Perfect Shot: Atherton Train Station

Although most trains pass through the Atherton station at full speed these days, the small depot on Dinkelspiel Station Lane didn’t used to be so quiet. In the 1880s, train journeys up and down the Peninsula were advertised as the “Great Pleasure Route of The Pacific Coast,” including stops in resort towns like Fair Oaks, soon to be renamed Atherton. As Atherton transitioned from a sleepy community of summer homes to a suburban center, the station became popular with commuters who worked in San Francisco. Although Caltrain suspended weekday stops in Atherton due to declining ridership in 2005, plans to electrify the lines could see service restored to the station.