BEAUTIES OF CALIFORNIA

In 1880 the South Pacific Coast Railroad (S.P.C.R.R.) finally established a route through the Santa Cruz Mountains. The new railway ran from the Municipal Port of Oakland and traveled down the East Bay through San Jose. 

Getting to Santa Cruz meant having to go under portions of the daunting Santa Cruz Mountains. Construction of the route was a tremendous engineering feat. Traversing the Santa Cruz Mountains required the building of six tunnels. The route, taken over by Southern Pacific, operated until 1940 when a landslide blocked the tracks. The railroad company decided it was not worth it to repair their mountain route. And besides, Highway 17 was recently completed over the hill and automobile travel seemed to be the way of the future. 

South Pacific Coast Railroad advertisement from Beauties of California, 1883

The April 24, 1883 Los Angeles Herald touted Santa Cruz and Big Trees Grove as well as the speed and convenience of the mountain route.

“The South Pacific Coast Railroad (narrow gauge) Company commence on Sunday, April 22d, to run the popular fast $3 excursions to Big Trees and Santa Cruz at the comfortable hour of 8:30 A.M. and every Sunday thereafter. This train stops only at Santa Clara and San Jose and make the fast time of three hours and forty minutes to Santa Cruz, giving over four hours at the beach, five hours at Big Trees or two hours at each place and returning makes San Francisco at 8:30 P.M. sharp.”

Learn more about the South Pacific Coast Railroad and Big Tree Station on the Santa Cruz Trains website.

Source: Beauties of California: Including Big Trees, Yosemite Valley, Geysers, Lake Tahoe, Donner Lake, S.F. ’49 & ’83, etc. San Francisco, by N.W. Griswold, 1883.