Western Railroad Discussion > Sacramento Northern Berkeley, CA tunnel

Anyone have any recent pics of the old Sacramento Northern Railway tunnel in Berkeley, California? Also, how do you get to the tunnel? Thanks for any info

http://www.bayarearailfan.org/photogal/full.php?id=1593&s=48

Thanks. Ashame the tunnel and right of way wasn't preserved for at least a bike trail.

Actually, the tunnel was not in Berkeley at all. The west portal was in Oakland; the east portal in Contra Costa County.

A bus load of Grand Key Tour participants took a look at the location of the west portal on that one-time trip, June 1, 2002. With permission of the property owner whose property is at the former west portal we could see absolutely no evidence of a tunnel. Back in the mid 1960s the entrance was visible, sealed by concrete with some drain holes near the bottom.

The east portal is likely just as invisible after years of landslides near the Pinehurst Rd. location.

Some of the former right of way is a paved path between Monclair and Sheperd Canyon with a bridge over Snake Road in the Oakland hills. The URL above for Sam's site is loaded with photos and information.

stash Wrote:
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> With permission of
> the property owner whose property is at the former
> west portal we could see absolutely no evidence of
> a tunnel.

The west portal was visible until at least around 1980, but you had to get out and look down into the cut. Eventually the vegetation got too thick. Later, of course, houses were built there. I wonder how much they actually covered it?

> The east portal is likely just as invisible after
> years of landslides near the Pinehurst Rd.
> location.

We drove east from Montclair to Moraga in late May, and I couldn't find any trace of it (although it would've been behind us and to the right). The scar where the county had knocked down the portal had been clearly obvious for years.

> Some of the former right of way is a paved path
> between Monclair and Sheperd Canyon with a bridge
> over Snake Road in the Oakland hills. The URL
> above for Sam's site is loaded with photos and
> information.

And the right of way east of where the east portal was is still clearly visible nearly all the way to Moraga. It's well worth a drive, if you're into that sort of stuff.

I went in the Oakland side about 10 years ago.A contractor had opened the wall up when they were building the houses that are there. It was flooded about 100' in so we bought rafts and came back. It went about another 100 yds and was caved, end of the road. What a waste of a tunnel. Someday i'll get in the Pinehurst side.