Riding the Train in Marin for Fun
By Robert L. Harrison
A little over one hundred years ago, a trip on the train was often great fun. The railroads heavily advertised their passenger getaways. Automobiles were not yet a serious option and for many, the train provided the only choice for all but the shortest leisure trip. Today, riding the train for some is an enjoyable experience but for most flying or driving is preferred.
As early as the 1880s, railroads serving Marin offered passenger “Excursions.” Most were scheduled for Sunday when there were few freight trains. The May 1890 edition of the Bancroft’s Railway Guide included an advertisement for the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad (SF&NP) “Sunday Excursions” through Tiburon. These all-day outings offered visits to several North Bay towns, great scenery and the excitement of riding on the steam powered trains and crossing the Bay on the steamer “Tiburon.”
Two routes were offered: North to the Russian River with stops at Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Litton Springs, Cloverdale and Guerneville. The second route traveled north and east to the Sonoma Valley with stops at San Rafael, Sonoma, Verano, Caliente, Madrone and Glen Ellen.
The train ride from San Francisco was advertised at a “Great Reduction in Rates.” The ad featured round-trip fares to Petaluma and Sonoma for $1.00 (about $28 in 2021 dollars); To Guerneville for $2.50 ($70 in 2021); and to Glen Ellen for $1.20 ($34 in 2021). Tickets could be purchased in Tiburon or at the Tiburon Ferry ticket office at the foot of Market Street in San Francisco.
On September 29, 1895 the narrow gauge North Pacific Coast (NPC) Railroad ran a special Sunday excursion from Sausalito to Cazadero. The road described the trip as “affording a grand view of the Russian River and giant redwood forests.” The all-day round-trip fare from Sausalito was $1.25 (about $39 in 2021 dollars).
A Marin railroad built almost exclusively for fun was the Mt. Tamalpais & Muir Woods Railroad (MT&MW). Initially known as the Mill Valley & Mt. Tamalpais Scenic Railway, it made its first passenger run to the top of the mountain on August 22, 1896. The trip on that day was a special train for Mill Valley residents, followed on August 26th by a Grand Opening run for the San Francisco area press.
The railroad’s initial name told the story of its primary purpose, scenery. Tourists gasped at the views on the way to the top and thrilled on the eight mile roller coaster-like ride in a Gravity Car on the way down. To gain over 2,000 feet of elevation from Mill Valley to the road’s highest station, passengers experienced 281 curves and very little straight track. The scenery and excitement on the MT&MW attracted such notables as Susan B. Anthony and Arthur Conan Doyle as well as many foreign dignitaries, visiting royalty and thousands of conventioneers.
In 1908, the branch to the Muir Woods was opened. The railroad added Muir Woods to its name in 1913 to incorporate the new destination. That year, the advertised round trip fare from San Francisco to Mt. Tamalpais was $1.90 (about $50 in 2021 dollars). The fare included the Northwestern Pacific Railroad’s (NWP) ferry ride from San Francisco to Sausalito as well as the electric train ride from there to Mill Valley. The motto ‘The Crookedest Railroad in the World’ came into general usage in 1900.
In 1907, the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads together formed the Northwestern Pacific Railroad (NWP) by merging several railroads. The MT&MW remained an independent line. The merged roads included the standard gauge Donahue line out of Tiburon and the narrow gauge North Shore Railroad, formerly the NPC, from Sausalito. By 1920 the NWP built standard gauge rails to replace most of the narrow gauge still operating in 1907.
The “Triangle Trip” was the best known passenger excursion operated by the NWP. The trip was advertised by the railroad as early as June 1910. The shape of a triangle was formed by following the route north from Sausalito on the main line through San Rafael to Fulton, just north of Santa Rosa, and then west to Monte Rio on the Russian River. The return trip operated on the narrow gauge from Monte Rio south through Sonoma County, along Tomales Bay, to Point Reyes Station. From Point Reyes Station to Manor (Fairfax), the train continued on narrow gauge track until 1920 when new standard gauge rails were available to complete the trip from Pt. Reyes to Sausalito.
A reverse run of the triangle was also advertised passing first through west Marin and Sonoma Counties to the Russian River, east along the river to the mainline and returning south to Sausalito and the ferry to San Francisco. Round trip San Francisco based fares for the 150-mile trip on Sundays were listed as $2.20 (about $59 in 2021 dollars), on Saturdays $2.50 ($67), and on weekdays $2.80 ($75).
In the early 20th century the Triangle Trip enjoyed extensive promotion. The Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) widely distributed a magazine called California and the Pacific Coast for the Tourist. The publication lavishly described the trip:
The Triangle Trip of the Northwestern Pacific is an interesting one-day trip … one enjoys a boat ride across the bay close by the Golden Gate and one hundred fifty miles of mountain and redwood forest.” The railroad gives easy access to “the beauty of the land, [and] particularly the charm of the Russian River…
The Trip was visibly illustrated by the NWP in the brochure Vacation Land. The 1911 edition of the pamphlet included this glowing portrayal of the area served by the railroad: “Here, hill and valley, mountain and plain, river and brooklet unite with one another in the ‘Call of the Wild’ to which, on occasion, every human yields a responsive heart throb.”
In the June 6, 1913 edition of the San Francisco Call, Travel Editor, Burleigh Davison, described the trip as having three distinct laps. On the first lap: “Here [San Rafael area] the park like nature of the country is traversed, the rolling hills and the pastoral loveliness of the scenes hold the tourist’s admiration.” Davison further extolled the second lap’s beautiful scenery: “From this point [Fulton] the magnificent mountain and river scenery of the Russian River country is encountered and the train runs alongside of that foaming river and over rugged hills and across wooded Valleys until Monte Rio … is reached.” The third lap return trip “takes the traveler through the quaint Tomales bay country, down to Point Reyes …” In conclusion Davison finds the Triangle Trip presents: “… a mosaic of scenic pictures that few countries in the world can equal.”
Fred A. Stindt in his landmark book, The Northwestern Pacific Railroad, Vol. 1, describes the railroad’s early 20th century objective this way: “Passenger business was now the N.W.P’s main objective.” Stindt notes the road’s marketing of holiday travel in the annual publication of its booklet Vacation Land:
In all the world there is not another recreation place like the Northwestern Pacific country, that wonderland that has in every enchanted mile a rare and wonderful charm that is all its own …
For several years the heavy promotion of vacation travel by rail produced successful results, particularly for the Triangle Trip. On summer holidays the passenger demand for the Trip was so great the trains often had to operate in sections with two locomotives pulling as many as 25 to 30 coaches. Yet, as private auto ownership boomed in the 1920s, travel by rail to holiday destinations declined. The exact date the Triangle Trip was discontinued is not known. But in March 1930 when the NWP abandoned the narrow gauge track north of Pt. Reyes Station it was clear that the railroad had given up on the excursion triangle. The three legged trip on the NWP was no longer possible.
