In the 19th
century there were two quite different rail routes from San Francisco to Santa
Cruz that were used by visitors journeying to Big Trees Grove.
This 1883 account described the original rail route operated by Southern Pacific.
This 1883 account described the original rail route operated by Southern Pacific.
 |
| Southern Pacific Railroad map, 1875 - Library of Congress |
"… [We] took the ten
o’clock train of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Upon this trip we had an
experience of climate changes in short distances never equaled in our
experience. At San Francisco our overcoats were comfortable, when twenty miles
away unbearable … In fact one of the hottest places I ever experienced was
Gilroy, where we arrived about one o’clock and found the mercury at 106
degrees. It was a hot, dusty and very disagreeable ride, and little to be seen
except as leaving San Francisco the truck farms terraced up the hill sides of
the valleys … We pass San Jose and dine at Gilroy. Soon after at Pajaro we
leave our parlor car and take the narrow gauge branch for Santa Cruz. In the
one we were roasted, and before we have traveled ten miles on the other towards
the Pacific we have our overcoats on and the windows down …"
Once in Santa Cruz such tour groups continued over the narrow-gauge train up San Lorenzo Canyon to Felton. "In spite of it all it was such a beautiful ride and of such thrilling interest that no one regretted it. At last we wind down into the grove, seven miles from our starting place. We all form ideas of these things, but one must see them to appreciate their greatness, their grandeur and sublimity. We dismount and go into and around among these monarchs of the forest."*
"Allow me here to mention we made a mistake in our route. Had we taken the Southern Pacific Coast Railroad (narrow gauge) we would have avoided the dust and heat of the inland route and saved forty miles …"
The South Pacific Coast Railroad completed a shorter route through and partially under the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1880. The trip from San Francisco to Big Trees Grove was described in the 1883 guide, Beauties of California.
"Crossing the bay of San Francisco in one of their magnificent ferry-boats to Alameda Point, where you take the cars of the South Pacific Coast Railroad; thence passing through the suburban residence town of Alameda, and on through the pleasant bay-coast towns of Newark, Centerville, Alvarado, Santa Clara to San Jose, the garden city of California, and then on through the Santa Clara Valley, -- filled for ten miles with fruit orchards, vineyards and groves of live oaks, -- you reach the picturesque mountain town of Los Gatos ... After a fine view of the valley the train immediately plunges into the wild and romantic Santa Cruz mountains, winding its way through canons and romantic gorges of wonderful beauty, through huge forests of giant trees, and along romantic mountain roads to the Big Trees, at Felton ..."
One passenger aboard this route concurred, declaring "I challenge any other route in [the] world to produce a more picturesque and grander scenery than is here found. To describe all its beauty would task the most gifted pen. To all tourists who visit this Coast, I would say that to return without making this trip is to leave the best unseen ... Make this trip I say and if you do not endorse all I have said then, Messrs. Editors, give my name and address and I will willingly refund all expenses ..."
Little wonder why the mountain route constructed by the South Pacific Coast Railroad became far more popular for tourists traveling to Big Trees Grove.
Once in Santa Cruz such tour groups continued over the narrow-gauge train up San Lorenzo Canyon to Felton. "In spite of it all it was such a beautiful ride and of such thrilling interest that no one regretted it. At last we wind down into the grove, seven miles from our starting place. We all form ideas of these things, but one must see them to appreciate their greatness, their grandeur and sublimity. We dismount and go into and around among these monarchs of the forest."*
"Allow me here to mention we made a mistake in our route. Had we taken the Southern Pacific Coast Railroad (narrow gauge) we would have avoided the dust and heat of the inland route and saved forty miles …"
 |
| South Pacific Coast Railroad map from Beauties of California, 1883 |
The South Pacific Coast Railroad completed a shorter route through and partially under the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1880. The trip from San Francisco to Big Trees Grove was described in the 1883 guide, Beauties of California.
"Crossing the bay of San Francisco in one of their magnificent ferry-boats to Alameda Point, where you take the cars of the South Pacific Coast Railroad; thence passing through the suburban residence town of Alameda, and on through the pleasant bay-coast towns of Newark, Centerville, Alvarado, Santa Clara to San Jose, the garden city of California, and then on through the Santa Clara Valley, -- filled for ten miles with fruit orchards, vineyards and groves of live oaks, -- you reach the picturesque mountain town of Los Gatos ... After a fine view of the valley the train immediately plunges into the wild and romantic Santa Cruz mountains, winding its way through canons and romantic gorges of wonderful beauty, through huge forests of giant trees, and along romantic mountain roads to the Big Trees, at Felton ..."
One passenger aboard this route concurred, declaring "I challenge any other route in [the] world to produce a more picturesque and grander scenery than is here found. To describe all its beauty would task the most gifted pen. To all tourists who visit this Coast, I would say that to return without making this trip is to leave the best unseen ... Make this trip I say and if you do not endorse all I have said then, Messrs. Editors, give my name and address and I will willingly refund all expenses ..."
Little wonder why the mountain route constructed by the South Pacific Coast Railroad became far more popular for tourists traveling to Big Trees Grove.
* After their unpleasant rail journey, this particular tour group chose to ride up from Santa Cruz to Big Trees Grove by horse drawn carriage.
Note: In 1887, the South Pacific Coast Railroad route came under the control of Southern Pacific.
Sources: “From
Philadelphia to San Francisco,” Sunbury Weekly News
[Sunbury, Pennsylvania], November 23, 1883; “To Santa Cruz – An Enjoyable Trip over the South
Pacific Coast Railroad,” Daily Alta California, June 28, 1882; Beauties of California : Including Big Trees, Yosemite
Valley, Geysers, Lake Tahoe, Donner Lake, S.F. '49 & '83, etc.,
by N. W. Griswold, 1883.
.
Great quotes! I haven't seen several of these. I always love how "picturesque" the route through the Santa Cruz Mountains was considered by everybody.
ReplyDeleteA few notes, though: the Santa Cruz Railroad built the route between Watsonville and Santa Cruz in 1874-6 and then went bankrupt in 1881. It was then sold at auction by Southern Pacific. Meanwhile, the South Pacific Coast Railroad ran all the way to Santa Cruz, so everything between Santa Cruz and Big Trees was South Pacific Coast (well, at least after 1879, when the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad was bought by the South Pacific Coast). Lastly, although its more of a legal nuance, the South Pacific Coast Railway (the corporate name for the company from 1887) was leased to Southern Pacific in 1887 but was not purchased until 1937. That's a minor point, though, since it was a wholly-owned subsidiary throughout that fifty years.