Need Help

If there are any geological maps of the Ocean Shore Railway, or any sort of map that isn't the basic map showing the initial design of the railway, with the 23-mile gap please email:

Tintin.Huntington@gmail.com

My research has stalled due to school, and also the lack of resources to lead upon the railway.

Thanks

- The Vintage Comet

Information Needed

Does anybody know where on the Ocean Shore Railroad this picture was taken? I am almost confident that it is taken in the Northern Terminus of the line. If anybody can have a guess or know where this was taken, please leave a comment.

Montara to Miramar

After the Ocean Shore Railway left the Devils Slide, it would carry on through the [relatively] flat coastline that was the San Mateo Coast. Ocean Shore Engineers probably didn't have much of a struggle building through here, if the weather was alright and the funding was still secure. Where we left off, we were on the approach to Miramar, ending at an unknown creek where a trestle once stood. I have tried to find any images of the old trestle, but alas none have been procured. From the berm at Montara, it is very hard to trace the Ocean Shore Railroad since development in the thirties to sixties have basically covered the entire line. Please keep in mind that in the next few posts, this is just my rough judgement on where the railway must've gone, for I have no sufficient maps to actually cover this.

The red represents the Ocean Shore Railroad, from what I suspect it went.

The railway most likely would have gone in a straight line through the then empty town of Montara. There is one known photo of the station at Montara that I have discovered, and apparently, on one of the streets within the town, there is the word "MONTARA" encased in brick on the sidewalk, marking the location of the old station. I do not know if the station survives, but it most likely, if it did survive the abandonment of the railway, is a residential house. 

 

The picture most likely was taken in the 1910s.

The picture above seems to be from the days when the Ocean Shore Railroad was booming with tourism. From Montara, the railway probably would have followed the Cabrillo Highway, and had taken a curve along the ocean's edge. The Cabrillo Highway goes over a creek that divides the town of Montara, of course, I did not find any image of the trestle that must've once went over it, or if any berm was constructed over it. 

Of course, recent development has made it impossible to trace where the railway went. I am assuming the railway went through the small cut that is used by the Cabrillo Highway on the side of the small cliffs at Montara. From there, the railway must've gone straight to Miramar. Where the Half Moon Bay airport stands, must've been traces of a right of way before it was constructed, for it was likely the Ocean Shore Railroad would've cut straight through that area on its way to Miramar.  

I'm most likely wrong on where the railway went, but due to the lack of maps, it makes it entirely difficult to find where the railway went. The small town on the right is known as Princeton and was a planned location on the Ocean Shore Railroad. I do not know if there was a physical station at Princeton, but I understand that it was planned to be heavily remodelled in the eyes of the Ocean Shore Railroad. 

Apparently, some old members of El Granada claim that the town used to be filled with empty streets after the Ocean Shore Railroad went bankrupt, due to the railway having many real estate claims in the town. The railway, for a fact, followed what is now the Cabrillo Highway. A small yard was stationed at El Granada, the next following pictures depict El Granada in the days that the Ocean Shore Railroad was there. By far, this is the most amount of pictures of the Ocean Shore Railroad in a single town. 

IMAGE ONE: The station at El Granada. IMAGE TWO: The yard at Granada. 

El Granada seemed to be the hub of the railway in the Northern Terminus. A full yard and station were stationed there! In the screenshot from google maps above, I can only assume that it was the old railway yard, that was never redeveloped. Yet again, the railroad continues on. There is no map that documents the Ocean Shore Railroad at Miramar, and thus I cannot definitively give you an answer on where the railway went through Miramar. 

The railroad most likely went by the curve below or went from where the Cabrillo Highway is now. Miramar was also a very popular destination on the Ocean Shore Railroad, where many people once travelled to in the days of the tourism. This is unfortunately where I have to leave you guys all off now. I promise I'll post again this month!

Is this at Miramar or El Granada? 

CITATIONS:

Morrall, June. “Ocean Shore Railroad's ‘Yard’ at Granada.” Half Moon Bay Memories, 26 Dec. 2007, www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/2007/12/26/ocean-shore-railroads-yard-at-granada/.

Clinging To The Cliffs

The Ocean Shore Railroad, in order to gain access to the towns of El Granada, needed to conquer the steep cliffs of the Devils Slide. As shown in the previous post, the Ocean Shore Railroad had constructed the line through the Devils Slide, but still had to conquer the last few cliffs beside it. Leaving off from where we left off at the entrance from the Devils Slide Trail (formerly the Cabrillo Highway) pulling into the Tom Santos Tunnel Southern Portal entrance, where the Ocean Shore Railroad once curved to pull into the rest of the line. 

As shown in the screenshot above, it is clearly visible where the Ocean Shore Railroad used to go, but look at the size of those cuts along the berm! From there, the Ocean Shore Railroad then curved into the wide ocean canyon.

The Ocean Shore Railroad ROW then curves onto a small gravel road.

If you wish to drive this section, I highly discourage it but it is accessible via the Cabrillo Highway into the small gravel road. The Ocean Shore Railroad had to use various tight curves in order to gain access into the areas below Pacifica. In the very right, we can see the gravel road end and give way to an abandoned right of way, likely untouched since the 1930s after the rails were pulled up. 

The Black Line represents the Right Of Way, and the Red Line represents what once was the Trestle

The Ocean Shore Railroad then curved among a beam to the other side of the canyon, crossing the small watershed creek with a trestle. This trestle likely collapsed sometime in the 1930s or was removed in the 1920s. The infrastructure before removal provided as a bypass road from the Pedro Mountain Road in the days after the Ocean Shore Railroad. The railroad would then pass through a very noticeable cut, accessible by the local beach parking lot. 

In the picture above, observe how the railroad right of way is currently maintained as some sort of dirt path. The railroad from the left, would curve towards the straight line of the track (not the dirt road, mind from the other picture) and pass through a cut, before re-entering the other section of cliffs. Observe the Cabrillo Highway on the bottom left. 

This picture views how the Ocean Shore Railroad reached the ocean plains via the cliffs

If you wish to access this portion of the Right Of Way, it is accessible by the local beach as stated. In the picture above, the Cabrillo Highway uses much of the Ocean Shore Railroad's former right of way. The windiness of the track displays how much the Ocean Shore Railroad engineers had to accomplish, as well as carving out a substantial ledge on the edge of cliffs. 

The railway then had to pass through a series of tall cuts along the cliffside, before finally reaching the ocean plains edge. We will continue on for a short bit before ending for the week. The Cabrillo Highway utilized the former Ocean Shore Railroad right of way, due to the lack of any other road access to the area, besides the tight hairpin curve monstrosity that was the Pedro Mountain Road. 

The first glimpse of the coastal plains shows a bountiful agriculture industry, which was one of the reasons why the Ocean Shore Railroad first had financial success in the beginning. It was thought that the agriculture and passenger industry could sustain the Ocean Shore Railroad forever, but it was never accounted for the variable of funds from investors. The railroad follows the Cabrillo Highway until it curves, taking an abandoned berm lined only by a wooden fence. 

A close up on the abandoned berm reveals that yet another trestle crosses another watershed runoff creek. The tracks then go into the city of Montara, the site of a former Ocean Shore railway station. That will do it for today, I'll come back whenever I feel like it!