Tunnels of the South Pacific Coast Railroad 1878-1887

From PacificNG

Compiled by John F. Hall

The 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.

Tunnels of the South Pacific Coast Railroad 1878-1887
No. Location Built By Year Open Original Length[1] Note
none 1 mile south of Los Gatos SPCRR 1878 185 feet Collapsed February 1878 and became a cut.[2]
1 1.4 miles south of Los Gatos SPCRR 1878 191 feet
2 Between Wright's and Highland SPCRR March 1880[1] 6,157 feet Multiple deadly explosions during construction due to natural gas deposits.[3][4]
3 Between Highland and Glenwood SPCRR October 1879[5] 5,793 feet
4 South of Clem's SPCRR December 1878[6] 913 feet 3 men killed during construction.[7][8]
5 0.5 miles north of Doughtery's SPCRR February 1879[9] 250 feet
6 1 mile south of Big Trees SPCRR December 1879[10] 338 feet
none 0.25 miles south of Rincon SC&FRR August 1875[11] 125 feet Abandoned October 1879
7 0.25 miles south of Rincon SPCRR October 1879[12] 282 feet Built slightly to the west and below the SC&FRR tunnel reducing the curvature and grade and increasing the height.[13]
8 Misson Hill, Santa Cruz SC&FRR October 1876[14] 918 feet
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Santa Cruz Sentinel March 27, 1880, page 2
  2. ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel February 23, 1878, page 2
  3. ↑ Daily Alta California February 14, 1879, page 1
  4. ↑ Daily Alta California, November 19, 1879, page 1
  5. ↑ Oakland Daily Evening Tribune October 11, 1879, page 2
  6. ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel December 28, 1878, page 3
  7. ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, September 28, 1878, page 2
  8. ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, August 14, 1878, page 3
  9. ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel February 22, 1879, page 3
  10. ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel December 27, 1879, page 3
  11. ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel August 21, 1879, page 3
  12. ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel October 4, 1879, page 3
  13. ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel July 26, 1879, page 3
  14. ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel October 7, 1876, page 3


California / Common Carrier / South Pacific Coast Railroad

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