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.