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Though the rail stop was officially known as Big Trees, most accounts of the day referred to it as
Big Tree Station.
The Santa Cruz Trains website provides a detailed overview of railroad construction and operation throughout the Santa Cruz region. Their website not only has a detailed history of the railroad stop at the Big Trees, it also provides a nice history of the resorts at Curiosities: Big Trees
The first railroad to reach Big Trees Grove was the Santa Cruz & Felton (S.C.&F.R.R.). The grand opening of the S.C.&F.R.R. took place on October 13, 1875. A second rail route arrived in May 1880 when the South Pacific Coast Railroad (S.P.C.R.R.) linked Santa Cruz to Oakland. Before construction of the S.P.C.R.R. the only rail access to Santa Cruz was a Southern Pacific route through Gilroy. Most visitors preferred the beautiful mountain scenery, and 40 miles shorter, S.P.C.R.R. line which described Santa Cruz as the "Switzerland of America!" In 1887 Southern Pacific took over the mountain route to Santa Cruz. In 1940 when heavy rains brought on landslides Southern Pacific decided to abandon the mountain rail route, thus bringing to a close a colorful chapter of Big Trees Grove and Santa Cruz history.
Thanks for the link! You may also be interested in the article I did on the resort's history, although it's obviously not as thorough as your book or blog, but it still has some fun photos and info: Curiosities: Big Trees (https://www.santacruztrains.com/2018/02/curiosities-big-trees.html). Cheers!
ReplyDeleteYes, I have seen posting of Mt. Hermon train station somewhere, very likely from one of Derek Whaley's local trains stories. The current 2021 Mt. Hermon "train station" is located across Granham Hill Rd. from the once upon a time San Lorenzo Lumbar Yard in today's "Redwood camp" on the lower section of the Mt. Hermon Christian Conference Center's properties underneath that "overpass-section" on Conference Rd. , the main road to enter and exit the camp ground since the section between Conference Rd. and Mt. Hermon Rd. out of Scotts Valley, was still blocked by the massive 1989 landslide from the Loma Prieta Earthquake.....
ReplyDeleteThere were three stations in east Felton: Mount Hermon, Felton, and Big Trees. The first two had their own depots (still surviving) and the third had a small ticket booth (since removed). Both Mount Hermon and Felton's stations are original narrow-gauge structures dating to around 1905. The San Lorenzo Lumber Yard, you mention, is still there next to Felton Station and still going by the name San Lorenzo Lumber (it used to be Santa Cruz Lumber prior to ca 1985). Mount Hermon's current site has been a resort since around 1900, first as Arcadia, then Tuxedo, and finally Mount Hermon. It may have been the original site of Isaac Graham's sawmill, but that was abandoned in the 1860s and the site was vacant for about 40 years before new owners took over to turn it into a resort. San Lorenzo Lumber has never had anything to do with it and it was never a lumber yard. For that matter, Redwood Camp is actually about a quarter mile south of the Mount Hermon Road overpass, not directly below it, and Mount Hermon Road was built (I believe) in the 1960s — certainly not after the earthquake. The landslide happened shortly after the bypass was completed and the Mount Hermon Association decided not to repair the road in an effort to reduce traffic through the community.
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