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^[1] 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.^[2] 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. The new consolidation was debt free. To pay for the transfer to the new owners the South Pacific Coast Railway, right-of-way, rolling stock, track, buildings, etc., was mortgaged for $5,500,000. The mortgage was guaranteed by the Southern Pacific Company. The mortgage company, The Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. of New York, then issued Bonds to the stock holders of the SPCRY. Finally the stock holders then transferred their shares to Leland Stanford, C. P. Huntington, and Charles Crocker.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5] The Board then leased the SPCRY 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.

In 1904 the Southern Pacific began actively working on the conversion from narrow to standard gauge with work beginning to enlarge the tunnels. The plan was to sever the troublesome mainline between High Street, 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.