We asked the Ocean Shore RR experts: What does this photo taken at Montara mean?

Thanks for forwarding that photo.

I can only offer the following hypothesis: The view appears to be looking towards the west, with the main building of the lighthouse complex on the left, the foghorn building (with twin exhaust vents) in the center, and the smaller building that is now part of the hostel on the right. There appear also to be several smaller buildings on the west side of the strange rails. The viewing location seems to be at about the same level as the gound floor of the buildings. And the “strange rails” appear to be the Ocean Shore Railroad, suspended.

Highway 1 currently crosses Montara Creek with a culvert providing passage for the creek, and a significant amount of fill forming the base for the roadway. I suspect that the Ocean Shore Railroad might have also had an embankment or fill in the same location (rather than a trestle to span the creek), but with inadequate drainage capacity, and that a major flood washed out the fill. There are no signs of any trestle members still attached to the crossties, whereas fill and normal gravel bedding would simply wash out.

Maybe there is something in one of the Ocean Shore Railroad histories. I’ll keep this in mind as I wander around the area, and see if I can find an appropriate location for a photo.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your thoughts. And the efforts to take the pictures you sent. I’m going to send the original picture on to a couple of OSRR experts who often can help us solve questions. I’ve attached several ScreenShots of photos from Californiacoastline.org. from the 70s and 80s of the creek area. I’ve also attached a trestle index from Jack Wagner’s book, “The Last Whistle.”  It shows no trestle from McNee to Pillarcitos. None of the stated lengths of the trestles without a set location are even close to the apparent length of the suspended stretch that is visible in the photo. There are 70 plus ties visible or about 100 feet. Given the absence of any close slope to where the rails disappear to left and right on the photo I’m thinking a 150 foot minimum. That’s if we were looking at railroad tie spacing of about 18 inches.  Many of them aren’t well-spaced or as parallel to each other as they should be, even after a flood that had undermined their footing. In some places there are sections with a number of widely spaced ties in a row, which is hard to do without bunching elsewhere, which I don’t see. Other places the ties have alternate slants, which would seem to be hard to duplicate without them being loose from the spikes. Then there is the weight of that much railing…how is it strung so straight across the gap, with so little bowing to gravity? How does unwelded rail stay together with that pull on it?

The following excerpt from an old newspaper article about the Spring Valley Water Works hints at a possible pipe or flume support spanning a gap that sounds like this same circumstance. Could that “rail” assemblage have supported an iron pipe across the gap before the flood? Or was one to be installed but the rain delayed it? Did Montara ever have a waterline running down from the north along the coast road? Either a flume or iron pipe?

. Thanks for your help in solving this puzzle. I’ll notify you of developments. Enjoy. John

“until it reaches what is known as the San Andres Valley, which it crosses by a heavy iron pipe, a distance of about fifteen hundred feet, and thence the level is undisturbed into town. A similar pipe, or perhaps a wire suspension bridge will be needed at the gap next the Abbey, known as the “Portasuelo,” for the flume to pass over.”

The photo in Wagner’s book shows the the Ocean Shore RR tracks  at Montara following a flood caused by a very intense storm. The storm water backed up behind the railroad fill to a depth of  over 40 feet. On January 13, 1916 the clogged culvert passing under the railroad fill was blown up using dynamite. The resulting torrent of water tore away the railroad embankment as well of that of the highway. The photo was taken after the fact showing the tracks suspended in air. The tracks are bolted together through “fish plates.” A trestle was built to replace the fill. Many slides up and down the line closed the Ocean Shore for over a month. I hope this helps