USA > California > San Luis Obispo County > History of San Luis Obispo County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 81
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RAILROADS.
The construction of a railroad through the southern coast counties has been agitated since the acquisition of
the country by the United States. The idea was that it should be a part of the Pacific or Transcontinental Rail- road, and that it was necessary, if a terminus should be at San Francisco, to run along the coast south in order to avoid the Sierra Nevada, then regarded as Impassable by a railroad. The National Government sent out rail- road surveying parties, under authority of the War Department and commanded by officers of the army, to explore for and survey routes for a railroad. One of these, under command of Lieut. John G. Parke, of the topographical engineers, passed through San Luis Obispo in 1854 and '55, taking levels along the line of the most available route found, and making estimates of the cost of the road. Over a portion of this survey a road has been made, and over the remainder one is hoped for, therefore a report of the survey will be of interest at the present time as well as a record of the events of the past.
PACIFIC RAILROAD SURVEY. FIRST DIVISION-FROM SAN JOSE TO RIO PAJARO.
The ground is particularly favorable for the construc- tion of a railroad, there being no obstacles to long tangents and light curves, with easy grades to the summit, which, being itself a broad plain, required but little earth- work save suitable ditching and ballasting. From the summit the same character of country prevails to the Pajaro.
The length of this division is 39.25 miles; maximum grade required, eighteen feet per mile; probable cost of gradation and superstructure, $1,177,500; cost per mile, $30,000.
SECOND DIVISION-FROM RIO PAJARO TO THE SALINAS.
This division extends from the point of reaching the Pajaro River, down its valley to near it debouch into the bay of Monterey, thence around the foot-hills of Mount Gavilan to the open plains of the Salinas. The grada- tion upon this division will not be very heavy, the terraced character of the banks of this stream presenting nearly throughout the entire division most favorable slopes and natural beds for the location of a railroad. There will, however, be required several bridges of a medium class, i. e., from 50 to 150 feet, single span, and one first-class bridge across the Pajaro, two miles above the Rancho de las Aromas, where the line crosses from the right to the left bank of the stream. To bridge the stream at this point will require three spans of 100 feet each; there is a natural abutment on one side Between the Pajaro and the plains there will also be required several small bridges across the sloughs into which the ravines from the Gavilan foot-hill empty them- selves. Very little rock cutting will be required upon this division.
Length of second division, 20.75 miles; maximum grade required, eleven feet per mile; probable cost of gradation and superstructure, $1, 141,250; cost per mile, $55,000.
THIRD DIVISION-SALINAS PLAINS.
This division is 45.50 miles in extent, traversing that immense area known as the Salinas Plains, and is peculiarly favorable for the location of a railroad, requir- ing but slightly undulating grades to conform to the wave-like character which is peculiar to all these plains, with but little earthwork. Traversing this plain for nearly forty miles, the line impinges upon the River Salinas a few miles above the old mission of Soledad,
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MAILS, ROADS, AND RAILROADS.
thence following the meandering of the river to the mouth of the San Lorenzo (a tributary of the Salinas, heading toward the Tulare Plain, and forms what is known as the San Lorenzo Pass to that plain). Within the first ten miles several bridges across sloughs will be necessary.
The length of this division is 45.50 miles; maximum grade required, sixty-five feet per mile; probable cost of gradation and superstructure, $1,365,000; cost per mile, $30,000.
FOURTH DIVISION-FROM SAN LORENZO CREEK TO THE ATASCADERO.
This division, extending from the mouth of the San Lorenzo, pursues the meanderings of the stream to about six miles above, where a suitable place offering it crosses to the left bank and continues nearly the entire distance to the mouth of the Atascadero Creek, in the valley of the river. At several points where a shortening of dis- tance would be accomplished, and where the terraces abut down upon the bed of the stream, a very slight increase of grade above the average ascent of the river bottom will secure a favorable location along the edge of the first terrace, which, for many miles, presents the appearance of a natural embankment. The general character of the work upon this division presents the appearance of a natural embankment. The general character of the work upon this division varies from that of either preceding division. The river having a more contracted valley than below, the number of lateral ravines and streams are greater, requiring a greater amount of masonry and earthwork. The gradation, however, will be comparatively easy, for the cuts and fills will nearly balance each other, and a large majority of the lateral ravines will require but small culverts or percolat- ing drains, and many of them none at all. There will be five first-class bridges required across the San Lorenzo, the Salinas, the San Antonio, the Nacimiento, and Paso Robles Creek. The materials for the construction of the piers and abutments of these bridges are at hand at the respective places, though not of a first-rate character. Several smaller works of this character will also be necessary at several points throughout the division. The line pursuing, for the most part, the winding of the valley, is throughout a curved line; but it is believed, from careful observation and measurement where practicable, that no curve less than 4° will be required; nor, indeed, throughout the entire distance, from San José to Los Angeles, will a radius of less than 1,000 feet be necessary.
The length of this division is 71.50 miles; maximum grade required, seventy feet per mile; probable cost of gradation and superstructure, $3,575,000; cost per mile, $50,000.
FIFTH DIVISION-FROM SANTA MARGARITA VALLEY TO THE MOUTH OF ARROYO GRANDE.
This division comprises, perhaps, the most difficult and costly portion of the route, from the boldness of the work required to overcome its difficulties; it contains the celebrated San Luis Pass through the (Coast Range) Santa Lucia Mountains, and is the only passable point of these mountains between the bay of Monterey and its southeastern extremity. The wagon road occupies this pass. The height of the summit is 1,556.5 feet above the level of the sea. The height of Santa Margarita Valley is 978 feet, and the San Luis Plain about an average height of 300 feet. [Town of San Luis Obispo 160 feet.] The point of tunneling is 200 feet below the summit, and at the foot of the cuesta, or sharp divide which lies between the disjointed mountains. To reach this point the line is projected on the slopes of the hills on the west of Santa Margarita, and ascends with a uniform
grade of eighty feet per mile. This ascent will not be attended with any excessive cost of gradation, the side slopes of the mountain being remarkably tenable, there being no gorges to fill, or wide valleys to span, and pre- senting favorable cross sections for side cutting and embankments. The tunnel, three-fourths of a mile in length, is through serpentine and sandstone rock, and can be advantageously worked from both sides.
In the construction of a road through this pass, should this tunnel be considered too formidable a work, there is no obstacle to passing this mountain, without cutting, by a system of heavy grades similar to those which have been worked so successfully for several years across the Blue Ridge at Rockfish Gap, where the traffic and travel of a great part of the valley of Virginia has been carried over this mountain over a grade of 275 feet permile. To accomplish the passage of the San Luis Summit, there will be required a much less rate of gradient, probably not over 200 feet per mile.
On the west side of the cuesta the San Luis Creek heads, and descends rapidly to the plain, through a wide valley, flanked on either side by rib-like spurs from the mountain, which has a slope of about 30°, the alter- nating ravines being, except in one instance, shallow; four and one-half miles below there is a lateral ravine, heading with a stream which flows through the plain to the ocean, called Corral de Piedras Creek, on a summit 1, 191 feet above tide, and in the prolongation of the valley from the cuesta.
A glance at the map will convey a better idea of the topography of this point than an elaborately written de- scription. The descent of the stream is too great to locate a line through, or near the town of San Luis Obispo; it is, therefore, necessary to project the line along the slopes of the mountain upon the left bank of the creek, through this second summit, to the small di- vide between Arroyo Grande and Corral de Piedras Creek; thence down the right bank of Arroyo Grande to near its debouch into the sea. From the summit a de- scending grade of one hundred feet per mile for five miles will be required; thence an ascending grade of one hun- dred feet per mile for three miles, to the second or ser- pentine summit and from this second summit, a descend- ing grade of one hundred feet per mile to Arroyo Grande; thence along the slopes of the right bank of Arroyo Grande to near its debouch, with a descending grade of seventy-two feet per mile.
This entire division is a bold one, and the cost of gra- dation will be great on account of the rocky character of the side slopes, in some instances serpentine, and the deep cuts and fills required to keep up an uniform and practicable grade.
The length of this division is 24.5 miles; maximum grade required, 100 feet per mile; probable cost of grada- tion and superstructure, $2,450,000; cost of 3,960 feet of tunneling, at $125 per foot, $495,000; total cost of di- vision, including tunnel, $2,945,000; cost per mile, ex- clusive of tunnel, $100,000.
SIXTH DIVISION-FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ARROYO GRANDE TO THE RIO DE TRES ALAMOS.
Turning the point of the low rolling hills and terraces which lie between the Arroyo Grande and the Santa Maria, the line enters and traverses the Guadalupe Largo, an extensive triangular plain, which was probably an arm of the sea at a recent geological period, defiles through the low system of hills extending from Point Sal, south- eastward, attains a summit elevation of 637 feet above the sea; thence by a light grade down the slopes of the right bank of the Tres Alamos to the Rancho of Jesus Maria. The work upon this division across the Largo to the Todos Santos Summit is remarkably light. From the
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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
summit of Jesus Maria the slopes of the hill are smooth and of easy occupation and of comparatively easy gra- dation. Bridges of first-class across Arroyo Grande, the Santa Maria, and Tres Alamos will be required. There will probably be very little if any rock cutting upon this portion of the line. The length of the di- vision is 32.50 miles; maximum grade required 63.2 feet per mile; probable cost of gradation and superstructure, $975,000; cost per mile, $30,000.
The survey was continued to Los Angeles, the Seventh Division extending from Tres Alamos to the mouth of Gaviota Creek, a distance of thirty-three and one-half miles, with a maximum grade of 100 feet per mile, and an estimate per mile of $80,000. The Eighth Division was from Gaviota Creek to San Buenaventura, a distance of fifty-eight and one-half miles, with estimated cost at $60,000 per mile. The Ninth Division, from San Buen- aventura via Semi Pass, and a tunnel through the San Fernando Mountains, 3,960 feet in length, to Los Angeles, a distance of seventy miles, with the cost esti- mated at $30,000 per mile. The total length from San José to Los Angeles was 396 miles, and cost, with equip- ment, $20,668,750. Labor was estimated at $2.50 per diem.
The report concludes as follows: "It is believed that when a more stable state of things exists in Cali- fornia, a greater mass of population will be found along the route; the immense districts of excellent agricultural and pastoral lands through which it passes will be occu- pied and improved; the avenues to every branch of hu- man industry which the country is capable of maintain- ing will be thrown open to competition; the prices of manual labor be reduced to a reasonable rate in conse- quence, and the cost of construction of so important and extensive a work be materially lessened."
SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.
The progress of the San Francisco and San José Rail- road to San José, its extension to Gilroy, the transfer to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in 1870, and the extension to Soledad in 1874, have been mentioned. The original design appears to have been to construct the Southern Pacific along the valley of the San Benito River and cross the Monte Diablo Range into the Tulare Valley north of Tulare Lake. The route was surveyed and a road made in the San Benito Valley and another section in Tulare, or San Joaquin Valley, and the land granted in aid of the construction of the road assumed as the property of the railroad company. The company desired to change its route, and Hon. Lew M. Warden introduced a resolution in the assembly in the session of 1878, asking Congress to permit the change of the line between Tres Pinos and Huron, to a route from Soledad via San Miguel and the Palonia Pass in San Luis Obispo County to Lerdo in Kern County, without such change affecting the land grant.
SOUTHERN PACIFIC BRANCH RAILROAD COMPANY.
In December, 1872, the Southern Pacific Branch Rail- road Company filed a certificate of incorporation in the office of the Secretary of State, stating its object to be
to construct a line of railroad to join the Southern Pacific Railroad near Salinas, Monterey County, to run to a point in Kern County, south of Tulare Lake, intersecting the San Joaquin Valley division of the Southern Pacific Railroad at said point. Also to build an additional branch railroad from a point on the above described line at or near San Miguel, in San Luis Obispo County; thence in a southerly direction to a point of intersection in Los Angeles County, with the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad running from Tehachepi Pass by way of Los Angeles to Fort Yuma. The length of the first- named branch is about 180 miles, and the second-named 240 miles, or 420 miles in all. The capital stock of the company was fixed at $20,000,000 in shares of $100 each. The incorporators and stockholders were: E. H. Miller, five shares; Albert Gallatin, five shares; E. I. Robinson, five shares; W. R. S. Foye, five shares; C. H. Cummings, five shares; Leland Stanford, 5,085 shares; Mark Hopkins, 2,085 shares; B. B. Redding, five shares, and E. W. Hopkins, five shares.
From that date to the present hopes have prevailed and the assertion repeatedly made of the immediate con- struction of the proposed railroads, or at least of the first- named branch. Numerous reconnois sances and surveys have been made. In March, 1883, a more careful sur- vey was made of the route from Soledad to Lerdo, upon which the San Luis Obispo Tribune remarked as follows :-
The route surveyed is up the east bank of the Salinas River to a point opposite San Miguel, thence easterly into the Tulare Valley. From Soledad to San Miguel the distance is sixty-seven miles, and over this the right of way has been obtained, the central grade-pegs driven, and stations located. From the latter point the road will follow up the east bank of the Estrella a few miles, then turning eastward will cross the Monte Diablo Range either by the South Palonia, or the Palo Prieto Pass, either of which, Engineer Hood, who has charge of the survey, says is one hundred feet lower than the Palonia. The heaviest grade on the whole line to its junction with the main line near Bakersfield will not exceed thirty-seven feet to the mile, that being the heaviest, and is generally so even as to be imperceptible. Stations have been located at San Lorenzo, Sargent's, and San Miguel. Over this portion of the route the survey has been com- pleted, and all the calculations made of the amount of earth to be cut away, and the fills and trestle-work to be made. The estimates make the average cost per mile of the completed road a little less than $30,000. From Soledad the road follows the bank of the river, and will be protected from wash by rip-rap, quarried from the road-bed, as it cuts through the bluffs, the many small ravines being crossed by trestle-work. A full force of graders and track-layers will be at work by September next- possibly before-and the work driven to comple- tion with the usual energy characteristic of the great cor- poration engaged in the enterprise.
The new road will have about thirty miles of its track in San Luis Obispo County, the nearest point to this city being opposite San Miguel and about thirty-six miles distant.
The two companies became consolidated, under the name of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, August II, 1873.
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MAILS, ROADS, AND RAILROADS.
SAN LUIS OBISPO RAILROAD COMPANY.
A few earnest and enterprising business men of a town constitute an irrepressible power in advancing the general prosperity. In 1872 a small body of such men in San Luis Obispo began the agitation of a project to construct a narrow-gauge railroad between the town and the har- bor, and in January, 1873, the movement took shape in the organization of the San Luis Obispo Railroad Com- pany, which filed the following certificate of incorpora- tion :-
Know all men by these presents, that we, the under- signed, do hereby form a corporation, under the provis- ions of the Civil Code of the State of California, and do adopt the following
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION.
I. The name of said corporation is The San Luis Obispo Railroad Company.
2. The purposes for which said corporation is formed are, the construction, conduct, and maintenance of a narrow-gauge railroad from the town of San Luis Obispo, in San Luis Obispo County, State of California, to deep water in the bay of San Luis Obispo, in the same county.
3. The place where the principal business of said cor- poration is to be transacted is the town of San Luis Obispo, in said San Luis Obispo County.
4. The time for which said corporation is to exist is fifty years.
5. The number of the directors of said corporation is seven, and the names and residences of the directors of said corporation, who are appointed for the first year of the existence of the corporation, are as follows, to wit: William S. Chapman, William W. Stow, and Henry B. Tichenor, of San Francisco; David C. Norcross, Charles WV. Dana, Edgar W. Steele, and William L. Beebee, of San Luis Obispo.
6. The amount of the capital stock of said corporation is one hundred thousand dollars in gold coin, which said capital stock is divided into one thousand shares of one hundred dollars each.
7. The amount of said capital stock actually subscribed is fourteen thousand dollars. Said stock is subscribed by the following named persons, each of whom has sub- scribed the amount set opposite his name :-
William S. Chapman 20 shares $2000
William W. Stow
20
2000
Henry B. Tichenor 20
2000
David C. Norcross .20 2000
Charles W. Dana 20 2000
Edgar W. Steele. 20
2000
William L. Beebee 20
60 2000
8. The estimated length of the railroad proposed to be constructed by said corporation is ten miles between its termini hereinbefore mentioned, and no intermediate branches of said railroad are intended to be constructed by said corporation.
9. The sum of $1,400 in gold coin, being ten per cent. of the capital stock so subscribed as aforesaid, has by the subscribers of said stock been paid in to Chas. W. Dana, hereinbefore named, who has been elected by the directors aforesaid and is the treasurer of said corpora- tion.
In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands this thirtieth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three. (Signed)
WVM. W. STOW, WVM. S. CHAPMAN,
DAVID C. NORCROSS, CHARLES W. DANA,
EDGAR W. STEELE, WM. L. BEEBEE.
The President of the company was David C. Nor- cross; Treasurer, C. W. Dana; C. H. Phillips, Secretary, and Herbert C. Ward, Engineer. Mr. C. H. Phillips was the prime mover in the enterprise, and was ably seconded by the San Luis Obispo Tribune, which kept the subject before the people and persistently pointed out the benefits of such a road.
In February following a company was formed, consist- ing of John Harford, Wm. S. Chapman, Wm. L. Beebee, L. Schwartz, and others, with headquarters at San Fran- cisco, to build a wharf at Harford's Landing, and construct a narrow-gauge railroad to San Luis Obispo. This was a successor of the first-formed company. A survey was made and the total cost of road and equip- ment, nine and a half miles in length, was estimated at $140,757 for a road of two and one-half feet gauge, and rails weighing twenty pounds per yard. The report of Engineer Ward was favorable in regard to the route and feasibility of construction, but not encouraging in the promise of dividends. He said the freight over the road would not, then, exceed 25,000 tons per annum, but in the course of ten years might reach 70,000 tons per annum. The value of real estate and business, however, would be greatly increased, and therefore the capitalists and business men of the county ought to subscribe to the stock. Some grading was done in March, 1873, and all the line marked out, thus securing the company the right of way.
OPPOSITION WHARVES AND STEAMERS.
There were at the time two wharves at the harbor, one known as the People's Wharf, and Mallagh's Wharf, commonly known as the Steamer Landing. Landing, however, was effected in surf-boats and lighters, very tedious, dangerous, and expensive. In February, 1873, Messrs. Blochman & Cerf purchased the People's Wharf, and in May extended it to deep water so vessels could lie alongside, and an easy landing was effected. John Harford then built the Railroad Wharf and constructed a horse railroad to it. The Mallagh Wharf was aban- doned, and the People's and Railroad Wharves were in opposition. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company run the line of steamers on the coast, the steamer Senator doing the service, touching at San Luis Obispo semi- monthly. In February, 1873, Goodall & Nelson put on the line the steamers Kalorama and Constantine, and shortly after John Wright, Jr., run the steamer William Taber as a third opposition. The latter did not long continue. In November, 1873, Goodall, Nelson & Perkins run the steamers Ventura, Constantine, Kalor- ama, and Monterey, and the Pacific Mail Steamship Com- pany, the Senator, Mohongo, and Gypsey, the first set land- ing at the People's Wharf, and the others at the Railroad Wharf. For a year or so lively times in steamer freights and travel prevailed. Fare from San Francisco to San Diego was $5.00. The business became very large, steamers landing several times each week. As many as ninety passengers and 200 tons of freight landed at the harbor of San Luis Obispo, from a single steamer. The great business and frequent boats were arguments in
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HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
favor of cheap rates. So great was the crowd of passen- gers that it is reported that with all the state-rooms filled on such steamers as the Senator and Pacific, that ladies were compelled to sleep on the floors of the ladies cabins, and " packed as thick as sardines in a box."
Such business was very encouraging to the construc- tion of a railroad. The San Luis Obispo Railroad, how- ever, did not make much progress. Harford had built his wharf out a distance of 540 feet from the shore, reaching fifteen feet of water, and a railroad with horse- car ran to it from the flat near the mouth of San Luis Creek. The movement was inaugurated, attention was drawn to the subject, and others looked forward to the profits and power of a railroad.
SAN LUIS OBISPO AND SANTA MARIA VALLEY RAILROAD.
In the Legislature of 1874, Hon. W. J. Graves intro- duced a bill, which became a law, forming a company for the construction of a railroad from San Luis Obispo Bay to Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara County. The corporators were John M. Price, H. M. Newhall, J. V. Avila, N. Goldtree, F. M. Weinsinger, C. Nelson, John O'Farrell, and Charles Goodall. The rates of fare and freight were fixed at eight cents per mile for passengers and fifteen cents per ton per mile for freight. The road was to be commenced within one year from the passage of the bill and to be completed within four years, a dis- tance of twenty-eight miles.
The San Luis Obispo Grange of P. of H. held a meet- ing, and protested against the passage of the bill on the grounds that it created a monopoly, and that the rates of fare and freight should be fixed as upon other railroads in the State.
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