Said lawsuits took away time and money, as by 1881 the railroad had promised to construct a line to the border of San Mateo County, but in reality had not laid a single rail.

In around January 1881, the railroad was reorganized to become a standard gauge line, and filed for incorporation to construct tracks through Half Moon Bay.

The announcement had dire consequences, and in early 1882 the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors voted to delay the acceptance of the franchise to allow the running of the railroad in the city itself.

[2] However, for unknown reasons, in November 1892 the Mayor of San Francisco rejected the proposal for the railroad to run its line on 25th Street and Potrero Avenue, which led the railway to frantically reorganize its plans.

In 1894 a government study on the feasibility of the railroad was released, but nothing more was heard, suggesting that the line lost revenue and funding.

The new West Shore Railway was meant to haul freight and passenger service, at a time estimate of two hours and ten minutes between the two cities.

In March 1899, the railroad had stated that they wished to be sold to the Vanderbilt Company, in direct competition to the Southern Pacific.

In December 1899 the railroad's franchise in San Francisco expired, and subsequently, the line had given up all hopes of ever achieving a route and abandoned plans.

Originally incorporated as the Ocean Shore Railway Company on May 18, 1905, the plan was to run a 1500 volt Alternating-Current double-tracked line between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, operating with interurbans and electric freight motors.

[3] Other plans that were originally considered, would have operated the railway under 3300 volts Alternating-Current, utilizing both third rail and overhead catenary wiring.

[4] The railway was backed primarily by a group of very successful and wealthy business-men of San Francisco, including future railroad president: J. Downey Harvey.

Further plans called for subsidiaries such as the Ocean Shore & Eastern, which would have run a line between Santa Cruz to Watsonville where it would have connected with other Ocean Shore Railroad related schemes, such as the Fresno, Coalinga, & Monterey Railroad, which aimed to connect Fresno and Monterey via somewhere around the Pacheco Pass.

[7] Real estate plans all along the coast were also envisioned, such as a massive boardwalk and amusement park at Granada, with cheap affordable housing being found at Montara.

Ultimately, the ideal of a 1500 volt alternating current double-track line would not come to fruition, and neither would the railroad ever connect San Francisco and Santa Cruz.

Trackage within the city of San Francisco was electrified, while the rest of the line was operated with steam locomotives, and later, with self-propelled railcars.

Despite significant passenger patronage, especially on weekends, the railroad never recovered from losses in the 1906 earthquake and failed to attract enough freight traffic to cover increasing deficits.

[8] Completion of the Pedro Mountain Road in 1913 provided additional competition to the railroad, particularly since many farmers began using trucks to transport their produce to San Francisco, instead of paying expensive freight charges.

Following abandonment, the railroad company fought for decades over ownership of their right-of-way, large portions of which they had purchased wholesale rather than as easements.

The Kelly Street Station is now situated near the Johnston House on the south side of Higgins Canyon Road in Half Moon Bay.

Tobin Station is located on San Pedro Point, at the corner of Danmann Avenue and Shelter Cove Road.

[13] After the abandonment of the railroad, the Moss Beach Station stood vacant until the 1930s, when it was then used as a broom factory until its demolition in the late 1940s.