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Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Coast cover

A press release and a retrospective

New book tells the history of over 50 railroad stations along the Santa Cruz Coast Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Coast arrives November 1, 2026, marking 150 years since the county’s first rail link to the outside world SANTA CRUZ, Calif., October 19, 2026 — Zayante Publishing will release Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Coast, a 352-page illustrated history by local historian Derek R. Whaley, on November 1, 2026.… Read More »A press release and a retrospective

An Ocean Shore train outside the ticket office in Santa Cruz, ca 1908
An Ocean Shore train outside the ticket office in Santa Cruz, ca 1908 [colorized]. Courtesy Roy D. Graves Collection, Bancroft Library.

Ocean Shore vs. Southern Pacific: Fight!

Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Coast is in the final stretch now and I am hoping to have principal writing done by the end of July. This will give me three months to format the book, source photographs, draw maps, edit, and prepare the book for publication by November 1. That is my goal and it is beginning to seem achievable. As of the end of June 2026, all introductory chapters are… Read More »Ocean Shore vs. Southern Pacific: Fight!

Cliffside Grain Silo at 17th Avenue, ca 1935 [UCSC]
The grain silo on 17th Avenue at Cliffside, circa 1935. Courtesy UC Santa Cruz. Colorized using MyHeritage.

To Live Oak and the North Coast!

Greetings all. It has been three months since my last update and I thought it was time for another one. I have been working hard researching and writing Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Coast, almost to the exclusion of all other projects. I’ve cut back my monthly (once weekly!) blog posts to only quarterly. I have set aside working on Ernest Otto’s Our Old Santa Cruz… books. And I have delayed further research and… Read More »To Live Oak and the North Coast!

Ocean Shore shops near Garfield Park showing boiler explosion, 1910s. Courtesy UC Santa Cruz.
Ocean Shore shops near Garfield Park showing boiler explosion, 1910s. Courtesy UC Santa Cruz.

The Santa Cruz Coast or Bust!

Happy New Year everyone! This is Derek R. Whaley, your friendly neighborhood author and editor. 2025 was a busy year for me with two book releases, another 12 detailed blog posts on SantaCruzTrains.com, and 365 Instagram posts showcasing Santa Cruz train history, not counting my other pursuits and my day job. One thing that has suffered, though, is my goal of publishing Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Coast in time for Christmas… Read More »The Santa Cruz Coast or Bust!

A Southern Pacific train at Mayfield Station, ca 1886 [Mountain View Public Library]
A Southern Pacific train at Mayfield Station, circa 1886. Courtesy Mountain View Public Library.

Re-envisioning Santa Cruz Trains

Santa Cruz Trains did not begin as a brand, but as a single book: Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. When I first started my research on the topic in 2012, I had no idea that it would become a book until around mid-2013, and I didn’t actually begin working on it until April 2014. In many ways, I viewed the book as a natural expansion of Bruce MacGregor and Rick Hamman’s… Read More »Re-envisioning Santa Cruz Trains