I'm currently preparing a Phase I archaeological report for Haystack Landing, in Petaluma, California. While doing internet research for this project, I came across this forum. You all seem to be a knowlegable group of enthusiasts, and I was hoping that perhaps someone here might be able to give me a little more info regarding the Petaluma & Haystack Railroad, supposedly the third railroad in California. Here's what I have so far: "The Haystack Landing project vicinity is labeled “Haystack” on the current USGS quadrangle map. This marks the location of Haystack Landing, also known as Rudesill’s Landing for many years. The landing was a terminus for steamboats from San Francisco as well as for stage travel. Rudesill advertised his August 1857 establishment of staging facilities for mail delivery and passenger travel in the local newspaper Sonoma Democrat (Sonoma Democrat, October 22, 1857), and a magazine writer referred to “steamboat navigation of Petaluma Creek” to Haystack Landing in 1860 (Hutching’s California Magazine, Vol. IV, No. 7, January 1860). In response to demand for an end to the “bone jarring ride” from Haystack Landing to Petaluma, a proposal was made by Captain Thomas F. Baylis and his partners to construct a horse drawn railroad between the landing and downtown Petaluma. A public outcry over the potential monopoly ensued, and Charles Mintern ended up with a franchise from the city. Rather than a horse drawn railroad, Mintern aquired a steam engine and commenced service on August 1, 1864. The Petaluma and Haystack Railroad was the third railroad in California. In 1866 the boiler of the engine exploded when it was fired without containing adequate water. For the remaining six years of its service, the Petaluma and Haystack Railroad was powered by a hitch of four mules (Heig 1982)." Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!! (BTW, my great uncle, "Heine" Bock was an engineer for the UP and SF Railroad who ran freight trains between Bakersfield and Los Angeles during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s over the Tehachapi Grade and around the "Loop".) Thanks again for any help you can provide, Rick [ 31. March 2004, 00:49: Message edited by: archaeor ]
Rick- Charles Minturn was known around the San Francisco Bay in the early 1860's as "The Ferryboat King". His company, the Contra Costa Steam Navigation Company, had a monopoly on trans-bay traffic between San Francisco and what is today Oakland, and as he lost that monopoly he turned to the north bay to keep his business volumes up. His first venture on the north shore was via a steamboat that ran up Petaluma Creek to Lakeville, seven miles south of Petaluma. Minturn then started ferry service to San Rafael via Point San Quentin. Minturn focused back on Petaluma Creek and dredged a channel to Haystack Landing. In 1862 he chartered the Petaluma & Haystack to build a railroad between Black Point and Petaluma. According to the charter, no competing railroad could be built within 400 feet of the new line. The first portion of the railroad from Haystack Landing to Petaluma was built during the spring and summer of 1864, and the line opened on 1 August of that year. Minturn's application to use the City Plaza as a depot was rejected, and instead he established a depot on a small plot of land at the corner of First and B streets. The Petaluma & Haystack was three miles long when completed. A steam locomotive that developed about twenty six horsepower was built for the new line at the Atlas Foundry in San Franscisco; the locomotive cost $5000 new. Hinkle's Night Coach connected with the trains in Petaluma to take travelers north to Santa Rosa and other points. In 1866 the railroad extened southward to Rudesill's Landing, bypassing Haystack Landing and reducing the steamship mileage. On 27 August 1866 the single locomotive owned by the line blew up when the engineer (Joe Levitt, on loan from the San Francisco & San Jose Railroad while the P&H searched for a permanent replacement to fill the engineer position) let the boiler pressure rise to unsafe levels and also possibly let the water level in the boiler fall. The explosion destroyed the locomotive and killed four people, including Levitt. Most passengers were inside the cars at the time of the explosion and were unhurt; horse drawn coaches were substituted for the train to take the sixty or so uninjured down to a connection with the ferry. Minturn announced that he intended to procure a second steam locomotive, but instead the railroad used horses for the rest of it's history. The Petaluma & Haystack lasted until 23 March 1875, when it was purchased by the Sonoma & Marin Railway Company. The intent of the company was to extend the old P&H down to San Rafael. Grading of the line started. In 1876 the San Francisco & North Pacific took over the project, and the first train to run from San Rafael to Petaluma ran on 31 August 1878. The SF&NP at the time had a mainline that ran from Donahue Landing north through Petaluma to Cloverdale; adding the Sonoma & Marin gave the SF&NP a more direct route south towards San Francisco, but the line was limited in that it had to connect with the narrow guage North Pacific Coast in San Rafael for those passengers wishing to access the ferry terminals at San Quentin or Sausalito, and since the SF&NP wanted to send as much business as possible via it's own steamship lines through Donahue there was not a great deal of cooperation between the two companies. The narrow guage would eventually come under the same ownership as the standard gauge SF&NP, and the SF&NP also established its own ferry terminal at Tiburon. A subsidiary of the SF&NP built a line from a connection with the Sonoma & Marin at Ignacio eastward to a connection with another SF&NP subsidiary that ran from Glen Ellen through Sonoma towards Black Point. This was later connected with a line of the Southern Pacific built west from Napa Junction; the two lines met at Schellville. A change in ownership saw the SF&NP disappear into the California Northwestern. Through it all the line continued to be extended north, first to Ukiah, then to Willits, and then towards Sherwood. In 1904 ownership of the line passed to Edward Henry Harriman (owner of the Southern Pacific, amongst many other railroads). The Southern Pacific was battling with the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe at the time for dominance in a new line to be built between Eureka and San Francisco Bay, and Harriman purchased the C&NW as part of that battle. The two big roads eventually came to a compromise, and in 1907 the C&NW was one of many companies owned by the two roads that were welded together to form the Northwestern Pacific. The NWP completed the main line to Eureka in 1914. That is the story of how the Petaluma & Haystack became part of today's Northwestern Pacific mainline. Information here is from Redwood Railways by Gilbert H. Kneiss (1956, Howell North). Be sure to find yourself a copy if you can. Another resource you must find is The Northwestern Pacific by Fred Stindt (published around 1964, reprinted a few times after that). Stindt later published a NWP Volume 2 in the mid-to late 1980's. I would highly recommend finding both of these books. There is also a Northwestern Pacific Historical & Technical Society that may have information as well. Hope this helps. JDLX Elko, NV http://www.trainweb.org/mccloudrails
JDLX, Awesome!! This is exactly the information I was looking for! You've helped me out alot. Thanks, Rick
