The San Francisco call., 1896-08-30
A Scenic Route Opening Up
Vast Timber and Agricul-
tural Resources.
TO BE FINISHED BY SPRING.
The Promoters of the. Road Hope, il
All Goes Well, to Complete Con.
struction This Winter.

1t is a fascin ating idea, that of the West
Shore Railroad Company. 1t promises in
little more than year to take passengers
skimming along by the most attractive
stretch of coast country in the world, and
the way R. S. Thornton, president OF the
company, and Fl. Homer, the civil engl-
neer, describe the attractions of the route,
it is zone of the things no fellow can find
OUT why there has not been a road in
operation over the line before. Scenic
beauty is not the only excuse for the road,
however Its promoters show by the map
of the coast from San Francisco to Santa
Cruz, the proposed terminals, that it will
tap large area of rich country which to-
day is sadly in need of communication
with the outside world.
The road which the West Coast Com
pany promises TO build is to follow the
coast all the way from this City to Santa
Cruz. Almost the entire distance it will
be within sight of the ocean, following a
route which has long been a favorite with
summer sight-seers who were willing to
experience miles upon miles of poor roads
for the sake of scenery grand and beauti-
fuI. AT only one or two points where nat
ural promontories make it i'm practica BILE
for the road to follow the coast line will
water, and much of the way the refresh
ing sound of the breaking pillows will be
the constant accompaniment of the rat
ting rails.
South of Pescadero the road will run for
some distance between the blue sea and
one of the grandest redwood forests of the
coast. Through this forest tiny trout
streams trickie 10 the ocean, making the
region a veritable paradise for campers
and sportsmen. Many have already dis
covered the delights OF this region, but
the inhospitable cosst, with its rock-reefs
and dearth of harbors on one side and
forbidding range of almost trackless
mountains on the other, have stayed the
great army of summer pleasure seekers.
The road, however, has more utilitarian
objects in view than catering to summer
travel. In communication addressed to
THE CALL March 25, 1895, by Arthur 81.
Taylor, editor of the Santa Cruz Surf, he
called attention to the vast resources of
the tract of land from twenty to forty
miles wide running along the coast from
Santa Cruz to San Francisco. From the
crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains to
within q few miles of the sesnore," he
wrote, 'extends virgin forest of tim ber
covering 10000 acres, the largest and
finest body of tim Der contiguous to great
city that remains on the globe to-day"
Attention was also called to the fact that
the forest contains more tanbark than is
standing in the State. This is an impor-
tant consideration, as tanbark has become
a comparatively scarce commodity.
North of this timber belt, however, is
the region upon which the promoters OF
the road count most for support. Here
strip of rich rolling land follows the coast,
and under the industry of Italians, Portu-
guese and Swiss the soil yields abupdahtly.
Dairy products are also an important item
of industry. All these productions must
be marketed by miles of hauling over poor
roads. From Pescadero to the Southern
Pacific is a distance of forty miles, the OBJ
structing elevation at one point being 5000
feet.
From Pescadero to Amesport, a dis
tance of sixty miles. there is no means of
communication with the outside world.
The shortest route over the mountains at
any point is from Spanishtown to San
Mateo, and to market products that way
requires a haul of fourteen miles, the road
at one point reaching an elevation of 1900
feet.
Still further north the farmers are COM
PEELED to haul their products to San Fran
cisco. At midnight, at /, at 2 or at 8
o'clock, dependent upon the distance
from the metropolis, the farmers, who in
this region raise vegetables principally,
commence their 'toiisome journey city
ward in order to be in at the early
marketing.
The ruinous effect of this long haul is
obvious, as, if example Is needed, at Hall
moon Bay when butter sells for 25 cents