South Pacific Coast Railroad

The South Pacific Coast Railroad was incorporated on March 20 1876.<ref>1 Proffatt, John; The Law of Private Corporatioins, 1876, pages 208-210 ,/ref> It operated until May XX, 1887 when it and it's various leased lines were consolidated into the South Pacific Coast Railway. The SPCRy stock was sold and transferred to the Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker and Collis Huntington on July 1, 1887. These gentlemen then leased it to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Information on this page is for the 1876-1887 railroad. For information about the South Pacific Coast Railway 1887-1937 go here.

Brief Description

A trip on the South Pacific Coast Railroad began in San Francisco where two ferry slips on the south side of the ferry building at the foot of Market Street served the railroad. One slip was for passenger travel and the other was for freight. Three ferryboats, the Newark, Bay City, and Garden City operated between the San Francisco Ferry building and Alameda. Between 1877 and 1884 the Alameda ferry terminal was at Alameda Point. In March 1884 a new passenger terminal opened 2.75 miles out in the Bay. Freight continued to be handled at the Alameda Point freight ferry slip. trestle to Alameda and Oakland; then down the east side of San Francisco Bay to San Jose passing the communities of Alvarado, Newark, Alviso, and Santa Clara. From San Jose the railroad began its trek over the Santa Cruz Mountains with a gentle grade up Los Gatos Creek passing Campbell's and Los Gatos before tackling the steeper grade to Wright's. At Wright's the railroad passed through a 6,157 foot tunnel to Highland and through a 5,793 foot tunnel to Glenwood. Then traversing a short tunnel came out on Zayante creek where it traveled downgrade to Felton. Crossing the San Lorenzo River at Big Trees it joined the Santa Cruz and Felton Railroad for the trip down the narrow canyon to Santa Cruz.

Corporate History

SPCRR B&CRR OTRR SC&FRR SF&CRRR A&SJRR (survey only) F&PRR ABRR

SPCRwy

The Sale to the Southern Pacific

Stations and Line Side Industry

Operation

Locomotives

Rolling Stock

Ferryboats

Four years in construction, due to the long tunnels, the railroad opened to through service on May 15, 1880. From the first the passengers, freight, and mail provided significant profits for the railroad's investors. Powered by Baldwin locomotives with railcars from Carter, Jackson and Sharp, and others, the 98.4 mile railroad served its area well moving people and products such as lumber, lime, paper, sugar, bricks, oil, beer, gravel, and explosives. Branch lines were constructed to Centerville, Boulder Creek, New Almaden, and Berkeley with number short spurs serving various industries.

A fleet of ferryboats moved passengers from San Francisco to the trains at Alameda including a daily commuter service between Alameda/Oakland and San Francisco with two boats crossing the bay every 30 minutes; one in each direction. Local commuter trains met each boat.

In July 1887 the Southern Pacific assumed control of the South Pacific Coast and continued the narrow gauge service for 15 more years. SP began to standard gauge the railroad by adding a third rail while continuing to operate narrow gauge trains. This first started in 1893 when the Santa Cruz Union depot was constructed using dual gauge track. In 1895 the segment between San Jose and Los Gatos was converted, followed by the San Jose engine facility at Lenzen Avenue in 1899. In 1902 the streets of Alameda received dual gauge track, followed by the segment between Los Gatos and Wrights in 1904. Between 1904 and 1906 the remainder of the line was converted only to be interrupted by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The collapse of the tunnels in the Santa Cruz Mountains delayed the opening of the standard gauge line until May 29, 1909 when the first through standard gauge train reached Santa Cruz from Oakland.

Portions of the original alignment are still in use today. The Union Pacific operates the sections of track from San Leandro to San Jose and San Jose to Vasona Junction near Campbell. The Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific Railway operates along the 1875 segment of the line from Felton to Santa Cruz.