Railroads: Failed Saratoga and New Almaden Railroads

The Bay Area was in the midst of railroad fever in the 1880s, with the South Pacific Coast Railroad driving interest in other niche lines to various locales, and Southern Pacific exploring potentially profitable branch lines. Interest in a railroad to the New Almaden quicksilver mines south of San José was surprisingly late in coming, but once investors realized the wealth that could be gained by connecting the mines to San Francisco, interest skyrocketed. Two companies in succession were formed to build standard-gauge railroad lines between Mountain View and New Almaden. Curiously, their stories, written a year apart, were almost identical, with some of the cast of the first even returning for roles in the second.

Farmers building a fence along a road in Sunnyvale, circa 1890s. [Courtesy Michelle Jacobson Collection, California History Center – colorized using MyHeritage]

San Francisco & New Almaden Railroad (1884–1887)

Articles of incorporation for the first New Almaden railroad project were filed on March 19, 1884, for the San Francisco & New Almaden Railroad. While the final destination was intended to be the New Almaden mines, the start point for this line was set at San Francisco. This was a bit of a trick, though, as the first leg south would be by steamship across the bay. The company set its place of business as San José, suggesting a more southern outlook. It was capitalized at $500,000. The board of directors included N. Doyley, D.M. Carman, H.E. Bullock, S.B. Morey, and J.W. Dodge. Morey held the most shares at 2,000, with Carman a distant second at 958. At the first meeting of the directors on April 3, it was decided that the railroad run from Mountain View to Ravenwood (east Saratoga) to Lovelady’s (Campbell) and finally New Almaden. Today, that route would largely follow Pastoria Avenue south from the Union Pacific Railroad tracks to and down the length of Hollenbeck Avenue and Stelling Road and then closely follow UP’s Permanente Branch to Quito Road, after which the planned route to New Almaden is uncertain.

A woman standing outside Martin Murphy, Jr.'s "Bay View" home at Murphy's Station, circa 1880s. [Courtesy California History Center – colorized using MyHeritage]

The new railroad hired J.S. Antionello, known for building several East Coast railroads, to build the first ten miles of the line, construction for which began May 12. Antonelli hired 150 men for the job, who began the line just south of the Mountain View station on the Southern Pacific Railroad. On May 13, the directors met and elected D.M. Carman as president and Joseph A. Crawford as general superintendent, with R.L. Niggins and C.W. Quilty filling places left vacant by departing members of the initial board. A week after construction began, the San Jose Herald recounted that “two hundred men have been employed and all the trains that can be made available. The road will be completed to Saratoga and Quito road by the 10th of July, a distance of 12 or 15 miles, and this point is half-way from the place of commencement to the terminus. One week from to-day 100 more men will be put at this point and will work to meet the men starting at Mountain View. After the completion of this part of the road the balance will be finished on to Almaden as speedily as possible. This new railroad is meeting with much favor through the country which it runs and will open up a splendid territory in the western part of our valley.” Yet the promised boost never came.

The old Murphy's Station freight depot at Sunnyvale, circa 1910s. [Courtesy Sunnyvale Historical Society – colorized by MyHeritage]

Problems arose almost immediately. A complaint was filed by S.D. Hosmer and W.P. Paul on May 17, alleging that the railroad had encroached upon the narrow Hollenbeck Lane, which was heavily used by locals and would be too crowded if the railroad installed track along it. Other locals, such as the Sullivan family, also blocked access or asked for high prices for the right-of-way. Shortly afterwards, on May 28, all work on the railroad halted. Three miles of operable—though not operating—track had been installed between Murphy’s Station and Collins School (today’s Homestead Road). Crawford threatened lawsuits to condemn the properties, but this only made matters worse. A few days later, Carman stated, “The truth of the matter is, that the payment for land of such price as have been demanded for the right of way would bankrupt any company that was not backed by large capital. We simply couldn’t pay the rates that were asked, and we propose to rest quietly until the producers of the region through which the road is projected open their eyes to the true condition of affairs as affecting their own interests. The tools of the contractor’s large force of men are lying on the roadside, so that work can be resumed on very short notice, when the difference respecting the right of way shall have been adjusted.” But Carman was not being entirely honest. While it is true that the San Francisco & New Almaden Railroad was not backed by large investors, Carman, who also served as treasurer, was not helping the matter.

The first real sign of trouble came in June 1884, when contractor C.D. Rhodes sued Morey for failing to pay him is $236.83 consulting fees. To enforce his claim, he put a lien on the company’s office furniture and railroad ties. This action ensured that no further construction would occur on the railroad line until December 11, when the case was dismissed. By that date, internal politics were at a bursting point. In March 1885, Crawford asked the police to put out a warrant for the arrest of Carman. He revealed to the Oakland Tribune that Carman had orchestrated an internal coup on May 13, 1884, removing several of the original investors in favor of his friends, who together promised to finance the construction of the railroad. Crawford sided with Carman and was given a seat on the board. Over the next two weeks, six miles of track was graded and laid by Antionello’s crew before he asked for funds to pay his workers. Crawford as superintendent requested the money and Carman tried to remove Crawford from the board, demanding all of his shares before he would pay the workers. Crawford began a counter-coup to remove Carman and his cronies from the board. This is why work stopped—it was not due to property claims but because of the disfunction of the board.

Several lawsuits followed by Antionello and others, seeking compensation for work and land. Crawford then discovered that Carman had been stealing funds from the company. After several confrontations over the matter, Carman fled to Mexico, leading to the warrant for his arrest. Crawford paid Antionello out of pocket but calls to liquidate the company came at the same time. Carman, though, was not finished. Fighting accusations of embezzlement, he claimed he had only gone to Mexico to acquire more funds to finance the railroad. Nobody at the company believed him. At the annual stockholders’ meeting on March 23, Carman was ousted and J.H. Mahoney elected president. J.A. Crawford remained as general manager, with J.C. Winans secretary, and F.M. Smith and A.F. Shearer directors. The place of business moved to San Francisco and the directors promised to resume construction by June 1st. They never did.

Comparison map showing the routes of the Sa Francisco & New Almaden Railroad (left) and the Saratoga & Almaden Railroad (right), with the Southern Pacific Railroad's mainline and the location of Murphy's Station (top).

Saratoga & Almaden Railroad (1885–1886)

Four months after the collapse of its predecessor, on July 15, 1885, the Saratoga & Almaden Railroad was incorporated. Its proposed 20-mile-long standard-gauge route was from Murphy’s Station, just south of Mountain View, to Saratoga and then New Almaden. In other words, it followed almost precisely the route of the San Francisco & New Almaden Railroad. Its directors were not unique either. While the president was D.M. Pyle and the other newcomers included Lewis A. Sage, Peter Ball, and J.K. Carter, the final director was J.C. Winans, the former secretary of the earlier railroad, who became secretary and treasurer of the new line. Capital stock was set at $200,000, significantly less than the prior company, with the place of business registered as San Francisco. Henry A. Brainard, a veteran who designed the West Shore Railroad, was hired as engineer, with Jackson R. Myers hired as contractor for the grading and building of the line.

Saratoga & Almaden Railroad Company stock certificate, issued September 3, 1885. [WorthPoint]

Like the earlier railroad, the Saratoga & Almaden Railroad made several mistakes early on. The first of these was hiring J.A. Crawford to superintend the line. He promised in late August that a depot at Murphy’s Station would be built and cars running to Saratoga by the beginning of 1886. But he used brute force to build the line. In October, R. E. Collins, a property owner on the right-of-way, sued the railroad for $1,000 in damages for violently trespassing on his property on September 28, cutting down trees in his orchard. The court filed an injunction against the railroad pending trial. This injunction was resolved in early November.

Despite the legal difficulties, construction of the line continued through October. Five miles were graded by October 20, with track laying begun that day. Pyle optimistically stated that the railroad to Saratoga would be operational by December 1. On October 27, it was revealed that, while track laying had begun and a large amount of rail and ties had been delivered to Murphy’s Station on the Southern Pacific line, the railroad had not actually purchased all of the right-a-way that it had graded. Southern Pacific had granted space for a small yard and transfer station, as well as for the company to install a switch, but if the company did not pay for the right-of-way by an unspecified date, its franchise would be forfeited. By early November, all obstacles to building the first five miles were reportedly removed and construction resumed. A train turned onto the line at Murphy’s for the first time on December 2, hauling construction material to the end of the line to resume work. Work continued throughout December and early January, with around 200 Chinese workers grading and installing the line.

Completed route of the Saratoga & Almaden Railroad, northern end, 1886, surveyed by H. A. Brainard. [Courtesy San José Public Libraries]

In January 1886, J.B.J. Portal and J.F. Thompson, who owned vineyards along the west bank of Calabazas Creek, sued the railroad for damages to their property caused by the grading crews as well as the future damage the railroad may cause to their crops. The trial ran for three days, concluding on January 29. In the final decision, Judge Spencer and the jury ruled largely in favor of the property owners, leveling six judgments on the railroad, including for the properties themselves, physical and hypothetical damages sustained by the owners, and requirements to install fencing and cattleguards through said properties. The total cost was set at $3,271.50 between the two plaintiffs. Yet the railroad also won since the costs were reduced from what they had feared and the jury ruled that the route was a public necessity and should be built. The plaintiffs, dissatisfied with the result, filed a bill of exceptions against Judge Spencer for three failures to follow proper procedure, but this appeal seemed to go nowhere.

All these delays and legal costs put a damper on celebrations. More problematic for the company, though, was the announcement that the South Pacific Coast Railroad was going to build a branch line from Lovelady’s (Campbell) to New Almaden, undermining any need for the Saratoga & Almaden Railroad to exist. Construction on the branch began on February 13, 1886. Less than two weeks later, on February 26, Southern Pacific announced its own plans to build a branch line, incorporating it as the San Jose and Almaden Railroad. Despite this sudden change in fortunes, work briefly resumed on the Saratoga & Almaden Railroad in early February. Yet the disheartened company seems to have reduced its ultimate goal to Saratoga. Regardless, work halted permanently on February 21, 1886, due to a growing number of lawsuits.

Completed route of the Saratoga & Almaden Railroad, southern end, 1886, surveyed by H. A. Brainard. [Courtesy San José Public Libraries]

On March 2, Quong Lee Kee & Company of San Francisco, which had supplied the Chinese workers used to construct the line, filed a lien on the railroad’s right-of-way to the sum of $5,470.25 for labor and materials furnished, with an additional $500 lawsuit for damages due to the failure of the railroad to fulfill its contract. This failure was due to the fact that the railroad had not, in fact, secured all the necessary property needed to construct the line and therefore did not have the funds to pay for the workers it had hired to construct said line. Things only got worse from there. On March 5, Myers also filed a lien and suit for damages with interest for $11,969.40, and the Pacific Rolling Mill Company sued for $1,004.70 in overdue payment for spikes and bolts furnished to the railroad. Crawford, who had stayed loyal to both companies throughout their troubles, finally jumped ship on March 18. He sold his considerable interest in the company to Thomas H. Cordell, who represented the Pacific Improvement Company, a Southern Pacific subsidiary. On May 28, Cordell transferred his interest back to the Saratoga & Almaden Railroad with the agreement that the Pacific Improvement Company would take control of it shortly. Meanwhile, in June the South Pacific Coast Railroad completed its branch line to New Almaden.

Chinese migrants posing for the camera near Sunnyvale, 1890s. [Sunnyvale Historical Society and Museum Association – colorized using MyHeritage]

Although the truncation of the line and the previous lawsuits certainly put a strain on the Saratoga & Almaden Railroad, it was a suit by C.T. Ryland that ultimately killed the enterprise. Ryland had advanced money to the company in 1885 and had the iron rails of the railroad set as collateral. In April, the railroad lost the suit and Ryland was awarded $1,635.90, as well as $150 in counsel fees and costs. Since the railroad could not afford this fine, the judge ordered the sale of the collateral on June 3. The earnings from this alone did not satisfy the award and so another auction was held on October 18. In both cases, Ryland had the winning bid and effectively bought his own award in scrap metal.

In June, a lawsuit by the Pacific Rolling Mill Company began. This trial dragged into the defense the California Safe Deposit & Trust Company, which oversaw the railroad’s finances. The railroad lost the suit and a sheriff’s auction was called to sell the entirety of the 4.5 miles of laid track and roadbed that had been completed. The auction was held on November 10, where the property was purchased for $1,336 by Z. Burns. Most of the funds went to the plaintiff to cover their award and costs. Kwong Lee Kee & Company belatedly sued the company for $2,496.88 in unpaid wages in December, but this seems to have gone nowhere. Myers, who also held a lien on the company, sued shortly afterwards but it was too late—the company had almost nothing of value left. In a second auction held in May 1887 to satisfy the remaining amount owed to the Pacific Rolling Company, Thomas Moran of Oakland paid $1,482.86 for the liens against the company and, in return, received the railroad’s last item of value: approximately 600 tons of iron. Moran purportedly sold it as scrap for eight times the amount that he paid. As a final nail in the coffin, R.G. Bixbee acquired the railroad’s franchise in August and sold it for $5 to the Pacific Land Investment Company, a South Pacific Coast Railroad affiliate.

Sunnyvale Depot, circa 1911. [Courtesy Historical Society – colorized using MyHeritage]

Following the failure of the Saratoga & Almaden Railroad, Crawford partnered with William Farrington in April 1887 and proposed yet another railroad, this time from San José to Saratoga. Their prospectus was published in the San Jose Daily Mercury on May 5 and a committee was formed to investigate the proposal. Despite campaigning for it for several years and reportedly broad support by people living along the proposed line, no railroad was ever incorporated and the plan fizzled. Crawford’s untimely death at the age of 38 on July 12, 1890, put a damper on the project, though it never completely went out of mind of San Joseans and Saratogans. It would be another twelve years before the San Jose and Los Gatos Interurban Railway Company was founded and finally began the work to connect San José to Saratoga.

Citations & Credits:

• Various newspaper articles from the Daily Alta California, The Daily Examiner, The Daily Herald, The Los Gatos Weekly News, The Morning Call, The Morning Times, The Oakland Daily Times Oakland Tribune, Sacramento Daily Bee, The Sacramento Union, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Daily Mercury, San Jose Weekly News, and the Santa Cruz Daily Sentinel.