Nostalgia & History > SP switcher operations in the East Bay

This is more of a question than simple nostalgia for all of you on TO...

As all of us old timers remember, the Southern Pacific had extensive switching operations in the East Bay both north and south of Oakland Yard back in the 1960's. Between those units assigned to Desert Yard, and the Oakland Main Yard, both the east and west ends, there were a number of locations with SP switch engines assigned, which through most of the 1960's meant ALCO S-2 and S-4 units. It is these locations beyond Oakland Yard that I am inquiring about...

As we would take drives to San Francisco, we would come down either the Nimitz Freeway, or later the MacArthur Freeway to what is today called the "Bay Bridge Maze," where the various East Bay freeways converge on the Bay Bridge. As we would cross over the Cal-P Line at the east end of Desert Yard, I would look over to the nearby 16th Street Station to see if a passenger train were in, then I would look up the tracks toward Berkeley and I would always see two or three of SP's ALCO switchers sitting together along the east (inland) side of the mainline at about the location of Shellmound. I never went across the Maze without seeing units at this location, but starting in early 1970 they were gone and I never saw them parked there again. Can anyone provide any additional information, and perhaps photos, of this unremarked operation?

East Oakland Yard was another switcher base that lasted long after 1970, as was the small yard office at Mulford. Switchers were at one time based at Elmhurst, and I have already discussed Hayward and the Hunts Cannery on other posts here on TO. It would be great if someone would do a book on SP in the East Bay that would give greater detail and photographic coverage to SP's once extensive operations in and around Oakland and the East Bay than John Signor's fine book on the Western Division was able to do.

My thanks in advance for any info on the Shellmound operation, or any of the others I have made mention of here...

Best wishes,

ShastaDaylight

Here's a shot I took at Shellmound across from the tower in the early 1960's.

Robert Morris Photography

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Shellmound was an on duty location that changed over the years

I was last inside Shellmound in 1976. It was still in service with working equipment but not manned - at least not at that hour. And all windows were good. Guess it was repaired sometime after your photo.

photobob Wrote:
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> Here's a shot I took at Shellmound across from the
> tower in the early 1960's.
>
> Robert Morris Photography

Back in the mid to late 70's, you could still go down to thevFruitvale tower area on a Friday afternoon around 3:00 PM.  You could count on 4 or 5 different switch jobs heading west back toward the East Oakland Yard. two would come off the Alameda main and the other 2 or 3 would come from the Elmhurst direction. Regardless of what track they were on, they would all cross over to the West Electric track at the Fruitvale interlocking. I was too young to take photos at the time.


Gary

>I was last inside Shellmound in 1976. It was still in service with working equipment but not manned - at least not at that hour.

The zone Shellmound Tower controlled was transferred to 16th St in the 1960s and operated with a separate panel using Flexicode. There may have been some signal apparatus inside the tower (liek relays etc.), but there wasn't really anything for it the stuff to control except for perhaps the crossovers near Park St. The tower did become a yardmaster's office, although I don't knw when. By the 1980s, it was an empty shell, used as a switchman's shanty.

I should have specified what I meant. What the tower had was a working company telephone, power, water, desk, chair and locking door. It did not have radio or remote power control of switches. Within a couple of years, the Mission Bay yard office in San Francsico was about the same, except it did still have a working SP computer terminal.

Thanks Bob for the photo and to everyone else for the information. The main thing I remember is that I would always see SP switchers there at Shellmound right up until the winter of 1969/1970, and then never again...(?)

Best wishes,

ShastaDaylight