tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post6242357362453663403..comments2023-06-04T04:11:05.291-07:00Comments on Santa Cruz Trains: AsilomarDerek Whaleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17715926686413316877noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-49370486002468404322018-10-16T22:40:50.852-07:002018-10-16T22:40:50.852-07:00I found it here. Fascinating to explore the street...I found it here. Fascinating to explore the streets of pre-urban renewal downtown Monterey, among other things.<br /><br />https://davidrumsey.georeferencer.com/maps/315149024444/viewCrankyBeachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07458846848185292555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-62059942129366189772018-09-26T10:33:34.050-07:002018-09-26T10:33:34.050-07:00Do you still have that image Luke? It’s no longer ...Do you still have that image Luke? It’s no longer available on the hosting siteAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00108861221166372192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-47118781065669748672016-10-26T15:53:38.943-07:002016-10-26T15:53:38.943-07:00Around 1960-61, I believe that both the siding and...Around 1960-61, I believe that both the siding and the short spur were constructed at the same time as the PG yard was being dismantled. Not only is there a trustful eyewitness, but Lucius Beebe's book 'Mansions on Rails' has a picture of his "Virginia City" (page 56) sitting at what appears to be the Pacific Grove location, a few feet west of the station. It is a picture from the 1950s (the book was published in 1959) and suggests the need of building a spur in a new location, unfortunately, as the PG location was simply prime.Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-21871521653216320432016-10-20T14:23:55.841-07:002016-10-20T14:23:55.841-07:00I think that any mention of a "spur" is ...I think that any mention of a "spur" is the track to the sand plant (along Crocker Avenue), and that it grew in length and freight car capacity as the dunes were leveled. Eventually the original line fell into disuse and a flip-flop occurred that upgraded the spur out of the records because it was now the main track. Confusion is added as the "Lake Majella" name also flipped to the sand plant for no reason, instead of quietly slipping from the schedule. It would have been better to call Asilomar the last stop and continue listing a very long spur across private land. So, two stops wearing the Lake Majella label, the second one, the sand plant, being the counterfeit.Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-36076407538855944842016-10-13T14:14:33.877-07:002016-10-13T14:14:33.877-07:00Picking up on something RogerT has said a long whi...Picking up on something RogerT has said a long while ago on a railroad forum, the short spur on the western side was built for the private rail car of Lucius Morris Beebe (December 9, 1902 – February 4, 1966) and Charles Myron Clegg, Jr. (June 29, 1916 – August 25, 1979), both authors and railroad historians. In another spot I found that the two lived in a small mansion in Virginia City, Nevada, and that they spent the winters in Pebble Beach; so maybe some truth. They did travel in their own 'private varnish', the "Gold Coast" (now located at the Sacramento museum) and then the "Virginia City" (currently in service providing tours).<br /><br />RogerT (who I grew up with, lived just across the street from the Asilomar sign, and had a nice grasp of historical facts) also said that the siding was installed as the PG yard was being dismantled.<br /><br />From having shot moody B&W photos of the train in the rain, I know that the switches at both ends of the siding were of the Y-configured types; neither track using the existing rails, but with the benefit of only slightly widening the roadbed and maybe saving a tree or two. Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-4661698473059929022015-10-16T09:59:28.089-07:002015-10-16T09:59:28.089-07:00Here's a 1938 map superimposed (georeferenced ...Here's a 1938 map superimposed (georeferenced - blue outline) over recent Google Earth imagery. You can see the S.P. spur, the sand plant and North Moss Beach (Asilomar State Beach).<br /><br />Lake Majella was located behind where Pacific Grove Self Storage is now, between the 13th green and 14th fairway at Spanish Bay.<br /><br /><a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/67960189/Coletti_Lake_Majella_Georeferenced.jpeg" rel="nofollow">Georeferenced Lake Majella Image</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06704959473484253727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151799760990306051.post-20581905527046300982015-09-27T14:36:45.166-07:002015-09-27T14:36:45.166-07:00Lake Majella has always been a difficult place to ...Lake Majella has always been a difficult place to locate in any historical sense, and 0.1 miles from Asilomar will be the first problem encountered; the sand plant was almost a mile away with additional track reaching well past that single mile; all of it well used. The 'Greek Cross' style of station is reported to have been used three times in the region: Asilomar, Lake Majella, and Newell Junction (on the Boulder Creek branch).<br /><br />The siding was probably about a dozen cars long, the team track was maybe three cars in length, a spur on the other side of Sinex Avenue was pointed south, and in older maps it crossed Sunset Drive (as did the track to the sand plant). In the 1960s this shortened spur went into a lumber yard, which received the occasional flatcar of milled lumber; and while it no longer crossed Sunset, I believe a competing lumber yard was located there on the south side of the street. I have no idea what was there in the 1930s, I do know that this spur wasn't used in the 1970s.<br /><br />The freight would arrive about two in the afternoon with a mix of around ten boxcars and hoppers, two diesels, and a caboose. The locomotives would uncouple and retrieve loaded cars in the sand plant, return and switch over to the fresh cars, push (on the caboose) all of the new cars into place, return to create a train and leave around four. I think that this came to an end in the summer of 1977 due to ecological reasons (too much silt, etc.).Grantnoreply@blogger.com