LOS GATOS historian Bill Wulf, who is passionate about railroading, has published an album of rare photographs from his own collection in the August/September issue of Outdoor Railroader. The magazine, Bill tells us, is read all over the world by rail enthusiasts who have large-scale model trains in their gardens or back yards.
His photographs depict trains and locations connected with the South Pacific Coast Railroad, the narrow-gauge line that came to Los Gatos from Alameda in 1878. Wulf has worked closely with Bruce MacGregor on three books about the SPC. He reproduced nearly 100 photos for the magazine's use, so this article is one of a series. Shown are scenes such as SPC No. 12 in the San Lorenzo River canyon in 1881; No. 21 in the big redwoods at Henry Cowell State Park; a tunnel wreck; trains crossing river bridges; and the express arriving at Santa Cruz in the 1890s.
Also in the magazine is a 1948 photo showing Billy Jones, engineer for the SPC and Southern Pacific, with 9-year-old "Billy" Wulf.
The SPC, Wulf writes, linked Oakland and Santa Cruz and had a branch line from Felton to Boulder Creek. The Doughery Extension ran north from Boulder Creek to the Santa Inez Mountains summit. The SPC shops rebuilt DE No. 1, an 0-6-0 Porter, after a wreck. Wulf now owns the locomotive's headlight.
MAUREEN O'Connell Tiernan, wife of Peter E. Tiernan, Santa Clara attorney and president of the Los Gatos Museum Association, died Aug. 15 in San Jose. For the past 30 of her 60 years, Mrs. Tiernan lived with lupus, but rose above the illness to lead an active life. She aided many organizations, including Notre Dame High School, her alma mater. She was president of the O'Connor's Guild, which assists O'Connor Hospital's hospice program. There are two Tiernan sons, Marvin and Scott. The Funeral Mass was Aug. 20 at St. Leo the Great Church in San Jose. A memorial will be held at Forbes Mill Museum on Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. with friends and members of the E Clampus Vitus history group.
THE AUG. 11 passing of Caroline Crummey, 95, widow of John D. Crummey, the founder/chairman of FMC Corp., stirs an echo of Los Gatos history. John Crummey, who died in 1976, was the son of D.C. Crummey, son-in-law of John Bean, Los Gatos inventor of the Bean Spray Pump (for whom Bean Avenue is named). When John Bean retired at the turn of the century, D.C. Crummey headed the spray pump company, located in a two-story house on Wilder Avenue; it later moved to W. Main Street. In 1902, the Bean Spray Pump Co. relocated to Santa Clara Street in San Jose. John D. Crummey bought a site on Julian Street in 1910, and it was there that FMC had its beginning. Known for her philanthropies, Caroline Crummey was preceded in death a few months earlier by her stepdaughter, Faith Davies, 91.
MEMBERS OF the Los Gatos Yacht Club enjoyed their annual picnic Aug. 17 at Lake Vasona, with hot dogs and burgers to eat and small, electrically controlled boats to sail on the lake. In somewhat larger boats, a Labor Day cruise to Half Moon Bay is planned Aug. 30-Sept. 2.
A YOUNG Los Gatos singer, mezzo Emily Stern, will join soprano Rachel Lopez in a San Francisco recital Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. at the Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez St. (at 23rd Street). Both singers are students of Blanche Thebom. For information, call 395-9453.
A 1988 Los Gatos High School graduate, Sasha Taylor, accepted a position with the marketing department of the San Francisco 49ers head office in Santa Clara. Sasha is the daughter of Laura Taylor Moore, who owns Interior Services of Los Gatos.
AT LUNARDI'S supermarket in King's Court Shopping Center, there'll be a sale of hot dogs on Sept. 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., to benefit the Live Oak Senior Nutrition Center, which serves daily noontime meals for seniors.
REMINDER: After the Farmers' Market Sept. 8, Food Fest '96 will offer a variety of dishes from local restaurants (at $1 a dish) in the Town Plaza from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. The event will benefit A Place for Teens.
THE HISTORY Club of Los Gatos will celebrate its first century next year. To signal the 1997 centennial, a luncheon Oct. 16 at the clubhouse, 123 Los Gatos Blvd., will be followed by a 2 p.m. panel of invited guests to discuss changes in our town over the years; among them John Baggerly, Mardi Bennett and this writer.
LA ESTANCIA, the Overlook Road estate of David Stonesiefer and Larry Arzie, owners of Los Gatos Porch, was the scene Aug. 15 of the second annual major-donor dinner sponsored by ARIS (Aids Resources Information Services). Red Ribbon Circle donors of $1,000 or more were honored for their help in the fight against AIDS. Donna Alvarado, who covers the epidemic for the San Jose Mercury News, told of advances in research. Questions persist about the long-term effectiveness of new therapies, said Norm Robinson, executive director of ARIS of Santa Clara County.
MOUNTAIN RESIDENT playgoers will see three Theater in the Mountains productions for the 1996-97 season at the Loma Prieta Community Center, writes producer-director Jon Rosen in Mountain Network News. The Mouse That Roared will open in November; Murder on the Nile, with an all-adult cast, will play in late February; and the musical Oliver! is scheduled for May. A grant from the Packard Foundation gave the mountain playhouse a boost.
THE TOWN Picnic Aug. 25 was the site of the final Music in the Plaza concert of the season. The successful concert series in the plaza is promised again in 1997.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, August 28, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved