North Pacific Coast Railroad

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North Pacific Coast Railroad
Reporting marks	NPC
Locale	Marin and Sonoma Counties, California
Dates of operation	1871–1907
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge); originally 3 ft (914 mm)
Headquarters	Sausalito, California

The North Pacific Coast Railroad (NPC) was a common carrier narrow gauge railroad in the northern California counties of Marin and Sonoma that carried redwood lumber, local dairy and agricultural products, express and passengers. The NPC operated almost 93 mi (150 km) of track that extended from a pier at Sausalito (which connected the line via ferry to San Francisco) and operated northwest to Duncans Mills and Cazadero (also known as Ingrams).

The NPC was sold to the North Shore Railroad on March 7, 1902. In 1907 the North Shore Railroad became part of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad (NWP). Southern portions of the line were standard gauged and electrified by the North Shore for suburban passenger service, though most of the trackage north of San Rafael remained 3-foot gauge until abandonment in the late 1930s.

All of the NPC trackage has been abandoned either by the NPC or the NWP. Some of the original right of way can be seen at the Samuel P. Taylor State Park near Fairfax, along the shore of Tomales Bay and Keyes Estuary and passenger depots remain in San Anselmo and Duncan Mills. One NPC steam locomotive, No.12 the "Sonoma," remains as a restored static exhibit in its circa 1870s appearance at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.

North Pacific Coast Railroad tunnel near Keys Creek

[edit] Route

Inside the tunnel

Mileposts conform to Southern Pacific Railroad convention of distance from San Francisco^[1]

San Francisco - Sausalito via Ferry
Sausalito (milepost 6.5)
San Rafael
Junction (later known as San Anselmo) (milepost 16.5)
Fairfax (milepost 18.3)
Point Reyes Station (milepost 36.4)
Marshall (milepost 45.4)
Tomales (milepost 53.1)
Valley Ford (milepost 59.5)
Freestone (milepost 63.7)
Occidental (milepost 67.6)
Monte Rio (milepost 73.8)
Duncans Mills (milepost 77.1)
Cazadero (milepost 84.3)

[edit] Locomotives

Number	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes^[2]
1	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-6-0	1873	3495	sold to White Lumber Company 1876^[3]
2	Mason Machine Works	0-4-4T	1874	537	burned at Tomales 1905 & rebuilt became NWP #89^[4]
3	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1875	3722	became NWP #83^[5]
4	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1874	3629	wrecked 1894 & rebuilt became NWP #81^[6]
5	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1875	3703	dismantled by 1897^[7]
6	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1874	3664	leased to Dollar Lumber Company in 1903^[8]
7	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1875	3721	^[9]
8	Mason Machine Works	0-6-6T	1877	584	burned at Tomales 1905^[10]
9	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1875	3749	wrecked 1894^[11]
10	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1876	3840	sold 1895 Guatemala Western #1
11	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1876	3842	became NWP #82^[12]
12	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1876	3843	sold 1879 Nevada Central #5 (preserved at California State Railroad Museum)^[13]
13	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-6-0	1883	6611	became NWP #195^[14]
14	Brooks Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1891	1885	became NWP #92^[15]
15	Brooks Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1891	1886	became NWP #90^[16]
16	Brooks Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1894	2421	became NWP #91^[17]
17	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1875	3749	NPC 1894 rebuild of wreck-damaged #9 wrecked again in 1900^[18]
18	Brooks Locomotive Works	4-6-0	1899	3418	reputedly the largest 3-foot gauge locomotive in the world when built became NWP #145 then #95^[19]
20	NPC Sausalito shop	4-4-0	1900	1	became NWP #84^[20]
21	NPC Sausalito shop	4-4-0	1901	2	cab-forward rebuild of #5 scrapped 1905^[21]
22	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1874	3664	former #6 returned from Dollar Lumber Company^[22]

[edit] References

MacGregor, Bruce. Palo Alto, (2003.). The Birth of California Narrow Gauge.. Stanford University Press.. ISBN 0-8047-3550-6.
Stindt, Fred. (1974.). Trains to the Russian River.. Railway and Locomotive Historical Society..
Stindt, Fred. Kelseyville and Modesto, (1964; 1982 Fourth Printing.). The Northwestern Pacific Railroad: Redwood Empire Route.. Dunscomb Press.. Library of Congress Catalog No.64-24033.
Sievers, Wald and Stindt, Fred. (1969.). N.W.P. Narrow Gauge..
Dickinson, A. Bray (1974). Narrow Gauge to the Redwoods. Trans-Anglo Books. ISBN 0-87046-010-2.