Bay & Coast Railroad
California / Common Carrier / South Pacific Coast Railroad
History
By John F. Hall
The 36 inch gauge Bay & Coast Railroad was incorporated on May 1, 1877. The Directors were: Alfred E. Davis, President and Treasurer, 996 shares; Joseph Clark, Vice-President and an attorney, 1 share; B. B. Minor, Secretary, 1 share; Daniel Cook, capitalist and brother of Seth Cook, 1 share; J. C. Tucker, Alameda Physician, 1 share.[1] The railroad was leased to and operated by the South Pacific Coast Railroad until May 21, 1887 when it was consolidated into the South Pacific Coast Railway.[2]
The Bay and Coast Railroad was the 26.1 mile northerly extension of the South Pacific Coast Railroad from Newark, California to the ferry terminal at Alameda Point on San Antonio Creek, today's Oakland/Alameda estuary. In April 1877 the Trustees of the Town of Alameda approved a franchise for a steam railroad through the Town of Alameda.[3] The application for the franchise was requested by Dr. J. C. Tucker, a local physician. It was a practice of A. E. Davis to have a prominent citizen request the franchise.
Surveys, property acquisition, and construction began in May at Newark and proceeded north.[4] The route up the east edge of San Francisco Bay passed through farm land then the mud flats of Bay Farm Island, across San Leandro Bay and onto the Alameda peninsula. By June piles were being driven for the 3,400 foot long San Leandro Bay Drawbridge.[5] The route through Alameda was along Encinal and Central Avenues. Injunctions in July and September slowed down the construction in Alameda while the issues went through the Courts.[6][7] On December 2, 1877 A. E. Davis invited about 100 guests to take an excursion on the newly opened road from Park Street Station Alameda to Los Gatos. The remainder of the Alameda track and the ferry terminal were still under construction.[8]
A ferry terminal and locomotive roundhouse were located at Alameda Point far out on the Alameda mudflats. Tracks were first built on trestles and later filled in with mud dredged out of the estuary. Two ferry slips were built. The first for passenger service and the second for carrying freight cars to San Francisco. The passenger slip finished in May 1878 included passenger waiting rooms and an arcade for all weather loading of the passenger trains. On June 2, 1878 the inauguration of passenger ferry service between San Francisco and Alameda was celebrated by a grand excursion from San Francisco to Los Gatos. At the same time another train left Los Gatos for San Francisco. Both trains carried flat cars with seats to augment the fleet of passenger cars.[9] With the completion of the tunnels through the Santa Cruz mountains the South Pacific Coast Railroad, and its leased lines of the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad and the Bay & Coast Railroad, began operating through trains on May 15, 1880[10]
The freight ferry slip was finished in September 1880.[11] However a freight ferry slip was still needed in San Francisco. That slip and an adjoining wharf was located on the south side of the Ferry House. It was completed December 1880 with and large wharf and yard for freight cars.[12]Prior to the completion of the freight slips freight destined for San Francisco had to be transferred to wagons and carried on the passenger ferries. In addition to SPC freight, the ferryboats carried wagons and carriages for those destined between Alameda and San Francisco. Wheeled vehicles were carried on the main deck and passengers took advantage of a comfortable lounge on the second deck. The passenger ferries were the Newark and the Bay City. The freight boat Garden City only had one deck and was unpopular when it had to substitute for a passenger ferry laid up for repairs.
In May 1881 the Oakland Township Railroad opened connecting the Bay & Coast Railroad to downtown Oakland.[13] then in March 1884 the San Francisco & Colorado River Railroad opened moving the passenger ferry slip 2.5 miles out into San Francisco Bay and shaving 15 minutes of the travel time.[14]
Prior to the opening of the San Francisco & Colorado River Railroad, Alameda Point had a passenger ferry slip and a freight ferry slip. Also included was a wharf for ocean going ships. Ships would dock at the wharf bringing and taking cargo worldwide. Examples include: coal imported from the British Isles;[15] paper pulp imported from Europe;[16][17] coconuts imported from the "South Sea Islands";[18] wheat exported to Australia;[19] and Carter Bros. rolling stock exported up and down the Pacific Coast.[20]
Industry served by the B&C included the; Pacific Coast Oil Company in Alameda; Standard Sugar Company in Alvarado; and Carter Bros. Builders in Newark. Farmers and ranchers along the line shipped hay, vegetables, wine, cattle, etc.[21]
Within the Town of Alameda the railroad provided a local commute service along dual tracks between Alameda Point and High Street.
Company hotels were established along the line including the: Bay View House at Alameda Point, Park Hotel at Park St. Alameda; Riverside Hotel at Alvarado, and Central Hotel at Newark.
There were two locations along the route that were frequent maintenance problems. The first was the floodplain of Alameda Creek between Newark and Hall's. When heavy winter rains caused Alameda Creek to overflow. Over a mile of track would be submerged with just the tops of the rails showing. Sometimes the flow was strong enough to wash out the roadbed.[22] The second maintenance problem was the sinks. There were two spots in the mudflats of Bay Farm Island were there seemed to be bottomless pits. Gravel, dirt and piles were placed into these spots. The roadbed would be stable for a while then all of the sudden the ground would sink and need to be filled again. Locomotives would derail at this location, once with fatal results.[23] Even today, with massive marsh reclamation and solid ground all around them, these two locations are still wet spots.
References
- ↑ Oakland Daily Evening Tribune August 17, 1877, page 3
- ↑ Daily Alta California, May 26, 1887, page 6
- ↑ Oakland Daily Evening Tribune April 25, 1877, page 2
- ↑ Oakland Daily Evening Tribune May 26, 1877, page 1
- ↑ Oakland Daily Evening Tribune July 10, 1887, page 3
- ↑ Oakland Daily Evening Tribune July 17, 1887, page 3
- ↑ Daily Alta California September 19, 1877, page 1
- ↑ Oakland Daily Evening Tribune December 3, 1877, page 3
- ↑ Daily Alta California June 3, 1878, page 2
- ↑ Daily Alta California May 15, 1880, page 1
- ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel July 31, 1880, page 3
- ↑ Alameda Argus December 23, 1880, page 3
- ↑ Oakland Daily Evening Tribune May 27, 1881, page 5
- ↑ Daily Alta California March 15, 1884, page 1
- ↑ Daily Alta California June 14, 1881, page 1
- ↑ San Francisco Call June 9, 1892, page 8
- ↑ 'Report on the Internal Commerce of the United States for the year 1890, Treasury Department, Washington, 1891, pages 419-420.
- ↑ Daily Alta California May 12, 1881, page 1
- ↑ Oakland Daily Evening Tribune February 8, 1883, page 3
- ↑ Alameda Semi Weekly Argus February 18, 1882, page 3
- ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel November 5, 1881, page 3
- ↑ Oakland Daily Evening Tribune April 22, 1880, page 3
- ↑ Oakland Daily Evening Tribune September 12, 1882, page 3