The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad took a long time getting
started. In the 1850s, the money flowing into San Francisco was
not steady and there were two or three "starts” to form a
company and raise money to lay tracks from San Francisco to San
Jose. In 1854, as an inducement to get the project started, San
Jose gave an 8-acre square for a terminal station. This didn’t
work. The state refused to give money for the project so the
burden of raising the capital fell on San Francisco, San Mateo
County and San Jose. In a May 21, 1861 election, San Francisco
voted for $300,000, Santa Clara County voted $200,000 and San
Mateo County voted for $100,000. The work began and rights-of-
way were acquired as well as rolling stock and rails. Chinese
labor was hired. They were paid a dollar a day plus board. It
turned out to be the wettest winter on record and progress was
slow. This was not the worst thing to happen, however, because
it gave the engineers who had no experience with water problems
to work them out befo