Pacific Coast Railway
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| Locale | California |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1882–1941 |
| Track gauge | 3 ft (914 mm) |
| Length | 76 miles (122 km) |
| Headquarters | San Luis Obispo |
The Pacific Coast Railway is a defunct 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railway on the Central Coast of California. The original 10-mile (16 km) link from San Luis Obispo to Avila Beach and Port Harford was later built southward to Santa Maria and Los Olivos, with branches to Sisquoc and Guadalupe.
The Santa Maria Valley of the central California coast was isolated by the Santa Lucia Range to the north and the Santa Inez Range to the south. El Camino Real traversed the difficult La Cuesta pass to reach San Francisco via the Salinas Valley or San Marcos pass to reach Los Angeles via Santa Barbara. The 1,800-foot (550 m) People's Wharf was built at Port Harford in 1869 to transfer freight and passengers from Pacific Coast Steamships Mohongo, Orizaba and Gypsy operating between San Francisco and San Diego. Goodall, Nelson and Perkins steamships Ventura and Constantine began weekly service to Port Harford in 1873; and Ah Louis built a horse-powered, 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge tramway in 1873 to transport passengers and freight between Port Harford and a wagon road at Avila Beach.
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