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Interurban Railway system was nice while it lasted

By Willys Peck

Being at a frequently arrived-at point, namely wondering what kind of column topic would lend itself to recycling, I was relieved to get an extremely convenient phone message. The caller talked about what a mistake he thought it was to remove the trolley car tracks that linked central Santa Clara Valley communities from 1904 to 1933. He said we really could use rail transit to provide the service rendered by the Valley Transportation Authority buses now in service.

Well, public transit is a many-faceted issue, and when you look at the all-but-empty VTA buses, at least the ones we see passing through Saratoga, you wonder how much service of any kind is really needed. My description of a packed VTA bus is one with the driver and two passengers. You know, three's a crowd.

As to trolley service, the present light-rail system seems to be fulfilling a need, but I can't make any kind of evaluation in the absence of statistics. What I do know is that the trolley service we did have would be something of a disaster today, and for a very logical reason having to do with the date. The system was a creature of its time, the advent of the 20th century, and conditions then were far different from what we have today. Public transportation was a moneymaking activity then, since automobiles were in their mechanical infancy.

It made sense, then, for the promoters of the San Jose-Los Gatos Interurban Railway Co. to get a franchise for laying rails alongside and in the middle of county roads, rather than acquiring right-of-way for service along more direct routes. The result was a combined interurban, point-to-point line, and local streetcar service. You want "local?" How about an announcement that those awaiting a ride at night could hold up a lighted match to help the motorman stop in the right place.

The San Jose-Los Gatos route was by way of Saratoga, and the so-called Campbell short line was added in 1905. Service on the initial route began in March 1904. One interesting feature was a spur line up the canyon that was intended to serve the luxury hotel Congress Hall, located near the mineral springs named for one of the Saratoga Springs in New York. The hotel burned in June 1903, but the line was built anyway and the Congress Springs picnic grounds were a popular holiday destination. The tracks made a loop around a meadow at the entrance to the picnic area.

Not surprisingly, the omnipotent Southern Pacific railroad got into the picture very early, emerging as the real power around 1904. In 1909, the trolley system was incorporated as the Peninsular Railway Co. of California.

The trolley line builders weren't through. In 1914, a line was constructed along the present Stevens Creek Boulevard--then Road--through Monta Vista and along the present Foothill Expressway, through Los Altos to Mayfield, or South Palo Alto. There was also an extension onto the Stanford University campus. The woman who became Saratoga's historian, the late Melita Oden, told of being able to get on the car in front of her house on Saratoga Avenue and ride to her classes at Stanford.

I always liked the story about how, along the stretch near Los Altos where railroad and trolley lines were parallel, the streetcars used to race the steam trains. I don't recall hearing which won, but I would have bet on the trains.

As mentioned, the location of the rails proved to be a real hazard in the Peninsular's declining years. You can imagine how it was with the tracks going up the center of Big Basin Way (Lumber Street), what with automobile traffic and streetside parking. The same situation prevailed in Los Gatos, where tracks ran down the middle of Santa Cruz Avenue.

The trolley line was also used for carrying freight, and on the stub end of Third Street off Big Basin Way (who said Lumber Street?), there was a short spur that serviced Sam Cloud's barn, requiring a switch on the main line. One day in 1907, Sam Cloud was getting off a car coming back from Congress Springs when the car jumped the switch on starting up, knocking Cloud to the ground. He was fatally injured and died in his house, an historic structure which is now the Bella Saratoga restaurant.

The Peninsular Railway ended its service on March 12, 1933, to be succeeded by the yellow buses of Peerless Stages.