View source for Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870)

{{Short description|Railroad between Sacramento and Alameda/Oakland, California}}
{{For|the company operating 1903–1983|Western Pacific Railroad}}
{{Infobox rail
|railroad_name     = Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870)
|other_name        = W.P.R.R.
|logo              = 
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|logo_alt          =
|system_map        = 
|map_caption       = 
|map_size          = 
|map_alt           =
|image             = 
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|locale            = San Jose to Sacramento; Niles to Alameda/Oakland
|start_year        = 1864
|end_year          = {{Start date and age|1870}}
|predecessor_line  = 
|successor_line    = [[Central Pacific Railroad]]
|gauge             = {{Track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}
|old_gauge         = <!-- This needs a separate line -->
|electrification   = 
|length            = 123 miles San Jose to Sacramento; 26.5 miles Niles to Oakland <ref name="USPRC.1887">{{cite web |title=Construction of the Western Pacific Railroad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8jwKAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22construction+of+the+western+pacific+railroad%22&pg=PA76 |publisher=United States. Pacific Railway Commission |pages=76–77 |date=1887}}</ref>
|hq_city           = 
}}

The '''Western Pacific Railroad''' (1862–1870) was formed in 1862 to build a railroad from [[Sacramento, California]], to the [[San Francisco Bay]], the westernmost portion of the [[First transcontinental railroad]].  After the completion of the railroad from [[Sacramento]] to [[Alameda Terminal]] on September 6, 1869, and then the [[Oakland Pier]] on November 8, 1869, which was the Pacific coast terminus of the transcontinental railroad, the Western Pacific Railroad was absorbed in 1870 into the [[Central Pacific Railroad]].

==History==
[[File:San Francisco Pacific Railroad Bond WPRR 1865.jpg|thumb|San Francisco Pacific Railroad Bond (WPRR), 1865]]
The '''Western Pacific Railroad''' (1862–1870) was formed in December 1862 by a group led by Timothy Dame and including Charles McLaughlin and [[Peter Donahue (businessman)|Peter Donahue]], all associated with the [[San Francisco and San Jose Railroad]] (SF&SJ), to build a railroad from [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] north to [[Niles, California|Niles]] (then called [[Vallejo Flour Mill|Vallejo Mills]]), east through [[Niles Canyon]] (then called ''Alameda Cañon''), north to [[Pleasanton, California|Pleasanton]], east through the [[Livermore Valley]], and over [[Altamont Pass]] to [[Stockton, California|Stockton]], then north to [[Sacramento]],<ref name="railcomm">Pacific Railway Commission</ref> with the plan that the [[First transcontinental railroad|transcontinental railroad]] would follow the Western Pacific to San Jose and then the SF&SJ to [[San Francisco]].

At the completion of the SF&SJ in January 1864, it was reported that the general contract for the Western Pacific was awarded to McLaughlin & Houston and that negotiations for iron, equipment, and rolling stock had begun.<ref>{{cite web |title=San Jose Railroad Completed |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18640120.2.8&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |website=cdnc.ucr.edu |publisher=Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 26, Number 4003, 20 January 1864 |access-date=22 January 2022 |quote=The surveys on the Western Pacific Railroad, from San Jose to Sacramento, are now about completed... The contract for its construction has been awarded to McLaughlin & Houston, and the senior member of that firm is now in the Atlantic States negotiating for the iron, equipments and rolling stock.}}</ref> On October 31, 1864, the [[Central Pacific Railroad]] assigned all the rights of the [[Pacific Railway Acts]] of 1862 and 1864 to the Western Pacific for the route between Sacramento and San Jose, including [[land grant]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=ASSIGNMENT BY THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA TO THE WESTERN PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oTI1AQAAMAAJ&dq=assignment+central+pacific+%22western+pacific+railroad%22&pg=PA92 |access-date=20 September 2020 |date=31 October 1864| publisher=Western Pacific Railroad Company }}</ref>  The amending Act of March 3, 1865 ratified and confirmed the assignment made by Central Pacific Railroad to Western Pacific Railroad and authorized Western Pacific Railroad as one of the charter companies.<ref>{{cite web |title=Act of March 3, 1865 |url=http://cprr.org/Museum/Pacific_Railroad_Acts.html#1865 |website=cprr.org |access-date=20 December 2020}}</ref>

===Construction and transactions===
[[File:(View of bridge, river, rocks.)San Jose, California, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|thumb|Farwell Bridge over Alameda Creek in Alameda Cañon, from the Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views]]
The construction of the Western Pacific Railroad began in February 1865 near San Jose and northward under a contract taken by J.B. Cox & Myers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Western Pacific Railroad: Ground was broken |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MJ18650211.2.8&srpos=10&e=-------en--20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Cox%22+%22western+pacific%22-------1 |website=cdnc.ucr.edu |publisher=Marin Journal, Volume 4, Number 48, 11 February 1865 |access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref>  After Chinese laborers had helped complete the [[San Francisco and San Jose Railroad]] in 1864, a force of 500 Chinese laborers was grading the roadbed and laying tracks for the Western Pacific in 1865.<ref name="ancestorRR">{{cite web |title=Ancestor Railroads |url=https://nilesdepot.org/centerville/ancestor_railroads.html |website=nilesdepot.org |access-date=11 November 2019}}</ref>  By October 1866, Western Pacific completed {{convert|20|mi|km}} of track north and east from San Jose, reaching halfway into Alameda Cañon (now [[Niles Canyon]]) to a point just beyond Farwell.<ref name="Luna 2005">{{cite book |last1=Luna |first1=Henry |last2=Pacific Locomotive Association |title=Niles Canyon Railways |date=2005 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=San Francisco, CA |isbn=0-7385-2983-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jVd7r_q5HIC&pg=PT8 |quote=Western Pacific became the first railroad into Niles Canyon when their first 20-mile section of track was built from San Jose to a point in the canyon just beyond Farwell, when construction halted.}}</ref> The first cars left San Jose to Vallejo Canyon (Alameda Cañon) on October 2.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=tc&d=MDA18661003.2.9&srpos=584&e=------186-en--20--581-byDA-txt-txIN-western+pacific+railroad----1866---1|title=Marysville Daily Appeal|date=October 3, 1866|website=cdnc.ucr.edu|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDU18661003.2.4&srpos=582&e=------186-en--20--581-byDA-txt-txIN-western+pacific+railroad----1866---1|title=Sacramento Daily Union 3 October 1866 — California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu|access-date=2020-02-13}}</ref> It had also surveyed, and started work on some places on, the rest of the line through [[Niles Canyon|Alameda Cañon]], through [[Livermore Valley]], over Livermore Pass (now [[Altamont Pass]]), and on to [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] and [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], before running out of money and halting all construction.  Part of the difficulty was that federal land grants were not available where Mexican land grants had previously been made.

[[File:The Pacific tourist - Williams&#039; illustrated trans-continental guide of travel, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean - containing full descriptions of railroad routes across the continent, all (14574682109).jpg|thumb|Five Associates of CPRR: l.—E. B. Crocker. 2.—C. P. Huntington. 3.—Leland Stanford. 4.—Charles Crocker. 5.—Mark Hopkins. From 1877 "The Pacific tourist"]]
In June 1867, the five Associates ([[Big Four (Central Pacific Railroad)|Big Four]] plus E. B. Crocker) of the Central Pacific completed a complicated transaction with moribund Western Pacific (WP) and resuscitated it and its assets while Charles McLaughlin, the only Western Pacific owner left, retained rights to sell his land grants.<ref name="railcomm" /><ref name="bain 1999">{{cite book |last1=Bain |first1=David Haward |title=Empire Express: building the first transcontinental railroad |date=1999 |publisher=Penguin Group |location=New York |isbn=067080889X}}</ref>{{rp|335–339}} In September 1867, Governor Stanford led a party to show them the projected WP line, which would captured his interest that it would soon be dubbed "The Governor's Road".<ref name="bain 1999" />{{rp|330,407}} In October 1867, patterned after the structure of the ill-fated [[Crédit Mobilier of America]], the Contract and Finance Company was incorporated to act as the stock/asset holding/laundering subsidiary formally independent of Central Pacific, but informally transferring stocks/assets back to the five CP Associates, to finance the construction and purchase of railroad.<ref name="bain 1999" />{{rp|408,739 n35}}

In early 1868, contractors Turton, Knox & Ryan broke ground on the Western Pacific line from Sacramento southward to Stockton and beyond, including [[Altamont Pass|Livermore Pass]]. Meanwhile, Central Pacific concluded that the route via San Jose to San Francisco was too long and that it would be better to change to a route using ferryboats from the planned CPRR's [[Oakland Pier]] in [[Oakland]].<ref>Daggett, Ch. V</ref><ref name="ford">Ford</ref>  The decision to make Oakland the western terminus of the WP line was finally wrapped up, under the charge of Gov. Stanford, in a series of complex transactions and legislative compromise in April 1868.<ref name="Thompson&West 1878">{{cite book |last1=Thompson & West |title=Official and historical atlas map of Alameda County, California |date=1878 |publisher=Valley Publishers |location=Fresno, CA |isbn=0913548340 |edition=Bicentennial 1976}}</ref>{{rp|18–19}}  The CPRR briefly considered a shorter route west from Dublin/Pleasanton to the [[Hayward, California|Hayward]]/[[San Leandro, California|San Leandro]] area (a route used by [[Bay Area Rapid Transit]] more than 100 years later), but decided that the grades were too much of a disadvantage compared to the 1% grade of the Alameda Cañon route.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Root|first=Henry|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433082381777|title=Henry Root, surveyor, engineer and inventor;personal history and reminiscenses, with personal opinions on contemporary events, 1845-1921.|publisher=San Francisco, Calif.|year=1921|pages=15|hdl=2027/nyp.33433082381777}}</ref><ref name="root">Root</ref>

[[File:CPRR Oakland Long Wharf.jpg|thumb|right|1885 map of Oakland and the CPRR's Long Wharf]]
Since Central Pacific had decided to make Oakland the west coast terminus of the First Transcontinental Railroad, its subsidiary purchased in August 1868 the majority of stock in [[San Francisco and Oakland Railroad]] (SF&O), which provided ferry-train service from a San Francisco ferry terminal connecting with railroad service through Oakland to San Antonio.  After the [[1868 Hayward earthquake]] bankrupted the [[San Francisco and Alameda Railroad]] (SF&A), the CP subsidiary also purchased in August 1869 the majority of stock in SF&A, which provided ferry service from San Francisco and train service from [[Alameda Terminal]] to the quake-damaged terminal at [[Hayward, California]].<ref name="root" />

After the Central Pacific completed the western half of the [[first transcontinental railroad]] from Omaha to Sacramento with the [[golden spike]] ceremony on May 10, 1869, at [[Promontory Summit]], J. H. Strobridge with some crew and equipment went to [[Vallejo Flour Mill|Vallejo Mills]] (now Niles) at the west end of [[Niles Canyon|Alameda Cañon]] to commence in June 1869 to build a new rail line from Vallejo Mills northward towards Oakland. Meanwhile, Turton, Knox & Ryan dispatched workers to continue the railroad in Alameda Cañon eastward from the point where the 1866 Western Pacific rails abruptly stopped.<ref name="WP june1869">{{cite news |title=Again in the field -- the Western Pacific Railroad |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDU18690605.2.22&srpos=12&e=------186-en--20--1-byDA.rev-txt-txIN-railroad+strobridge----1869---1 |website=UCR: California digital newspaper collection |access-date=5 June 2019 |publisher=Sacramento Daily Union |date=June 5, 1869 |quote=J. H. Strobridge, ...to commence work upon the branch of the Western Pacific Railroad leading from Vallejo Mills to Oakland.}}</ref>

By July 1869, Strobridge had 500 Chinese workers on the leg from Vallejo Mills towards Oakland. On the other two fronts, Turton, Knox & Ryan had a larger force of upwards of 2,000 men, mostly Chinese, some deployed working eastward from the middle of Alameda Cañon towards Livermore Pass and some working southward from Sacramento towards Stockton.  This line included two engineering challenges: boring a {{Convert|1200|ft|m|abbr=on}} tunnel through hard material near Livermore Pass and bridging the San Joaquin River at Mossdale south of Stockton.<ref name="WPR july1869">{{Cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18690725.2.13&srpos=182&e=01-05-1869-14-08-1869--en--20--181--txt-txIN-vallejo%27s+mills-------1|title=Western Pacific Railroad: The last link in the line from New York to San Francisco approaching completion|website=UCR: California digital newspaper collection |publisher=Daily Alta California, Volume 21, Number 7066, 25 July 1869 |access-date=2019-11-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Chinese and the Iron Road; Building the Transcontinental Railroad|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=2019|editor-last=Chang|editor-first=Gordon H.|location=Stanford, CA|pages=291|editor-last2=Fisher Fishkin|editor-first2=Shelley}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Fisher Fishkin|first=Shelley|date=2019|title=Bibliographic Essay for "The Chinese as Railroad Workers after Promontory"|url=https://web.stanford.edu/group/chineserailroad/cgi-bin/website/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The_Chinese_as_Railroad_Builders_after_Promontory_Fisher_Fishkin.pdf|website=Stanford University Chinese Railroad Workers of North America Project}}</ref>

[[File:The Summit Tunnel, 1,200 feet long, Livermore Pass, by Thomas Houseworth &amp; Co..jpg|thumb|The Summit Tunnel, {{Convert|1,200|ft|m}} long, Livermore Pass, by Thomas Houseworth &amp; Co.]]
[[File:Looking out of the tunnel at Livermore Pass, Alameda County, Western Pacific Railroad, by Thomas Houseworth &amp; Co..jpg|thumb|Looking out of the tunnel at Livermore Pass, Alameda County, Western Pacific Railroad, by Thomas Houseworth &amp; Co.]]
According to a report from the Sacramento Bee, for tunnel work at Livermore Pass in July 1869, white men were paid $45 per month with board, whereas the Chinese were paid $37.50 per month and had to board themselves.  The report went on to note that the Chinese "do more work, man for man, than the white men!"  The report also noted: "The difference in price is, allowing $5 a week for board, $29 50 per month, and yet the men who receive the higher sum do less work than those who receive the lower!"<ref name="wages july1869">{{cite web |title=Give the devil his due. The Sacramento Bee remarks |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MDA18690716.2.8&srpos=8&e=------186-en--20--1-byDA.rev-txt-txIN-%22livermore+pass%22+tunnel+-ARTICLE---1869---1 |website=cdnc.ucr.edu |publisher=Marysville Daily Appeal, Volume XX, Number 13, 16 July 1869 |access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref>

By mid-August 1869, the railroad was completed through Alameda Cañon eastward into Livermore valley.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MDA18690815.2.17&srpos=5&e=01-08-1869-01-03-1870--en--20--1--txt-txIN-railroad+livermore-------1|title=Stockton--August 14th |publisher=Marysville Daily Appeal 15 August 1869 — California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu|access-date=2019-08-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MDA18690819.2.17&srpos=1&e=01-08-1869-01-03-1870--en--20--1--txt-txIN-railroad+livermore-------1|title=Stockton--August 18th |publisher=Marysville Daily Appeal 19 August 1869 — California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu|access-date=2019-08-16}}</ref>  By the end of August, the tunnel at Livermore Pass was completed.<ref name="tunnel 1869">{{cite web |title=The tunnel at Livermore Pass is completed |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MJ18690828.2.3&srpos=8&e=------186-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22livermore+pass%22+tunnel-ARTICLE---1869---1 |website=cdnc.ucr.edu |publisher=Marin Journal, Volume 9, Number 24, 28 August 1869 |access-date=15 December 2019 |quote=The tunnel at Livermore Pass is completed. The railroad is running now from Vallejo's Mills to Pleasanton; a large force is now at work at the San Joaquin river bridge.}}</ref>  The first passenger train passed through the tunnel on September 1, and a large force was working to finish the San Joaquin River railroad bridge, which became the controlling link of the line from Sacramento to San Francisco Bay.<ref name="4sept1869">{{cite web |title=The First Train Through the Tunnel. The Oakland News says |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MU18690904.2.2&srpos=2&e=------186-en--20--1-byDA.rev-txt-txIN-%22livermore+pass%22+tunnel+-ARTICLE---1869---1 |website=cdnc.ucr.edu |publisher=Morning Union, Volume 6, Number 864, 4 September 1869 |access-date=15 December 2019 |quote=The first passenger train of the Western Pacific Railroad passed through the tunnel at Livermore Pass on Wednesday last [September 1st].  The only delay in regular trips is the unfinished bridge over the San Joaquin river.}}</ref>

===Opening===
By September 5, 1869, the railroad from [[Vallejo Flour Mill|Vallejo Mills]] (now Niles) to San Leandro was completed, including a connection at bay side of San Leandro to the existing tracks of SF&A, purchased a month before in August 1869, which led to the functioning [[Alameda Terminal|Alameda Wharf]].  The next day on Monday, September 6, 1869, upon the completion of the San Joaquin River railroad bridge at Mossdale at [[Lathrop, California|Lathrop]],<ref name="sac union mossdale 1869">{{cite web |title=From Stockton - September 6th |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDU18690907.2.8.2&srpos=5&e=------186-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22san+joaquin+river%22-ARTICLE---1869---1 |website=cdnc.ucr.edu |publisher=Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 37, Number 5755, 7 September 1869 |access-date=6 December 2019 |quote=The Western Pacific Railroad bridge across the San Joaquin river was finished to-day [September 6th], and three trains of cars crossed it, one for San Jose and two for Alameda.}}</ref><ref name="moss 1991">{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Olive |title=From the Ohio to the San Joaquin: a biography of Captain William S. Moss 1796-1883 |date=1991 |publisher=Heritage West Books |location=Stockton, California |isbn=0962304808 |page=209 (photo of Mossdale bridge) |quote=The Central Pacific Railroad bridge crossing the San Joaquin River at Mossdale, completed on September 6, 1869, was the first railroad connection linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Martin|first=Van|date=1890-01-01|title=Railroad Bridges- San Joaquin County: First bridge across San Joaquin River. Central Pacific Railroad, built 1869. Replaced by Steel Bridge 1895. Mossdale Crossing|url=https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/hsp/8617|journal=Historic Stockton Photographs}}</ref>  the first through train from [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] to reach [[San Francisco Bay]] arrived not at the CPRR's Oakland Pier but at the SF&A RR's [[Alameda Terminal]] that evening to a cheering crowd.<ref name="DAC alameda">{{Cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18690907.2.6&srpos=66&e=01-06-1869-31-12-1869--en--20--61--txt-txIN-western+pacific-------1|title=The first through train on the Western Pacific Road|publisher=Daily Alta California 7 September 1869 — California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu|access-date=2018-06-20}}</ref><ref name=chl>{{cite ohp |440 |Alameda Terminal of the First Transcontinental Railroad |2012-10-05}}</ref> Some of the passengers continued on the SF&A RR ferryboat ''Alameda'' to San Francisco.<ref name="ford" /><ref>Due</ref>  Upon the urging from Gov. Stanford, this opening of the railroad was pushed to completion in time to accommodate visitors to the 1869 [[California State Fair]] in Sacramento, which opened the same Monday.<ref name="opening 1869">{{cite web |title=The opening of the Western Pacific Railroad |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DAC18690911.2.28&srpos=58&e=------186-en--20--41--txt-txIN-%22western+pacific+railroad%22-ARTICLE---1869---1 |website=UCR: California Digital Newspaper Collection |publisher=Daily Alta California, Volume 21, Number 7114, 11 September 1869 |access-date=11 December 2019}}</ref><ref name="ca farmer 1869">{{cite web |title=Western Pacific Railroad |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=CF18690923.2.14&srpos=1&e=------186-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22vallejo+mills%22-ARTICLE---1869---1 |website=UCR: California Digital Newspaper Collection |publisher=California Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences, Volume 32, Number 10, 23 September 1869 |access-date=15 December 2019}}</ref>

The completion of the San Joaquin River railroad bridge at Lathrop and the first through train from Sacramento to Alameda on September 6, 1869, were commemorated by two [[California Historical Landmark]]s, in Lathrop [[California Historical Landmarks in San Joaquin County, California|CHL 780-7]] and Alameda [[California Historical Landmarks in Alameda County|CHL 440]], respectively.

[[File:Historic American Buildings Survey Southern Pacific RR Coll. About 1869 Oakland Point Pier - Used by First Central Pacific Train to Enter Oakland - November 8, 1869 - Southern HABS CAL,1-OAK,1-2.tif|thumb|About 1869 Oakland Point Pier - used by first Western Pacific train to enter Oakland - November 8, 1869]]
Two months later, the rail connection to the [[San Francisco and Oakland Railroad]] was finally in place, as was the expansion of CPRR's [[Oakland Pier]].<ref name="ford" /> On the morning of November 8, 1869, the first transcontinental train to use the expanded ferry terminal at Oakland Pier traversed the SF&O and the Western Pacific Railroad to reach Sacramento, and continue eastward on the Central Pacific Railroad. The city of Oakland held a large celebration later in the day to greet the first westbound transcontinental train.<ref name="DAC oakland">{{cite web |title=Railroad celebration at Oakland |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DAC18691109.2.6&e=01-06-1869-31-12-1869--en--20--61--txt-txIN-western+pacific-------1 |website=California digital newspaper collection |publisher=Daily Alta California, Volume 21, Number 7172, 9 November 1869 |access-date=10 May 2019|quote=New York and Oakland are bound together by ties strapped with iron.}}</ref> Newspaper coverage stated: "New York and Oakland are bound together by ties strapped with iron."<ref name="DAC oakland" />

After November 1869, the [[Oakland Pier]] was the Pacific coast terminus of the transcontinental trains. Alameda then reverted to local train service and in 1873 the original SF&A pier was abandoned.<ref name="alameda 2007">{{cite book |last1=Ute |first1=Grant |last2=Singer |first2=Bruce |title=Alameda by rail |date=2007 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=San Francisco, CA |isbn=978-0-7385-4706-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sgam8ANv7xQC&q=alameda+rail}}</ref>

===Locomotives===
[[File:Historic American Buildings Survey Southern Pacific Railroad Coll. Photographs of 1869 Oakland Point Pier - Before Construction of Long Wharf - Southern Pacific Mole and Pier, HABS CAL,1-OAK,1-1.tif|thumb|Locomotive at 1869 Oakland Point Pier - before construction of Long Wharf]]
The Western Pacific operated a total of ten locomotives. The first five were built in 1864 by the [[Norris Locomotive Works]] plant at [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]]. One of these was a 12-ton [[4-2-0]] while the others were of the more conventional [[4-4-0]] type weighing from 30 to 33 tons. [[Baldwin Locomotive Works]] of [[Philadelphia]] built three more 30-ton 4-4-0 locomotives in 1866, and two similar locomotives were built by [[Mason Machine Works]] of [[Massachusetts]] in 1867.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Best |first=Gerald M. |year=1954 |title=Western Pacific RR |journal=The Western Railroader |volume=17 |issue=173 |page=8 |publisher=Francis A. Guido }}</ref>

The locomotive ''Mariposa'', lettered G, was built by the Norris Locomotive Works in 1864. Sold in 1914 by the Southern Pacific to [[Stockton Terminal and Eastern No. 1|Stockton Terminal & Eastern #1]]. Currently on display at the [[Travel Town Museum]] in [[Griffith Park]], [[Los Angeles, California]]. the only surviving locomotive of the original Western Pacific.

===Changes===
In 1870, the Western Pacific Railroad dissolved, and its routes absorbed by the [[Central Pacific Railroad]].<ref>Daggett</ref>  Maps thereafter would show the Western Pacific route as one for the CPRR.<ref name="Thompson&West 1878" />

In 1879, the Central Pacific shortened its route from Sacramento to the Oakland Pier by building a line from Sacramento to [[Benicia]], crossing the [[Sacramento River]] there via large train ferry, the [[Solano (ferry)|''Solano'' and ''Contra Costa'']], to [[Port Costa, California|Port Costa]], then along the south shore of [[Carquinez Strait]] and [[San Pablo Bay]] to [[Richmond, California|Richmond]], [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]], and Oakland to the Oakland Pier.<ref>Daggett, Ch. VIII.</ref> From 1879 on, the original 1862–1869 WP route through [[Altamont Pass]] and [[Niles Canyon]] became a secondary route between the [[East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)|East Bay]] and the [[San Joaquin Valley]].

In 1930, the [[Solano (ferry)|''Solano'' and ''Contra Costa'']] train ferry service was discontinued, and train traffic traveled into the Bay Area via the new steel [[Benicia-Martinez Bridge]] spanning the [[Carquinez Strait]] from Benicia to [[Martinez California|Martinez]]. This bridge continues in operation today.

In 1888, the Central Pacific routes were absorbed by the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]].

===Monuments===

* California Historical Landmark No. 780.7 Transcontinental Railroad- Site of Completion of Pacific Railroad<ref>{{Cite web|title=CHL # 780.7 Transcontinental Railroad- Site of Completion of Pacific Railroad San Joaquin|url=https://www.californiahistoricallandmarks.com/landmarks/chl-780.7|access-date=2021-01-19|website=www.californiahistoricallandmarks.com}}</ref> at entrance to Mossdale Crossing Park and Ramp, just north of San Joaquin River in [[Lathrop, California]]. Plaque is missing.<ref name="HMdb 2006">{{cite web |title=Site of Completion of Pacific Railroad - First Transcontinental Railroad |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=11380 |website=HMdb.org |access-date=6 December 2019}}</ref> The plaque apparently used September 8, 1869 as date of completion instead of September 6, 1869.

[[File:440AlemadaTerminal.jpg|thumbnail|California Historical Landmark #440 in Alameda, CA]]
*California Historical Landmark No. 440 Alameda Terminal of Transcontinental Railroad<ref>{{Cite web|title=CHL # 440 Alameda Terminal of Transcontinental Railroad Alameda|url=https://www.californiahistoricallandmarks.com/landmarks/chl-440|access-date=2021-01-19|website=www.californiahistoricallandmarks.com}}</ref> on the NW corner of Lincoln Ave. and Webster St. in Alameda, California.

==The new Western Pacific Railroad==
{{main|Western Pacific Railroad}}

In 1903, to compete with the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]], a new '''Western Pacific Railway Company''' was formed to build routes between [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], [[Stockton, California|Stockton]], and [[Salt Lake City]]. East of Sacramento, the new Western Pacific Railway routes closely paralleled the Southern Pacific's legacy routes from the 1862 Western Pacific Railroad.

In 1916, the Western Pacific Railway Company was dissolved in bankruptcy. Its assets, including its 1903 route, were acquired by a new business entity, The [[Western Pacific Railroad]] Company.

In 1979, the Southern Pacific obtained trackage rights over the 1903 route from its old rival, The Western Pacific Railroad Company. Consequently, it abandoned the original 1862 Western Pacific Railroad route over Altamont Pass to Niles, except for a section between [[Pleasanton, California]], through [[Niles Canyon]], to the Niles District in [[Fremont, California]]. Other sections of the 1903 route are still operated by the [[Altamont Corridor Express]], and the [[Union Pacific Railroad]].

In 1984, Southern Pacific deeded the Pleasanton - Niles right-of-way to [[Alameda County, California]]. Since 1988, the [[Niles Canyon Railway]] has continuously operated a tourist railroad to preserve the history of the Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870), on the route that completed the first transcontinental railroad to the Pacific coast.

==See also==
{{Portal|Railways}}
* [[Central Pacific Railroad]]
* [[San Francisco and Alameda Railroad]]
* [[San Francisco and Oakland Railroad]]
* [[Niles Canyon Railway]]
*[https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/asian_american_and_pacific_islander_heritage/NHLpdfs/Niles%20NHL%20nomination.pdf Niles Canyon Transcontinental Railroad Historic District (NCTR)]

==References==
{{reflist}}

* {{cite book |last=Daggett |first=Stuart |title=Chapters on the History of the Southern Pacific |url=https://archive.org/details/chaptersonhisto00dagggoog |year=1922 |publisher=The Ronald Press |location=New York}} "Mcloughlin" should be "McLaughlin" and "Dane" should be "Dame".
* {{cite journal |last=Due |first=John F. |date=December 1956 |title=The San Francisco and Alameda Railroad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5uE3AAAAIAAJ |journal=Pacific Railway Journal |volume=1 |issue=11 |pages=2–8 |publisher=Southern California Chapter, Railway & Locomotive Historical Society and the Pacific Railroad Society |location=San Marino, California}}
* {{cite book |last=Ford |first=Robert S. |title=Red Trains in the East Bay: The History of the Southern Pacific Transbay and Ferry System |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PT8fAQAAIAAJ |year=1977 |series=Interurbans Specials |volume=65 |publisher=Interurbans Publications |location=Glendale, California |isbn=0-916374-27-0}} McLaughlin rather than Donahue took the lead in selling the WP RR.
* {{cite book |last=Pacific Railway Commission |title=Report of the United States Pacific Railway Commission (and Testimony Taken by the Commission) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O6goAAAAYAAJ |volume=VIII |pages=4568–4578 |year=1887 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington. D.C.}}
* {{cite book |last=Root |first=Henry |title=Henry Root: Surveyor, Engineer, and Inventor; History and Reminiscences with Personal Opinions on Contemporary Events, 1845-1921 |url=http://cprr.org/Museum/Henry_Root_1921.html#Oakland-SF |year=1921 |chapter=3, Central and Southern Pacific Railroad Work in Oakland, San Francisco and Elsewhere |publisher=Printed for Private Circulation |location=San Francisco}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870)}}

* [http://www.nilesdepot.org/centerville/ancestor_railroads.html Early Railroads in the Niles Area]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Western Pacific Railroad 1862 1870}}
[[Category:First transcontinental railroad]]
[[Category:Defunct California railroads]]
[[Category:Predecessors of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company]]
[[Category:Railway companies established in 1862]]
[[Category:Railway companies disestablished in 1870]]
[[Category:1860s in California]]
[[Category:1862 establishments in California]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1862]]