Nostalgia & History > West Oakland Rails, pt 3

Just a quick note, then I'll get off my soapbox, and onto Key rails:

After some great posts by people who actually know what they’re talking about, I feel totally inadequate presenting photos of West Oakland rails. My interest in railroading died Dec. 8th, 1984, just before Christmas. My father was the rail – he knew Oakland better even than today’s posters. He used to ride his bike all over town as a high school kid, and most of the East Bay, memorizing “where every rail went, and all the hand and whistle signals used by switching crews”.

My “interest” in railroading was reawakened in July 2014, when I was perusing the internet, and came across the ruins of Bayshore shops – as dad always referred to it – and the memories began flooding back. I thought I’d finally put his sudden, untimely death behind me – the only way was to forget railroading completely. And to hell with Christmas.

Nowadays, mostly the good memories remain. “Pops” taking me as a kid to 7th and Townsend in SF, to check on an apprentice – him admonishing the fellow “Now, get your legs out of there – atta boy” – as the young man was sitting on the ground, his feet astride a wheel as he changed the brake shoes on a GP. Or the countless times I went with him on a day off, sometimes at night, to pick up his dirty overalls for washing. He never washed them at home – moms would raise hell at how dirty they left the machine – so we’d drop them off at a laundromat, and off to Lenzen roundhouse, or watch a few Commutes on the Peninsula, or just sit there, if I was lucky enough to get my extremely quiet father to tell me another story about the rails…

Or when, later in life, I’d go to Bayshore on my day off, and have lunch with him, and usually some of the other old steam men. They were only given 20 minutes by the “dammed old Espee” in those days, and “if you were going to be out in the yards or on the mainline, you better take your lunch with you!” How the stories went around that circle. If I could remember half of them, I’d be writing for days.

Okay, enough down “Bad Memories Lane”. Let’s get to the old Key rails. I frankly don’t know s#it about them – if we’re all lucky, someone else who knows will explain all the mysteries I’ll set out before you.

I do know, I enjoyed the hell out of taking these photos. I hope some of that comes thru. Oh, and Evan and everyone, thanks again. Pretty bland story without you folks filling in the blanks!



1: 26th and Chestnut. This was where Key’s last turnout was on 26th. It was in the ground until the Vincent school had them removed during construction. I had forgotten to post this pic in part one.

2: There’s still relatively fresh asphalt over the area – Jesus says they pulled up ties and all.

3: When we reached 26th and Adeline, I thought the road crown had just buried the cross-street rails, but these stubs at the crossing said otherwise.

More to come



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/17 20:31 by drumwrencher.

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4: The “out building” as I called it before, at 26th and Union. Obviously not really a building, just a fenced in truck ramp. I wonder if they’ll ever pull those rails up. (maybe when the building gets “lofted” )

5: I turned around and snapped a pic of the lead from 26th.

6: A good example of many of the subterranean switch machines. I suspect thieves scrapped as much as they could pull out of most of them. But then, I am a jaded Oakland native…

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We had to drop off Jesus’s roommate at the 7th street BART station, so we spun around and headed there. Since we were closer to Nabisco at that point, we decided to run from there on in on the old Key.

7: On Union, looking generally eastward into Nabisco’s old rail spur. There is a small park just to the left of the pic – I wanted to go in and get closer shots, but a few ruff-types were already in there. Not going into that park today... Welcome to West Oakland.

8: Turned around, looking back at the siding.

9: At 10th and Union, we came across this old beauty: Still had the bell on top and everything else.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/17 16:09 by drumwrencher.

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10: A quick shot of the crosswalk at 10th and Union: It’s been long enough since these rails had traffic that the city put a crosswalk across, it wore out, and still no wheels thru the coating.

11: Still backtracking, this is the well maintained, unused 7th street crossing. The siding to the right goes into a place called the Crucible – pretty cool artist type place, Jesus says they teach classes there, don’t recall what, and, he says they keep a railcar inside – they bring it out for special occasions. Damm, not today, I guess!

12: Down Union a bit, looking back at 7th.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/17 09:26 by drumwrencher.

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13: Skipping ahead a bit, another view of the crossbuck at 20th and Poplar.

14: At 18th and Poplar, we came across this beauty of a turnout. Oakland had started their yearly pothole-filling-thing, and I guess the switch deserved some attention? It's a safe bet the artists at the American Steel building won't be needing rail service - probably ever.

15: Again at 18th and Poplar, we found these two massive signal towers guarding the dead rails. Sure looks like this was once a busy site. Bells on top and all.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/17 15:26 by drumwrencher.

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16: Looking back at 22nd and Poplar. On the right is the large open area of the old Pacific Pipe.

17: I had to throw this one in: I’m not much for “modern art”, I find the art of fitting parts in a tight engine compartment “artful” enough for me. But, this is the statue I called “two ton” in the last post. These folks GOTTA have access to heavy equipment!

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18: We covered the area from 22nd to Peralta pretty well already, so I’m skipping ahead a bit. Here’s where Poplar and Peralta come together at 30th.

19: The signal at the intersection. Still in reasonable shape.

20: The sister signal to the right, on 30th looks like she got sideswiped by a truck.

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21: The right of way turns slightly west at 30th, and heads unremarkably down Louise St.

22: At the “end” of Louise, Jesus says this was a homemade skate park under the freeway for several years. The city even wanted to get involved, until it was discovered most of the people using the place were junkies just hiding to shoot up. Now it’s full of refuse bins.

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After taking a late lunch at the Brown Sugar Restaurant, we spent some more time tracing SP/ATSF rails. More on that later. We headed out to try to find the other side of the “skate park”. Emeryville has quite a a mall over there now, and it made it near impossible to follow the Key right of way. But, we did find this:

22, 23, 24: The Key underpass.


I sure miss Key Route Ken.

Well, that’s all I have of the former Key/OTRy. Next up: More SP/ATSF. And no more soapbox.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/17 07:08 by drumwrencher.

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Thanks for posting these.
I have enjoyed this series because of the history it reveals. Finding remnants of railroad history reminds me of all we have lost.
Bob

Thank you again for sharing the results of searching for rails of the past. I need to see what photos I may have to share.

Great look back at the way it was.
JB

Fantastic series!  I will have to go over & over this stuff to digest it all.  I lived in the area for a short time in the early 70's, and later was based in West Oakland with Amtrak.  These places are all familiar, but are such a jumble-  I really appreciate your effort to sort this all out!
SR

No need to apologies for the "soap boxing".  I think our hobby is all the richer for the various ways it intertwines with our lives.

Enjoyed this series... thank you for sharing!~

Here are a few at Shredded Wheat showing the connection built that eliminated the SN's route through the Oakland Hills.
Captions by me, they explain pretty well.

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Plus a Key train on Louise.

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I have always wondered...maybe you will know, in photo 2596, that weird white building that always smells weird like something cooking, heard they make cereal there?

California Cereal Products at 14th & Poplar. Used to be known as Shredded Wheat in Nabisco days. I presume that's the business you're referring to.



Brodiesel710 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have always wondered...maybe you will know, in
> photo 2596, that weird white building that always
> smells weird like something cooking, heard they
> make cereal there?

Posted from Android

drumwrencher Wrote:

> 1: 26th and Chestnut. This was where Key’s last
> turnout was on 26th. It was in the ground until
> the Vincent school had them removed during
> construction. I had forgotten to post this pic in
> part one.

Photo 22287 below shows what used to be at 26th and Chestnut back around 1913: The Oakland Brewing & Malting Co. Key System's home-built steeplecab freight motor 1001, lettered for the streetcar division Oakland Traction Co., has its pan stretched almost to the limit reaching the wire. The motor still exists, with a different pan arrangement, at the Western Railway Museum. The banners on a couple of the boxcars indicate that the Blue & Gold Lager within is destined for Petaluma Soda & Seltzer Works in Petaluma and for Solano Brewing & Malting Co in Vallejo, CA. According to this site, the brewery only lasted 12 years, closing just after WWI, reopening briefly, then closing permanently for prohibition:

https://localwiki.org/oakland/Oakland_Brewing_and_Malting_Company

> 6: A good example of many of the subterranean
> switch machines. I suspect thieves scrapped as
> much as they could pull out of most of them. But
> then, I am a jaded Oakland native…

Wouldn't be surprised if the railroad salvaged as many re-usable parts as they could from inactive switches to keep the active ones serviceable. Back when OTR was still serving Pacific Supply on Wood St., the switch at 26th was so bad they couldn't throw it with the control lever at all. Ryan Martin's photo of 5623 on Wood St. that stash posted in this thread shows the OTR crew jacking the points over and spiking them in place:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4300698,4301591#4301591

> 7: On Union, looking generally eastward into
> Nabisco’s old rail spur. There is a small park
> just to the left of the pic – I wanted to go in
> and get closer shots, but a few ruff-types were
> already in there.

Photo 40371 was taken from where that park is now, the corner of 12th and Poplar, in 1916 when the plant was new.

> 9: At 10th and Union, we came across this old
> beauty: Still had the bell on top and everything
> else.

Tenth & Union was where the spike driving ceremony took place on March 1, 1958, completing the connection between the WP and the OTR and ending the need for the SN main line between Oakland and Lafayette. OTR Baldwin 101 and WP Alco 508 were the engines "facing on the single track, half a world behind each back." The last SN train out of Oakland left the day before.

By the way, that extra bracket on the crossing flashers once held a lunar signal that illuminated to let train crews know that the traffic signals down at 8th St. were set up for their movement. A free-standing lunar down at 8th likewise indicated that the traffic signals at 7th were cleared for the train's move:

https://goo.gl/maps/Z91fi1w5zSM2

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drumwrencher Wrote:

> 10: A quick shot of the crosswalk at 10th and
> Union: It’s been long enough since these rails
> had traffic that the city put a crosswalk across,
> it wore out, and still no wheels thru the
> coating.

After OTR quit running down Poplar in 1999, UP switched the plant from the Union St. end until Amtrak started building their new coachyard around the old interchange yard behind where Magnolia Tower once stood. Amtrak restored the connection, in 2004, but UP only delivered a few cars to the cereal plant over the restored trackage. The last time I saw a car at the plant was in March 2006.

> 11: Still backtracking, this is the well
> maintained, unused 7th street crossing. The siding
> to the right goes into a place called the Crucible
> – pretty cool artist type place, Jesus says they
> teach classes there, don’t recall what, and, he
> says they keep a railcar inside – they bring it
> out for special occasions. Damm, not today, I
> guess!
>
> 12: Down Union a bit, looking back at 7th.

That trackage was all rebuilt when the new 880 was built in the late 1990's. OTR used it approximately once after that to reach the old interchange yard, and UP used it occasionally between 2000 and 2002 and again 2004 to 2006 to deliver cars to the cereal plant.

> 15: Again at 18th and Poplar, we found these two
> massive signal towers guarding the dead rails.
> Sure looks like this was once a busy site. Bells
> on top and all.

There used to be a genuine, albeit very small, interlocking tower at 18th and Poplar, guarding the Key System's crossing of an SP electric line:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,3326551

> 18: We covered the area from 22nd to Peralta
> pretty well already, so I’m skipping ahead a
> bit. Here’s where Poplar and Peralta come
> together at 30th.
>
> 19: The signal at the intersection. Still in
> reasonable shape.
>
> 20: The sister signal to the right, on 30th looks
> like she got sideswiped by a truck.

There's a third set of flashers visible in the background of 18 and 19 where the track curves onto Louise. The two in the foreground of 18 - 20 look like they began life as flashers, but the shape of the cantilever on the other one sure suggests it started out as a wigwag and was later converted:

https://goo.gl/maps/W6gJrMobC5T2

> 22: At the “end” of Louise, Jesus says this was a
> homemade skate park under the freeway for several
> years. The city even wanted to get involved, until
> it was discovered most of the people using the place
> were junkies just hiding to shoot up. Now it’s full
> of refuse bins.

Those diagonal black and white striped areas on the overpass date from Key System days, warning where the overhead wire for the double track electric line used to pass beneath the bridge structure. There is a similar set on the other (north) side, and there used to be some insulating boards on the bottom of the bridge as well:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1393136,1393661#1393661

> 22, 23, 24: The Key underpass.

One OTRy mystery I have yet to solve is just when and how the OTRy came to use the old IER flyover at 26th St. instead of the Key System subway to get from one side of the SP main (and Santa Fe branch) to the other. I posted a fuzzy 1945 photo a few days back showing of a string of cars behind a Santa Fe locomotive crossing the flyover:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4300698,4301099#4301099

When Key sold its freight business to WP and Santa Fe for the Oakland Terminal Railway in 1943, trackage rights through the subway were part of the package, and photos exist showing OTRy's leased SN freight motors squeezing through the subway, such as the 1945 Erle Hanson view of flat motor 404 below. The catenary was gone from the flyover by the time OTRy started using it, presumably some time in 1946 or 1947:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3471368,3471430#3471430



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/17 04:40 by Evan_Werkema.

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