The San Francisco, Napa and Calistoga Railway, later briefly reorganized as the San Francisco and Napa Valley Railroad, was an

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In conjunction with the Monticello Steamship Company, the railway offered a combined rail- and ferry-service called the "Napa Valley Route."

Construction

In 1901, Col. J.W. Hartzell and his brother H.F. Hartzell secured a franchise to build an electric railway line, which allowed them the right to build on city streets and along county roads. The line paralleled much of the already existing route of the Napa Valley Railroad. In April 1902, the Benicia, Vallejo & Napa Valley Railroad Company was incorporated. The line originated at the port of Vallejo where it met the

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

connecting to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. From there, it headed northwards for a total of to terminate at Calistoga, passing through Napa, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford, and

St. Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

. Construction of the railroad commenced in 1903 and trains began running from Vallejo to Napa following a grand opening on July 4, 1905. The line was extended to Yountville by 1907, to St. Helena on January 1, 1908, and to Calistoga on September 12, 1912. The railroad went through several reorganizations and name changes throughout its lifetime. It was named San Francisco, Vallejo & Napa Valley Railroad in 1906 and in 1911 it was renamed San Francisco, Napa & Calistoga Railway Company. The railroad remained in operation until 1937. In 1938 of track and power lines between Napa and Calistoga were removed.

Equipment

The electrically powered railroad was the first west of the Mississippi River to operate on

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time, in contrast to direct current (DC), which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in w ...

. Much of the early passenger equipment consisted of graceful wooden cars manufactured by Niles and very similar to some equipment of the

Sacramento Northern Railway The Sacramento Northern Railway (reporting mark SN) was a electric interurban railway that connected Chico, California, Chico in northern California with Oakland, California, Oakland via the state capital, Sacramento, California, Sacramento. In ...

. By 1931 the line operated 9 motor passenger cars with 5 unpowered trailer passenger cars, and one electric locomotive with twenty freight cars. The line used 25 Hz AC at 3,300

Volts The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). Definition One volt is defined as the electric potential between two point ...

rather than the direct-current equipment used on most interurban railroads. Two steel cars built in 1933 were the last traditional interurban cars built in the United States before

PCC streetcar The Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) is a streetcar (tram) design that was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful domestically, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the world where ...

s were designed.

1913 wreck

On June 19, 1913, two trains of the San Francisco, Napa and Calistoga Railway collided head-on in the worst interurban accident in the state of California. Thirteen people were killed.

Decline

Passenger service continued despite several setbacks until 1937, when the ferry service was discontinued; without the ferry traffic, the line could not survive. The last passenger trains operated on September 12 of that year, and the last mail trains on September 30. On February 13, 1938, a farewell excursion train was operated between Vallejo and Napa for the Electric Railway Historical Society of California. Following the end of passenger service, the company continued with bus service to San Francisco, but sold it to

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

in 1942. A stretch of track north of St. Helena between Greystone and Barro was taken over by the Southern Pacific and used as a freight spur into the 1980s. The

freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...

service to

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY or MINS) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean and was in service 142 years from 1854 to 1996. It is located on Mare Island, northeast of San Francisco, in Vallejo, Califor ...

remained as a subsidiary of the Sacramento Northern Railway until taken over by the Navy Department in 1956. In 1957 the company was dissolved.

Mare Island Naval Shipyard

Electric locomotives served the shipyard from 1919 until the overhead electric lines became a hazard for cranes installed during wartime expansion. Two

GE 44-ton switcher The GE 44-ton switcher is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric between 1940 and 1956. It was designed for industrial and light switching duties, often replacing steam locomotives that had previously been assigned thes ...

s numbered 30 and 40 took over shipyard operations in April 1942, and were joined by number 50 in August 1943. Number 40 became Sacramento Northern Railway #141 when the shipyard resumed peacetime operations in 1946. The two remaining engines were replaced by similar models owned by the United States Navy in 1956. Number 30 became Sacramento Northern Railway #147 while number 50 became Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad #3.

Artifacts

The railroad's former car barn located at Sixth Street and Soscol Avenue in Napa, built in 1907, is still extant. Two former Napa Valley Route cars are preserved at the

Western Railway Museum The Western Railway Museum, in Solano County, California is located on California State Route 12, Highway 12 between Rio Vista, California, Rio Vista and Suisun, California, Suisun. The museum is built along the former mainline of the Sacrament ...

: steel

combine car A combine car in North American parlance, most often referred to simply as a combine, is a type of railroad car which combines sections for both passengers and freight. Most often, it was used on short lines to carry passengers and their luggag ...

no. 63 and steel

box motor A box motor, in railroad terminology, is a self-propelled boxcar, normally powered by electricity and running on an interurban railway or a streetcar line. Many box motors were converted from passenger cars on the systems that ran them, with the s ...

no. 100. The body of a

McKeen Motor Car Company The McKeen Motor Car Company of Omaha, Nebraska, was a builder of internal combustion engine, internal combustion-engined railroad motor cars (railcars), constructing 152 between 1905 and 1917. Founded by William R. McKeen, William McKeen, the Un ...

trailer is located in St. Helena. Original built for the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1909, it saw light use on the SFN&C beginning in 1927.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Francisco Napa Calistoga Railway Defunct California railroads Interurban railways in California Public transportation in Napa County, California Public transportation in Solano County, California History of Napa County, California Napa, California Yountville, California 1905 establishments in California Railway lines opened in 1905 3300 V AC railway electrification