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The Mayfield Cutoff (also called the Vasona Line) was a railway line in Santa Clara County, California. It branched from the Coast Line at California Avenue in Palo Alto and ran south to Vasona Junction where it met up with the South Pacific Coast Railroad. [1] [2] The southern segment remains in use for freight trains.
It was constructed by the Southern Pacific Railroad between 1906 and 1908. [1] [3] Some of the right of way was shared with an electrified track used by the Peninsular Railway between 1909 and 1933. [1] [4] [5] It was built as a vessel to open up the west side of Santa Clara Valley for development. [6] The line saw passenger service as a branch of the Peninsula Commute, which ran between Los Altos and Los Gatos via the cutoff. [1] Service along the northern end of the line ended in early 1964, though the tracks temporarily remained pending a federal ruling. [7] [8] The rails north of Permanente Junction were removed and much of the right of way reused for the Foothill Expressway, [1] which was under construction by 1966. [9] Kaiser Cement Corporation had a private spur from the line leading to their Permanente Quarry. [10] The plant remains active (though is planned to close [11] ) and tracks continue to be used for freight as part of the Union Pacific Vasona Industrial Lead. [1] [12] [11] The former line is the preferred west-side routing for future VTA light rail expansion. [11]
Los Gatos is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just southwest of San Jose in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Los Gatos is part of Silicon Valley, with several high technology companies maintaining a presence there. Netflix, the streaming service and content creator, is headquartered in Los Gatos and has developed a large presence in the area.
William Jones (1884–1968), a seasoned veteran of the steam era who established the Wildcat Railroad in Los Gatos, California, was born the son of a teamster in the town of Ben Lomond, California.
Vasona Lake County Park is a park located in Los Gatos, California and part of the Santa Clara County Parks system. Vasona Park surrounds the Vasona Reservoir. Adjacent to the park are the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad, a ridable miniature railway, and the W.E. "Bill" Mason Carousel at the Oak Meadow Park.
The Coast Line is a railroad line between Burbank, California and the San Francisco Bay Area, roughly along the Pacific Coast. It is the shortest rail route between Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Though not as busy as the Surf Line, the continuation of the Coast Line southbound to San Diego, it still sees freight movements and lots of passenger trains. The Pacific Surfliner, which runs from the San Diego Santa Fe Depot to San Luis Obispo via Union Station in Los Angeles, is the third busiest Amtrak route, and the busiest outside of the Northeast Corridor between Washington D.C. and Boston.
The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad (SF&SJ) was a railroad which linked the communities of San Francisco and San Jose, California, running the length of the San Francisco Peninsula. The company incorporated in 1860 and was one of the first railroads to employ Chinese laborers in its construction. It opened the first portion of its route in 1863, completing the entire 49.5-mile (80 km) route in 1864. The company was consolidated with the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1870. Today, Caltrain and the Union Pacific Railroad continue to operate trains over part of the company's original route.
The Green Line is a light rail line in Santa Clara County, California, and part of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail system. It serves 26 stations in the cities of Santa Clara, San Jose, and Campbell, traveling between Old Ironsides and Winchester stations. The line connects Levi's Stadium, San Jose International Airport, Downtown San Jose, San Jose State University, SAP Center, Diridon station, and Downtown Campbell. It runs for 20 hours per day on weekdays, with headways of 15 minutes for most of the day. On weekends, train run at 20 minute headways for most of the day. After around 8pm on weekdays and weekends trains run at 30 minute headways.
Downtown Campbell station is a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail station, located in downtown Campbell, California. Downtown Campbell station contains one island platform, and marks the beginning of a double-track section which continues to the end of line, Winchester station in western Campbell. The station is served by the Green Line of the VTA light rail system.
Winchester Transit Center is a light rail station and park-and-ride lot operated by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in Campbell, California. Winchester is the southern terminus of the Green Line of the VTA light rail system.
The Peninsula Commute, also known as the Southern Pacific Peninsula or just Peninsula, was the common name for commuter rail service between San Jose, California and San Francisco, California on the San Francisco Peninsula. This service ran as a private, for-profit enterprise beginning in 1863. Due to operating losses, the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) petitioned to discontinue the service in 1977. Subsidies were provided through the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in 1980 to continue service, and it was renamed Caltrain.
The Peninsular Railway was an interurban electrified railway in the U.S. State of California in the United States of America. It served the area between San Jose, Los Gatos, and Palo Alto, comprising much of what is today known as "Silicon Valley". For much of its existence it was a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
The South Pacific Coast Railroad (SPC) was a 3 ft narrow gauge steam railroad running between Santa Cruz, California, and Alameda, with a ferry connection in Alameda to San Francisco. The railroad was created as the Santa Clara Valley Railroad, founded by local strawberry growers as a way to get their crops to market in San Francisco and provide an alternative to the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1876, James Graham Fair, a Comstock Lode silver baron, bought the line and extended it into the Santa Cruz Mountains to capture the significant lumber traffic coming out of the redwood forests. The narrow-gauge line was originally laid with 52-pound-per-yard (26 kg/m) rail on 8-foot (2.44 m) redwood ties; and was later acquired by the Southern Pacific and converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge.
Palo Alto station is an intermodal transit center in Palo Alto, California. It is served by Caltrain regional rail service, SamTrans and Santa Clara VTA local bus service, Dumbarton Express regional bus service, the Stanford University Marguerite Shuttle, and several local shuttle services. Palo Alto is the second-busiest Caltrain station after San Francisco, averaging 7,764 weekday boardings by a 2018 count. The Caltrain station has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Peninsula Subdivision and a nearby bus transfer plaza.
The VTA light rail system serves San Jose and nearby cities in Santa Clara County, California. It is operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and has 42.2 miles (67.9 km) of network comprising three main lines on standard gauge tracks. Originally opened on December 11, 1987, the light rail system has expanded since then, and currently has 60 stations in operation.
The San Francisco and San Mateo Electric Railway (SF&SM) was the first electric streetcar company in San Francisco, California. The company was only in business for ten years, starting from 1892 until it was merged into the United Railroads of San Francisco (URR) in 1902.
The Southern Transcon is a main line of the BNSF Railway comprising 11 subdivisions between Southern California and Chicago, Illinois. Completed in its current alignment in 1908 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, when it opened the Belen Cutoff in New Mexico and bypassed the steep grades of Raton Pass, it now serves as a mostly double-tracked intermodal corridor.
The Permanente Quarry and cement plant is in an unincorporated area of Santa Clara County, California, just west of Cupertino. The limestone and aggregate mining operation and cement plant is owned by Lehigh Southwest Cement, a subsidiary of Heidelberg Cement. Limestone was mined beginning in 1902 but remained a small operation until 1939 when it was purchased by Henry J. Kaiser to supply the 5.5 million barrels of cement to build Shasta Dam. With increased production Kaiser supplied all of the cement used by the Navy in the Pacific Theater of World War 2. At 7 million barrels, it was more cement than the Shasta Dam project. Roughly 70 percent of the cement used in the communities of Santa Clara County was acquired from the cement plant.
The Dumbarton Rail Bridge lies just to the south of the Dumbarton road bridge. Built in 1910, the rail bridge was the first structure to span San Francisco Bay, shortening the rail route between Oakland and San Francisco by 26 miles (42 km). The last freight train traveled over the bridge in 1982, and it has been proposed since 1991 to reactivate passenger train service to relieve traffic on the road bridges, though this would entail a complete replacement of the existing bridge. Part of the western timber trestle approach collapsed in a suspected arson fire in 1998.
The Ocean View Branch was a railroad line between San Francisco and San Bruno, California. It was in use from 1863 to 1942, with some sections remaining until the 1970s. Its importance as a rail corridor was greatly reduced after the 1907 opening of the flatter and shorter Bayshore Cutoff. The right-of-way between Glen Park and San Bruno was reused for Interstate 280 and Bay Area Rapid Transit.
Los Altos station is a former railway station in Los Altos, California. The station's establishment marked the beginning of the town as the Mayfield Cutoff was built through the area in 1907. Initially, Southern Pacific steam trains stopped at the two boxcars which made up the station. Additionally, the station was a stop along the interurban Peninsular Railway starting in 1909. A more permanent station building opened in 1913. Peninsular interurban cars ceased running in 1935 and commuter service ended entirely in January 1964.
