The Ocean Shore Railroad : Sharp Park to Wavecrest

Sharp Park, once a community now part of Pacifica, was possibly one of the greatest areas for a business venture to ever occur. By the time the Ocean Shore Railroad arrived, a few buildings for residents were there. The best way to follow the Ocean Shore Right-Of-Way is to follow the Cabrillo Highway from Sharp Park all the way to Rockaway Beach. From the Ocean Shore School, the line is practically un-seeable after decades of recent development and renovations. The curve of the Cabrillo Highway may be following the right of way, but without the aid of historical maps of the area, it is practically untraceable. However, one that we do know from our sources, is that the big cut that the Cabrillo Highway uses to get into Rockaway (see picture below), was at first blasted out by Ocean Shore Railroad engineers, and later expanded to carry the highway.

The massive cut that once held the railroad now holds the cars.

I can assume that the side of the cut on the right, with more trees and foliage, is the original cut. It is crazy, to find that many people travel through this; not knowing the history that it had. One interesting this is, that Cabrillo Highway actually reaches the community of Vallemar, an important and well-known destination on the Ocean Shore Railroad. In fact, an Ocean Shore railroad station for Vallemar still survives there! Though the station presumably was moved, it has been renovated and restored to its former glory. Beside it though, the community of Vallemar has embraced it's railroad past by providing two railway cars, unclear which railways or railway they were from. I have traveled through the area myself, and google maps tell the same story as I saw. There is an orange-painted boxcar, along with a classic-red caboose on another lot, both being restaurants.

Blue = Station. Red = Unknown Railroad Cars. Black = Presumabley Ocean Shore Railroad ROW

From there, we can only assume that the Ocean Shore Railroad follows the Cabrillo Highway, all the way up to Rockaway Beach. From Rockaway Beach, if you were to stand there and look south you wouldn't find any remains of the Ocean Shore, however, the line curves on the Rockaway Headlands, and you can still see some remains. Though the pounding of the ocean waves has eroded much of the line, there are still remains around the Rockaway headlands.

The line curves around the headlands, mostly eroded but still a little visible.

From the image, there seems to be a gravel path that would've carried the Ocean Shore tracks around the headlands. It is a shame that the ocean waves eroded much of the line around the headland, as it would've provided quite the treacherous view! I guess that is a fault of having a railway run on the 'Ocean Shore'. Though much of the line is eroded, there is a little trace of the ledge on the other side of the headlands.

As you can see on the left, there are small remains of the ledge, not yet demolished by the ocean waves. It is from this, that the line curved into the city of Wavecrest, now commonly known as Pacifica. The line at the time would curve around the [Pacifica State] beach. There is no trace of the station at Wavecrest, presumed to be demolished after the line was abandoned. It is here, that our current exploration stops, and waits until the next time!