Steam & Excursion > While This Train Is A Sad One It Did Help In A Time Of Need!

We are very lucky that California railfan Art Lloyd was able to capture this sad but historic event. The date of his photo is June 20, 1942 and any photography of railroads (especially those on the West Coast) is frowned upon due to the fear of espionage with the onset of WW-2.

Mr. Lloyd took a risk when he traveled to San Luis Obisbo and caught the slow moving scrap train on the Pacific Coast Railway on this warm summer day. Time had run out for this narrow gauge line and even the war effort would not be able to generate enough new business to save the line. In fact, the war effort sadly needed the scrap iron from the line and it's rolling stock more than the railroad itself.

Within a short time after Mr. Lloyd captured this image, the line was gone and then the scrappers would finish their job by cutting up #105 herself. The materials she yielded along with that of the railroad itself would aid in the Country's ultimate victory in the War which is some comfort that the PCRy did not die in vain.

Martin

P.S. Here is #105's builders plate today.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/18 14:26 by LoggerHogger.

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Never heard of this RR. How far did it go?

march_hare Wrote:
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> Never heard of this RR. How far did it go?


Here is a map of the line. This gives you a good idea of it's location and the length of the line.

Martin

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Port Harford is also called Avila which to my knowledge, is a more common term used today. Or Avila Beach.

In the 1890s, the SP was building South from San Francisco, and North from LA via Saugus and Santa Paula etc.

The PC narrow gauge was built to fill in the blank in the middle, and did so for many years. The North end connected with the SP in SLO, and the South end was at Mattie's Tavern in Los Olivos. The PC went inland, which had less grades, and was a shorter route than the later SP.

A trip from SFO to LA at that time involved the SP to SLO, overnite in a hotel, and an all day trip on the PC to Mattie's Tavern in Los Olivos. After an overnite in Los Olivos, it was a stage coach trip the next day over San Marcos Pass to Santa Barbara.

The right-of-way follows hiway 154 from Los Olivos to the junction with hiway 101, which is the sideways U on the map, and is still plainly visible. It then follows 101 North for several miles, and is visible for the first three or four miles North of the junction.

A passenger brakeman on 11-14 when I went to Surf in 1977 had worked for the PC, and came to the SP in 1942 when the PC closed.
G

Station/freight shed in Los Alamos still there. Selling antiques and "stuff".

Born and raised in California and never knew this! Gotta love Trainorders!

There's not much left of the narrow gauge PC Ry but CSRM has a nice caboose on display on the mezzanine level that a lot of folks seem to miss for some reason. Shot was taken about 10 days ago on 1-03-13 while one of my sons was pointing his camera inside the baggage door.

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There looks to be several areas visible on Google Earth that might be connected with the old rail line. I'm not overly familiar with the area, and I can't easily check it out on the ground. There's a "Bob Jones trail" just northeast of Avila Beach that looks like it could have been an old railbed, and there's some "suspicious" brush spaced out in a trestle footing like pattern just North of Santa Maria and just West of Hwy 101. Love exploring these old lines.
Jim

Martin - Great photo and plate. I have one of the plates from Pacific Coast #110 and I am very pleased to have it!

Ron

The cove today is both Avila Beach and Port San Luis. There are several historic photos on display in a local restaurant and you can see evidence of the right of way.

Dave

wpdude Wrote:
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> Born and raised in California and never knew this!
> Gotta love Trainorders!

If you want to learn about the Pacific Coast Railway, visit the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum at the railyard in San Luis Obispo. Check out the web site at <www.slorrm.com>



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/18 19:26 by wjpyper.

The book “Ships and Narrow Gauge Rails” by Gerald Best is a good book about the railroad and the area. Picked up a good copy a few years ago on eBay.
Jason

For those desiring more information on this narrow gauge railroad which employed steam, electric traction and internal combustion power I recommend the excellent book - The Pacific Coast Railway: Central California Narrow Gauge by Kenneth E. Westcott and Curtiss H. Johnson. While I believe it is out of print copies can be found to the website with no name.

Cheers,
Jack



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/18 08:49 by africansteam.