Santa Cruz, Big Trees, and Pacific Railway (Johnsonverse)

The Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway (reporting mark SCBG) is a railroad in Northern California, and a subsidiary of Continental Rail.

It uses steam and diesel locomotives for passenger and freight services on a line between Los Gatos and Watsonville, CA, as well as a branchline to Davenport. The SCBT&P is one of very few railroads in North America with extensive street running rails, with trackage in Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and Los Gatos.

History
The railway began life as the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge Santa Cruz and Felton Railroad, built between its namesake cities of Santa Cruz and Felton in 1875 to send logs and lumber down from the Santa Cruz Mountains to mills and wharves on Monterey Bay. In 1876, the South Pacific Coast Railroad narrow gauge network completed its line from Alameda to Los Gatos, then over the mountains to Felton, absorbing the Santa Cruz & Felton to complete the line to Santa Cruz. In 1887, the Southern Pacific purchased the South Pacific Coast and converted it to standard gauge over the course of more than a decade. Washouts closed the majority of the line in 1940, and the Santa Cruz-Olympia section remained in operation to serve the timber and sand industries. In 1981, further washouts brought closure of the line from Eblis to Olympia, until the line was purchased by Norman Clark, operator of the narrow gauge Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad and adjacent 1880s-themed park in Felton. Local legend has it that the name "Roaring Camp" is historical too, coming from the moniker that Mexican authorities gave to what was then, in the 1840s, the wild settlement of Zayante, founded by mountain man Isaac Graham. The first train from Felton to Rincon ran in 1985 (the year after Clark's death from pneumonia that he acquired in his work to reopen this line) and the entire line to Santa Cruz was once again reopened to traffic some time later. Clark’s daughter Melani Jolley-Clark manages the company now.

Trains originate at the Roaring Camp depot in Felton, but the original Southern Pacific Coast depot at New Felton (built in 1880) still stands and serves as administrative offices for the company. The freight shed, constructed from boards salvaged from the Boulder Creek to Felton log flume, is still used by the SCBT&P as a workshop. The original Santa Cruz & Felton never crossed the San Lorenzo River and continued through the middle of the town of Felton.

In 2002, it was announced that Continental Rail would be tackling the task of rebuilding the South Pacific Coast mainline from Olmpia to Los Gatos, using as much of the original right-of-way as possible. The six-year project included reopening or daylighting all tunnels, rerouting the line around the Lexington Reservoir, shutting down large portions of University Avenue in Los Gatos for long periods to allow for track construction, and forcing any businesses on the right-of-way to relocate, which created some unrest, but Continental Rail, as usual, forged ahead and told these businesses "that's life".

Pirior to reopening in 2008, Continental Rail transferred three steam locomotives to the railroad. 2-8-0 #281 was the first to enter service, debuting on the Santa Cruz Holiday Lights Train in November 2007 to much fanfare. 2-8-2 #283 debuted next, followed by 4-6-0 #282.

Upon reopening in 2008, the SCBT&P took control of the entire Santa Cruz Branch from Watsonville to Davenport from Union Pacific. In 2009, the line from Felton to Los Gatos was dual-gauged to allow Roaring Camp's narrow-gauge equipment to use the line.

Services
The SCBT&P operates a number of different passenger services.


 * Suntan Special - The classic "Beach Train" from Felton to Santa Cruz, operating during the summer.
 * San Jose Flyer - The flagship train from Felton to San Jose Diridon Station.
 * Watsonville Limited - The longest train by distance, running from Felton to Watsonville. This train takes through cars at Watsonville brought from the Western Star at San Luis Obispo by an unnamed local service.
 * Davenport Zephyr - The "Coastal Train" running from Felton to Davenport.
 * Bear Mountain Express - Operated using the narrow-gauge equipment of the Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad, this train starts at Los Gatos, runs to Felton via dual-gauge track, then goes up Bear Mountain before returning to Los Gatos.