San Bruno to San Francisco

The Colma Branch

Point of Interest

Map submitted by Paul Carr.

The SP Colma Branch (or San Bruno Branch), like the 4th Street Line in San Jose, is part of the original alignment of the Coast Line Route. It opened for service in 1863, and was downgraded to branch line service in 1907 after the 1906 earthquake prompted the building of the "Bayshore Cutoff," which is the present-day alignment of the line, which is now owned by Caltrain. The line also featured steep grades and required helpers during its time as a mainline.

The line was severed in 1942, and a few portions remained to served industrial customers. The line was abandoned piece by piece, as the 280 Freeway was built over portions of the line and later, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). It was likely abandoned sometime in the last few decades.

Thanks to Paul Carr for contributing information about this route.

I can only remember when the line went as far North as a Cement Plant just South of John Daly Blvd. I can remember in the late 70's seeing open gravel type hoppers (one or two car trains at most) going through Daly City to most likely that plant. The rails were ripped up from just north of the Macy's Warehouse all the way through Colma to the Daly City terminus in 1980 so I imagine the last train to roll through was a year or two before that. As for the section south of Macy's, it remained in service up until the mid 90's with the Macy's warehouse being the only rail customer at that point. The line is now gone and a good portion of it in South San Francico has been converted to jogging/bike trail. Love your site BTW.

Phillip Gangale
Daly City , CA
7/28/2011

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