The North Pacific Coast Railroad (NPC) was a common carrier

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

steam railroad Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

begun in 1874 and sold in 1902 to new owners who renamed it the North Shore Railroad (California) (NSR) and which rebuilt the southern section into a

standard-gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

electric railway A railway electrification system supplies electric power to Rail transport, railway trains and trams without an on-board Prime mover (locomotive), prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling pa ...

. The NPC operated in the northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

counties of

Marin Marin (French) or Marín (Spanish "sailor") may refer to: People * Marin (name), including a list of persons with the given name or surname * MaRin, in-game name of professional South Korean ''League of Legends'' player Jang Gyeong-hwan (born 19 ...

and Sonoma that carried redwood lumber, local dairy and agricultural products, express and passengers. The NPC operated almost of track that extended from a

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

Sausalito Sausalito (Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's p ...

(which connected the line via

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

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 operated northwest to Duncans Mills and Cazadero (also known as Ingrams). The NPC became the North Shore Railroad (California) (NSR) on March 7, 1902. In 1907 the North Shore Railroad became part of the

Northwestern Pacific Railroad The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a regional shortline railroad utilizing a stretch of the 271 mile mainline between Schellville and Windsor with freight and Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) commuter trains. Formerly, it was a regi ...

(NWP). Southern portions of the line were standard gauged and

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

by the North Shore for suburban passenger service, though tracks north of

Point Reyes Station Point Reyes Station (formerly, Marin and Olema Station) is a small unincorporated town in western Marin County, California, United States. Point Reyes Station is located south-southeast of Tomales, at an elevation of . Point Reyes Station is loc ...

remained narrow gauge until abandonment in the late 1930s.

Route

North Pacific Coast Railroad - Tomales Bay

Mileposts conform to

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 ...

convention of distance from San Francisco: *

– Sausalito via Ferry *

(milepost 6.5) * San Rafael *Junction (later known as San Anselmo) (milepost 16.5) * Fairfax (milepost 18.3) *

(milepost 36.4) *

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

(milepost 45.4) * Tomales (milepost 53.1) *

Valley Ford Valley Ford is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Sonoma County, California, United States. It is located on State Route 1 north of San Francisco. Like all of Sonoma County, Valley Ford is included in both ...

(milepost 59.5) * Freestone (milepost 63.7) * Occidental (milepost 67.6) *

Monte Rio Monte Rio (Spanish: ''Monte Río'', meaning "River Mountain") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California along the Russian River near the Pacific Ocean. The town of Guerneville lies northeast of Monte Rio, and Jenner is to ...

(milepost 73.8) * Duncans Mills (milepost 77.1) * Cazadero (milepost 84.3) Subsequent to abandonment, a segment around

Samuel P. Taylor State Park Samuel P. Taylor State Park is a state park located in Marin County, California. It contains approximately of redwood forest and grassland. The park contains about of old-growth forest, some of which can be seen along the Pioneer Tree Trail ...

was converted into a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

: the Cross Marin Trail. It includes a segment in Tocaloma as well as the bridge over

Lagunitas Creek Lagunitas Creek is a -longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed December 27, 2017 northward-flowing stream in Marin County, California. It is critically important to the large ...

and

Sir Francis Drake Boulevard Sir Francis Drake Boulevard is an approximately 43.8 mile east–west arterial road in Marin County, California, running from the trailhead for Point Reyes Lighthouse at the end of the Point Reyes Peninsula to Interstate 580 just west of t ...

Electrification

The NSR was operated by John Martin and Eugene de Sabla Jr., pioneers in the electric railroad business. The southern of line were modernized to allow operation of standard-gauge electric passenger cars in addition to narrow-gauge steam-powered freight trains. Electric cars sometimes shared

dual-gauge In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to ca ...

tracks with the steam trains, while at other locations a separate track for the electric cars was constructed parallel to the narrow-gauge route. The line was ultimately double tracked from Sausalito to San Anselmo except for the tunnel at

Alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

. A power house was built at Alto and power was also purchased at San Rafael.

Direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even ...

electrical power was transmitted to the trains at 600 volts by a

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...

(which was actually a fourth rail on the dual-gauge segments.) Service started to

Mill Valley Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 census. Mill Valley is located on the western and ...

on August 20, 1903, and to San Rafael on October 17, 1903. It was the first United States steam railroad electrified for operational efficiency rather than for smoke abatement. The railroad established practices later used in

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

and the interborough subways of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The electric lines were expanded after 1907 as part of the

. Interurban services ceased on February 28, 1941.

Locomotives

Roster of electric cars

Remains

All of the NPC trackage has been abandoned either by the NPC or the NWP. Some of the original right of way can be seen at the

near Fairfax, and along the shores of

Tomales Bay Tomales Bay is a long, narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean in Marin County in northern California in the United States. It is approximately long and averages nearly wide, effectively separating the Point Reyes Peninsula from the mainland of Mar ...

and Keyes Estuary. Former stations remain in San Anselmo, Duncans Mills, and Point Reyes Station. The wooden water tank and a freight shed are maintained and in good condition at Freestone. One NPC steam locomotive, No.12 the "Sonoma," remains as a restored static exhibit in its circa 1870s appearance at the

California State Railroad Museum The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the state park system of California, United States, interpreting the role of the "iron horse" in connecting California to the rest of the nation. It is located in Old Sacramento State Historic ...

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. A flatcar, North Shore 1725, has been restored as a picnic car and operates at the

Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources The Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of railroad artifacts created by the Carter Brothers of California. The society operates ''The Railroad Museum at Ardenwood'' ...

' Railroad Museum at Ardenwood in Fremont. Several former railroad cars are located at Duncans Mills; one, a former passenger coach, was used as the Point Reyes Station library beginning in 1931. File:North Pacific Coast Railroad tunnel near Keys Creek.jpg, left, A former tunnel near Keys Creek File:North_Pacific_Coast_Railroad_caboose_preserved_at_Duncans_Mills_depot.jpg, Caboose #2 preserved adjacent to the depot at

Duncans Mills, California Duncans Mills (or Duncan's Mills) is an unincorporated community located in Sonoma County, California. History Duncans Mills was once part of the Rancho Muniz Mexican land grant. In 1877, Alexander Duncan established a sawmill in what is t ...

Image:North Pacific Coast Railroad tunnel near Keys Creek - inside.jpg, Inside the tunnel Image:North Pacific Coast Railroad Keys Estuary bridge supports.JPG, Bridge over Keys Estuary, viewed from

California State Route 1 State Route 1 (SR 1) is a major north–south state highway that runs along most of the Pacific coastline of the U.S. state of California. At , it is the longest state route in California, and the second-longest in the US after Monta ...

Image:Former North Pacific Coast Railroad grade adjacent to Tomales Bay.JPG, Former railroad grade adjacent to

, viewed from

References

* * * * * * * *

Notes

External links

PacificNG.com: North Pacific Coast Railroad
{{DEFAULTSORT:North Pacific Coast Railroad Defunct California railroads Narrow gauge railroads in California 3 ft gauge railways in the United States History of Marin County, California History of Sonoma County, California Predecessors of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Predecessors of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company Public transportation in Marin County, California Transportation in Marin County, California Transportation in Sonoma County, California Sausalito, California West Marin Railway companies established in 1871 1871 establishments in California Railway companies disestablished in 1902 1902 disestablishments in California Tiburon, California Mill Valley, California Interurban railways in California 600 V DC railway electrification