A Ledge in San Francisco

For the tracing of the noticeable sections of the Ocean Shore Railroad, we will be starting in where it is the most noticeable from Google Maps. For a basis, I will be using the Chevalier Map of San Francisco (1912). After we cover the noticeable sections of the surviving Right of Way in this series, we will be moving on to covering San Francisco, using the map. As shown in the image below, we can observe that the Ocean Shore curves and enters a ledge against the Pacific Ocean. There also seems to be two black spots that I can't quite understand what it means. It seems the tracks have to enter a sort of grade incline in order to reach the ledge. 

The ledge in San Francisco is noticeable in this Google Maps picture.

The screenshot dated 2019 shows what supposedly is the grade. If you look closely you can see the embankment that the Ocean Shore used to get up to San Francisco. On the right, you can see the beginning remains of the ledge now. It is unfortunate that I could not find any pictures of the San Francisco ledge.

A bigger photo of the San Francisco ledge, in the middle it seems that either the area was eroded away by the constant pounding of the ocean surf, or that the ridge was there before the Ocean Shore, and that the railway built a trestle in order to traverse it. As you can see, erosion has removed parts of the ledge, and dirt has piled upon it. Wouldn't it be a sight if the railway were still using that ledge today? 

Continuing on, the next section of the ledge ends in what seems to be just another ridge along the coast. However, there is a recent development in that area, possibly for a park. Proven by the parking lot on the right. I assume that the ledge ended there and that either a small causeway or trestle were made? Either way, the tracks continue presumably on what is the road to the right beside the coast. 

A closer picture on the road, with what I think was the Ocean Shore right of way back then, with the tracks continuing straight through Wavecrest (Pacifica). From then through the city of Wavecrest, the right of way is hard to trace. The only marker we can use is the newly named Ocean Shore School, who's playground was supposedly on the Ocean Shore Railroad right of way, causing a lawsuit which eventually renamed the school!

Here is a picture of the Ocean Shore School, which now concludes the first part of our tour of the remains of the Ocean Shore Railroad. I hope you stay tuned!

Trains left San Francisco on what is today Alemany Blvd. Note the cut in the distance.

A Short Note

The landscape of which the Ocean Shore Railroad ran along, has not really changed in the forms of geography (minus the ever-changing coastline). Though when the railway came, the town of Half Moon Bay was just a mere settlement, it was formed entirely to expand upon that. Taking photos side by side from the years when the railway ran, to now [2019], it is quite noticeable that there is an influx of homes all along the coast. Massive fields of empty fields still engulf the San Mateo coastline, all the way down to Santa Cruz. 

I am in no way an experienced historian of the Ocean Shore Railroad, this blog is entirely dedicated to simply just documenting an idea; an idea that was too early for its time. Facts may be wrong in this blog, and I apologize for it. The history of the line is troubled, as much of the legal documents that covered the railway's founding, were burned when the Great 1906 Earthquake of San Francisco hit. This blog is just a sharing point for my current knowledge of what remains of the Ocean Shore Railroad, and maybe perhaps what I could learn. 

So, with all that in mind: Let's begin. 

Filling a swamp with City debris after the 1906 Quake. 

Introduction

It was what some people called, a magnificent failure. It was an idea too early for its time, fueled only by investors and real estate agents hoping to build upon the flat land that was the coastline. It battled challenges all of its life, whether it was the precarious Devils Slide or the Southern Pacific, it always fought for its hold. One can only imagine what the possibilities that the Ocean Shore Railroad would've provided if it were still here today! It would put an ease to the constant vehicle traffic that plagued the Cabrillo Highway now, and make it easy for commuters to get from their homes in Half Moon Bay to San Francisco. A thought so relished upon now, but too expensive. One can only dream.

Tracing the remains of the Ocean Shore Railroad is not an easy task. Much of the Right-Of-Way has been heavily weathered since the abandonment of the line in the 1920s. If you look closely, however, on Google Maps, you can find where the original line went.  Though the trestles have long since-

Engineers building the railway, in order to get from San Francisco to their desired destination of Santa Cruz had to tackle Devils Slide. It took them months to battle the steep cliffs of the slide, but they eventually carved a ledge that finally allowed trains to come from San Francisco, into Half Moon Bay.




- collapsed and the ledges long since eroded, the line and the cuts still remain. This blog exists entirely to remember the Ocean Shore Railroad (or Railway), as a sort of archive to give history on a railway often looked over.