Construction was started on the Santa Cruz Railroad in 1873 and completed in 1876 as a narrow gauge line.
The Santa Cruz was acquired by the Southern Pacific in 1881 and shortly after was converted to standard gauge.
SP ultimately acquired other lines into Santa Cruz but before the SP was merged into the Union Pacific in 1996, only the 32 miles between Watsonville Junction, Santa Cruz and Davenport remained.
The line was eventually purchased by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission. In 2012 Iowa Pacific was selected to operate the line and service commenced in November, 2012.
2018 saw Progressive Rail take over operations as the St Paul & Pacific RR.
Operations taken over by Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific in 2021.
RI replaced SCBG as operator of the line in 2026.
Ownership:
Roster:
Unit
Bldr.
Model
B/N
F/N
B/D
History
Acq.
Ret.
Notes
1106
EMD
GP15-1
757142-12
757142-12
1976
ex RI 1106; ex RI/GMTX 415; ex GMTX 415; ex LLPX 1514; ex UP Y542; ex UP 1542; ex CFNR 100; ex CNW 4411
