Western Railroad Discussion > Eccles & Eastern

Found this article lying around in the archive recently from the Los Gatos Weekly-Times dated February, 1995.

The Eccles & Eastern dreamed of returning tracks to the 20-mile gap in the old SP grade over the Santa Cruz Mountains, reopening tunnels and establishing a new grade around Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos.

After the Eccles & Eastern threw in the towel, the company became the Sierra Pacific Coast Railway. Michael Hart still runs the Sierra, as well as the former California Western and Yolo Shortline railroads.

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Isn't "standing on the rail" one of the quintessential no-no's??? He's obviously well informed...

I am sure we can grant an exception for a photo prop. Besides, would he send himself a charge letter?

If that was 1995, those would still have been SP tracks...!

The Eccles & Eastern was also the brainchild of Rick Hamman... though the ROW is mostly intact between Los Gatos and Zayante (except for a few caved-in tunnels) I still to this day don't understand how they expected to get around Lexington Reservoir. I heard stories of a long tunnel, but I never saw a plan.

Mike in Tracy

Personally, I think they spent to much time inspecting some of the foliage found in small gardens in those mountains. Does anyone really think you could build anything through Los Gatos? Lexinton notwithstanding, no way in hell is University Ave. along Vasona going to revert to a railroad, anymore than the blocks long parking area now on the ROW in downtown.

Somehow the idea of the public rushing to charge itself to drive highway 17 seems a bit optomistic.

drew1946 Wrote:
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> Personally, I think they spent to much time
> inspecting some of the foliage found in small
> gardens in those mountains.

Withholding comment on more cultivated crops common to California, you DO have to be careful for the poison oak....

> Does anyone really think you could build anything through Los Gatos?

Another challenge, IIRC, is that one of the original tunnels is bisected by the San Andreas fault!

Just proves: if you've got a railroad, you'd better keep it because you'll probably need it again someday...'cuz good luck trying to replace one after it's gone.....

Motorman 13 (who operates a streetcar on one of the rare exceptions of restored tracks)

I worked on the project that looked at restoring service over the mountain. The tunnels that collapsed (imploded in the opening days of WWII) were an issue, but not a huge one. The San Andreas fault was not an issue, getting though Los Gatos proper was virtually impossible, and the residents along the way are "fiercly independent" which is consultantese for armed. At the end of the day, it might have been possible, it would have pissed off a lot of people, and it would not have been very good service.

I still have my Eccles & Eastern RR hat from those early days. Rick had big, big dreams, but it just was too big. - Tony J.