Simla Junction, California

Simla Junction is a historic location in Los Altos, California, near the area of present-day Homestead Road and Foothill Expressway. It does not appear on current maps. The name was used for a rail junction on the Peninsular Railroad which ran interurban cars along the San Francisco Bay Area's peninsula until some time in the 1940s. There was a wye junction at the location. The original rail right-of-way moved to accommodate changes to road systems and water mains. Some of the former right-of-way is now Foothill Expressway. A parallel right-of-way south is now Union Pacific (as of 2005). Latitude and longitude for this geographic feature in degrees-minutes-seconds format are approximately 37°20′11″N 122°04′02″W referenced to the NAD83 datum.

In the 1950s, the Simla Supply lumber yard was located there. Also in the vicinity was Val's Market, Miles Auto Seat covers and The Burger Castle. The 280/Foothill Expway overpass was referred to as the Simla Overpass.

Other data
  • A 1941 Chamber of Commerce map shows the locale named Simla and places it near the present-day Chevron station at 37°20′18″N 122°04′02″W.
  • A Southern Pacific Railroad map calls it Simla and places the location on present-day Deodara between Arboretum and Beechwood. The railroad map shows milepost 39.7 on Los Altos Branch as of 1933. Latitude and longitude, based on the railroad map, would be approximately 37°20′25″N 122°04′16″W.
  • The feature does not appear on 1899 or 1961 Palo Alto, California 15-minute quadrangle.

Other Simlas

A historic location identified as Simla Station existed in Toole County, Montana. It appears to have been abandoned in the 1920s. There is a town named Simla, Colorado in Elbert County, Colorado.

Sources
  • Simla Station, a variant to the name Simla Junction, appears on The Official San Jose Chamber of Commerce Map of Santa Clara County, (San Francisco: Rand McNally and Company, 1941).
  • Simla Junction appears in the County of Santa Clara Computer Aided Public Safety System (CAPSS) database operated by the county General Services Agency.
  • An undated map titled, "Map Showing the Lines of Peninsular Railway Company," on file at the California History Center, De Anza College, Cupertino California also shows the feature. The station north of this location is Loyola and the one south is Monta Vista.
  • Simla appears in an exemption notice for abandonment by the Southern Pacific, submitted to the Surface Transportation Board in 1962. The line abandoned, the Vasona Branch, extended from Alta Mesa to Simla Junction.[1]

References
  1. "Vasona Branch on Abandoned Rails Website".


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