Places

Cuesta Grade

Cuesta Grade

Serving as the dividing line between North and South County, the Cuesta Grade is so much a part of our everyday life that it rarely gets much of a second thought. Yet, it is an important gateway for commerce, tourism, and it even affects the weather. Driving down “The Grade,” as it is known locally, quite often feels like descending in an airplane through a cloud bank, as the cooler, foggier weather of the southern portion of the Central Coasts engulfs the vehicle. With a steep 7% grade, it is reported that when early automobiles first attempted to “go over The Grade,” they would often drive up in reverse (apparently reverse was in a lower gear than was first gear) in order to prevent overheating. In 1901 the railroad was completed on The Grade, connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles. Knowing that Amtrak’s Coast Starlight line would be coming through just before four o’clock in the afternoon, local photographer, Tony Hertz, finished his hike from the top of Stenner Creek Road around two o’clock to start setting up the shot you see here. As a photo journalist with work appearing in The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and The New York Times, Hertz now also teaches his craft at Cuesta College. In discussing this photo, Hertz points out that “everybody is a photographer now—we all have cameras on our phones, and there are so many beautiful shots out there—but I want to see something that really breaks the mold.” SLO LIFE