Southern Pacific Yard
Railroad was hitting prime time just as San Francisco was founded. As the largest city on the West Coast, and with the influx of trade required by the gold rush, a connection to rail transit was quickly deemed necessary. Even though the Transcontinental Railroad came to its official end near Oakland, much more expansion was soon to happen. Much of this right of way was acquired before any development occurred, and the future infrastructure simply takes place around it. There are three distinct areas I’d like to focus on: Bayshore, Potrero Hill, and the Mission.
To this day, more than any other district, the Bayshore/Vistacion Valley remains railroad country. Perhaps because of the distinction of being the southernmost part of San Francisco, but it is also because the rail line still exists. This is no shock to anyone who has ridden on CalTrain southbound. The shock is most likely to occur in a few years, after the completion of the Vistacion Valley Plan. What was once the sprawling Southern Pacific yard will become a developed landscape, much like the rest of San Francisco.
Potrero Hill Cuts, via foundsf.org
Potrero Hill has some of the more interesting stories to tell. The Southern Pacific line continued north past the Bayshore yard, to its terminus in SOMA/Mission Bay. In the way stood Potrero Hill. Originally the hills were cut, and trains went all the way around. To save time, the route now passes through several tunnels – Bayview, near Silver Ave, and then Potrero. You’ll also notice that the train line marks the end of the Islais Creek culvert covered previously. The train slices through the resulting infilled marshes/industrial zones, ducks under Potrero Hill, and then emerges in near Mission Creek. The original alignment was much the same as the CalTrain line, except for the huge yard under UCSF Mission Bay. Again, most of the development occured after the rail was built, with one exception. There exists another tunnel under Potrero Hill, which has since been sealed off (but not filled in). The scar still remains as a diagonal slash across the grid.
Again, as I wrote previously, Islais Creek proved to be a fantastic grade on which to run transportation. Before becoming part of Highway 280, it was the Southern Pacific Railroad. Compared to the Potrero alignment, this route was much more circuitous, but again it cut through undeveloped terrain. Because the goal of these posts is to illustrate the remains of previous generations, there is no better explanation that this map. It compares the rail line from an early map, to the existing satellite imagery. In some places you can easily see the ghosts of trains, while other times it disappears. The Mission truly is the best location for spotting such idiosyncrasies, because streets like Treat and San Jose never seem to fit in until you know the past.
Fort Mason Tunnel, via theoverheadwire
The last word today, is about the rail tunnel in Fort Mason. This one is also incredibly easy to spot, even if you don’t know what it is. As part of the railroad all along the Embarcadero, the Army made a tunnel through Fort Mason, which would eventually continue on to serve the Presidio and Crissy Field. The rails are still visible under the sidewalk along Marine Green. But, because the infrasturcture still exists, why not use it? Two campaigns are under way to use the tunnel, either as a continuation of the F Muni Line (or a new E Line), or as a bike tunnel. While this is still being studied, we should appreciate the fact that our past can always benefit us as much as it can rope us in. Next up, when highways were king.
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Pedestrianist on 06.18.2009
I thought the old Western Pacific tunnel under Potrero Hill had indeed been filled in after several sink holes opened up above it.
Mark Pritchard on 06.25.2009
The link to a map in your second-to-last paragraph is broken.
Admin on 06.26.2009
It should work, it’s just a big image.
Removing and Restoring : San Francisco Transit Oriented Design on 06.27.2009
[...] of the legacy from the railroad through the mission are the akward lot shapes. Instead of wedging in an akward building, Juri [...]
Liberty Hiller on 06.29.2009
A little weak on the history, I’m afraid. Here’s some detail, FWIW.
SP’s *original* route into The City (as shown in the ridiculously oversized map collage) was that of the old San Francisco and San Jose RR, which cut southwesterly through SOMA and the Mission to Dolores & 29th (some at grade, some on viaduct), then went south through the Bernal Cut and out to San Mateo County through what is now Daly City, Colma, and South SF to Tanforan. SP took over the SF&SJ around 1870, as part of its growth into “The Octopus.”
The Bayshore Cutoff (what we know and love as the Caltrain route) was conceived by SP’s ownership early in the 20th century, and work on it was underway when the Great Quake struck. The tunnel are numbered 1-4 from Mission Bay southward; thus #1 runs from 16th to 22nd, #2 from 23rd to 25th-ish, #3 from Oakdale to Williams, and #4 from Salinas to Blanken. (I vaguely recall that there are unused bores at 2, 3, and 4. I do not know if they were ever in revenue service.)
As one poster already mentioned, the Western Pacific tunnel was a completely separate operation from SP and the Bayshore Cutoff. Then there’s the Ocean Shore Railroad, which actually followed Islais Creek more closely than the SF&SJ/SP route (roughly, Alemany Boulevard), but that’s a story for another day.
Why not use the Fort Mason tunnel? Well, it’s been abandoned for decades and would need a lot of work to bring it up to code. I’d go through it on a dare, but I wouldn’t dream of opening it up to free access without some serious retrofitting.
Admin on 06.30.2009
Thanks for the info. I was at an engineering firm when the Fort Mason report came back in, and it´s definitely feasible. It would definitely require shoring up the old (unreinforced) concrete and working on the drainage too. The real question is where to route the rest of the tracks if the F line is to be extended.
San Francisco Real Estate: “The Scoop” » Blog Archive » Remember Rail?: Check out this a fascinating series… on 07.02.2009
[...] Check out this a fascinating series on the history of SF transit — the latest installment is about the installation of rail around Potrero Hill, as well as the now-dormant rail tunnel that connects Fisherman’s Wharf to the Marina. There’s talk about one day rehabbing the Fort Mason Tunnel, and running an E-Embarcadero streetcar line all the way up to Crissy Field. UNRELATED: Muni fare hikes and service cuts coming in the next few weeks. [SF Transit Oriented Design and Thin Green Line] [...]
Ted King on 12.15.2009
Re : “Mark Pritchard” – Try this link :
http://www.xrg.us/missionrailroad/
I found it at this blog post :
http://missionmission.wordpress.com/2008/08/03/freight-trains-barrelling-through-the-mission/