The railroad came to San Luis Obispo in 1894, stimulating growth in this mission town, which had grown slowly since its founding in 1722. With a current population of around 45,000, it’s still not all that big. We’d visited the railroad station in previous years, and since this time we were staying nearby, Bob and I took several walks around the railroad area of town. A fairly busy station, San Luis Obispo is a major stop for north and southbound passenger and freight trains. Osos-Jennifer Street Bridge, just south of the station crossing over the tracks, was new since our last visit. This impressive walkway has ramps, making it handicapped- and bike-accessible, besides stairs, to climb to the great views of Railroad Square, the station, and a good stretch of railroad tracks. It’s also a good crossing point to get to the Railroad Recreational Trail, stretching from the station a couple of miles south to Orcutt Street.
Inside on the walls of the historic railroad station are photos of some of earlier station incarnations, including a wooden structure circa 1900. Six passenger trains and 16 Amtrak busses make stops here daily. The southbound Pacific Surfliner to L.A. was stopped at the station while I was on the bridge above, giving some fun photo ops. Rail2Rail connects Amtrak with L.A.’s Metrolink, allowing cross-ticketing. The Coast Starlight (Seattle-L.A.) passes through twice a day. Buses connect coastal rail travelers to the San Joaquin passenger trains. Freight trains still chug their way up steep Cuesta Grade east. An as-yet-unfinished railroad museum is in the making a few blocks south of the station.
Railroad Square is an attractive collection of historic buildings housing restaurants, galleries, offices, and other small businesses. On a circular plot at its center stands a statue honoring Chinese railroad workers and other Chinese pioneers of SLO County. The Iron Road Pioneers statue, sculpted by Elizabeth MacQueen, was dedicated in 2003. Though people of Chinese ethnicity currently number less than 2% in SLO, their ancestors played a vital role in the development of the railroad and the town.
On Wong, better known as Ah Louis, immigrated from China at age 21 and moved from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo on the urging of his friend Captain John Hartford (who operated nearby Port San Luis). He began working as a hotel cook, but soon was in charge of recruiting many Chinese workers for the Pacific Coast Railway. Later, he became foreman of Chinese miners working in Cambria’s quicksilver mines. Ah Louis weathered discrimination and thrived in his store, which still stands on the corner of Chorro and Palm, in SLO's Chinatown. I’ve visited inside this historical store that’s more like a museum in past years, but this year it was closed and fenced off, with a forbidding sign by the city warning it was "unsafe to occupy this building." Construction is going on all around. One wonders what’s in the making.