SOUTH PACIFIC COAST RAILWAY
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Snapshot History: * There are several books written concerning the original company first begun in 1874. Suffice it to say that by 1886 it had grown to 93 miles in length, had connected the San Francisco Bay Area to the Monterey Bay Area via a narrow guage line, and had constructed two tunnels over a mile long through the Santa Cruz Mountains to do it. The line was 42 miles shorter than the Southern Pacific and definate competition. * The South Pacific Coast Railroad was purchased by the Southern Pacific Company in late 1886 in a private transaction. Officially, The South Pacific Coast Railway was incorporated on July 6, 1887 to take over the various interests of the former company and make it a wholey owned Southern Pacific Subsidiary. It payed $6,000,000 to the previous owners who took back a four-percent, 50-year, note for $5,500,000. The note was finally paid off in 1937 and the South Pacific Coast name ceased to exist. References: 1. South Pacific Coast - Bruce A. MacGregor, Howell-North, 1968. 2. Narrow Guage Portrait - Bruce A. MacGregor, Glenwood Press, 1975 3. South Pacific Coast Revisited - Bruce A. MacGregor 4. California Central Coast Railways - Rick Hamman, Pruett Publishing, 1980
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SPC - San Lorenzo River Bridge 1880's
Image, South Pacific Coast Big Trees Trestle Order No. BTSPCBI As if from an airplane, this 1880's view of the 826 ft. wooden trestle across the San Lorenzo River and through the Big Trees Grove is stunning in the main. This image is made from a scan of the original glass plate print. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC 4-4-0 #1 Big Trees
Image, South Pacific Coast #1 Big Trees, 1886 Order No. SPCBT01I Photo, South Pacific Coast #1 Big Trees, 1886 Order No. SPCBT01P Of all the famous narrow gauge shots in the public domain today, perhaps the one that says South Pacific Coast more so than any other is this pristine view. Stopped on the long 826 ft. San Lorenzo River Trestle we find number "1" and its five car train bound for Santa Cruz. Note how everyone is posing as there were long exposures in those days. Everyone knows the photographer is out there at the edge of the clearing, trying to get it all in. The fireman is in the gangway with the engineer next to him at the cab window. The baggageman is in the doorway. People can be seen all along the train leaning out the windows. See the well dressed gentleman on the vestibule of the parlor car "Santa Cruz." How about the conductor (Probably Daisy Hollenbeck) way back in the train. Yes! This truly was narrow gauge railroading, South Pacific Coast style!!! Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] 7" by 11" Photo, Price - $ 6.75 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC 4-4-0 #3, Action!
Image, an early SPC mixed is captured at Coon Gulch Insufficient for printing, for reference only! Image, South Pacific Coast N.G. 4-4-0 Loco #3 action! Note: This view is slightly out of focus due to the slowness of the 1890's photographic negative. Yet, it is a not often captured image of action! In this outstanding view South Pacific Coast 4-4-0 Locomotive #3 provides all the needed power as it moves its train down Chestnut St. in Santa Cruz. Note three-rail track in foreground. Both narrow gauge S.P.C. and standard gauge Southern Pacific shared the street. --------------------SPC 4-4-0 #5
Photo, South Pacific Coast #5 Santa Cruz 1902 Order No. SPC05P In this great shot the crew of the afternoon passenger over the Santa Cruz Mountains waits to depart for San Jose California and beyond. Left to right: Conductor Daisy Hollenbeck, Engineer Fred Reynolds, Baggageman Brick Roy and an unnamed fireman. Shopping Cart 7" by 11" Photo, Price - $ 6.75 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC - 4-4-0 #5 "view A"
Image, South Pacific Coast 4-4-0 N.G. loco #5 Order No. SPC05AI South Pacific Coast 4-4-0 #5 waits with train at Santa Cruz, about to leave for Los Gatos, San Jose and Alameda. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC 4-4-0 #6
Image, South Pacific Coast #6, Boulder Creek Order No. SPCBC001I Photo, South Pacific Coast #6, Boulder Creek Order No. SPCBC001P "Once upon a time in the West!" By Andrews of Santa Cruz, Cal. It is a typical 1895 afternoon in the little mountain town of Boulder Creek, California. South Pacific Coast narrow-gauge 4-4-0 locomotive #6 and its two-car train is about to leave for Brookdale, Ben Lomond, Felton, Rincon and Santa Cruz. But first, all must have their photo taken for posterity! In the locomotive cab, engineer Bill Dow. Station agent Joseph Aram, below the tender, rests the Wells Fargo & Co. box against his foot. Baggageman Brick Roy stands in the doorway of the combine. Conductor Daisy Hollenbeck leans against the depot platform. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] 7" by 11" Photo, Price - $ 6.75 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC - 4-4-0 #9 Wright's
Image, South Pacific Coast N.G. 4-4-0 loco #9,Wrights Order No. SPC09I Image, South Pacific Coast N.G. 4-4-0 loco #9,Wrights - 11" X 14" Order No. SPC09NI The crew poses in front of South Pacific Coast 4-4-0 locomotive #9 on train at Wrights, California. Probably around 1893 as this was a time of much rebuilding. Train is about ready to return to San Jose, and perhaps beyond. Built: 1880 Cylinders: 14" X 18" Drivers: 42" Boiler Pressure: 130 lbs. Weight: 52,000 lbs. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] 11" by 17" Image, Price - $8.50 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC - 2-6-0 #12
Image, South Pacific Coast 2-6-0 N.G. loco #12 Order No. SPC12I South Pacific Coast 2-6-0 narrow gauge steam locomotive #12 is at rest next to a tool shed at the Newark Shops. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC 2-8-0 #13
Image, South Pacific Coast 3-ft. 2-8-0 #13 Order No. SPC13I Image, South Pacific Coast 3-ft. 2-8-0 #13 11" X 17" Order No. SPC13NI This new print, made from the 1935 5" X 7" copy negative of the first generation glass plate image is a "keeper!" that someone would buy it and display it in their home. It is another one of those classic images from a time when "things was diff'rent!" Here, South Pacific Coast 2-8-0 narrow gauge locomotive #13 poses in early splender with all the railroad boys that made the Boulder Creek turn-of- the-century mountain branch so famous. They are, left to right: Joe Aram (station agent), Mr. Wiley, Charlie Glass (fireman and later engineer), Mr. Larsen (car repairman); in the cab gangway, Fred Reynolds (fireman, and later, engineer); in cab window, Bill Dow (senior engineer); on the running board, Charlie Chase (local lumbermill operator), Sam McKean (brakeman); on piston, Henry Amaya (conductor). Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] 11" by 17" Image, Price - $8.50 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC - 2-8-0 #13 at San Jose
Image, South Pacific Coast 2-8-0 Loco #13, San Jose Order No. SPC13BI South Pacific Coast 2-8-0 locomotive #13 poses with crew underneath the eves of the San Jose covered depot. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC 4-4-0 #15
Image, South Pacific Coast N.G. 4-4-0 locomotive #15 Insufficient for printing, for reference only! Boulder Creek, California, South Pacific Coast engine house: Narrow guage 4-4-0 loco #15 is captured on the turntable. --------------------SPC 4-4-0 #15 "view A"
Image, South Pacific Coast N.G. 4-4-0 locomotive #15 Insufficient for printing, for reference only! South Pacific Coast narrow gauge 4-4-0 steam locomotive #15 poses with crew members and others in Los Gatos, California. --------------------SPC 4-4-0 #16
Photo, South Pacific Coast #16 at Santa Cruz Order No. SPC16P Bonanza Kings James Fair and James Flood financed a great adventure called the South Pacific Coast Railway back during the turn-of-the-century. It was to run from the silver mines of Colorado to the Pacific Ocean. By 1880 when the 80 mile narrow gauge line was first opened from Santa Cruz on Monterey Bay to Oakland and ferry connections to San Francisco, plans had changed. Still this brave little railroad did its job and brought much commerce and tourism to an otherwise isolated area.Shown here was engine #16 about to move onto the turntable at Santa Cruz after moving out of its stall in the enginehouse. Shopping Cart 7" by 11" Photo, Price - $ 6.75 [Add To Cart] --------------------
SPC 4-4-0 #16 "View A"
Image, South Pacific Coast 4-4-0 #16/Pass Order No. SPC16AI It is a foggy, overcast day down in the Santa Cruz Yards as the Oakland bound South Pacific Coast passenger train is about to leave. Note no Union Depot which suggests it is previous to 1893. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC 4-4-0 #16 on Roosevelt train at Big Trees
Image, South Pacific Coast 4-4-0 #16/T.Roosevelt train Order No. SPC16RI Image, South Pacific Coast 4-4-0 #16/T. Roosevelt May 11, 1903: The crew poses in front of South Pacific Coast Loco #16 on a very special train and day at Big Trees. Presdident Theodore Roosevelt has come on this special train to see the Big Trees and to have one named after him. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC - 4-6-0 #19
Image, South Pacific Coast 4-6-0 N.G. Loco #19 Order No. SPC19I South Pacific Coast 4-6-0 locomotive #19, steam up, poses with crew. Built: 1886 Cylinders: 16" X 20" Drivers: 48" Boiler Pressure: 130 lbs. Weight: 67,170 lbs. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC 4-6-0 #20
Image, South Pacific Coast 4-6-0 N.G. Loco #20 Order No. SPC20I Image, South Pacific Coast 4-6-0 N.G. Loco #20 11" x 17" Order No. SPC20NI Said to be the largest of all the South Pacific Coast locomotives, 4-6-0 #20 poses at the end of the turntable in Boulder Creek, California. Built: 1887 Cylinders: 16" X 20" Drivers: 48" Boiler Pressure: 130 lbs. Weight: 72,505 lbs. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] 11" by 17" Image, Price - $8.50 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC - 4-6-0 #21
Image, South Pacific Coast 4-6-0 N.G. Loco #21 Order No. SPC21AI (Note: This is a poor print because of the damaged background. Yet, the locomotive is very sharp. Excellent record shot! South Pacific Coast heavy 4-6-0 N.G. Loco #21 and the "Railroad Boys" are captured at Los Gatos, California. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC 4-6-0 #23 "View A"
Photo, South Pacific Coast 4-6-0 #23, 1905 Order No. SPC23AP South Pacific Coast narrow gauge 4-6-0 locomotive #23 poses with company crew members and other employees in the Santa Cruz, California railroad yard. Note the three-rail track for both Southern Pacific broad gauge and SPC narrow gauge. Shopping Cart 7" by 11" Photo, Price - $ 6.75 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC - 2-6-0 #25
Image, South Pacific Coast 2-6-0 loco #25, San Jose Order No. SPC25I South Pacific Coast 2-6-0 narrow gauge #25 sits at the San Jose, California Roundhouse. Originally built by the New York Locomotive Works in 1882 for the Portland and Willamette Valley as No. 3. Cylinders: 16" X 20" Drivers: 48" Weight: 65,600 lbs. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC Boulder Creek Yard
Image, South Pacific Coast Boulder Creek Yard, 1890 Order No. SPCBCYDI A lone man sits on top of South Pacific Coast boxcar #302 in the yard at Boulder Creek, California, circa 1890. Note the various split stuff around the yard. The photo came from Doug Sarmento whose father owned a local bar at the time. One of the houses belonged to him where Doug later grew up. Perhaps it is Sunday as no activity is going on. Likewise, since the photograph came from the family and their house was close by, Old man Sarmento probably took a chair from his own house and is sitting on the boxcar for the view. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------SPC Inspiration Point
Image, an early SPC mixed is captured at Coon Gulch Insufficient for printing, for reference only! Judging from the wood in the tender, light rails, and small freight and combine cars this photograph, taken at Coon Gulch, later-Little Switzerland, later-the concrete arch, is very early in the canyon life of the South Pacific Coast. --------------------Inspiration Point "view A"
Image, Early South Pacific Coast train in SL canyon Insufficient for printing, for reference only! In this spectacular early view we see a South Pacific Coast Santa Cruz bound 5-car train making its way along the granite ledge above the San Lorenzo River at Inspiration Point. Circa 1880 - 1906 --------------------SPC - Los Gatos
Image, S.P.C. Ry. Los Gatos, California, 1900 Order No. SPCLOS-GI Though this image has flaws, it stands as an excellent record of what life was like around 1900 down at the Los Gatos, California depot when the South Pacific Coast narrow gauge train arrived from Santa Cruz. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------
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