South Pacific Coast Railroad

The South Pacific Coast Railroad was a 3 ft (914 mm) gauge narrow gauge steam railroad running between Santa Cruz, California and Alameda, with a ferry connection in Alameda to San Francisco.

In 1887, the line was acquired by the Southern Pacific and the gauge standardized. In later years, the segment running between San Jose and Santa Cruz was used by SP's "Suntan Special" which came down the San Francisco Peninsula and took passengers right to the beach and boardwalk in Santa Cruz. The tracks through the Santa Cruz Mountains suffered major damage during storms in the 1940s and were eventually abandoned.

Surviving Trackage

• The north-south line from Oakland, California to San Jose, California is operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. Between Newark, California and San Jose it is used by Amtrak's Capitol Corridor trains and the Altamont Commuter Express.
• The line running southwest from San Jose towards the Santa Cruz mountains still exists as far as Vasona Junction, and is operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. The right of way is shared with a newly (2006) opened light rail line of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority as far as Campbell, California.
• The western end of the Santa Cruz mountain crossing, from Felton, California to Santa Cruz, California is now the Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway, primarily a tourist operation.

See also

• Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources