Western Railroad Discussion > Berkeley: Waterside Drill Awaits Upcoming Revival

As part of the 7th St. access improvement project at the Port of Oakland, the waterside drill in Berkeley is being made whole again from Emeryille to Stege. The portion to be put back in service runs from 67th St. in Emeryville up to about Buchanan St. in Albany. Beyond these points the drill is in already in use. Richmond Paciifc used the segment up by Buchanan St. for car storage and to make up coal empty unit trains although that business appears to have come to an end under the agreement Levin Terminal reached with the city a few years back following complaints about coal dust health impacts. At 67th St. in Emeryville the drill becomes one of the receiving/departure tracks for the UP.

I went out on Sunday to take some shots of the changes but evidently work hasn't reached the portions of the drill that can be reached easily at grade crossings. I think the work so far is mostly between Bancroft Way and 67th St. That was the one spot I didn't stop. I did manage to come across the YOA78 making a run to Stege to drop off interchange cars for the Richmond Pacific.

These two pictures are at Gilman. Someone mentioned to me that the bit of road on the right in the approaching picture is a bit of 3rd St. that is an actual road--most of where 3rd would be is occupied by the railroad ROW. The drill track is still there to the left of the k-rail barriers but basically buried in ballast. The going away shot looks toward Buchanan St.  

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A couple shots from under the Buchanan St. overpass in Albany. That's I-80 crossing over the tracks in distance. This where the Richmond Pacific stores cars and made up the coal empty train. Last shot is the YOA78 running past the Berkeley SP depot which is still looking for a new tenant since the closure of Brennan's way back in 2018. 

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Great thread featuring Stash's report on the last trip the UP took on the waterside drill in Berkeley to serve a customer. Alex14ramos documented some use of the drill for storage south of here a couple years or something after this last 2004 run. 

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,694088

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1282875



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/26 14:41 by phthithu.

https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/2026-04-06%20%20%20Vegetation%20and%20Tree%20Removal%20on%20East%20Side%20of%20Aquatic%20Park.pdf


hmm only heard with this post that there restoring the waterside drill from emeryville to stege



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/26 16:50 by traindave.

Great recon. There was another eating place in the old depot after Breannan's closed and tey were onvce in another nearby location
where you got a lot of good food for a very reasonable price.
Regards, Jim Evans

Wow good detective work finding those photos of mine in Berkeley. That might have been the last time any wheels rolled on those rails.

Alex Ramos

Posted from iPhone

Truitt and White's lumberyard is as busy as ever--even more so given some other yards closing.  I wonder if they'll want rail access / deliveries again?  The rails are still there.

coach Wrote:
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> Truitt and White's lumberyard is as busy as
> ever--even more so given some other yards closing.
>  I wonder if they'll want rail access /
> deliveries again?  The rails are still there

I was joking with someone that I needed to send them an email and advise them of the opportunity to get the 2nd St. drill reactivated so they can resume using rail.

coach Wrote:

> Truitt and White's lumberyard is as busy as ever--even more so given some other yards closing.
>  I wonder if they'll want rail access / deliveries again?  The rails are still there.

...mostly.  The interchange track between the water side and 2nd St. is gone, what's left in 2nd would probably have to be completely rebuilt, and I doubt anybody would pay for that.  From the mid-90's through 2003, I only saw a loaded centerbeam spotted at Truitt & White about once a year, and I suspect they mostly used the railroad as leverage when negotiating rates with trucking companies.  In the last year before the Emeryville switcher ran aground and UP embargoed the water side, T&W actually got about three cars - a 300% increase in traffic if you like figures that paint an artificially rosy picture, but that's pretty clearly not enough to warrant rebuilding the line for continued service.  The only other customer off the water side at the end was Pyro Minerals, which received foundry sand in twin hoppers at the old Crystal Amber Industrial Sand facility at Cedar St.  They got more carloads than T&W, but probably no more than one or two a week.