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primary source material for the SP historianxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxSP Index
Southern Pacific's 1920's San Francisco Peninsula electrification study |
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| Staff admits that we previously thought that most internal discussions over electrifying The Peninsula occurred before World War I, but no! As it turns out, a lengthy investigation took place throughout most of the 1920's, beginning with a 1921 request for same by President Wm. Sproule. During the next seven years, all manner of possibilities were contemplated that would, in the process, turn the entirety of the Peninsula run into a four-to-six track railroad. Included for awhile was a plan to run a separate freight-service-only double track railroad alongside the tideflats from Redwood City to Santa Clara. The discussion appears to have largely ceased in 1927 after Chief Engineer George W. Boschke became "disappointed" that projected costs were "much beyond my expectation". An interesting bit of intrigue: SP managers were quite concerned about using the improvements as a roadblock the building of a competing railroad up the Peninsula, namely Western Pacific.
Electrification, San Francisco to San Jose; Six-track railroad between Visitation and Broadway Referenced maps:
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