150 Years of Service on the Oldest Railroad in the West With Continuous Passenger Service

Until 1864, travel between San Francisco and San Jose was by stagecoach or steamship, a time-consuming and expensive trip. After three failed attempts to organize a railroad, construction began in May 1861 on the 49-mile San Francisco and San Jose Railroad. Upon completion to Mayfield (south Palo Alto today), daily passenger service from San Francisco began October 18, 1863. Thousands turned out to celebrate on January 16, 1864, when the railroad was completed to San Jose. By 1870, the SF and SJ was absorbed into the Southern Pacific Railroad, which owned and operated the railroad for more than a century.

Threatened in later years with declining ridership and the cessation of service, the railroad came under public agency management, first by the California Department of Transportation in 1980, when the railroad was renamed "CalTrain,” and then by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board in 1992. The JPB purchased the right-of-way in 1991. Caltrain is the oldest continuously operating passenger railroad in the West.

The first San Francisco terminal was near 18th and Valencia streets and San Jose's was off San Pedro and Bassett streets. The San Francisco terminal has been at Fourth and King Streets since 1975. San Jose's Cahill Street terminal opened in 1935. . This historical marker was erected in 2014 by Native Sons of the Golden West. It is in Mission Bay in San Francisco City and County California