Proposal · Southern Marin

Bring the train back to Sausalito.

SMART ends at Larkspur. The old railroad ran on to the Sausalito ferry, and most of its corridor is still public land.

3new stations
1875–1971years trains ran into Sausalito
1sealed tunnel to reopen
Ferryat both ends of Marin
The system map
SMART system map from Windsor to Larkspur, extended with a dashed proposed line to Corte Madera, Tam Junction and Sausalito
Adapted from the SMART system map. Not to scale.

Three stops past Larkspur

Drawn in the map's own "future rail" style, the extension adds roughly seven miles of line and three stations, each on land the Northwestern Pacific already graded.

  1. Larkspur

    Today's southern terminus, at the Larkspur ferry. Southbound trains would branch off near the Cal Park Tunnel onto the old main line.

  2. Corte Madera

    Downtown, beside the town park, on the site of the old depot. The corridor is now the NWP Railroad Trail.

  3. Tam Junction

    Through the Alto Tunnel and down the Mill Valley–Sausalito path to the old Almonte junction, where the Mill Valley branch once split off. Buses up Shoreline Highway and Miller Avenue meet here.

  4. Sausalito

    Along Richardson Bay and Bridgeway to the waterfront, steps from the Golden Gate Ferry. The original rail-to-ferry terminal sat on what is now the parking lot beside Plaza Viña del Mar.

On the ground
To Larkspur & SMART today Corte Madera Alto Tunnel Tam Junction Sausalito ferry Mill Valley Richardson Bay Tiburon Golden Gate Bridge
Route traced over satellite imagery along the trails that now occupy the old Northwestern Pacific right-of-way. Approximate; dashed segment is the Alto Tunnel.

The right-of-way from above

Almost the whole corridor is still open ground. North of the ridge it is the NWP Railroad Trail through Corte Madera. South of it, the Mill Valley–Sausalito path follows the old roadbed along Bothin Marsh and Richardson Bay.

  1. Corte Madera

    Old depot site by the town park. The trail runs straight south to the tunnel's north portal.

  2. Alto Tunnel

    Bored in 1884 under the ridge that Camino Alto climbs. Sealed in 1979 and studied by Marin County for reopening.

  3. Tam Junction

    The old Almonte junction, where the Mill Valley branch split off. The path then cuts across Bothin Marsh to Manzanita.

  4. Sausalito ferry

    Along the Marinship waterfront to downtown, where trains once met the boats.

Then and now

Same embankment, eighty years apart

Electric trains along Richardson Bay in the early 1940s, and the Mill Valley–Sausalito path on the same right-of-way today. Drag the handle to compare.

Today: cyclists on the Mill Valley–Sausalito path across the marsh, Mount Tamalpais behind
Then: a two-car orange Northwestern Pacific electric train on the embankment beside Richardson Bay
c. 1940Today

1940s frame from the H. Lohse presentation, 2023.

Film · c. 1939–41

Watch on YouTube

Electric trains to the boat

From 1903 the Northwestern Pacific ran third-rail electric trains out of Sausalito to Mill Valley and San Rafael, timed to meet the San Francisco ferries. This footage shows the last years of that service.

  • 1875Narrow-gauge passenger service reaches Sausalito.
  • 1884Alto Tunnel opens between Corte Madera and Mill Valley.
  • 1903Electric service begins Sausalito to Mill Valley and San Rafael.
  • 1937Golden Gate Bridge opens; ridership falls.
  • 1941Electric trains and Sausalito ferries end.
  • 1971Last freight train leaves Sausalito; tunnel closes to rail.
The connection, 1936

Train meets ferry

Aerial view of the Northwestern Pacific ferry terminal in Sausalito, 1936: two ferries in their slips, the terminal building, and electric trains waiting under the platform sheds behind it
The Northwestern Pacific's Sausalito terminal from the air, January 1936. Ferries tie up at the slips, passengers walk through the terminal building, and electric trains wait under the sheds directly behind it. The tracks curve north along the shore where Bridgeway runs today. Source: Wikimedia Commons. More views of the terminal: passenger cars lined up from the ferry deck, 1938 and the terminal in 1903.
The network, 1939

Marin had a rail network once

At its peak the interurban ran every line from one terminal: trains left Sausalito for Mill Valley, San Rafael, San Anselmo and Manor, all timed to the San Francisco boats. Almonte, today's Tam Junction, was where the Mill Valley branch split from the main line.

Historic Northwestern Pacific map of the interurban lines, from Novato and Manor down to Sausalito, with the ferry routes to San Francisco
Map of the Interurban Lines, Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company. Original NWP map.
Diagram of the Northwestern Pacific interurban lines as published in 1939, showing Sausalito, Almonte, Mill Valley, San Rafael, San Anselmo, Manor and Tiburon
The 1939 network redrawn as a transit diagram. Map by David Edmondson, 2012.
From the archives

Trains in places you know

An electric car at the Mill Valley depot, a tile-roofed station with arched openings, with the town square and hillside houses around it
Mill Valley depot, c. 1938An electric car waits at the end of the Mill Valley branch. The 1929 depot still stands on the town square, now the Depot Bookstore & Cafe. Carlton Koski / David Gallagher Collection, SFMemory.org
Rainy morning at the Sausalito terminal. The platform signs point to Mill Valley and to San Rafael and San Anselmo.
Sausalito platform, 1938Rainy morning at the Sausalito terminal. The platform signs point to Mill Valley and to San Rafael and San Anselmo. Carlton Koski / David Gallagher Collection, SFMemory.org
The view from the ferry deck: the terminal building on the left and a line of electric cars waiting along the shore, with the Sausalito hillside above.
Arriving by ferry, 1938The view from the ferry deck: the terminal building on the left and a line of electric cars waiting along the shore, with the Sausalito hillside above. Carlton Koski / David Gallagher Collection, SFMemory.org
Looking south over the yard to the ferry slips, with the ferryboats Tamalpais, Solano and Cazadero tied up.
Sausalito terminal, 1903Looking south over the yard to the ferry slips, with the ferryboats Tamalpais, Solano and Cazadero tied up. Courtesy of Emiliano Echeverria, SFMemory.org
Early 1900s view down a dirt street to a small wooden depot with an electric car at the platform, a steep hill rising behind
San Anselmo station, early 1900sAn electric car at a small wooden depot, with horse-drawn buggies on the dirt street and Red Hill behind. San Anselmo was the junction where trains from Sausalito split for San Rafael and Manor.

Photos courtesy of SFMemory.org.