Passenger Trains > The Train To Alcatraz

No, it's not Amtrak.

With Alcatraz in the news this week, it seems a good opportunity to take a look back at prisoner trains of yesteryear.

Prison trains arrived Tiburon on the Northwestern Pacific, and rode a barge the final distance to Alcatraz.

The first photo, showing the SP 2504 outfitted with bars, was snapped on Aug. 22, 1934, loaded with prisoners from Atlanta.

The second photo, also taken on Aug. 22, 1934, shows prison cars on a barge at the Alcatraz dock.

The third photo shows the barge in open waters, on Aug. 29, 1934.

All three photos are part of the San Francisco Public Library's digital collection.

The library has hundreds of Alcatraz photos, including some other prisoner transport train shots. Just search "Alcatraz" on the library website if you would like to browse them.

The library also has a decent collection of other railroad photos. Try searching "Southern Pacific" and that will return lots of interesting things to see.

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Thanks for posting those.  I knew I'd seen them before but couldn't recall where.  The SF Public Library is a wonderful source for rr pix.

-John

That's incredible.   They barged the loaded prison passenger cars over?

I didn't think they ever had enough inmates to hardly fill a couple busses.   Capacity was only 336.

Did SP get a different tariff rate, like handling hazmat cars?  (sarcasm).

randgust Wrote:
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> Did SP get a different tariff rate, like handling
> hazmat cars?  (sarcasm).

That's funny. I was in need of a good laugh. 

There's some info on the barge and tug used and the train trip itself in this post, there's a number of posts in the srchives as well as older links to photo, sources and info.

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,5938320,5938476#msg-5938476

randgust Wrote:
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> That's incredible.   They barged the loaded
> prison passenger cars over?
>
> I didn't think they ever had enough inmates to
> hardly fill a couple busses.   Capacity was only
> 336.
>
> Did SP get a different tariff rate, like handling
> hazmat cars?  (sarcasm).

This was when the prison had just opened and these were the initial batch of "guests".

I haven't seen anything, why is Alcatraz in the news this week?
 

Google "Alcatraz" and click the news tab.

You'll have your choice of stories.

As if being transported to an island bound maximum security prison wasn't unnerving enough, Imagine being locked inside one of those coaches as the barge bobs its way across the bay, with little chance of escape if one went into the drink. 

-'Puff.

4451Puff Wrote:
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> As if being transported to an island bound maximum
> security prison wasn't unnerving enough, Imagine
> being locked inside one of those coaches as the
> barge bobs its way across the bay, with little
> chance of escape if one went into the drink. 
>
> -'Puff.


I don't think that concerned the Bureau of Prisons though I think the Guards may have felt differently.

Untouchables tv series did this story

WAF Wrote:
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> Untouchables tv series did this story

Thanks for pointing that out, not clear how much is related to the water crossing, or how much is fiction for that matter, two parts:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0737788/