Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railroad

The Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railroad (SCMB) is a railway line running through Santa Cruz County, California. It runs from Davenport to the Watsonville Junction where it connects to the Union Pacific.

History

The line was constructed as the Santa Cruz Railroad between 1873–1876 and was laid with narrow gauge rail. Sold to Southern Pacific (Through a subsidiary Pacific Improvement Company) after foreclosure, converted the line to standard gauge and operated until the actual merger into Southern Pacific on 14 May 1888. The 3.7-mile (6.0 km) Aptos branch from Aptos to Loma Prieta was built as the Loma Prieta Railroad in 1883 and abandoned in 1928.[1] The line came under ownership of Union Pacific in 1996.

As of 2018, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission owns the line. Freight operations were contracted to Iowa Pacific Holdings, who commenced service in November 2012. In 2018, Progressive Rail, Inc. was chosen as the replacement freight operator under a 10-year contract.[2]

Route

The right of way begins in Watsonville Junction, where it interchanges with Union Pacific's Coast Line. The line features street running sections in Watsonville and Santa Cruz where trains interact directly with roadway traffic. The Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway operates part of its heritage railway service along SCMB tracks from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk to that railroad's main line east of the Beach Street roundabout, before turning onto its own tracks at the Santa Cruz Wye towards Felton on the former South Pacific Coast Railroad mainline. After leaving Santa Cruz, the line runs parallel to Highway 1 until Davenport, where the tracks end suddenly.

References

  1. ↑ McCaleb, Charles S. (1975). "The Santa Cruz Railroad". The Western Railroader. Francis A. Guido. 38 (324): 1–12.
  2. ↑ Pierce, Jacob (19 June 2018). "More to Learn on Rail Trail's Future". Good Times. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.