South Pacific Coast Railway

California / Common Carrier / South Pacific Coast Railway

History

In May 1887 the 36 inch gauge South Pacific Coast Railway was formed by a consolidation of the South Pacific Coast Railroad, the Bay & Coast Railroad, the Oakland Township Railroad, the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad, the San Francisco & Colorado River Railroad, the Felton & Pescadero Railroad, and the Almaden Branch Railroad for the purpose of transferring the consolidated railroad to new owners. The information on this page is for the Southern Pacific leased line, the 1887-1937 South Pacific Coast Railway.

At the time of consolidation the stockholders of the South Pacific Coast Railway were: James G. Fair, 44,844 1/2 Shares; Charles S. Neal, 10,048 shares; Alfred E. Davis, 4900 1/2 shares; Charles Stewart, 79 shares; E. J. Coleman, 25 shares; L. B. Benchley, 23 shares; E. J. Swift, 20 shares; R. H. Hall, 20 shares; Henry Skinner, 20 shares; E. J. Cox, 15 shares; S. V. Mooney, 1 share; Seth Cook, 1 share; E. S. Pillsbury, 1 share; V. W. Gaskill, 1 share; and Luther Fillmore,1 share. A total value of $6,000,000 or 60,000 shares at a par value of $100 each.

The consolidation was made to facilitate the transfer of the South Pacific Coast Railroad and its leased lines to new owners. To pay for the transfer to the new owners the South Pacific Coast Railway, right-of-way, rolling stock, track, buildings, etc., was mortgaged. The mortgage was guaranteed by the Southern Pacific Company. The Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. of New York, the mortgage company, then issued Bonds to the stock holders of the SPCRY. The stock holders then transferred their SPCRwy shares to Leland Stanford, C. P. Huntington, and Charles Crocker.

C. P. Huntington had not initially agreed to the language in the mortgage. Huntington's idea was that when the SP obtained the SPCRwy the Alameda Ferry Terminal would be abandoned and all ferry service would be through the SP's Oakland Mole. James Fair and fellow stockholders felt that this would depress the value of the Bonds and make it difficult to sell them at a future date. To prevent this the mortgage included a clause stating that that the SP agreed to maintain all SPCRwy service including ferries at the same level as at the time of execution of the mortgage.

On August 1, 1887 a new Board of Directors of the SPCRY was elected. The Directors were Leland Stanford, C. P. Huntington, Charles Crocker, Charles F. Crocker, Timothy Hopkins, W. V. Huntington, and N. T. Smith. Leland Stanford was elected President and Charles F. Crocker Vice-President. The Board then leased the SPCRwy to the Southern Pacific Company. The SP then continued the Alameda ferry service and commute trains established by the South Pacific Coast Railroad for the next 50 years.

The narrow gauge continued for almost 20 years before the system was completely converted to standard gauge. But during those 20 years the narrow gauge remained largely the same as it was during its independent years. The Timetable changed only slightly, dual gauge appeared in specific locations, the ferry boats served both Alameda and Oakland terminals, line side industries failed or improved, population along the route increased, the Santa Cruz Mountains continued to harass the section crews, the locomotives and rolling stock aged and were renovated as needed, and electricity arrived to light facilities and move street cars. Perhaps the biggest change that occurred was the relocation of the San Francisco freight ferry slip from the ferry building to Lombard Street to allow construction of a new Ferry Building. Then the infrastructure began to show its age. The Newark arcade depot burn in May 1902. Then in November of the same year the original Alameda ferry terminal burned down to be replaced 3 years later with a new terminal.

By 1896 dual gauge track had been installed from the SP San Jose Shops at Lenzen Avenue and Wright's. A dual gauge depot had also been built in Santa Cruz. In 1904 the Southern Pacific began actively working on the conversion of the mainline from narrow to standard gauge by starting to enlarge the tunnels. The plan was to abandon the troublesome mainline between High Street in Alameda and Davis Street in San Leandro. From there a cutoff would be constructed north east to a connection with the SP at Elmhurst. This would eliminate the section of track crossing the San Leandro marshes that was subject to episodes of subsidence. Rather than build dual gauge track on the mainline between Alameda and San Jose a gauge change was scheduled to occur early on a Sunday morning. The date chosen was April 18, 1906. In preparation for the change ballast was dug out to reveal the standard gauge ties that had replaced the narrow gauge ties as maintenance required. Sidings were regauged ahead of the Sunday conversion. Spikes had been added for the outside of the standard gauge. All that remained was to slide the rails out about 10 inches on each side and respike them. A massive crew of men was assembled and then at 5:12 am a massive earthquake hit Marin County plunging the San Francisco Area into confusion, massive damage, and fire. A month later the rails were slid into place and the mainline from Oakland to Wright's was standard gauged.

In the Santa Cruz mountains things were going a bit slower. The tunnels were being widened, the concrete arch near Tunnel No. 6 was built, and standard gauge ties were in place. The earthquake added more problems including landslides and tunnel damage. Finally in May 1909 the SPCRwy was standard gauge. However, the South Pacific Coast Railway carried on as a corporation until 1937 in order to continue paying the interest and principal of the 1887 Bonds.

Reference Material Available Online

Rosters

South Pacific Coast Railway Locomotive Roster compiled by John F. Hall

South Pacific Coast Railway Ferryboat Roster compiled by John F. Hall

Tunnels of the South Pacific Coast Railway 1887-1909 compiled by John F. Hall

Trackage

South Pacific Coast Track Status Timeline by John F. Hall.

A timeline of track life, including: construction, service dates and gauge changes.

The South Pacific Coast Railroad’s Freight Ferry Service, The Hotbox, September/October 2021

The Sinks, The Hotbox, November/December 2021

South Pacific Coast Railroad Narrow Gauge/Standard Gauge Interchanges, The Hotbox, November/December 2022

Take a Walk Around the SPC Newark Arcade Depot in 3D. by John Hall

Photographs

South Pacific Coast Railway Photographs

Images collected from private collections, libraries and historical societies.

Maps

The South Pacific Coast Railroad ca. 1886 for Google Earth by John Hall

Color Cards

Color swatches using PMS color representing the paint layers found on the carbody.

Color Card: South Pacific Coast - Coach #39 by Andrew Brandon

Color Card: South Pacific Coast - Caboose #47 by Andrew Brandon

Color Card: South Pacific Coast - Coach #42 circa 1904. by Andrew Brandon.

Organizations

Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources.

Dedicated to the preservation of equipment built by the Carter Brothers and other car builders of the west coast.

Further Reading

MacGregor, Bruce A., South Pacific Coast, Howell-North 1868

MacGregor, Bruce A., Narrow Gauge Portrait South Pacific Coast, Glenwood 1975

MacGregor and Truesdale, A Centennial South Pacific Coast, Pruett 1982

MacGregor, Bruce A., The Birth of California Narrow Gauge, Stanford 2003

MacGregor, Bruce, The Centennial History of Newark, Newark Days 1876

Holmes, Norman W., Prune Country Railroading, Shade Tree 1985

Hamman, Rick, California Central Coast Railways, Pruett 1980

Shaw, Fisher, Highland, Oil Lamps and Iron Ponies, Bay Books 1949

Ford, Robert S., Red Trains in the East Bay, Interurban 1977

McCaleb, Charles S., Surf, Sand & Streetcars, Interurban 1977

Harlan, George H., Ferryboats, Howell-North 1967

Bruntz, George G., History of Los Gatos, Valley 1971

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References

California / Common Carrier / South Pacific Coast Railway