Re: P.C.R.R.- a short history

The original Pacific Coast Ry. was constructed from Port Harford to San Luis Obispo, in the late 1880s, a distance of 12 miles. At the time there was no standard gauge connection. Everything was transported by ships, many owned by the railroad. The PC Steamship Co. had many beautiful cutters that plied the waters along the coast from Skagway to Baja California. The Southern Pacific came in the 1890s,on its way to Los Angeles. The railroad was extended to Los Olivos, a distance of 64 miles, a lovely town deep in the Coast Range, a few niles from another lovely town, Santa Ynez. Plans were to extend the line to Santa Barbara, but the SP expansion killed that idea. After a brief boom in oil exploration, the PCRy. went into a long decline. This was hastened by the construction of the s.g. Santa Maria Valley. The railroad gave up the ghost in late 1941.

For LA railfans this was the nearest n.g. railroad. Even in the 1960s it was hard to find much of a trace of this line, though a station still exists in Los Alamos, the end of the line in later years. A few movies were filmed there, including "The Virginian" an early talkie(1929) starring a very young Gary Cooper. The footage, though brief, is fascinating. A couple of railfan excursions were operated in the late 1930s. It had 5 2-8-0s that were similar to 315 in size.

The present PCRy.is on an old Spanish rancho. California is too crowded, but its Coast Range still has beautiful pockets where little has changed over the decades.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2007 04:42PM by El Coke.