View source for Tunnels of the South Pacific Coast Railroad 1878-1887

Compiled by [[User:John Hall|John F. Hall]]

<span class="paracap">T</span>'''he''' tunnels of the [[South Pacific Coast Railroad]] had two different numbering systems. After the original tunnel No. 1, just south of Los Gatos, collapsed in February 1878 the tunnels retained their original construction numbers until the railroad opened in May 1880. Then the tunnels were renumbered with the original tunnel No. 2 becoming No. 1 an so on down the line.  To make it confusing for the historian the newspapers sometimes mixed up reports about the tunnels by using the final numbers during construction. The following table numbers the tunnels as they were between 1880 and 1903.

Two of the tunnels were built by the [[Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad]]. The first, at the hog's back above the Powder Works, was abandoned because the curvature of the track needed to be reduced and the tunnel height was too low for the SPC Baldwin Locomotives. The SPC took advantage of this rebuilding and slightly lowered the elevation of the new tunnel to reduce the grade.

{|class="wikitable" 
|+Tunnels of the South Pacific Coast Railroad 1878-1887
|-
!No.
!Location
!Built By
!Year Open
!Original Length<ref name="tunlength">''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' March 27, 1880, page 2</ref>
!Note
|-
|none
|1 mile south of Los Gatos
|SPCRR
|1878
|185 feet
|Collapsed February 1878 and became a cut.<ref>''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' February 23, 1878, page 2</ref>
|-
|1
|1.4 miles south of Los Gatos
|SPCRR
|1878
|191 feet
|
|-
|2
|Between Wright's and Highland
|SPCRR
|March 1880<ref name="tunlength"></ref>
|6,157 feet
|Multiple deadly explosions during construction due to natural gas deposits.<ref>''Daily Alta California'' February 14, 1879, page 1</ref><ref>''Daily Alta California,'' November 19, 1879, page 1</ref>
|-
|3
|Between Highland and Glenwood
|SPCRR
|October 1879<ref>''Oakland Daily Evening Tribune'' October 11, 1879, page 2</ref>
|5,793 feet
|
|-
|4
|South of Clem's
|SPCRR
|December 1878<ref>''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' December 28, 1878, page 3</ref>
|913 feet
|3 men killed during construction.<ref>''San Francisco Chronicle,'' September 28, 1878, page 2</ref><ref>''San Francisco Chronicle,'' August 14, 1878, page 3</ref>   
|-
|5
|0.5 miles north of Doughtery's 
|SPCRR
|February 1879<ref>''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' February 22, 1879, page 3</ref> 
|250 feet
|
|-
|6
|1 mile south of Big Trees
|SPCRR
|December 1879<ref>''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' December 27, 1879, page 3</ref>
|338 feet
| 
|-
|none
|0.25 miles south of Rincon
|[[Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad|SC&FRR]]
|August 1875<ref>''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' August 21, 1879, page 3</ref>
|125 feet
|Abandoned October 1879
|-
|7
|0.25 miles south of Rincon
|SPCRR
|October 1879<ref>''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' October 4, 1879, page 3</ref>
|282 feet
|Built slightly to the west and below the [[Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad|SC&FRR]] tunnel reducing the curvature and grade and increasing the height.<ref>''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' July 26, 1879, page 3</ref>
|-
|8
|Misson Hill, Santa Cruz
|[[Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad|SC&FRR]]
|October 1876<ref>''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' October 7, 1876, page 3</ref>
|918 feet
|
|}

<references />


[[Narrow_Gauge_Railroads_of_California|California]] / [[Narrow_Gauge_Railroads_of_California#Common Carrier|Common Carrier]] / [[South Pacific Coast Railroad]]