Freight Stops: Standard Oil Spur

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A classic steam locomotive passing the Standard Oil

facility in 1955. Photo by E.H. Chase.

[Railroads of Los Gatos]

The history of the Standard Oil Company is one of a catastrophic failure in 1911 when the original company was broken up due to the Sherman Antitrust Act followed by a century of renewed growth. In the years after the breakup, Standard Oil of California (known as Chevron from the 1930s) began building gas stations across the state to support the growing automobile industry. But how did the gasoline get to the service stations? The railroad. In every major city in California, gasoline storage facilities were installed alongside railroad tracks, and most had dedicated spurs so tanker cars could park without blocking the main track. Los Gatos was no different.

When precisely Standard Oil built its storage facility on the western end of Farley Road on the northern edge of Los Gatos is not precisely known. It was certainly a prominent fixture in the town in the 1950s, and likely dates to the 1930s or earlier considering the condition of the tracks and ties visible in the photographs below.

A rolled pair of boxcars on the Standard Oil spur, 1956. The mainline track is visible at left. [Billy Jones Family]

Scant photographic evidence is available for the location, but the photograph at the top of this page shows large vertical tanks standing beside similarly-sized horizontal tanks at the site, presumably all storing home heating oil and gasoline. The railroad spur that was installed to access the site split from the Los Gatos Branch just north of Farley Road West and then travelled southward parallel to the west side of the tracks until stopping just before Shelburne Way. The crossing over Farley Road is visible in the photograph above. The tracks went directly into the Standard Oil property and stopped at the southern property line. The only facilities that were likely at the stop for the railroad were hoses that could connect to oil and gasoline tanker cars.

A boxcar being reoriented onto the Standard Oil spur, 1956. [Billy Jones Family]

In 1956, a well-photographed derailment occurred on the spur when a pair of boxcars rolled off the tracks and onto an adjacent car. A special crane cars was brought in to set the cars back on the tracks. The cause of this derailment is unknown, but the center photograph on this page shows the tracks covered in dirt, implying they were not used heavily and may have either buckled or had debris that derailed the cars.

Legacy steam locomotive 2248 parked on the Los Gatos Branch mainline beside the Standard Oil spur, 1955.
Photo by E.H. Chase. [Railroads of Los Gatos]

The Standard Oil facility on Farley Road was one of the last three freight customers in Los Gatos when the Southern Pacific decided to end service along the line on January 23, 1959. The spur was removed soon afterwards and the right-of-way was turned into University Avenue. The Standard Oil facility remained in use at the site until at least 1980, with the gasoline brought in via truck. When it was finally decommissioned is not presently known.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.240˚N, 121.975˚W

The site of the Standard Oil is at 805 University Avenue in Los Gatos. The current location hosts a automotive repair mall with an accompanying large parking lot. University Avenue at this point was once the Southern Pacific right-of-way. Nothing survives of the railroad tracks, the spur, or the former Standard Oil facility.

Citations & Credits:

• Kelley, Edward. Images of Rail: Railroads of Los Gatos. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2006.
• Kelley, E.J. Personal correspondence. July 2017.

Stations: Parr's Spur, Bermingham and Bulwer

YOU CAN HELP! If you have information about Parr's Spur, Bermingham, or Bulwer in Los Gatos, leave a comment below or email author@santacruztrains.com.

Portrait of Jonathan Parr [Los Gatos Library]

At the northern end of Vasona Reservoir along today's University Avenue once sat the short-lived Parr's Spur Track. This stop first appeared in Southern Pacific Railroad agency books when it took over the South Pacific Coast Railway in 1887, suggesting it had probably existed since the beginning of the line in 1878, although no South Pacific Coast records indicate any stop there. Jonathan Parr was an early settler in the area, owning 3,000 acres of land on Rancho Rinconada de los Gatos since 1856, when he purchased it from Sebastian and José Hernandez Peralta. Parr was married to Eliza Jane Lowe and had migrated to the United States in 1942 from England. They spent some time in New York and Iowa, producing three children along the way, before heading to California. The family relocated in 1846 in a party that closely paralleled the Donner Party, although they took a separate route into the Central Valley of California. In California, three more children were born, resulting in six total children—three boys and three girls. Most of his land was used as a cattle pasture, since the prune orchards that the region became famous for did not enter the picture until the early 20th century with the advent of commercial canning.

Eliza died in 1866 and Jonathan died the next year. The property was divided between the six children, who received roughly 500 acres each. Much of Los Gatos and Campbell are former parts of this massive property. Sarah Ann Parr, the third child, was married to Harrison DeWitt Albright, an alcoholic and womanizer. The two of them had four children, three of whom survived to adulthood. It was on a portion of her parcel that a railroad stop was erected around 1888 called Parr's Spur. This flag-stop was probably set up much earlier under the South Pacific Coast, but it never appeared in official records so only became official after the Southern Pacific Railroad took over the line in the summer of 1887. It did not survive long. By 1890, the stop was gone from agency books and nothing more was ever said of it. It probably served as a loading stop for cattle shipments, as well as a passenger stop for Sarah and her family. Sarah died in 1893 and it is unclear what happened to her family afterwards. Harrison died in 1905 in a cabin near a vegetable garden outside of Los Gatos, but it appears the Parr family property was already outside of his hands by then.

Portrait of Captain John Bermingham, Jr.

In 1900, a new customer began using the spur. The California Powder Works, which had its primary facility at the mouth of the San Lorenzo Valley near Santa Cruz, erected a powder magazine on the site around that time. The Southern Pacific added the stop to its station books in 1901 and by 1907 it was appearing as a formal station in employee timetables. The new stop was named "Bermingham", after the president of the company Captain John Bermingham Jr. Since the mountain section of track had opened in 1880, the California Powder Works had used the railroad exclusively for the shipment of its powder, but some of that powder was used at the New Almaden mines for blasting, which probably explains the need for a powder magazine here, less than thirteen miles from said mines and quite close to the Campbell switch to New Almaden. The warehouse was not well-prepared for the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, though. During the temblor, the magazine exploded, destroying the entire facility and probably most of the area around it. Wisely, the California Powder Works decided against rebuilding there and the station was abandoned by mid-1909, at the time when the mountain route was reopened to through trains and the stops along the line were reassessed and measured.

Southern Pacific #34 running beside Los Gatos Creek near the former site of Bulwer, March 11, 1939. [Wilbur C. Whittaker]

For fifteen years, the old Bermingham stop remained vacant until a new flag-stop appeared at or near the location on November 11, 1924 named Bulwer. Extremely little is known about Bulwer, including the origin of the name. It seems mostly likely that the stop as named after British writer Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, who popularized the phrase "it was a dark and stormy night..." and was undergoing a revival in cinema and theatre in the early 1920s. The presence of a spur at the stop and the fact that no regular stops were scheduled there suggests that Bulwer served as a freight stop for an otherwise unrecorded local company, likely the adjacent prune orchard-owner. In any case, the station was abandoned by Southern Pacific on August 1, 1938. The tracks through Bulwer remained in place until 1959, when the Los Gatos Branch was definitively abandoned and demolished by the railroad.

Official Railroad Information:
Parr's Spur first appeared in Southern Pacific agency books in 1888, but the spur was removed in 1890. It was located approximately 53 miles from San Francisco via Alameda Point. It never appeared on employee timetables and no other information is known about the stop at this time.

Bermingham, meanwhile, first appeared in the January 1901 agency book. The next year, it was listed as a B-class station, implying a spur or siding and a freight platform. It was also in a section of track that was dual-gauged. The station was added to an employee timetable as "Bermingham (Spur)" in June 1907, listed as 53.0 miles from San Francisco via Alameda Point and 27.1 miles from Santa Cruz. The length of the spur at the station was 677 feet. No other facilities were listed there and the station did not receive any regularly-scheduled freight or passenger traffic, implying it was for private use only. In 1909, the distance from San Francisco was altered to match the new Los Altos Branch and was now only 52.1 miles from San Francisco, this time via Mayfield. The spur was also lengthened to 827 feet. The station disappeared from timetables in 1909 and from station books in January 1910.

Bulwer first appeared on the November 1, 1924 employee timetable at 52.2 miles from San Francisco via Mayfield and 27.0 miles from Santa Cruz. It had no scheduled passenger service. Notes on the employee timetable for April 17, 1938 state that Bulwer was abandoned August 1 of that year.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.248˚N, 121.967˚W

Assuming all three stops were situated at the same site, they were located approximately at the modern-day location of the Vasona Reservoir dam or there around. The most likely locations for the stops would be the modern-day site of Forecepoint and GeneWEAVE on the west side of University Avenue, which is the former right-of-way.

Citations & Credits:

• Bender, Henry E., Jr. "SP San Jose to Santa Cruz (ex-South Pacific Coast Ry.)." 2013.
• Conaway, Peggy. Images of America: Los Gatos Generations. Arcadia Publishing, 2007.
• Oakland Tribune, 1895.
• "Parrs of Los Gatos: Bringing the family's history together".
• San Jose Mercury News, 2006.
• Santa Cruz Evening Sentinel, 1905.
• Santa Cruz Surf, 1906.
• Southern Pacific Railroad documents, California State Railroad Museum Archives.
• Whaley, Derek. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Self-published, 2015.

Railroads: Early Coast Railroad Companies

There have been many attempts to construct a railroad between San Francisco and Santa Cruz along the coast, in all cases to circumvent the monopoly possessed by the Southern Pacific Railroad. What is remarkable is that none of them succeeded, and only two ever even built track. This is the story of those that failed. (For information on the two that partially succeeded, see Ocean Shore Railroad and Coast Line Railroad)

San Francisco, Santa Cruz & Watsonville Railroad Company (1870–1872)

The earliest known coastal railroad scheme was incorporated on March 26, 1870 for what became a standard 80 miles of track between San Francisco and Watsonville along the coast. Capital stock for the company was set at $3,000,000, divided into 30,000 shares of $100 each. It took over two years before further action was taken on the company but on September 20, 1872, a formal order by the City and County of San Francisco was filed outlining the proposed railroad in more detail. In it, the order outlined that the railroad would run from "at or near the intersection of Frederick street with First avenue [in San Francisco]; and thence, by the most practicable route, to the southern boundary line of the said city and county; thence along the Coast Range, between the summit thereof and the ocean, to Halfmoon Bay, Spanishtown and Pescadora [sic], in the county of San Mateo; thence by the most practicable and convenient route to the town of Santa Cruz and Watsonville, in Santa Cruz county." Since the firm planned to use public money for at least part of the route, the matter had to go up for a vote in San Francisco. Nothing more is said of the company after this date, suggesting that the terms of the order were untenable. It also faced stiff competition from two other railroad projects with grander visions that were simultaneously competing for votes in the 1872 election.

Narrow-Gauge Railroad Company (1870-1871)
The second proposal for a coast route was the simply-named Narrow-Gauge Railroad Company, founded in Fall 1870. This route optimistically planned to link San Francisco to the Arizona state line via a coastal route of 700 miles. The plans were for the line to pass directly through Santa Cruz County, following much the same route that the Santa Cruz Railroad would take a few years later. From there, it would cross the Pajaro River and pass through Castroville and down the Salinas Valley, much like the Southern Pacific Railroad soon did. However, in November 1871, it was revealed that the railroad was only every a paper company created by the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad to encourage competition with other railroads along the proposed route. 

California Southern Coast Railroad Company (1871)
Before the Narrow-Gauge Railroad had even collapsed, another even grander scheme was being hatched beginning on March 23, 1871, when the California Southern Coast Railroad (also called the San Francisco & San Diego Coast Railroad Company) was incorporated with the intent to run a railroad line from San Francisco to San Diego along the coast. Surveying began in April and continued through September, with teams locating a line to Los Angeles with plans to continue to the state border near Fort Mojave, where it would connect to the planned Southern Pacific Railroad (which was incorporated by this date but progressing only slowly from within California). The route was promoted most strongly by General William Roscrans, who sought to open up Southern California. Interestingly, this route too was intended to be narrow-gauge suggesting it may have had a relationship or even been identical to the previous company, especially since they had almost identically-stated goals. Its disappearance from all newspapers after September 1871 also suggests a connection.

Pigeon Point Railroad Company (1871)

A railroad of more limited scope was incorporated on July 17, 1871 as the Pigeon Point Railroad Company. Its stated goal was to build a 6.5-mile-long railroad of unknown gauge from Pigeon Point to New Year's Point (Ano Nuevo) in San Mateo County. The capital stock was set at $30,000 with Horace Templeton, Thomas W. Moore, William A. Bolinger, Josiah P. Ames, and George Hearst as the first board of directors. The San Francisco Examiner speculated that it was built to parallel and support the Pigeon Point Water and Lumber Company's canal, which company was incorporated the same week. Nothing appears to have happened with either company as no railroad was built nor canal dug. The last mention of the firm was in late August 1871.

California, Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Company (1872)
The pattern of incorporations continued when, on August 23, 1872, the California, Atlantic, and Pacific Railroad Company was incorporated with a bold plan to connect San Francisco to St. Louis via a coastal route that would first pass down the coast to Los Angeles before reaching the Colorado River, where it would connect to an outside line. The scheme was certainly popular—nearly 1,500 San Francisco citizens subscribed to stock valued at $800,000 prior to incorporation. By the end of the week, another 500 had subscribed amounting to a total of $1,587,900, a strong sign of confidence in the project.

San Francisco & Colorado River Railway Company (1872)
Concurrently with the California, Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, the San Francisco & Colorado River Railway Company was established in August 1872 with an identical goal. Despite a heavy advertising campaign through the late summer and early autumn and the unusual request for a bond from the citizens of San Francisco, the project faltered just before the November election. On October 21, it was revealed that the directors had pulled their proposition due to resistance from the business community of the city. The company issued a statement at this time hinting at the fights to come: "We do not propose disbanding our organization, though at this time we see no prospect of making head against the monopoly which with another year's vigorous labor, will be beyond the probable power of the aid which the city and county could give to check or overcome it." The megalithic Southern Pacific, not yet five years old, was already providing to be an insurmountable threat to any potential rival.

San Francisco, San Mateo & Santa Cruz Railroad (1875-1876)
Yet another attempt to bridge the gap between San Francisco and Santa Cruz along the coast came on February 28, 1875 when the San Francisco, San Mateo & Santa Cruz Railroad Company incorporated. The goal of this company was specifically to run along the San Mateo County coast, presumably to link up with the Santa Cruz Railroad to the south and one of several potential connections in San Francisco. Unlike many of the other attempts to construct this route, this attempt was financed almost entirely by San Mateo residents. Surveying was completed in July 1875 south from Half Moon Bay (Spanishtown). Further surveying was conducted through to the end of the year, with a final report filed at the end of March 1876. Nothing more is heard of the line after this, however, suggesting that financing fell through or the project was co-opted, as would happen several more times.

San Francisco & Ocean Shore Railroad Company (1879-1887)
In September 1879, the San Francisco & Ocean Shore Railroad set to work getting permits to construct a narrow-gauge track from Fulton and Larking Streets in San Francisco and thence down the coast to Half Moon Bay. Approval for the company to begin construction was given by the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors on 6 November 1879. Numerous technical obstacles and lawsuits, most begun by proprietors of commercial businesses along the city routes the railroad intended to take, delayed construction. From mid-1880, reports were regularly issued by the company that the railroad would be completed to the San Mateo County line (which line is unclear) by the end of the year, but this was still the rhetoric in January 1881 and no actual progress had been made. Meanwhile, the railroad company took out multiple mortgages and released additional stocks to try to increase revenue. New York bankers were the company's primary investors, while a New Yorker, Col. Lyman Bridges, was hired to build the route.

Original 1880 stock certificate for the San Francisco & Ocean Shore Railroad Company. [Pacifica History]

When the Santa Cruz Railroad went bankrupt in 1881, it derailed plans for the San Francisco & Ocean Shore Railroad to connect to that line through to Pajaro and further south. Some of the primary financiers of the Santa Cruz Railroad were also stockholders in the San Francisco & Ocean Shore, and most pulled their funding. Without a connection through Santa Cruz, the railroad had to reevaluate their plans and plan to build a new line through the city separate from the now-Southern Pacific-owned Santa Cruz route. It was an expensive problem but one for the future.

The company trucked on. On January 22, 1881, a newspaper article suggested that property sales in Pacifica would soar due to proximity to the new line, while industries further from the line along the Central Coast would devalue and disappear. Another article a month later supported this story and suggested that property values were already increasing. Surveyors began popping up all along the planned route, including in Santa Cruz and Pescadero. On May 20, articles of incorporation were filed for the railroad to extend its track to Santa Cruz from Half Moon Bay, thereby confirming that the company planned to build an entirely new route through Santa Cruz County. The entire line was also now planned to be standard-gauge to match the track width of the Southern Pacific. However, construction on the route still had not begun.

Map of the proposed San Francisco & Ocean Shore Railroad, 1881. Map by E. Wells Sackett & Rankin. [PBA Galleries]

Suspicious rumours began circulating in May 1881 that the entire company was secretly owned by the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, although that line had actually already gone bankrupt the year before. Other rumors spread that the new railroad intended to continue south of Santa Cruz to Santa Barbara and beyond, while in July, the plans for the new California Central Railway leaked that suggesting that the railroad would become a part of a new transcontinental scheme under the direction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad (which in 1879 purchased the Atlantic & Pacific). Col. Bridges, acting as company spokesperson, announced that the route between San Francisco and Santa Cruz should be completed no later than 1883, while other railroad companies (or subsidiaries) were responsible for connecting to this line near Pajaro.

Dire news arrived on December 10, 1881, however. The Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel reported that the rivalry between the Sante Fe Railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad had come to an end. Plans to build the San Francisco & Ocean Shore Railroad were not immediately abandoned, but the end was imminent. On Christmas Eve, it was revealed that the massive multi-state railroad plan was mostly a rouse, designed to frighten the Southern Pacific into reducing the cost to switch at Santa Fe junctions. However, the railroad really did intend to connect San Francisco and Santa Cruz, but the news of the con spooked the county governments. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to delay granting of the franchise to the SF&OS in early 1882. For the next year, the supervisors demurred, punishing the company for their trickery. But this cost the railroad money and supporters. Desperate, the railroad company attempted to bypass San Francisco by passing through the military property to the north of the city and then down Ocean Beach. But this angered the board more and, on November 22, 1882, they indefinitely postponed development of the railroad within San Francisco County.

The story of the first San Francisco & Ocean Shore Railroad came to an inglorious end without a single piece of track set. Whispers of the line continued to appear in the newspapers throughout 1883 and was eventually consolidated into the United States Central Railroad late that year..

California Central Railway (1880–1883)

Not a coast railroad but rather a subsidiary of the San Francisco & Ocean Shore Railway, the California Central Railway Company was incorporated on October 5, 1880 to connect the southern terminus of the SF&OS at Santa Cruz to Fresno Flats near Minturn via an unspecified route, and from there continue to the California State line at McBridge's Pass, Nevada. There was also hope that a branch line to Yosemite would be constructed. The company was also consolidated into the United States Central Railroad in 1883.

United States Central Railroad (1883–1884)

With the collapse of the San Francisco & Ocean Shore project, a new railroad project arose that hoped to connect San Francisco to Denver via a coast route through Santa Cruz. The company incorporated on October 30, 1883 as the United States Central Railroad Company and was a consolidation of the San Francisco & Ocean Shore and the California Central, and the Denver, Hot Springs & Pacific Railroads. It had a capital stock of $75,000,000.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported in 1884 that: "The United State Central presents the best scheme so far offered for building an independent and competitive line from San Francisco to Denver, where it is expected to connect with the extensive system of roads owned by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. The route, as is well-known, has its deep-water terminus at North Beach. Thence the route is by the park to the ocean beach, which it follows to Santa Cruz. From Santa Cruz the route tends easterly across the Coast range and the San Joaquin valley to the Sierra, which it crosses just south of Yosemite. It then passes through Southern Nevada and Southern Utah to Denver.... Contracts are just ready to be let for grading on the Santa Cruz and Yosemite divisions, and joint-stock companies are being formed for the building of hotels and founding of watering places at convenient distances from San Francisco, which, it is hoped, will some day rival Long Branch and Cape May."

Following the above article, nothing more is heard of the railroad and the project seems to have quietly collapsed.

San Francisco & Santa Cruz Railroad (1888)
This short-lived coastal railroad scheme under the leadership of J. A. Waymire arose in the aftermath of the collapse of the San Francisco & Ocean Shore Railroad in April 1888. The group behind the project hired F. T. Newberry as chief engineer and he spent most of the month surveying a route down the coast between Colma, south of San Francisco, and Pescadero—the original route did not actually include an extension to Santa Cruz, although that was clearly the ultimate goal. Despite drafting a promising survey, the investors backed out in July prior to incorporation, making this the only coastal railroading scheme to decide against forming a formal corporation.

Pacific Railroad Company (1889)
F. T. Newberry wasn't done, however. On December 12, 1889, the company that J. A. Waymire hinted would be formed in the near future came to fruition—the Pacific Railroad Company—a Colorado firm but with the same intention of those that came before it. It sought to construct a standard-gauge railroad line between San Francisco and Santa Cruz via Half Moon Bay, a total length estimated to be 100 miles. Newberry was appointed as one of the directors, as well as several other prominent San Francisco investors.

San Francisco & West Shore Railway Company (1892-1894)
A decade after the collapse of the San Francisco & Ocean Shore Railroad project, a new company was formed called the San Francisco & West Shore Railway Company to attempt what its predecessors had failed to accomplish. The company was incorporated on March 9, 1892, to build an electrified railway between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay, although most expected at the time that the route would eventually continue onward to Santa Cruz and beyond.

San Francisco & West Shore Railroad line along the San Mateo County coast, August 1894.
[Library of Congress]

Unlike the other railroads, this route's initial plan was to carry freight exclusively, primarily dairy, eggs, and agricultural products from the Half Moon Bay and San Pedro Valley areas. Surveying of the line began immediately after incorporation and, also unlike the other lines, plans were to build a tunnel through San Pedro Point further inland rather than at the tip as the Ocean Shore Railroad eventually did. On November 28, 1892, the mayor of San Francisco vetoed plans to allow the San Francisco & West Shore Railway to build tracks down 25th Street and Potrero Avenue, effectively ending the railroad since the company had no other method of entering the city. The company fought the veto in the state's supreme court, but ultimately lost, although they continued surveying and purchasing materials throughout 1893. Meanwhile, a government survey map produced in August 1894 still suggested the feasibility. Rumors of the line being taken over by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad cropped up frequently throughout its short existence, but these were ultimately unfounded.

San Francisco & South Coast Railroad Company (1892-1893)
Around the same time that the San Francisco & West Shore formed, another concern (or possibly the same) incorporated under the name San Francisco & South Coast Railroad Company. Due to opposition by the San Francisco supervisors and their favoritism toward the Southern Pacific Railroad, the company was unable to begin work until February 1893. The proposed route was to extend to Half Moon Bay via Colima following much the same route as the West Shore around Pedro Point. According to the newspapers at the time, most of the right-of-way was purchased outright for the project and even machinery for construction was obtained. The company also invested in oil prospecting in the area. Like most of the other companies, its ultimate fate is unknown.

West Shore Railway Company (1895-1899)

West Shore Railway survey map blueprint, 1896. [UCSC Digital Collections]

Established as a direct successor to the San Francisco & West Shore Railway, the West Shore & Valley Railroad was founded in April 1895 to connect the cities of San Francisco and Tulare, north of Bakersfield, via a coastal route through Santa Cruz. By the time the company finally incorporated on July 11, 1895, the name of the company had become the West Shore Railway and the plans were reduced to just connecting San Francisco to Santa Cruz via standard-gauge track. The new corporation purchased all the rights-of-way, surveys, and other material from its predecessor for a cost of $150,000.

How much of this railroad was actually begun is not entirely known. As early as April 1895, reports in the San Francisco Call claimed that "a good deal of the grading has been done. There have also been purchased a large number of ties and other materials...." Furthermore, the article reports that "a complete survey of the line has been made, and all the necessary right-of-way promised."
The existence of a large blueprint for the entire line (half of which is visible at right) published in 1896 does indeed suggest that this operation made it significantly further than its three predecessors, although it seems highly likely that most of this was completed by the 1892 iteration of the firm. Like its predecessors, New York financiers also were brought on to help fund the project and significant capital was raised throughout 1895, but also like them, a lot of the company's funding was promised but never delivered or bound to stocks and bonds of questionable value. Plans were in place to build a major station at 25th Street and Potrero Avenue in San Francisco and a freight yard near the Spreckels refinery there.

Early projections estimated that the track would run for 80 miles and transit times between Santa Cruz and San Francisco would begin at two hours, ten minutes, although they predicted that would become faster as the roadbed settled into place. Like its predecessor, the West Shore Railway was intended primarily for freight usage, although passenger service was not ignored and, indeed, was emphasised in some of their early marketing. The company hoped that the railroad would make the abundance of undeveloped farmland along the coast more accessible, thereby increasing their customer base. Likewise, they expected to reap some benefit from the numerous redwood forests located just off the proposed main line. As of September 1895, the company estimated that the cost of construction would sit at around $2,350,000.

However, the true story of the railroad only began to appear over a year after it had been incorporated. The transfer of the older San Francisco & West Shore Railway to the West Shore Railway was only completed in August 1896, meaning that the new company did virtually nothing in the intervening year. In April 1897, another article discussed the fact that nothing of note had still been done, although the company's president, R.S. Thornton, stated that much had been done behind the scenes. The problem was that portions of the right-of-way remained in private and city hands. One of the most obstinate property-owners along the line was that of D.D. Wilder, who refused to sell or lease his land to the railroad. Others likewise hesitated. Thus, the railroad was quickly suffering the same fate of those that came before.

As the months passed, the same dismissive rhetoric was told: work on the railway would begin shortly; work will begin next month; everything is in place to begin construction. But the tide turned against the West Shore Railway. Estimates on costs were rapidly increasing and not enough locals along the route were interested in subscribing to the company. 1897 and 1898 passed without any actual work being done on the railway, despite numerous statements from the company insisting construction was imminent. The failure of California's Enabling Act in 1899 stalled the railroad—it would have provided necessary funding and other support to complete the route. However, it also provided the company one last opportunity to correct its past mistakes.

On March 25, 1899, plans were released that the entire railroad venture was to be sold to the Vanderbilt Company as a direct competitor to the Southern Pacific along the California Coast. Their goal was to build a route through California that would connect to other non-SP lines out-of-state. For all intents and purposes, the West Shore Railway was to become a different company. But fate intervened again. The board of directors revolted and refused to sell out to the Vanderbilts, and the company essentially died as a result. At the end of 1899—three months after Cornelius Vanderbilt himself was dead—the franchise permit with the City of San Francisco expired and nothing more could be done for the line. The West Shore Railway was defunct.

Bicycle Railway Construction Company and the Shore Line Bicycle Railway Company (1895–1896)

By far the strangest and most ambitious of all coastal railroad projects was incorporated on July 24, 1895, even while the West Shore project was gathering funds. The Bicycle Railway Construction Company hoped to build a Boynton bicycle railway from San Francisco along the coast to Santa Cruz, as well as to the north to Napa. It had a capital stock of $300,000, $198,000 of which was held by W. H. H. Hart. The other directors, who held the subscriptions for the remaining stock, were Sumner W. Bugbee, Prentiss Selby, Edward Dexter, and James L. Wheat, representing San Francisco, San Diego, and Chicago interests.

Scientific America lithograph of a Boynton Bicycle Railroad car running in East Patchogue, New York, in 1894. [Robert Kopolovicz]

The so-called Boynton Bicycle system, designed by Eben Moody Boynton, was originally a steam train that ran on a single steel rail with a reinforced wood beam overhead to provide stability. Only functioning versions of this system operated, both in New York. The first was a test train run in Brooklyn from 1890 to 1892. The second was a suburban test train that ran in East Patchogue in 1894.

The specific route between San Francisco and Santa Cruz was incorporated as a subsidiary on August 16, 1895 under the name Shore Line Bicycle Railway Company. The proposed route would have used electric locomotives and promoters advertised speeds of up to 100 mph, which was groundbreaking at the time. Grander dreams saw a route continuing through Santa Cruz County and south, eventually reaching Los Angeles. A shorter extension to Capitola was included in the original plans with the financial and popular support of Frederick A. Hihn. Surveyors set the cost per mile of the route at $7,500, including equipment costs, and Hart and Bugbee fronted most of the initial cash for the project, with Eastern financiers funding the remainder. 

Unsurprisingly, the concept never took off anywhere despite at least four rival design plans for locomotives and the two trial runs on the East Coast. A dismissive letter from the Street Railway Review in November 1895 made clear to Santa Cruz residents how little success bicycle railroads had had on the East Coast and how this company was more likely than anything a scam. After a year of heavy publicity and frequent discussions in newspapers, the project evaporated following a final blast of hot air by one of its projectors in the Sentinel on May 12, 1895.

Bay & Coast Railway Company (1899-1902)
Within months of the proposed buy-out of the West Shore company, a new firm was founded to build a coastal route. The Bay & Coast Railway Company officially incorporated on June 26, 1899 to build a 100-mile track between downtown San Francisco and Santa Cruz. Like the three companies that came before, the Bay & Coast was, at least on the surface, a private company with no ties to other operations. This ended up being its downfall. The railroad desired to run its train directly into San Francisco along a major road, but because of its limited operation range, the county board of supervisors denied them access. After two years of negotiations with the city, their project was finally approved with the requirement that they build $25,000 worth of tracks by late September 1901. They defaulted on this requirement and, after several extensions into February 1902, the franchise was forfeited and the company closed.

San Francisco & Southern Railway Company (1903)
One last railroading enterprise came about on September 26, 1903, with the same optimistic plans to connect San Francisco to Santa Cruz. This corporation was sponsored primarily by Eastern venture capitalists who were relying on the older surveys prepared by the West Shore Railway. Learning from past mistakes, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors required the investors to build a short portion of track immediately to demonstrate good faith before the franchise was to be confirmed. Nothing more was said of the company in the newspapers afterwards.

Citations & Credits:

• Oakland Tribune, 1881-1883.
• Sacramento Record-Union, 1881-1883.
• San Francisco Call, 1895-1901.
• San Francisco Chronicle, 1879-1883.
• San Francisco Examiner, 1870-1872.
• Santa Cruz Evening Sentinel, 1899-1901.
• Santa Cruz Sentinel, 1895-1901.
• Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel, 1871-1883.
• Vonderlin, John. "West Shore Railway's BIG Plans for the Coastside." Half Moon Bay Memories & El Granada Observer. 4 July 2009.
• West Shore Railway Company, "Articles of Incorporation", 11 July 1895, Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz Count Records, Folder #235.

Stations: Vasona Junction

A SP train approaching the wye at Vasona Junction, 1940s
[Los Gatos Public Library]

Within the grand scheme of the Southern Pacific Railroad's operations, there was nothing noteworthy about Vasona when it first appeared in the railroad's 1899 stations and offices book. Indeed, the name itself was the brainchild of a local prune farmer, Albert August Vollmer, who petitioned the railroad to set up a flag stop north of Los Gatos so his family could more easily to San José. When asked a name for the stop, Vollmer offered "Vasona," the name of his childhood pony. The stop was located immediately beside Santa Cruz-Los Gatos Road (Winchester Boulevard), 27.8 miles from Santa Cruz. By 1906, just before the earthquake, the stop included a 193-foot-long spur, likely to collect harvested prunes from the nearby orchards.

A SP train in the wye at Vasona Junction in 1949. [Los Gatos Public Library]

Things drastically changed in 1907 when the Los Gatos Branch—popularly known as the Mayfield Cut-Off—was constructed between Vasona and Palo Alto. Suddenly, the simple stop at Vasona became the bottom part of a wye that linked two major branches of the Southern Pacific's Coast Division. To control traffic at the wye, a register booth was erected near the flag stop and all trains were required to stop and record their passage before moving on. Vasona Junction also marked the beginning of an automated block signal system which operated across the Santa Cruz Mountains to avoid accidents in the tunnels and around sharp curves. The entire wye encompassed 2,757 feet of track. Via the new line, San Francisco was only 51.4 miles to the north, a significant reduction from the former route that looped through San José. Most of the wye was in undeveloped orchard lands, and this remained the case for decades.

Registry booth at Vasona, c. 1960s. [Charles Givens]

Painting of Sewall S. Brown fruit plant, c. 1930s. [Robert Bowdidge]

Due to the increased traffic at Vasona, the flag stop was upgraded into a full stop in 1912, with a concrete freight platform installed between the mainline and the upgraded spur track. This location began to appear as a full stop on public timetables in the early 1920s. On the northern side of the wye, the Gem City Packing Company erected a fruit-drying plant and a second spur, seven car-lengths long, was installed to access the facility with a platform setup for easy loading of products. This company processed many of the prunes, apricots, almonds, grapes, and strawberries in the area. The company was later purchased by Sunsweet and then Sewall S. Brown Company. The factory burned down in 1955. Later patrons used had access to the spur for a number of years, but it is unknown whether they used it or not.

A SP train passing through Vasona Junction in 1953. [Los Gatos Public Library]

Once the route through the Santa Cruz Mountains was closed in February 1940, the importance of Vasona Junction declined. Passenger service continued to Los Gatos until 1959, but then the line was cut back. The wye remained in place for five more years and Vasona became the primary stop for railroad commuters from Los Gatos. In fact, a small passenger station was erected at the stop to facilitate this increase in traffic. However, in January 1964, the Los Altos Branch was closed and the ability to commute from Vasona to San Francisco was curtailed—locals would have to use cars and buses if they needed to travel to San Francisco.

A SP engine passing beside prune trees at Vasona Junction, 1955. 'Los Gatos Public Library]

The southern ends of the wye were not immediately removed, but the south-eastern portion quickly deteriorated and even became dislodged. The old registry booth, meanwhile, was rescued by Jim Holmes and relocated to Swanton Pacific Ranch north of Davenport. The tracks of the wye were eventually removed with only the northern curve remaining to allow freight trains to access the Permanente cement plant west of Cupertino. Plans to extend the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) lightrail network to Vasona have been on the books for over a decade, but no progress has been made due to funding.

A SP engine in the wye at Vasona Junction,  c. 1940s.

[Los Gatos Public Library]

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:

37˚15'20.2"N, 121˚57'57.7W

The site of Vasona Junction can be accessed along Winchester Boulevard north of Los Gatos, just before the track's crossing under State Route 85. While trespassing on the track itself is illegal—they remain active rails owned by Union Pacific—so access to the northern part of the former wye is not permitted. Fortunately, there is a new rail-trail that runs parallel to the tracks from Winchester to Wedgewood Avenue, the entire length of the old wye. The western portion of the former wye is now entirely developed over by the Bay Club Courtside tennis facility. The south-western side is the most accessible. It ran parallel to Winchester across from the tennis club and most of the right-of-way still exists as sidewalk. Unfortunately, no trace of the railroad exists along either of these sides of the former wye. The former stop itself is roughly at the location of the Winchester & Albright bus stop outside the Netflix headquarters parking lot on Winchester Boulevard.

The site of Vasona in the mid-1980s beside Winchester Boulevard. The Union Pacific tracks are visible in the distance.

Citations & Credits:

• Bender, Henry. "SP San Jose to Santa Cruz (ex-South Pacific Coast Ry.)" Unpublished.
• Bowdidge, Robert. "Gem City Packing becomes Sunsweet Becomes Sewall Brown." Robert's Vasona Branch Blog. 21 November 2011.
• "Hooked on Los Gatos." Library and History Museum Project.
• Edward Kelley & Peggy Conaway, Images of Rail: Railroads of Los Gatos. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2006.
• Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer, 1955.
• San José News, 1928.

Quarterly Bulletin – Vol. 2: No. 3 (Jul-Sep 2017)

Santa Cruz Trains Quarterly Bulletin

Vol. 2: No. 3 – July-September 2017

(Also available as a downloadable PDF)

Feature Article:

Santa Cruz railroads on YouTube: The story of Treefrogflag Productions

By Trevor Park

If you are a fan of railroading in the Santa Cruz area, you have probably seen one of our videos. While we do produce other railroad related content, the bulk of Treefrogflag Productions’ YouTube Channel is comprised of videos from the Santa Cruz area. We’ve covered everything from the evolution of the Santa Cruz Branch line to the continuing saga of Roaring Camp Railroads. However, Treefrogflag Productions came from humble beginnings.

Paul Nolan sets up his camera next to Trevor's camera for the very first day of filming for "Passenger Trains return to the Santa Cruz Branch" on April 17, 2015 for Treefrogflag Productions. Photograph by Trevor Park.

I started the YouTube Channel back in 2008 so I would have a place to post my very rudimentary Roaring Camp videos. I was into flags at the time and had a tree frog as a pet. For some reason I couldn't think of a good name that was related to trains, so I decided to call the channel Treefrogflag.

While these early videos were not even 1% of the quality of our current content, it was a good start to something great. I ran the channel for many years on my own until around 2013. At this point, my friend Paul Nolan, who had been running his own YouTube Channel, had the grand idea of combining our growing production skills and making videos together for Treefrogflag Productions. 

Trevor Park (right) and Paul Nolan (left) stand in front of Roaring Camp Railroads engine #3, Kahuku. Photograph by Phil Reader.

Paul and I have known each other since we were two years old and Paul actually grew up next door to my aunt. They both lived directly across the street from the Santa Cruz Branch line, which saw three round-trip trains a week when we were little kids. Paul and I have very fond memories of watching the Santa Cruz local going by, one of the many reasons why we both got the railfan bug. He and I both thought it was a good idea to make train videos in our spare time, but it was only once we combined our video skills that Treefrogflag Productions really became something.

Our first collaborative project happened to be a video on the 50th anniversary of Roaring Camp Railroads, when all four steam locomotives were rolled out of the shop under steam as a celebration for the railroad’s birthday. We loved the way this project turned out so much that we continued making videos together.

Paul and I have since made many releases, the most popular of which today is our "Trains Return to the Santa Cruz Branch" video (2015) that shows the first train on the Santa Cruz Branch since the rebuilding of the La Selva Beach Bridge.

It is extremely rewarding for us to be able to make videos that people enjoy watching and hopefully learn something from. We love being able to share our passion for railroading through our videos, and we hope you will go check out the channel soon! 

You can find our YouTube channel at this link: www.youtube.com/user/treefrogflag. And you can like us on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/TreefrogflagProductions.

Historical Moment:

Santa Cruz's first Cement Works

By Derek Whaley

Sometimes when writing history, not all the information is there when you need it. As I wrote Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Potrero District was an evolving beast. I was never entirely happy with it but the article had to be finished. A few months later, information from Newspapers.com, an old Southern Pacific stations book, and Michael Luther, an author of Limekiln Legacies, revealed the otherwise undocumented earliest patron of the Southern Pacific Railroad in the Potrero District.

The following information, a "deleted scene" from my book that belongs near the top of page 53, is the product of Luther and my research on the topic from mid-2015.

In March 1877, the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company established its base of operations in Hiram Abiff Imus’s orchard, immediately next to Gharkey’s orchard and the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad right-of-way near modern-day Pogonip Open Space.¹ Popularly known as the Santa Cruz Cement Works, the company had a shaky and ultimately failed existence in the county from the beginning.

The first year of operation for the Cement Works began in October 1878 when a large fête was held to celebrate the opening of the facility. Only one of the shareholders, F. Adams, was from Santa Cruz and it was he who brought the company to the city. The company president, Captain A.Y. Easterby, was a prominent San Joaquin Valley farmer who was one of the first to plant wheat in California.² The Cement Works included three patented pieces of machinery, the Davis Pulverizer being the showcase of the operation. To support the Cement Works, a railroad siding was established immediately beside the Santa Cruz & Felton tracks.³ When the Southern Pacific Railroad leased this route in 1887, the station was formally named “Cement Works” in agency books.^AB1888

From the very beginning, the Cement Works was troubled. The facility lacked a mixer or any furnaces, crippling its operation to 25 percent capacity. The company was attempting to reverse engineer Portland cement, but for two years it failed to produce something useable and the shareholders rebelled. Around 1880, the company president obtained a mortgage for the property from the San Francisco Theological Seminary in order to finally build the missing furnaces, but the high cost of the machinery broke the company.⁴ In January 1881, barely more than two years into its operation, the cement plant shut down.⁵ Nothing more was heard about the company until 1888, when a laudatory editorial in the Santa Cruz Daily Sentinel made it clear that the company was still in business, but that the factory was not operating. Indeed, the article, quoting the San Francisco Chronicle, praised the quality of Portland cement made in Santa Cruz County, noting how well it compared to other domestic and foreign cements. However, it noted importantly that no Portland cement had been produced in the county for at least a few years, and speculation was rife over when a proposed expansion of the Cement Works would finally reopen the facility.⁶

In the 1890 Southern Pacific agency book, the name “Cement Works” was stricken from the stations list.^SP1890 The next year, it was revealed that the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company was not likely to reopen anytime soon. Although the company was a pioneer in Portland cement production in the state, the lack of activity in the 1880s meant that the San Diego cement plant at Jamul gained the notoriety for first commercializing Portland cement in the state. The dilapidated state of the facility, with its tall smokestack sitting unused north of the city, regularly prompted questions from railroad passengers passing the unused siding. The writer of the article lamented the loss of the cement business greatly, asking, “Will it shock the cement silurians of the Santa Cruz works, if we gently suggest that they make a slight effort to avail themselves of the experience and experiments of the enterprising Jamul gentlemen, and see if they can not now find it profitable to resume the operations and revive the slumbering hopes of this cementless community? Shall we not be again gratified by the smoke rolling triumphantly upward from that lonely iron pipe?”⁷

In 1895, the Cement Works property was sold at auction to the mortgagee, the San Francisco Theological Seminary, with a portion sold to S. Eppstein.⁸ A remaining section of the property was put up for sale five years later and sold to A.H. Fitch, who demolished the remaining machinery and buildings before putting the property back up for sale.⁹ The last trace of the Cement Works was gone from the city. An editorial eulogy for the Cement Works was published by the Sentinel on August 10, 1900, describing the sorry history of the facility and concluding the 23-year legacy of the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company.¹⁰ One of its last vestiges, the railroad siding, probably lingered beside the mainline until around 1907 when the Southern Pacific standard-gauged the tracks.

A few years after the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Company shut its doors, a new company under the same name opened in Davenport, soon afterwards returning Santa Cruz County to prominence in the Portland cement market. Few people then knew or remembered this first failed attempt to make Santa Cruz the Portland cement capital of California. The site of Cement Works is now the Granite Rock Company’s facility on Coral Street, which has its own now-abandoned spur.

Citations:

1. SC Weekly Sentinel, 09/29/1877, 3:5; ibid, 03/12/1881, 2:3.

2. SC Weekly Sentinel, 10/12/1878, 2:2.

3. SC Sentinel, 06/28/1893, 2:2.

3. SC Sentinel, 08/10/1900, 2:2.

4. SC Weekly Sentinel, 01/08/1881, 3:1.

5. SC Sentinel, 02/14/1888, 2:1.

6. SC Sentinel, 04/01/1891, 1:1.

7. SC Sentinel, 01/03/1895, 3:1.

8. SC Sentinel, 04/24/1900, 2:6; SC Evening Sentinel, 05/02/1900, 3:1.

9. SC Sentinel, 08/10/1900, 2:2.

Railroading News:

County seeks federal funds for track cleanup following winter storms

The clean-up of damage caused by the January and February storms that wrecked portions of the Santa Cruz Branch line between Watsonville and Davenport continues in earnest by Iowa Pacific Holdings and the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC).

Numerous downed trees, washouts, and sinks caused by the storms still need to be removed or repaired before regular service along the line can resume. Howard Cohen reports that negotiations continue between the RTC and the Pajaro Valley berry farmer whose backed-up culvert washed out a significant portion of the right-of-way near milepost 5.

At the April 6 meeting of the RTC, the commission adopted a resolution to seek funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help repair the right-of-way. Naturally-caused damage to the line is outside the commitments of the Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay Railway and, therefore, the responsibility of the county to repair. Nonetheless, a number of locals, many associated with the anti-rail group Trail Now, voiced their anger at using federal funds to repair the washout, although many locals voiced their continuing support.

A tree fallen on the tracks in May from the January-February storms near Portola Avenue in Capitola. Photograph by James Long.

An additional proposal was made at the May 18 meeting of the RTC which recommended measures to combat the fourteen downed trees on the line. The committee approved a $10,000 agreement with local firms to remove the trees. The trees have all since been removed and travel between Watsonville and Santa Cruz is possible again.

Currently, the primary source of income for the county's railroading operations is railcar storage and railcar deliveries to Big Creek just outside of Watsonville, although there are other smaller patrons considering using the line.

Minor damage along the Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railway line slowed Roaring Camp operations throughout the spring season but the line has since been fully repaired.

Swanton Pacific summer update

By Rhoda Fry

The late season rain storms not only caused washouts at the railroad, but also Swanton Road. Consequently, Al Smith Day, an event celebrating our founder’s April birthday, was canceled. Because the railroad is adjacent to an important riparian habitat that is the subject of many studies, permits from numerous agencies are required in order to assure that repairs are made in an eco-friendly manner. This has provided volunteers the opportunity not only to plan and rebuild a section of the railroad but also learn about the ecosystem. 

Volunteers and guests are welcome on scheduled workdays (see Timetable below) and by appointment on other days, including weekdays. You can find updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SwantonPacificRailroad and sprr.calpoly.edu. 

Santa Cruz Trains book gets revision

Derek R. Whaley's book Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains (2015) was quietly updated to the Fourth Revision in May to fix two issues discovered by readers.

The GPS coordinates provided throughout the book for railroad stops and tunnel portals have been reorganized so that they can now be used on Google Maps without modification. Previously, users would have to move the hemispherical coordinates (N, S, W, E) before results would properly appear.

The second issue, pointed out in a recent book review by Railroad History (Spring-Summer 2016), rewords all instances of the term "narrow-gauged" to "narrow-gauge" to reflect current usage.

A few other items were corrected as well due to suggestions from readers, including:

• Page 65: Photo caption changed from "boxcar" to "caboose".
• Page 110: Corrected "rarely-used" to "lightly-used".
• Page 200: Map updated to correct trackage.

Unified Corridor Study scope expanded

Facing restrictions to its scope, the Unified Corridor Study by the Santa Cruz County RTC, now in Phase 2, has been expanded to encompass the entirety of the Santa Cruz Branch line to Watsonville Junction in Pajaro.

The 2012 study was commissioned to research ways in which portions of the Santa Cruz Branch line, Soquel Ave/Dr, and State Route 1 could be optimized to reduce traffic stresses in the county. However, the railroad route to Davenport and to Pajaro was not originally included in the study. The range of State Route 1 within the study is also now expanded to the Monterey County line and Davenport. 

Other aspects of the study to be improved include scenario analysis of various transportation options, performance measures regarding the sustainability of each route, and improving public transparency.

The expansion of the study requires an additional $500,000 from Measure D funds. The commission approved the proposal at the March 2 meeting despite some opposition from the public.

Impact study planned for Davenport track

An environmental impact study for the rail trail along the Davenport portion of the Santa Cruz Branch line was approved at the RTC meeting on April 6. The commission needs to conduct such a report before section qualifies for funding from Measure D. Construction on the section must begin no later than 2020 to qualify for funds.

Web Register:

Facebook Chatter (/groups/sctrains)

Continuous – Howard Cohen has continued to share his photographs of the Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay Railway's daily operations, including numerous photographs of the repair work on the line. Bill Dawkins, meanwhile, has shared a number of photographs and videos of both current and historic area railroad lines.

Mar. 1 – Tom Clark shared a YouTube video (link) showing the Southern Pacific's Santa Cruz local in 1983.

Mar. 10 – Cohen shared a link to the Turrill-Miller Photograph Collection, which includes photographs of Manresa beach, its trestle, and its station. Also, Paul Pritchard shared a photograph of the last Big Trees Picnic Train passing the Boardwalk in 1965.

Mar. 16 – Eddie Sims shared a photograph of the Capitola railroad bridge from 1938. He posted another photograph of a Santa Cruz local from 1948 on Mar. 30.

Mar. 30 – Trevor Park also shared a new video (link) from Treefrogflag Productions focusing on the seasonal Polar Express train.

Apr. 10 – Dawkins posted a 2008 video (link) of a train derailment on the Permanente line.

Apr. 13 – William Turner asked about the length of railroad tracks, prompting Dawkins to reply with 39-feet for most lines, a number Brandon McShane backed up.

Apr. 14 – Ian Applegate shared an advertisement by Roaring Camp from 1987 promoting the beginning of the annual Beach Train to Santa Cruz. Dawkins also informed the group that a house overlooking the old Pacific Mills logging railroad of Love Creek Road in Ben Lomond was for sale.

Apr. 18 – Janie Soito shared an advertisement and timetable for the Pajaro Valley Consolidated Railroad from 1904, inadvertently assisting in site research.

Apr. 24 – Len Klempnauer shared a c. 1950 photograph of a parade organizing in the Santa Cruz Union Station parking lot, where most parades began or ended.

Apr. 26 – Craig Polson shared an old photograph of the Brookdale truss bridge over the San Lorenzo River. Derek Whaley also shared a public letter from the Trail Now group which intends to cause a delay in returning passenger service to Santa Cruz County.

Apr. 29 – Brian Liddicoat reported a successful trip visiting remnants of the Boulder Creek Branch.

May 2 – James Long informed the group that a number of trees are still down on the tracks near Portola Ave.

May 3 – K. Mikael Wallin shared an artistic photograph of the right-of-way near Capitola.

May 11 – William McKay reminisced about a garden railroad he remembered from near Villa Montalvo.

May 20 – Barry Scott shared a list of five things people can do to promote local rail transit.

1. Complete the Unified Corridor Study survey distributed by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (link).
2. Sign the petition to build the trail, but leave the rails.
3. Send an email of support to info@sccrtc.org.
4. Subscribe to one of the RTC topic pages.
5. Share the above with your Facebook friends.

May 22 – Soito shared a promotional map of Rob Roy at the Sea from the 1920s.

May 25 – Park shared a new video (link) from Treefrogflag Productions of the Santa Cruz Beach Train.

May 31 – Soito shared a photograph of the Santa Cruz freight yard in the late 1930s during a busy summer day.

Recent SantaCruzTrains.com articles

MAR. 10 – Williamson

MAR. 17 – Thurwachter

MAR. 24 – Cassin

MAR. 31 – Railroad Hotels

APR. 7 – Gravel Pit No. 1

APR. 14 – Jensen

APR. 21 – Beach

APR. 28 – Thompson

MAY 5 – Warnock

MAY 12 – Ranch

MAY 19 – Struve

MAY 26 – Mack

Monthly Timetable:

JUNE 

Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad

Train Rides

June 1-6: Weekends 10:30-4:30

June 7-30: Daily 10:30-4:30

Flapjacks & Railroad Tracks Pancake Breakfast

June 10: 8:00am-10:15

Breakfast Meal for $8.00 (children’s rates offered)

Monterey & Salinas Valley Railroad Museum

Open House

June 2: 5:00pm-8:00

June 3-4: 10:00am-4:00pm

Regional Transportation Commission (RTC)

RTC Meeting

June 1: 9:00am @ Watsonville City Council Chambers

Transportation Policy Workshop

June 15: 9:00am @ RTC Office

Roaring Camp Railroads

Train Rides

June 1-5: Daily 11:00 (also 12:30, 2:00 weekends)

June 6-30: Daily 11:00, 12:30, 2:00

Roundtrip from Roaring Camp Station

Redwood Mountain Faire

June 3-4: All Day

(www.redwoodmountainfaire.com)

Father's Day

June 18: Great Train Robberies on all train rides

Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railway

Train Rides

June 1-4: Weekends

June 5-30: Daily

Departs from Roaring Camp Station & Boardwalk

Swanton Pacific Railroad

Work Day

June 10-11, 24-25

Come volunteer and ride the trains!

JULY

Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad

Train Rides

Weekends 10:30-4:30

Monterey & Salinas Valley Railroad Museum

Open House

July 7: 5:00pm-8:00

July 8-9: 10:00am-4:00pm

Regional Transportation Commission (RTC)

RTC Meeting

July 6: 9:00am @ TBA

Transportation Policy Workshop

July 20: 9:00am @ RTC Office

Roaring Camp Railroads

Train Rides

July 1-31: Daily 11:00, 12:30, 2:00 (3:30 weekends)

Roundtrip from Roaring Camp Station

Moonlight Train Dinner Party

July 1: 6:00pm

Roundtrip from Roaring Camp Station

Fourth of July

Events all day

Day Out with Thomas™ 

July 28-30: Hourly from 10:30am

Ride Thomas the Tank Engine™!

Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railway

Train Rides

July 1-31: Daily

Departs from Roaring Camp Station & Boardwalk

Swanton Pacific Railroad

Work Day

July 8-9, 22-23

Come volunteer and ride the trains!

Open House

July 29 All day

AUGUST

Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad

Train Rides

Aug. 1-15: Daily 10:30-4:30

Aug. 16-31: Weekends 10:30-4:30 (Fri. 10:30-3:00)

Monterey & Salinas Valley Railroad Museum

Open House

Aug. 4: 5:00pm-8:00

Aug. 5-6: 10:00am-4:00pm

Regional Transportation Commission (RTC)

Meetings

Aug. 3: 9:00am @ TBA

Transportation Policy Workshop

Aug. 17: 9:00am @ RTC Office

Roaring Camp Railroads

Train Rides

Aug. 1-20: Daily 11:00, 12:30, 2:00 (3:30 weekends)

Aug. 21-31: Daily 11:00, 12:30 (2:00, 3:30 weekends)

Roundtrip from Roaring Camp Station

Day Out with Thomas™ 

Aug. 4-6: Hourly from 10:30am

Ride Thomas the Tank Engine™!

Moonlight Train Dinner Party

Aug. 26: 6:00pm

Roundtrip from Roaring Camp Station

Summer Gathering of Mountain Men

Aug. 19-20: All day

Santa Cruz Big Trees & Pacific Railway

Train Rides

Aug. 1-18: Daily

Aug. 19-31: Weekends

Departs from Roaring Camp Station & Boardwalk

Swanton Pacific Railroad

Work Day

Aug. 12-13, 26-27

Come volunteer and ride the trains!

Imprint: Derek R. Whaley, editor. For submissions, email author@santacruztrains.com.

© 2016-2017 Derek R. Whaley. All rights reserved.