hubert howe bancroft - Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History ...

AROUND THE BAY. 689
Of the railroads in the northern counties u but little
remains to be said. They have greatly multiplied
and extended. The construction of several short
roads about the bay of San Francisco has, by con-
at Stockton to the coal-fields in Amador eo. The line was surveyed, and its
construction c commenced, , the principal pp person p connected with it being ng Henry enry
Pltt Platt, th the projector jt of f the th Pacific Pifi coast t narrow gauge. Several S l miles il of f
grading were done, about one mile of track was laid, car-shops and depot
buildings were erected, and locomotives purchased, when matters came to a
standstill. The contractor, it was said, had misrepresented and mismanaged,
entangling the enterprise in debt, and finally selling out ' to the enemies of
the road and of Stockton by disposing of the bonds extorted from the road.'
Construction ceased, and litigation followed. All that remains of the wellplanned
enterprise is the useless depot and the more useless mile of road.
The Stanislaus and Mariposa R. R. co. organized in June 1866, with a capital
stock of $1,500,000, was intended to connect with the Copperopolis road 10
miles from Stockton, running thence to Knight's ferry and La Grange, a
distance of 50 miles, and to l>e extended finally to Fort Tejon; but it was
never even commenced, owing to the opposition of better organized companies.
The San Joaquin and Tulare R. &., incorporated in 1873, is another
of these failures.
44
In 1865 Sonoma co. began to stir in the matter of railroads, and the
following companies were formed: In October, 1865, the Petaluma and
Healdsburg R. R. co., which failed to do more than raise a few thousand
dollars. In 1867 the Vallejo and Sonoma Valley R. R. was proposed as a substitute,
which offered to construct a road from Suscol to Cloverdale and
Healdsburg; and in 1869 the Petaluma and Cloverdale R. R. co., with a branch
to Bloomheld, made a proposition to the county, but none of these came to
fruition. Uhe Sonoma Valley R. R. was commenced about 1880, is completed
from Sonoma Landing to Glen Ellen, and is the only one in the co.
except the S. F. and North Pacific, already mentioned. The first railroad in
Mendocino co. was built by the Mendocino R. R. co. in 1875, from Cuffey's
Cove 3} miles into the forest along Greenwood creek. It was a narrow
gauge, and its rolling stock consisted of 2 locomotives and 29 flat cars. Its
principal stockholder was A. W. HalL The North Pacific Coast R. R., it
would seem, should have been extended to Eureka, on Humboldt bay, which
lacked an outlet to the valleys of CaL, and connection with the railroad system
of the state. But, instead, the people of Eureka, the town having
about 6,000 inhabitants, projected the construction of a railroad called the
Eureka and Eel River R. R., to give the people of that valley, southeast
from Humboldt bay 15 miles, easy communication with the chief town of
Mendocino co. Money was raised among the citizens to pay for the survey
of a route, each contributor to have the privilege of subscribing to the capital
stock of the corporation, and receiving credit to the amount of said subscription
to the preliminary survey. They petitioned the legislature in 1878
to permit the town to subscribe $75,000 in aid of this road, and an act was
passed in consonance with their wishes. C. S. Ricks was sent to Sacramento
to urge this bill; the representative from Humboldt, Mr Russ, and
the senator from that district, Kotart McGarvey, were instructed to insist
upon the right of the Eureka people to vote money to subsidize a much
needed improvement; the democrats voted for it* although no-subsidy was
one of their party watch-words. This road now extend* 26 miles southeast,
and will probably be brought to connect with the North Pacific or with the
Sacramento valley system. The Vaca Valley and Clear Lake railroad was
incorporated in 1869, and constructed from Elmira in Solano co. to Vacaville
in the same co. for the convenience of shippers of fruit and vegetables to
San Francisco. In 1876 it was extended to Winters in Yolo co. In 1877 it