http://www.geocities.com/rayhosler/tunnel/intro.html
Introduction

From Los Gatos we followed the South Pacific Coast Railroad right-of-way, now a hiking trail along Los Gatos Creek. We climbed Lexington Reservoir's dam and took Alma Bridge Road heading southwest. We picked up rideable portions of the right-of-way beyond the reservoir, arriving at a remote paved road and the Wrights town site. "The tunnel is right over here," my friend said. The four of us dismounted and walked our bikes on a trail next to a rocky creek bordered by grass and redwoods. I took a photo <tun1.html> in front of the tunnel.
Looking around, we saw no signs of the town, where steam trains entered the first of two mile-long tunnels, dug with sweat and muscle into the Santa Cruz Mountains. Gone is the Sunset Park picnic grounds, children playing, farmers discussing fruit growing in Santa Clara Valley, the smell of barbecue. In the brilliant sunshine of a warm spring day we heard only the sweet, peaceful sound of bird songs. A tributary of Los Gatos Creek spilled over the tunnel entrance. Tall redwoods caress the steep slopes of this bucolic little valley, sheltered from another much different valley building our future, down the hill 10 miles by rail.

And so it came to pass, my first view of a train tunnel in the Santa Cruz Mountains. More than 18 years later I occasionally stop and visit these vanishing tributes to the golden era of railroading. A few tunnels can be found easily, while the others are remote, and mostly on private property.

The following pages give you a glimpse of the train's glory years and the tunnel entrances as seen between 1986 and 1999.
It took three years to bore through the mountains and lay track. In the process, Wrights tunnel claimed more than 32 lives. During its construction, natural gas seeped from a vein of coal.

Workers lit a torch to burn off gas in the tunnel, but this technique proved fatal on Nov. 17, 1879. Chinese workers and their foreman burned to death in a terrific explosion.

Despite this accident and another tragic tunnel explosion, construction continued and the rail line went through. Davis purchased the Santa Cruz and Felton Railroad right of way to complete the route from Felton to Santa Cruz. 
Alfred Davis, backed by James Fair, charted a bold plan in 1877 to build a narrow gauge line from Oakland to Santa Cruz through the Santa Cruz Mountains. They foresaw big profits coming from the many sawmills along the way needing their logs hauled away. The duo called their venture the South Pacific Coast Railroad. Davis invested his wealth, but Fair's millions reaped from Sierra gold mines provided the real capital. 

The railroad's success hinged on nine tunnels, which kept the average grade to a modest 1.7%; the route peaked at 900 feet in Laurel, with the tunnels saving 700 feet of climbing.
Train service continued for another 60 years before being derailed by the automobile and severe storms in the winter of 1940. The tracks were ripped up <ripup.html> in the summer of 1941 and the tunnels dynamited shut by the Army Corps of Engineers. In the glory years between 1900 and 1925, trains crowded with passengers ran to Santa Cruz for sun and play on the beach. 

A glorious ride it was. Trains wound through canyons sheltering tall, grand redwoods. On a warm summer day the soothing click-clack click-clack of train over track put many a happy child, and adult, into a peaceful slumber. Lovers caressed during the long, private minutes heading through the smoky Wrights and Glenwood tunnels.
Over the years, the brave engineers challenged the mountains, overcoming many obstacles: landslides, earthquakes, fallen trees, and raging creeks. The 1906 earthquake shut the Wrights tunnel for more than a year. 

Train travel through the Santa Cruz Mountains was never a sure thing, experiencing all the problems Highway 17 sees today with landslides and wrecks. One train wreck claimed 14 passengers in 1880. The train lost its brakes on the steep 3.5% grade at Rincon, west of Felton, where the tracks cross Highway 9
During its existence from 1879-1890, South Pacific Coast Railroad gave Southern Pacific a run for its money. The trip from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, including a ferry ride to Oakland, took 3:30, beating Southern Pacific's longer route through Watsonville by nearly 30 minutes. Fair tired of the business and sold it to Southern Pacific.
Source:
Bruce MacGregor. South Pacific Coast, Howell-North Books, 1968.
Bruce MacGregor. Narrow Gauge Portrait South Pacific Coast, 1975. 

Acknowledgments
The historical information and period photos are taken from Bruce MacGregor's books on the South Pacific Coast. They're out of print, but can be purchased from used book stores. Check out Advanced Book Exchange <http://www.abebooks.com/> to find them. His books are: South Pacific Coast, Howell-North Books, 1968; Narrow Gauge Portrait South Pacific Coast, 1975, Glenwood Publishers; A Centennial South Pacific Coast, Pruett Publishing, 1982. Another authoritative book on railroading in the Santa Cruz Mountains is Rick Hamman's California Central Coast Railways, Pruett Publishing, 1980. It's also out of print.

I recommend "A Centennial" over MacGregor's other two books. The first book is excellent as well. The second book is mostly new photos with little new text. Rick Hamman's book concentrates on railroads other than South Pacific Coast.