers. However, once construction of the Santa Clara & Pajaro Valley Railroad between San José and Gilroy began in February 1868, Hihn began selling stocks as widely as he could reasonably advertise them. His plan did not go as well as he had hoped. Trying to gather funds from the initial contributors was difficult enough, and the Pajaro Valley was not yet populated or wealthy enough to attract as heavy of an investment as was required. The stated capital stock was listed at the astronomical amount of $400,000 for only about 20 miles of relatively level track. Thus, the project languished even as the railroad to Gilroy was completed on April 10, 1869.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2cpVfdt2WHlX33Vn3toh9j8J--_KcUv9eZscPmyTWJMJSLTL_KYcHEC0uhniG2LmLIUTjBNdwt7Qw5IWK_EWqcMQCJAakOB5nMFN_G79UA7GcgUCbcUXeBcFCS1xkcR06CXRWO8aMyexL7O8t-sffQPFaup87IsVKXaURDmQy5Pp1mbbg5s7mUfojlA=s600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="600" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2cpVfdt2WHlX33Vn3toh9j8J--_KcUv9eZscPmyTWJMJSLTL_KYcHEC0uhniG2LmLIUTjBNdwt7Qw5IWK_EWqcMQCJAakOB5nMFN_G79UA7GcgUCbcUXeBcFCS1xkcR06CXRWO8aMyexL7O8t-sffQPFaup87IsVKXaURDmQy5Pp1mbbg5s7mUfojlA=w640-h418" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A gathering of the Society of California Pioneers on Admission Day, 1880s. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Unperturbed, Hihn included the railroad into his autumn 1869 campaign for a seat in the California State Assembly. After winning the election, Hihn held several controversial and contentious public meetings. The result was a bill that would allow public funds to finance $8,000 per mile of the route, as well as branch lines up the San Lorenzo Valley (via the existing San Lorenzo Railroad Company) and Soquel Creek. Late during the drafting stage, the Southern Pacific Railroad incorporated the California Southern Railroad Company on January 22, 1870. This new railroad intended to build a route between Gilroy and Salinas and beyond—a total proposed length of 250 miles. In other words, it would follow the already-proposed route of the California Coast Railroad, and nobody in Santa Cruz County would have to finance it. As a result, Hihn inserted the California Southern into his railroad bill on March 5, 1870, and the California Coast Railroad was promptly forgotten.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1LdmRn5EqVKZeZl0Cq41IK87arRwFEoE4vvoEGaelj3ErMkmzkoa-M9y0uzuzMIJosqKb85Ajt4DZu_odQLUdLsu08ie1lkHcd1g3FdfOrm3gg-KzVk75SY9mR0ORW_Jf1jCMO9XSnt-j0DDXgsSNohxmJfw38Lej-uPSOW2K06mNxluVYCDiXx70Dg=s694" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="694" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1LdmRn5EqVKZeZl0Cq41IK87arRwFEoE4vvoEGaelj3ErMkmzkoa-M9y0uzuzMIJosqKb85Ajt4DZu_odQLUdLsu08ie1lkHcd1g3FdfOrm3gg-KzVk75SY9mR0ORW_Jf1jCMO9XSnt-j0DDXgsSNohxmJfw38Lej-uPSOW2K06mNxluVYCDiXx70Dg=w640-h318" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stereograph of the Pacific Ocean House, 1866. Photo by Lawrence & Houseworth. [California State Library – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Despite incorporation and the collapse of the earlier scheme, nothing happened for over a year. Southern Pacific resumed construction of its line south from Gilroy—nominally the Southern Pacific Railroad's mainline—but it stopped just outside Tres Pinos near Hollister. Hihn grew disappointed and began planning again. While his railroad bill had failed due to a veto from the governor, there was still public support for it and his plans. Thus, as his two years in the assembly were coming to an end, Hihn began an ambitious new plan to get the ball rolling once more concerning railroads in Santa Cruz County.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6Sz7iT7_aeA3MkNdeBvTgmZEywHnlTCzlTZEOn4kF3mFR3YRMYsw47fMn7QR4bf_Lp66Nt9r3kdRK6E2W-FsWDj2QGhHcGRH6WjfL5RlsUens-he5UlnEmitUCTTmb1kFGqvemlyjeTvW5vtFQLpdgxSKNhSSh_RkB4SGrkv1N3i70czYCa5YfUK9KQ=s600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="600" height="586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6Sz7iT7_aeA3MkNdeBvTgmZEywHnlTCzlTZEOn4kF3mFR3YRMYsw47fMn7QR4bf_Lp66Nt9r3kdRK6E2W-FsWDj2QGhHcGRH6WjfL5RlsUens-he5UlnEmitUCTTmb1kFGqvemlyjeTvW5vtFQLpdgxSKNhSSh_RkB4SGrkv1N3i70czYCa5YfUK9KQ=w640-h586" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">San Francisco from the corner of California and Powell Streets, looking northeast, ca 1870. Photo by Lawrence & Houseworth. [Society of California Pioneers]</td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Narrow Gauge Railroad Company (1870 – 1872)</b></h3><p>Hihn's next scheme was not entirely his own. Part of the reason for the failure of his first plan was its extraordinary cost, which was simply beyond the financial ability of the county. But in 1870, the idea of narrow-gauge railroads invaded the Central Coast and inspired Hihn. With a narrower footprint, lower-grade rails and crossties, and tighter curves, narrow-gauge trains could be built at nearly half the cost of standard-gauge stock. Thus, when the Narrow Gauge Railroad Company was incorporated on November 15, 1870, Hihn made sure that he was one of its directors. The company was led by a British man, L. L. Robinson, and was managed from San Francisco. It had the lofty goal of building a narrow-gauge transcontinental railroad and as such had an initial $1,000,000 capital stock.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVT8tvXqWaJLXz61N85HRIrlCZnOZYoUDs-LzKjyFWTIdCjMgdA3Eig2_mzNMvQF4WjeEybKob7H1GwEUGJBcQf7-lHm_fBNiVCzWxkDKXqf9Fz-_fQJJMloYGRgJoMi9GTMVQCjr0vMxEbQRX6_oMLav7ilqAC7e-Hoqy2sN0k-odbYJ_vEoD-Ch2eQ=s8550" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6684" data-original-width="8550" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVT8tvXqWaJLXz61N85HRIrlCZnOZYoUDs-LzKjyFWTIdCjMgdA3Eig2_mzNMvQF4WjeEybKob7H1GwEUGJBcQf7-lHm_fBNiVCzWxkDKXqf9Fz-_fQJJMloYGRgJoMi9GTMVQCjr0vMxEbQRX6_oMLav7ilqAC7e-Hoqy2sN0k-odbYJ_vEoD-Ch2eQ=w640-h500" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Open fields near Half Moon Bay, 1880s. Photo by O. V. Lange. [California State Library]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The company proposed as its initial route a narrow-gauge railroad down the coast from San Francisco through Santa Cruz County, with the trackage within Santa Cruz County the first to be constructed. However, the railroad was not alone in this goal—on March 23, the Southern Coast Railroad proposed a similar route. A week later, a third railroad, the San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Watsonville Railroad, also incorporated. Comparing all three, they appear to have been completely different firms with the latter two presumably standard gauge. None were promoted by the Southern Pacific Railroad and, notably, none ever succeeded in doing any more than surveying its proposed route. Surveyors for the Narrow Gauge Railroad passed through Santa Cruz County in May 1871 and were never heard from again, the project presumably failing not long afterwards. The only legacy the railroad may have left behind is its survey report, which was likely used by Hihn in later years to help plan the course of his later projects through the county. Undaunted, Hihn moved onto his next plan.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0173ravccH3wfNG6yH_r6B8Sr9p54hupEuJPj9DjWx0d6vyVeCt6jwlMoJ4G94UAL8YLBRbrgL5aD-tWLlJ-AGImJqirb9ZBBJmYvryuxtwP9j_e8E2uYIi0pHWkCFY8uVeEq09F6HFw6rFYEZZ4X4Vd0dpua0p1725XpDHC2INcDZ7v8Ees4PQ7N3w=s699" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="699" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0173ravccH3wfNG6yH_r6B8Sr9p54hupEuJPj9DjWx0d6vyVeCt6jwlMoJ4G94UAL8YLBRbrgL5aD-tWLlJ-AGImJqirb9ZBBJmYvryuxtwP9j_e8E2uYIi0pHWkCFY8uVeEq09F6HFw6rFYEZZ4X4Vd0dpua0p1725XpDHC2INcDZ7v8Ees4PQ7N3w=w640-h312" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Streograph showing the Santa Cruz Main Beach showing the Powder Works Wharf, 1866. Photo by Lawrence & Houseworth. [California State Library – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>San Lorenzo Valley Railroad Company (1871 – 1874)</b></h3><p>Although initially reluctant to support a San Lorenzo Valley railroad scheme, he ended up adding it to his railroad bill in 1869–1870 as a way of drawing more support from the local community. The citizens of Santa Cruz in particular were supportive of it since it meant more revenue would pass through the town. It also would potentially put the Davis & Cowell lime company in its place, since the firm was aggressively blocking several smaller lime companies from getting their products to the wharves at the Santa Cruz Beach. Such was the reason why all progress on the earlier San Lorenzo Railroad had come to a halt. A lawsuit by Davis & Cowell had deprived the railroad of its funding due to legal fees and both firms were fighting a long battle in the courts to determine once and for all whether the railroad company could build a right-of-way through the lime company's lands without their permission.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw6F7h7eX7lzszf6X1sNa0OFfZj3YhA10dcGQPAzLU1Yey-dBih5P-NWb-213g-8eznWHw-JEztvK64nnB-OfCtp7YA-1yoVDVSaLahmGkyY8fRZncvHqJkLEh2VitdDOqgSr8XzpHifWeb3WUfOkxRp1ad9hBVMF-wOIeHVax54xYPzHyhiyGdKp8ng=s600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="600" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw6F7h7eX7lzszf6X1sNa0OFfZj3YhA10dcGQPAzLU1Yey-dBih5P-NWb-213g-8eznWHw-JEztvK64nnB-OfCtp7YA-1yoVDVSaLahmGkyY8fRZncvHqJkLEh2VitdDOqgSr8XzpHifWeb3WUfOkxRp1ad9hBVMF-wOIeHVax54xYPzHyhiyGdKp8ng=w640-h382" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The flatiron building at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Front Street in Santa Cruz, 1866. Hihn ran all of his later railroad ventures from the second story of this building. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Hihn waded into this fight assertively while still serving in the state assembly when he incorporated the San Lorenzo Valley Railroad Company on March 11, 1871. It was an opportunistic plan in that it hoped to draw on local demand for the route while inadvertently undermining the efforts of the company that had already formed for the purpose. As expected, the attempt did not succeed. Capitalized at $300,000, the board of directors was composed mostly of San Lorenzo Valley men but only one member of the old firm joined the group. The planned route was almost identical: sixteen miles up from Santa Cruz to Boulder Creek and beyond. The only substantial difference was that Hihn's proposed railroad would be narrow gauge, clearly taking inspiration from his earlier investment.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_m6ICI7UJ0CWl0nUC7EEA97yH0Y6yOAIxBCmTa1AoHQkROdFGY_9Cs7LDBeyYUWzmrTwwkazUw-X9OfyNDcVeFShLu-8Hpbt_QBpYPFdkjM1sCZRfF23pfE-TLzeFongpF5WHH-rgEmRpYMl2mTkxTcwOwRKY_IxTwPbk0uutA9uNW15XDreJr8i2uQ=s721" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="721" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_m6ICI7UJ0CWl0nUC7EEA97yH0Y6yOAIxBCmTa1AoHQkROdFGY_9Cs7LDBeyYUWzmrTwwkazUw-X9OfyNDcVeFShLu-8Hpbt_QBpYPFdkjM1sCZRfF23pfE-TLzeFongpF5WHH-rgEmRpYMl2mTkxTcwOwRKY_IxTwPbk0uutA9uNW15XDreJr8i2uQ=w640-h400" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stereograph of a woodcutter in the Santa Cruz Mountains, ca 1877. Photo by J. D. Strong. [California State Library – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Just like 1867, when the earlier company was formed, the <i>Sentinel</i> gushed about the plans, acting almost like the previous four years hadn't happened. It speculated that the route would eventually continue across the mountains to some point in the Bay Area. It discussed likely stops in the mountains, how popular the line would be with tourists, and how commuters could make a roundtrip journey to San Francisco in a day. Surveying for the new route began at the end of March 1871, suggesting that the partially-graded line of the San Lorenzo Railroad would not necessarily be used. Indeed, surveyors found a new short-cut under the Hogsback near the California Powder Works that could potentially reduce the route by 1.5 miles. The length of the proposed tunnel—1,100 feet—suggests that the line was still much closer to the San Lorenzo River than the route later taken by the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad in 1874. The survey was completed at the end of April 1871. Efforts to associate the line with a proposed railroad in San José were ongoing.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWlLuxzQgiRVtNMMKKu1rHon0knrZQWA_3pozXWY8gtfE8UMa2X5dCtWSFxEtDHCwCrD1LikjPpX76OAV-NYkLfNYCInKVkGqV2FjVHRtJMe3wLfJdZdjbp9bF6me-eyFdEajHkWTWZ8t2ULuWfoxstgQMJ1FxOe4QuOLBgCdvOmJBJmmcw_7dWvLIHA=s707" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="707" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWlLuxzQgiRVtNMMKKu1rHon0knrZQWA_3pozXWY8gtfE8UMa2X5dCtWSFxEtDHCwCrD1LikjPpX76OAV-NYkLfNYCInKVkGqV2FjVHRtJMe3wLfJdZdjbp9bF6me-eyFdEajHkWTWZ8t2ULuWfoxstgQMJ1FxOe4QuOLBgCdvOmJBJmmcw_7dWvLIHA=w640-h308" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stereographic view of Santa Cruz, 1866. Photo by Lawrence & Houseworth. [California State Library – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Speculation continued into 1872 but little more was done. The value of the company's stock remained stable and land speculators began clearing property in Boulder Creek at the proposed terminus of the railroad. Like with the San Lorenzo Railroad three years earlier, the idea of a railroad to Boulder Creek was enough to lead to the town's development. Nonetheless, when the San Lorenzo Railroad lost its case in the California Supreme Court on January 1, 1874, so too died the dreams of the San Lorenzo Valley Railroad. Both schemes were linked to the same idea: that a railroad could be built through Davis & Cowell's lands without its permission and without due compensation. When the case failed, all confidence in such a line collapsed and local investors pulled out. Hihn continued to act as chairman of the board but he may have lost interest in the project as early as August and was certainly looking at other options by early 1872. When the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad formed in November 1874, it was financed entirely by outside investors who worked with Davis & Cowell to secure a right-of-way to its liking.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjX6FDRGjr3gH02Lev1l-eJCHwq70PGsEvX1XdpIvhEzyNifApIP5CrWqvsa1fyEaijxVWlnE3UdYBIi_7v8XmH8-FXzlZ3AW7Crt87VtnTH8TUkLZ16FvRnDEva7-cW5Z3oW1KZTnAoz7lVLBHREjQhUD8kDw0ih-lF8X9idlxpuE2VBXNlDUHTxsBOg=s1346" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1346" data-original-width="669" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjX6FDRGjr3gH02Lev1l-eJCHwq70PGsEvX1XdpIvhEzyNifApIP5CrWqvsa1fyEaijxVWlnE3UdYBIi_7v8XmH8-FXzlZ3AW7Crt87VtnTH8TUkLZ16FvRnDEva7-cW5Z3oW1KZTnAoz7lVLBHREjQhUD8kDw0ih-lF8X9idlxpuE2VBXNlDUHTxsBOg=w318-h640" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Redwood trees in the Santa Cruz Mountains, ca 1874. Painting by John Ross Key. [Bancroft – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>San Jose & Santa Cruz Railroad Company (1871)</b></h3><p>Hihn remained undaunted and began planning his next railroad scheme. Several investors in the Santa Clara Valley had continued to express interest in a route across the mountains and Hihn felt that it was time to push forward a plan he had promoted since September 1869: a railroad up the East Branch of Soquel Creek and down Los Gatos Creek. This route was of personal interest to him since he owned vast tracts of timberland at the headwaters of Soquel Creek and had struggled to economically harvest it since he had acquired it in the mid-1850s. Any route up Soquel Creek would be profitable to him, but he wanted to ensure he had a say in its construction. Thus, after four months of heavy speculation in newspapers and the completion of a survey of the route in May 1871, Hihn incorporated the San Jose & Santa Cruz Railroad Company on July 25, 1871.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigm6KMSfvNmsl8lVrxqsNjrBHrcgHpIsUax-WafCXVg3TuOpGv0NmTL8jQFa-LnUTRlcJgdnNVmvvbnCGE_8RXIG-LQzSrXbTe8CCR3ozonSDfH6qu534_KvP0zh7Unk-EwsLQRkGCuioargyyVbnbLX-X81BJt_8V90Mjr7qJX92NhMODmqOwXG875w=s600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="600" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigm6KMSfvNmsl8lVrxqsNjrBHrcgHpIsUax-WafCXVg3TuOpGv0NmTL8jQFa-LnUTRlcJgdnNVmvvbnCGE_8RXIG-LQzSrXbTe8CCR3ozonSDfH6qu534_KvP0zh7Unk-EwsLQRkGCuioargyyVbnbLX-X81BJt_8V90Mjr7qJX92NhMODmqOwXG875w=w640-h434" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soquel Landing in Capitola, 1870s. [Santa Cruz Public Libraries – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The proposed narrow-gauge railroad would be 38 miles in length and run from Santa Cruz eastward to Capitola, where it would turn up Soquel Creek and snake along its East Branch until it found a reasonable location for a tunnel under the Summit to the headwaters of Los Gatos, probably near today's Lake Elsman. From there, it would more or less follow the route later built by the South Pacific Coast Railroad in 1878–1880, until the line arrived in San José. Capital stock was set at $500,000 and Hihn was appointed president.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAy8riAURf8LbnIczyWbe0r9780eWTZCR8-RvWM9PRo79zHXa8QIIGjOMmUImtA0gHYDdE69UsVHKwAOrZL7kBkph5g5ydi45kLtawdsSlHowleiTp3pSQvkFJA3XKbFsMUfIgQEN8osdzaa3OmEMmdkKfCbpmvdOiT7bVGe8DznS2P8drD55ipeWVTg=s524" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="499" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAy8riAURf8LbnIczyWbe0r9780eWTZCR8-RvWM9PRo79zHXa8QIIGjOMmUImtA0gHYDdE69UsVHKwAOrZL7kBkph5g5ydi45kLtawdsSlHowleiTp3pSQvkFJA3XKbFsMUfIgQEN8osdzaa3OmEMmdkKfCbpmvdOiT7bVGe8DznS2P8drD55ipeWVTg=w610-h640" width="610" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Capitola Beach, ca 1875. Photo by Romanzo E. Wood. [California State University, Chico – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The nascent route was too little and too late. Indeed, why it was even incorporated is unclear since, on July 17—less than two weeks before—the Southern Pacific Railroad began construction on its long-delayed Watsonville Branch, which would initially extend from Gilroy to Pajaro or Watsonville, and eventually continue to Salinas. This branch line would partially resolve the stated reason for the San Jose & Santa Cruz Railroad since it would finally connect Santa Cruz County to the Santa Clara Valley by rail. While the task of linking Santa Cruz to the Monterey County line was still in the future, part of the decision had been taken away from Hihn and his investors pulled out. The Watsonville Branch was completed to Pajaro on November 26, 1871. Three years later, it was re-designated as the main trunk line of the Northern Division of the Southern Pacific Railroad after the former mainline to Tres Pinos was declared infeasible.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheue77GzNBSiFgxhh9L8nG2_z6QgczPBMbJjKHyRpQCVfVdaiTUwy59JRhtJyh1Z-4RkvdmXfCyw-qZONp6_HaFrdLc7BTA7x9QMesAXaXKkeqFcVxk78tDjHwhtUBoyBaYq1WSBZzSrmXd02_sq2pvBQI0en9pJWpCpIpiXlOJnrXe7PJWNvbCFWhzg=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="800" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheue77GzNBSiFgxhh9L8nG2_z6QgczPBMbJjKHyRpQCVfVdaiTUwy59JRhtJyh1Z-4RkvdmXfCyw-qZONp6_HaFrdLc7BTA7x9QMesAXaXKkeqFcVxk78tDjHwhtUBoyBaYq1WSBZzSrmXd02_sq2pvBQI0en9pJWpCpIpiXlOJnrXe7PJWNvbCFWhzg=w640-h396" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Logging with oxen above Soquel, 1870s. [San Joaquin Valley Library System – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Hihn's plans for a railroad along Soquel Creek, while possible from an engineering standpoint, was never built. He returned to the idea several times over the years, even reserving in 1889 a right-of-way through large sections of land he owned or purchased that still exists today under the name "Hihn Railroad Grade" on property maps. This route would likely have followed at least part of that surveyed in 1871. Hihn did eventually build a very small stretch of track at Laurel along the West Branch of Soquel Creek, but due to the steep grade from the South Pacific Coast Railway's right-of-way, it was only usable as part of an incline tramway.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6e2Nc7NOhCHSNeOizP0x4Jn-zyckFEuRxOzRC3Bk81FwimNaFvT7F3vWJJzHQ6KRfm7BkYVBaTVaO8St4JXRprIphyTOb9ieMdefVZrezGmM70ci_szPNodf_WutAhaQ8wkNNa4ialM99xH5BlGKGKMDIVzePSo0A-zPuG0tBLxstNliIs8DfQrCPmQ=s1652" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1298" data-original-width="1652" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6e2Nc7NOhCHSNeOizP0x4Jn-zyckFEuRxOzRC3Bk81FwimNaFvT7F3vWJJzHQ6KRfm7BkYVBaTVaO8St4JXRprIphyTOb9ieMdefVZrezGmM70ci_szPNodf_WutAhaQ8wkNNa4ialM99xH5BlGKGKMDIVzePSo0A-zPuG0tBLxstNliIs8DfQrCPmQ=w640-h502" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The offices of Charles Ford in Watsonville, 1890. Photo by George Menasco. [Watsonville Public Library]</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Santa Cruz & Watsonville Railroad Company (1872 – 1873)</b></p><p>The prospect of a railroad actually reaching Santa Cruz County from San Francisco (via the Santa Clara Valley) excited everyone and Hihn seized the moment once again. Abandoning all of his previous projects, he put his effort into organizing a standard-gauge railroad that could connect Santa Cruz with the Southern Pacific tracks at Pajaro. In mid-December 1871, a ballot measure passed by a heavy margin granting a subsidy to build a railroad between the two points. Only Watsonville residents resisted the measure because they already considered themselves connected to the Southern Pacific network and saw little advantage in supporting a railroad to Santa Cruz. Following a month of discussion and planning, on January 18, 1872, the Santa Cruz & Watsonville Railroad Company was incorporated.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEipycXJNy_ixPsuY6xrFQwFGmMIys2wZZEAdQ-vx31oyKolAajdf1P3bydmGqWC067RW88OxC9-xd__qT1SqXnCUWZhu87VB1bsNwGJyRElmTYCnp1Ji5pbg9MB1j6opd5WDU7ggplUFHpxIOUnbXJdQHehRGizeoPBSVqSYlnrX9ljKJc5ngyiMim0mw=s707" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="707" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEipycXJNy_ixPsuY6xrFQwFGmMIys2wZZEAdQ-vx31oyKolAajdf1P3bydmGqWC067RW88OxC9-xd__qT1SqXnCUWZhu87VB1bsNwGJyRElmTYCnp1Ji5pbg9MB1j6opd5WDU7ggplUFHpxIOUnbXJdQHehRGizeoPBSVqSYlnrX9ljKJc5ngyiMim0mw=w640-h310" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stereograph of the intersection of Front Street and Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz, with Hihn's flatiron building in the center, 1866. Photo by Lawrence & Houseworth. [California State Library – colorized using DeOldify]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The length of the route was set at 20 miles with it expected to follow the coastline closely. As with the previous two projects, Hihn was made president alongside several other local Santa Cruz entrepreneurs who had supported Hihn's previous schemes. Capital stock was set at the still optimistic $500,000, of which $100,000 was promised by the county at a rate of $5,000 per mile built. The county required construction to begin within six months and the entire line had to be completed by January 1874. On paper, everything seemed reasonable. Surveyors began their surveying and board members began soliciting subscribers.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6u4hn6IjuySr8Tu64W1MV2ausCdhwmSD3HZxgz72N0y146oW2XZ01TRPRI3tUoeQQq77QX_SxB4iC1b3HypwrAJ43vUfK9w2ZuqT4jR2FgK0bkOqh93aOVSxd-Q9V_ILkXxXPsjF7qkOrQs9_EPd6jTsbv4nJYew8v2eNFASzoHOtA4D-4Arqsg7qIg=s1193" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6u4hn6IjuySr8Tu64W1MV2ausCdhwmSD3HZxgz72N0y146oW2XZ01TRPRI3tUoeQQq77QX_SxB4iC1b3HypwrAJ43vUfK9w2ZuqT4jR2FgK0bkOqh93aOVSxd-Q9V_ILkXxXPsjF7qkOrQs9_EPd6jTsbv4nJYew8v2eNFASzoHOtA4D-4Arqsg7qIg=w412-h640" width="412" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait of Leland Stanford, 1870s. [Bancroft]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>It was in early April that Hihn made a fatal mistake. He met with Leland Stanford of the Southern Pacific Railroad in San Francisco, and during the meeting Stanford promised to conduct a survey in anticipation of taking over construction of the Santa Cruz & Watsonville Railroad. With such an important financier on board, the subscription drive collapsed. Why have locals pay for what the Southern Pacific would do itself? To complicate matters further, the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad sent surveyors into Santa Cruz County in June 1872 shortly after the incorporation of its subsidiary San Francisco & Atlantic Railroad. The company hoped to build a transcontinental route from San Francisco, from where it would follow the coast to Los Angeles before turning east to the Colorado River. That meant that two companies wanted to build standard-gauge railroads that would connect Santa Cruz to Watsonville—one by taking over the existing company, the other via an entirely new company with a grander vision. Both options seemed better than funding a railroad entirely on local funds and subscriptions.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEio5Bb49mbPvv1YSrGQasPLJ8PkWZWDNjFC6a_UomdNlGl70rOxnNOer5RDsNqkW0XMRcIxFfQmRog8SU1SPtOr6eZ5j4m9GBTmfFQry6vW9Dj08VAZHwk3T9rQcO6y38Q5n9CR9KRhVo3eUyur87M01OzRkMdk2sqZ6mBUjKvrU7ZYTvHrwlYu2cMSMA=s703" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="703" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEio5Bb49mbPvv1YSrGQasPLJ8PkWZWDNjFC6a_UomdNlGl70rOxnNOer5RDsNqkW0XMRcIxFfQmRog8SU1SPtOr6eZ5j4m9GBTmfFQry6vW9Dj08VAZHwk3T9rQcO6y38Q5n9CR9KRhVo3eUyur87M01OzRkMdk2sqZ6mBUjKvrU7ZYTvHrwlYu2cMSMA=w640-h314" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Streographic view of Santa Cruz from High Street, 1866. Photo by Lawrence & Houseworth [California State Library – colorized using DeOldify]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>And so ended Hihn's penultimate attempt to build a railroad. The public was distracted and in the summer of 1872, they felt confident that somebody else would solve their railroad problem for them. But they were wrong. By early September, it was clear that the Southern Pacific had both blocked the Atlantic & Pacific's plans in the Bay Area and reneged on its agreement with Hihn to take over the Santa Cruz & Watsonville Railroad. Faced with high costs and few funds, Hihn pitched the idea of a 40-mile-long narrow-gauge railroad between the San Mateo County line and Pajaro, thereby leaving open the possibility of a future take-over of the route. In late November, Hihn convinced a joint Santa Cruz–San Mateo County railroad committee to agreeing in principal to funding the line at a cost of $250,000.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYdvR3r1-zRmD-TGMnM5Iy3r4SZFs19HFMT_jTkw7ViZr4XwvPhCPs4-vlVl9KAqPO9A1bP80njn7xxRpIccPapJE5NE6BY77d0OXWOxmxJnGho94mbnKYLphVM4OVehvDgut58qFLP7vdS8CHGEmT1JbWVm2Yj6HSD2KcPeUn0-AVsEaA_0DYllSeGA=s640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="640" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYdvR3r1-zRmD-TGMnM5Iy3r4SZFs19HFMT_jTkw7ViZr4XwvPhCPs4-vlVl9KAqPO9A1bP80njn7xxRpIccPapJE5NE6BY77d0OXWOxmxJnGho94mbnKYLphVM4OVehvDgut58qFLP7vdS8CHGEmT1JbWVm2Yj6HSD2KcPeUn0-AVsEaA_0DYllSeGA=w640-h384" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Santa Cruz Railroad's <i>Betsy Jane</i> with its crew, ca 1875. [University of Southern California]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>An annoying delay caused by yet another appearance by Stanford in late January 1873 led to more empty promises, but this time Hihn was prepared. He asked for a show of good faith. Stanford surprisingly delivered and brought in surveying crews to map the entire proposed route to Santa Cruz. However, financial instability began rolling out of Europe in the summer of 1873 and the Southern Pacific Railroad was forced to pull out of its expansion plans throughout the state. Hihn pushed on and began gathering subscriptions. On August 4, 1873, he and a small group of associates incorporated the narrow-gauge Santa Cruz Railroad Company. This time, his scheme finally bore fruit and Santa Cruz entered the age of the iron horse. The rest is history.</p><p><b>Citations & Credits:</b></p></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Hamman, Rick. <i>California Central Coast Railways</i>. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Otter B Books, 2002.</li><li>Powell, Ronald G. <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Reign-Lumber-Barons-History-Augmentation/dp/1953609414/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=reign+of+the+lumber+barons&qid=1638855805&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Reign of the Lumber Barons: Part Two of the History of Rancho Soquel Augmentation</a></i>. Santa Cruz, CA: Zayante Publishing, 2021.</li><li>Various articles, <i>Santa Cruz Sentinel</i>, 1866–1874.</li></ul></div>Derek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.com0