Del Monte (train)
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The ''Del Monte'' was a passenger train operated by the
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
between
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and
Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...
. It ran from 1889 to 1971.


History


19th century

Southern Pacific asserts that the named ''Del Monte'' service began in 1889, first appearing on an timetable as the ''Del Monte Limited''. It replaced an apparently unnamed service (maybe known colloquially as ''The Daisy'') which had operated on a similar schedule when Southern Pacific opened their
Hotel Del Monte The Hotel Del Monte was a large resort hotel in Monterey, California, from its opening in 1880 until 1942. It was one of the finest luxury hotels in North America. During World War II, it closed and the building was leased to the United State ...
in 1880. The 1889 schedule showed train number 13 leaving San Francisco at 2:30 PM and reaching Monterey at 5:30. The return trip train number 12 left Monterey at 8 AM to reach San Francisco at 11:15.


20th century

Early records of Del Monte service may have been lost in the 1906 San Francisco fire. Trains were rerouted to the
Bayshore Cutoff The Bayshore Cutoff (originally the Southern Pacific Bay Shore Cut-Off) is the rail line between San Francisco and San Bruno along the eastern shore (San Francisco Bay side) of the San Francisco Peninsula. It was completed by Southern Pacific (SP) ...
some time after its completion in 1907. A
sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. ...
operated briefly over the route beginning in 1926. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
a P-6 class
4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...
pulled a
mail car A passenger railroad car or passenger car (United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry passen ...
, three or four
coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...
, a news-agent coach serving light snacks, and a
parlor car A parlor car (or parlour car outside the United States of America) is a type of passenger coach that provides superior comforts and amenities compared to a standard coach. History Parlor cars came about on United States railroads to address the ...
. The parlor car was named ''Oliver Millet'' in 1947 when Millet retired after working 32 years as the ''Del Monte'' parlor car attendant. He was the only Southern Pacific employee recognized by a car name. Train number 78 left San Francisco daily at 4 PM, stopped at San Jose an hour later, and arrived in Monterey to unload mail at 7 PM. The locomotive and cars waited overnight at the Pacific Grove terminal to return as train number 77 leaving Monterey at 7:30 AM and reaching San Francisco at 10:30. In 1948, the ''Del Monte Express'' fatally struck
Ed Ricketts Edward Flanders Robb Ricketts (May 14, 1897 – May 11, 1948) was an American marine biologist, ecologist, and philosopher. He is best known for ''Between Pacific Tides'' (1939), a pioneering study of intertidal ecology. He is also known as a men ...
, a friend of
John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...
, while he was driving across the railroad tracks at Drake Avenue in Monterey. In 1957, Southern Pacific successfully petitioned the state to discontinue passenger service to Pacific Grove. By 1961, operations were consolidated with the
Peninsula Commute 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 ...
, with cars added north of San Jose. File:SP 3003 GP9 with SP train 141, the Del Monte, at Jan Jose, CA in January 1968 (32212880863).jpg, SP train 141 at San Jose, CA, in January 1968 File:Interior of SP parlor car on the Del Monte, February 5, 1971.jpg, Interior of SP parlor car on Train 126, 1971 File:Del Monte near Ford Ord, February 1971.jpg, ''Del Monte'' at Castroville, 1971 File:SP 2380 switching Del Monte at SJ 4-71 (17120050020).jpg, The ''Del Monte'' in 1971, just before it was discontinued


Cancellation

The ''Del Monte'' ran until April 30, 1971, the day before
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
took over intercity passenger train service. The tracks in Pacific Grove and Monterey were removed in the 1980s and the former right-of-way is now the Monterey Bay Recreation Trail.


Partial restoration

Since the train's demise, various groups have tried to reestablish rail service to the Monterey Bay area. Potential restoration of ''Del Monte''-like service to Monterey had been identified as early as the
Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...
1984-89 Rail passenger development plan. Amtrak declined to operate such service, but operations under Southern Pacific (by then running state-subsidized services) were studied with ridership forecast developed.
Caltrain Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a California commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose at Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as far ...
(successor to the
Peninsula Commute 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 ...
) extended service south of San Jose in 1992; two round trip trains operate south of Tamien at peak hours.
Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...
ran a demonstration passenger train over the line in 1995 to build support for restarting rail service. Service south of Gilroy is planned to start in 2021 following the ''Del Monte'' alignment until Castroville, whereupon trains will divert from the original routing and terminate at
Salinas station Salinas station, also known as the Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center, is an intermodal transit center in downtown Salinas, California, United States. As a transit hub, the facility is a passenger rail station and bus station. Services Th ...
on the Coast Line. the
Monterey Branch Line The Monterey Branch Line is a railway line located in Monterey County, California. It runs between Castroville, California, Castroville, where it connects to the Union Pacific Coast Line (UP), Coast Line, and Monterey, California, Monterey, for ...
, the remaining segment from Castroville to Monterey, is being studied for a potential light rail service.


References


External links

{{SP named trains Passenger trains of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company Named passenger trains of the United States Railway services introduced in 1889 Railway services discontinued in 1971