The San Francisco call., 1899-05-08
NARROW-GAUGE TRACKS
VANISH IN THE "SINK''
ALL TRAVEL OVER THE LINE
DELAYED HALF A DAY.
Many Sidetracked Excursionists Be-
come Angry and Take Satisfac-
ton by an Attempt to De-
molish the Cars.
Alameda Office San Francisco Call,


The roadbed of the narrow-gauge line
over the sink hole" about mile south
Of High-street bridge, sank out of
sight again this morning, and not only
created considerable i'll humor among the
railroad officials, but tried the patience
of a train load Of picnickers bound for
Sunset Park, in the Santa Cruz Noun
tans.
Since the accident about week ago
the railroad company has stationed a
night watchman at the sink hole to warn
the early morning trains in case the road
bed gave indications of going out of
sight. When the watchman reported off
duty at 7:l5 this morning the track was
apparently solid. The regular track
walker went over the line about fifteen
minutes later and found that about ninety
feet Of the roadbed had sunk down into
the mud and ooze, leaving the rails and
ties hanging in space like a suspension
bridge. The great quantity of rock and
gravel dumped at the place since the last
sinking had sunk eight feet below the
grade of the roadbed.
The train from Santa Cruz was tagged
in time to prevent a disaster The San
Jose train leaving Park-street station at
500 went as far as the sink, where the
passengers were transferred. The regu-
lar Santa Cruz train was hung up at
High street until l o'clock this afternoon,
along with a big train load of excursion
ISIS DOOnQ Tor sunset Park. Inc plCnlcK-
ers were composed of the members and
friends of the South End and Dolphin
boat clubs Of San Francisco.
The railroad company was notified of
the accident in ample time to arrange to
convey the eXcursionistS over the broad
gauge line, but instead a train was run
to within a mile of the sink, where it
was sidetracked pending temporary re-
pairs to the roadbed until late this after
noon when it proceeded to its destina-
ton. 1t was Sunset Park in reality when
the picnickerS arrived there.
During the delay the eXcursionists be-
came so eXasperated that some of them
lost their tempers and threatened to take
satisfaction out of the railroad company
by demolishing the cars. Several win
dowS were broken and some slight dam
age done before cooler counsel prevailed
and the angry ones were calmed down.
AS soon as the accident was reported
a wreciIng train and a crew OF fiffV
men were dispatched to the place A
temporary trestle work of heavy timbers
and ties was constructed which managed
to support the tracks until the afternoon
trains passed over, when it began to sink
again in places
The sink hole has puzzled the railroad
officials ever since the narrow gauge line
was built. Hundreds of tons of rock and
gravel have been dumped at the place
only to sink out of sight in the course of
a few weeks. Long piles have been driv-
en- down in an attempt to secure a solid
foundation, but hardpan has never been
reached and the piles have sunk out of
sight of their own weight. There was an
unusually high tide last night that COW
cred the marsh land in the vicinity of
the sink. The railroad people claim that
the roadbed became saturated, causing II
to melt like sugar.