Name: Southern Pacific's Slim Princess
Brand: Andrew J. Grove
SKU: 9781467108782
Price: 23.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Southern Pacific's Slim Princess

9781467108782

$23.99

For 60 years, the Southern Pacific's Slim Princess served as the lifeline to remote areas of western Nevada and eastern California. In 1880, the financiers of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad organized the Carson & Colorado Railroad to build a narrow-gauge line from the Carson River to the Colorado River, but that dream was never fully realized. In 1900, the Southern Pacific Railroad purchased the 300-mile line, envisioning it as a shortcut from Nevada to Southern California. The northern half of the line was converted to standard gauge in 1905. The section from Mina, Nevada, to Keeler, California, remained an isolated and celebrated part of the Southern Pacific until it succumbed to the scrapper's torch in 1960.

Southern Pacific in California

9780738582078

$24.99

The Southern Pacific Railroad is California's railroad. As the Central Pacific, it bored and blasted its way east from Sacramento, across the towering High Sierra, meeting with the Union Pacific at Promontory, Utah, completing the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, and profoundly changing the growing United States. By the early 20th century, the Southern Pacific was a rail colossus, stretching from San Francisco Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. Yet the Southern Pacific remained essentially Californian. Its rail lines gave muscle to the lovely California coast, the fertile San Joaquin and Imperial Valleys, and the timber industry of the north coast. Yet for all its might and majesty, for many Californians the Southern Pacific was a smaller, more intimate part of the fabric of their daily lives.

The Great Northern Railway in Marias Pass

9781467125192

$29.99

Montana's Marias Pass is the lowest rail crossing through the Rocky Mountains. The tracks snake through narrow canyons, traverse the swift Middle Fork of the Flathead River, and twist through numerous snowsheds and tunnels to crest the 5,213-foot Continental Divide. James Jerome Hill was the driving force behind Great Northern Railway's mission to find the most economical route to the Pacific coast, with surveyor John F. Stevens taking a major role in locating the pass. Browning is the eastern gateway into Marias Pass as the railroad approaches the Rocky Mountain Front; continuing west from Summit, the tracks parallel Bear Creek and the Middle Fork of the Flathead River downgrade through Essex to Glacier National Park and into the Flathead Valley.

The Great Northern Railway in Marias Pass

Virginia & Truckee Railroad

9781467107419

$23.99

The Virginia & Truckee (V&T) was once the richest and most famous short line railroad in America. Created in 1869 to provide transportation for the Comstock Lode, the V&T transported gold and silver ore to the quartz reduction mills. On the return trip, it brought back cordwood for fuel, timbers for mining, lumber for building communities, and all the goods needed by the area's nearly 40,000 inhabitants. The V&T also supported passenger transportation between Virginia City, Gold Hill, Carson City, and Reno. At its peak, this "bonanza railroad" ran 50 trains per day and paid stockholders more than $130,000 in monthly dividends. Over the next 80 years, operations dwindled to a trickle, and the last train ran in May 1950. Today, the V&T is immortalized in motion pictures, its locomotives and cars are exhibited in museums, and 14 miles of the V&T have been returned to operation.

Colorado and Southern Railway

9780738529295

$24.99

In 1860, thousands journeyed to the Colorado Territory, beckoned by reports of gold discoveries in the mountains west of Denver. In the early 1870s, W.A.H. Loveland built a railroad connecting Denver to the Clear Creek Mining District-the Colorado Central Railroad. Over the next 28 years, other lines were established, bought, sold, extended, and merged to service the mining towns of Black Hawk, Central City, Idaho Springs, and Silver Plume. In 1898, the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf, and the Denver Leadville & Gunnison were combined to form the Colorado & Southern Railway. After more than 40 years of dedication to the Clear Creek District, the railroad was scrapped in 1941. However, tourism would revitalize the area, and in the years to come a group of enthusiasts began to rebuild a portion of the old right of way. Toady, the spirit of the C&S is alive again, and rail fans can make the same journey over "The Loop" that thrilled tourists a century ago.

Nevada Northern Railway

9780738574752

$24.99

The Nevada Northern Railway is the sole survivor from a grand era when railroads served mines throughout the state. Built in 1905-1906 to develop the incredible copper deposits of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company in White Pine County, it was--and still is--a workaday railroad. Although its primary purpose was to haul ore, it eventually served the community with a daily passenger train between East Ely and Cobre until 1941. Over 4.5 million people rode the trains, and a mountain of copper ore was moved. In 1983, the Nevada Northern Railway ceased operating, and two years later the entire ore line, including the railroad's yard and shop facilities in East Ely, was donated to the White Pine Historical Railroad Foundation that now operates the railway as a museum. Instead of relics in glass cases or repainted old equipment on static display, the museum preserves a working steam railroad, delighting train enthusiasts year-round with passenger service and special seasonal excursions.

San Diego and Arizona Railway

9780738581484

$24.99

Surveyors called the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A) "The Impossible Railroad" because of its jagged, mountainous, and brutal desert route. The financier and driving force behind building this binational 148-mile rail connection to the east from San Diego, California, was businessman John D. Spreckels. Because of his perseverance, the jinxed 1907-1919 construction overcame a series of disasters, including the Mexican Revolution, a prolonged lawsuit, floods, World War I, labor shortages, a tunnel cave-in, and a lethal pandemic. Once up and running, the line was intermittently in and out of service and later sold and renamed the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway. While "The Impossible Railroad" still faces constant challenges and partial closures, freight and trolley service currently operate on its right-of-way, and tourist excursions are offered at its Campo, California, depot.

Mount Lowe Railway

9780738547534

$24.99

Opened with great fanfare on July 4, 1893, the Mount Lowe Incline Railway was hailed as "Earth's Grandest Mountain Ride." Built by Civil War balloonist Thaddeus S. C. Lowe and railroad engineer David J. Macpherson in the mountains above Altadena and Pasadena in Los Angeles County, this funicular was operated for 43 years and served nearly four million passengers from around the world. Where else could one find four hotels, an observatory, the world's largest searchlight, a dance hall, miniature golf, a zoo, horseback riding, tennis, and snowcapped peaks, all within a day's journey from the Pacific Ocean and downtown Los Angeles? The San Gabriel Mountains continue to be a great natural resource and recreational escape for many Angelenos, but the spectacular railway lives on only in these vintage photographs.

Summit County's Narrow-Gauge Railroads

9781467116855

$24.99

Summit County's Narrow-Gauge Railroads tells the story of the two railroads that fought for dominance in Summit County, Colorado, during the late 1800s and early 1900s: the Denver, South Park & Pacific and the Denver & Rio Grande. The two railroads developed an intense rivalry as they sought to monopolize the county's economic potential. Altitude, heavy winter snow, and rugged mountainous terrain combined to provide a unique set of challenges to company management as well as to the crews as they battled to lay the tracks and provide much-needed rail service to the residents and businesses of the county. Intimately tied to the mining economy, the fortunes of the railroads plummeted when the mining economy collapsed. Although poorly financed and poorly built, the railroads changed the living conditions for county residents. Without the railroads bringing the necessary equipment and lumber, nine huge gold-dredging boats would not have scoured the county's major waterways between 1898 and 1942.

Yreka Western Railroad

9780738574301

$24.99

The city of Yreka was determined to have a railroad. When the Southern Pacific Railroad decided in 1883 to bypass Yreka, the citizens constructed their own railroad known as the Yreka Railroad Company. This railroad managed to eke out a living over the next few decades. In the 1930s, the railroad was reincorporated as the Yreka Western Railroad. By the mid-1930s, the railroad went bankrupt and was forced into receivership, and a new manager was put in charge. Through perseverance of the new manager, the railroad began to grow and prosper. By the late 1970s, the railroad once again started to decline, but as in the past, it managed to hold on. In 1986, the railroad started an excursion train known as the "Blue Goose," and steam locomotive No. 19 was added in 1989. Throughout all the hardships, the railroad still continues today and has been given the nickname "the Little Railroad that Refuses to Die."

Railroads of Nevada County

9781467128452

$24.99

The Central Pacific Railroad was the first railroad to enter Nevada County as it constructed eastward in 1865. At the base of the eastern slope of Donner Pass, the railroad established a construction camp, now known as Truckee, before following the Truckee River to the Nevada state line. Truckee became home to expansive locomotive facilities for helper locomotives on trains westbound over Donner Pass after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Through the end of the 19th century, additional railroads were constructed, bringing the outside world closer to the remote corners of the county. Railroads like the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad and Nevada County Traction Company served the gold rush-era boomtowns of Grass Valley and Nevada City. Lumber companies like the Towle Brothers and the Sierra Nevada Wood & Lumber Company brought rail into the forests and filled the demand for lumber throughout the region.

Roaring Camp Railroads

9781467129961

$24.99

In 1963, Norman Clark officially opened Roaring Camp to the public. Since then, it has become a popular and well-known destination for tourists and rail buffs from around the world who wish to visit and ride on its 100-year-old steam trains. Isaac Graham, who constructed the first powered sawmill and the first whiskey distillery in the American West, settled the area in the 1840s. Graham was notorious for his boisterous antics, and his settlement became known as a "wild and roaring camp." Clark arrived in the area in the mid-1950s with $25 in his pocket and the dream of preserving a piece of early California. Clark's dream included a plan to construct an 1880s railroad town, complete with an authentic narrow-gauge logging railway. Over the last 50 years, Clark's dream has been continued and expanded, now incorporating two railroads, one of which dates to 1875.

Logging Railroads of Humboldt and Mendocino Counties

9780738596211

$24.99

Locomotive steam whistles echo no more in the forests of the north California coast. A century ago, Humboldt and Mendocino Counties had more than 40 railroads bringing logs out of the forest to mills at the water's edge. Only one single railroad ever connected to the outside world, and it too is gone. One railroad survives as the Skunk Train in Mendocino County, and it carries tourists today instead of lumber. Redwood and tan oak bark were the two products moved by rail, and very little else was hauled other than lumberjacks and an occasional picnic excursion for loggers' families. Economic depressions and the advent of trucking saw railroads vanish like a puff of steam from the landscape.

Logging Railroads of Humboldt and Mendocino Counties

Sacramento's Southern Pacific Shops

9780738580524

$24.99

In 1862, the Central Pacific Railroad was founded and began building eastward from Sacramento as part of the transcontinental railroad. This required a shop capable of keeping the railroad's equipment in running order. So in 1867, in the swamps just north of town, the Sacramento shops were born. For well more than a century, this massive complex kept the Central Pacific and its corporate successor, the Southern Pacific, operating smoothly. For many decades, the shops were the largest employer in the Sacramento area, employing carpenters, painters, draftsmen, boilermakers, electricians, clerks, upholsterers, and others. The shops' forces designed, built, and maintained locomotives, freight and passenger cars, and other railroading equipment. The complex closed in 1999. Most of the area, popularly known as the Railyards, is set for redevelopment. The California State Railroad Museum handles maintenance and restoration of its collection in two of the shops buildings and plans to develop a Railroad Technology Museum on the site.

Railroads of Los Gatos

9780738546612

$24.99

The picturesque town of Los Gatos stands between the once verdant orchards of the Santa Clara Valley and the forested slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The narrow-gauge South Pacific Coast Railroad arrived in 1878 and, within two years, laid track over the mountains to carry passengers, redwood, and tons of ripe produce. Less than a decade later it was purchased by Southern Pacific, and completely converted to standard gauge by 1909. Invigorating business and industry, the railroad remained a vital part of the economy of Los Gatos for over 80 years. Although the era of commercial rail ended in 1959, Billy Jones and his scaled-down Wildcat Railroad" still offered weekend rides at his ranch to guests, including Walt Disney. The Wildcat still operates in two local parks today."

Nevada's Virginia & Truckee Railroad

9781467131056

$24.99

The Virginia & Truckee is the most famous short line railroad in American history. Brainchild of William Sharon and the Bank of California, the V&T hauled the silver and gold ore, the cordwood, and the mining timbers that made the 1870s "Big Bonanza" a reality. From the state capital at Carson City, V&T rails stretched 66 miles to Virginia City, Reno, and Minden, Nevada. Serving the transportation needs of the Comstock's nearly 40,000 inhabitants, the V&T remained in operation until 1950. The enormously successful railroad paid its early owners handsome dividends. The V&T's ornate locomotives and cars have starred in hundreds of Hollywood productions and are now preserved in US museums. Since 1976, fourteen miles of the railroad have been restored to operation. The Virginia & Truckee has become an enduring legend.

Sacramento Northern Railway

9780738530529

$24.99

The Sacramento Northern Railway was once a critical interurban link between California's northern Central Valley communities, the state capital, and the Bay Area. Running through orchards, farmland, swamps, and cities, this electric railway began its life in 1905. Service eventually ran from Chico to Oakland, but after the Bay Bridge opened in 1939, the 186-mile route started in San Francisco's Financial District, crossed the bridge on the lower deck, ran through Contra Costa County towns like Moraga, Lafayette, and Pittsburg, across the Suisun straits on the massive rail ferry Ramon (which could hold an entire train), and into Sacramento, the halfway point. From there, the train continued through rolling hills and farms on to Marysville, and finally to Chico before making its return journey. The Sacramento Northern soldiered on until World War II, but eventually the growing car culture, along with competing diesel railroads, undid this splendid line. Interurban passenger service ended in 1941, and the various lines were gradually abandoned or dieselized. Today a 22-mile segment of the route remains in operation at the Bay Area Electric Railway Museum in Solano County.

Rails around Durango

9780738548593

$24.99

In the 1880s, the Denver & Rio Grande began building its three-foot railroad toward the San Juan Mountains alongside the Animas River and the budding community of Durango. The D&RG quickly established itself in Durango, constructing a depot as well as a 45-mile connection to the regional mining hub of Silverton. Over 60 years, the towns, the railroad, and the mines it served would weather plummeting silver values and a turbulent economy. By the end of World War II, declining freight volumes left the future of the railroad in doubt, but by the late 1940s, a growing number of train enthusiasts were journeying to Durango for one last ride. The new popularity of the Silverton Branch brought rail fans to the area in increasing numbers through the 1950s. Today the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad continues to preserve the region's railroading past and has become a unique aspect of the history of Southwestern Colorado.

Bingham Canyon Railroads

9780738584898

$24.99

Railroads and mining in Bingham Canyon have gone hand in hand since the first railroad was constructed in the canyon in late 1873. Bingham Canyon in the early years was a gold and silver mining camp, and the railroads were small operations. Copper mining took hold in the late 1890s, and the mines, mining companies, and railroads that served them expanded rapidly. Bingham Canyon soon became the largest and richest mining district in the western United States and was the source for as much as a third of the copper mined in the nation. A variety of locomotives worked in the canyon, including a small number of Shay locomotives, several large articulated steam locomotives, and the nation's largest roster of electric locomotives. The last Bingham Canyon ore train ran in late 2001. While the railroad tracks have been removed, the mine itself is very much in full production and remains the source for 25 percent of the nation's copper production.

The Key System

9780738547220

$24.99

It is difficult now to imagine San Francisco Bay without bridges, but not too long ago, a complex system of ferries and trains helped span the waters in an elegant way. The Key System was a huge portion of this network; it was part of businessman "Borax" Smith's method to attract San Francisco workers to live in the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and Piedmont, where he dealt in real estate. The Southern Pacific Railroad was the Key System's fierce competitor, then later an ally, before it was vanquished. Thousands of commuters rode the system for years, until a ridership decline eventually doomed the Key when bridges finally crisscrossed the bay.

Rails Around McCloud

9780738555645

$24.99

California's northeastern corner is dominated by the 14,162-foot-tall presence of Mount Shasta. On the southeastern flank of the great mountain lies the picturesque town of McCloud. The McCloud River Railroad established its operational headquarters in the town in 1897. The next seven decades saw the railroad and the affiliated McCloud River Lumber Company carve hundreds of miles of railroad into the pine forests and lava beds east of McCloud, eventually reaching as far as Lookout to the east and the Burney Basin to the south. The McCloud River Railroad eked out a living hauling lumber, diatomaceous earth, and occasional tourists until 1992, when the new McCloud Railway Company purchased the property. In 1996, the new owners launched the Shasta Sunset Dinner Train to supplement the declining freight business. Economic conditions forced the railroad to abandon the entire railway east of McCloud in 2006, but the dinner train has kept rolling, keeping the rails west of McCloud shiny.

Rails around Helper

9780738548067

$24.99

In 1880, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad was hard-pressed to find a suitable rail route from Grand Junction to Salt Lake City. With the coal deposits of eastern Utah luring them on, railroad officials chose a difficult route over Soldier Summit. The railroad established the town where "helper" engines were attached to the heavy trains, and Helper grew into a division point with branch operations that reached into the nearby canyons to serve the blossoming coal industry. Numerous smaller towns sprang up to service the railroad, and in 1912, the newly incorporated Utah Railway laid tracks to share the right-of-way with the Denver and Rio Grande. The
town of Helper is still a mecca for rail fans, and the story of its past lives on.

Rails of California's Central Coast

9780738555911

$24.99

Diversity is the prime characteristic of the California Central Coast's many rail operations. Readers will be attracted by the varying scope of Central Coast--Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo Counties--rail systems. They range from local horsecar services and the narrow-gauge electrified plant railroad that served the Santa Cruz Cement Company at Davenport to the Southern Pacific Railroad's Coast Line and its engineering marvel Cuesta Grade, highlighted by the world-famous horseshoe curve. Local streetcar systems and long-ceased regional railroads are part of the area's rail legacy. Rare historic images blended with contemporary photography chronicle the region's railways from times past to the present.

The Railroad at Pocatello

9780738576176

$24.99

Pocatello was founded as a station on the narrow-gauge Utah and Northern Railway in 1878, and it has been a railroad town ever since. Passenger and freight trains arrived and departed in all four directions of the compass, 24 hours a day. The Union Pacific also built extensive shops at Pocatello, where railroad equipment was serviced, maintained, and repaired. In addition, refrigerator cars were iced from a large icehouse, and railroad ties were treated with preservative at a tie plant. The advent of the automobile, improved roads, new technologies, and the introduction of the diesel-electric locomotives all combined to change the railroad industry, affecting Pocatello in many ways. Passenger trains were discontinued, the steam-locomotive-servicing facilities were closed, and shop buildings were torn down. However, the railroad in Pocatello remains a vital part of the local scene today, with freight trains continuing to run through the city day and night.

Laramie Railroads

9781467130837

$24.99

On July 1, 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act. This act created the Union Pacific Railroad and authorized government loans and land grants to aid in the construction of the nation's first transcontinental railroad, which would connect Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California. As the Union Pacific raced west across prairies, mountains, and basins in 1867 and 1868, the Territory of Wyoming and many of its southern towns and cities were founded, including Laramie. In 1869, the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific at Promontory Summit, Utah, and the transcontinental railroad was complete. This is the story of the railroads of Laramie, a fabled place along the Union Pacific's Overland Route.

Oahu's Narrow-Gauge Navy Rail

9781467131971

$24.99

US Navy rail operations on Oahu began in 1908 with construction railroads used to help build the shipyard. Expansion of Pearl Harbor to include the submarine base and the naval magazine on Kuahua Island required a permanent railroad, which was begun in 1911. This construction provided industrial employment to hundreds of local men in the existing agricultural economy, and the influx of additional manpower from the mainland contributed to an increasingly skilled and diverse population. World War II brought about a dramatic increase in Navy railroad operations in support of the war effort. Success in the Pacific theater of operations depended on the Navy's railroads, equipment, and the Oahu Railway & Land Company (OR&L), which connected all the bases. The OR&L abandoned its main line in December 1947. By the mid-1950s, railroad operations at Pearl Harbor also ceased. Rail operations continued at and between Naval Magazine Lualualei and Ammunition Depot West Loch through the Korean Conflict and Vietnam era, ending in 1972.

Railroads of Placer County

9781467127646

$24.99

Though small in geographic size, Placer County is large in its rich history of railroading in California. This book covers 14 different railroads that did or still do exist in some association with Placer County. There were narrow-gauge and standard-gauge, long transcontinental, and short point-to-point railroads. Some railroads were fully contained within the county, and others just touched the county. Some railroads were short-lived operations, while others operated for decades. One railroad still functions today, undiminished after 150 years in service. This book is more than just a collection of photographs of locomotives; it provides the reader with a visual history of various aspects of the many railroads operating in Placer County over the years.

Rails around Denver

9780738548029

$24.99

At the height of America's post-Civil War expansion, Colorado Territory was a land of great hope and opportunity. Forged at the confluence of commerce and geography, Colorado became a state in 1876, and Denver, the Queen City of the Plains. To address the growing need for efficient transportation throughout the state, early railroads such as the Kansas Pacific and the Denver and Rio Grande were built in
the 1870s. Serving all of these routes was the Denver Union Depot with its commodious dual-gauged tracks. These "steel roads" would become the region's economic lifeblood, hauling freight and passengers to the booming mountain mining towns, returning with ores for processing, and serving as the direct link for passengers and freight between the Rocky Mountains and the industrialized East.

Lake Tahoe's Railroads

9781467117371

$24.99

Lake Tahoe is the majestic mountain lake that spans the boundary line of California and Nevada. The lake's clarity and scenic beauty are legendary. In the 1870s, the Nevada Comstock Lode created an insatiable appetite for Lake Tahoe's virgin pine forests. The timbers would shore up underground mining and build communities approaching 40,000 inhabitants. Railroads on three shores delivered the logs lakeside, where they were towed by steam-powered tugs to sawmills, to lumber flumes, and again by rail to their final destinations. As the mines and giant lake pines subsided, railroads pushed farther north after 1898 into new timber stands in the Lake Tahoe and Truckee River basins. Other rail lines were sold, barged across the lake, and repurposed for the burgeoning new industry of tourism. For the next 40 years, railroads marketed Lake Tahoe as their unique scenic destination.

Caltrain and the Peninsula Commute Service

9780738576220

$24.99

The rail line now called Caltrain was started in the 1860s to create a faster alternative to stagecoaches and ships between the key cities of San Francisco and San Jose. Operated by Southern Pacific for many years, the Peninsula Commute Service is the oldest continuously operating passenger railroad in the West and boasts seven depots in the National Register of Historic Places. This indomitable iron horse has filled a vital transportation role, from evacuating San Franciscans during the 1906 earthquake to getting commuters to work. With the dawn of the 21st century, Caltrain reinvented itself yet again with its innovative Baby Bullet express trains.

Caltrain and the Peninsula Commute Service

Alaska's Tanana Valley Railroads

9780738596679

$24.99

In a region desperate for transportation to rich, gold-bearing creeks, the narrow-gauge Tanana Mines Railroad was built over permafrost, bogs, and hills to carry miners and supplies in 1905. Reorganized as the Tanana Valley Railroad, this little line promised the survival of both gold mining and Fairbanks until Fairbanks's economic base broadened. The railroad, built with Klondike Gold Rush earnings, prospered for only a few years and was acquired by the Alaska Railroad. The narrow-gauge survived 25 years, serving as the terminus for the Alaska Railroad and ensuring the development of Interior Alaska.

Railways of San Francisco

9780738528878

$24.99

It may be hard to believe now, but San Francisco was once dominated by railways. Before private cars crowded this hemmed-in city, rail was the only way to get around the challenging terrain, and the rail industry rose to the task with many innovative systems. Some of these were herculean, with massive bores through rocky hills, or elaborate cable and counterweight systems to handle steep inclines. Others were simpler, horse-drawn affairs that took passengers from the downtown and waterfront areas to outlying districts. The distinct flavor of San Francisco's neighborhoods owes much to the early rails, as these cars enabled residents to form their own enclaves and still interact with the commercial heart of the city. Some rail systems presaged today's commuter lifestyle-one even ran all the way down Mission Street to far-off San Mateo. Only a few of the many rail systems that once served this city remain.

San Francisco's Interurban to San Mateo

9780738530086

$24.99

It's strange to think that an electric commuter rail line rivaling BART in efficiency, speed, and comfort ran over 100 years ago between San Francisco and San Mateo, but run it did. The 40 Line, or San Mateo Interurban, began in 1892 with an initial segment operating between Market and Steuart Streets out to the county limits on San Jose Avenue. Three years later, the line reached Baden in present-day South San Francisco, and by 1903 service was opened all the way to downtown San Mateo. During the line's heyday, there was talk of extending it down the peninsula from San Mateo to Palo Alto to connect with the Peninsular Railway to San Jose. The 1906 earthquake put this plan on hold. Following much the same route as today's Mission Street, El Camino Real, and Caltrain, the San Mateo Interurban carried over four million passengers a year along its main and spur lines until 1949, when the system was shut down amidst much fanfare.