San Francisco Belt Railroad

Last updated

To reach its northern terminus in the Presidio, the line passed through Fort Mason Tunnel; 1937. Northern portion of the Belt Railroad 1937.jpg
To reach its northern terminus in the Presidio, the line passed through Fort Mason Tunnel; 1937.
At the southern portion of the line, a track along King Street connected with the Southern Pacific Southern portion of the Belt Railroad 1937.jpg
At the southern portion of the line, a track along King Street connected with the Southern Pacific

The San Francisco Belt Railroad was a short-line railroad along the Embarcadero in San Francisco, California. It began as the State Belt Railroad in 1889, and was renamed when the city bought the Port of San Francisco in 1969. As a state owned enterprise, the railroad asserted several unsuccessful claims to immunity from federal regulation. [1] The railroad ceased operation in 1993. [2]

Contents

The railroad connected the Port of San Francisco to many waterfront docks and to industries and warehouses which were adjacent to the waterfront. In its early years, it operated dual-gauged track to accommodate the North Pacific Coast Railroad and South Pacific Coast Railroad. [3] It would eventually have 67 miles (108 km) of trackage and general offices in the Ferry Building. Its function was to switch railroad cars from four major railroads to points along its system and vice versa. At the southern portion of the line, a track along King Street (passing the location now occupied by Oracle Park) connected with the Southern Pacific. A train ferry slip at Pier 43 allowed interchange with the Northwestern Pacific, the Western Pacific, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads. To reach its northern terminus, tracks passed through Fisherman's Wharf and Aquatic Park. The line was extended through the a tunnel to serve Fort Mason during World War I, and was further lengthened to the Presidio Army Base in 1917. [4]

The Belt tracks were utilized for the 1987 San Francisco Historic Trolley Festival, with electric streetcars being operated along the line via hauled diesel generators. [5] While this demonstration lasted only a month, it prompted interest in utilizing the disused right of way for local transit purposes. The San Francisco Municipal Railway would go on to surface their portion of the Market Street subway south of Market Street along The Embarcadero with service beginning in 1998. Simultaneously, the newly permanent F Market historic streetcar line was extended north along the former Belt Railroad right of way to Fisherman's Wharf in 2000.

The line was largely paved over to form the current Embarcadero, with rails set in the median for streetcar and light rail services. [6] San Francisco Municipal Railway's E Embarcadero line now traverses the route between the Caltrain (former Southern Pacific) station and Fisherman's Wharf, with other lines covering portions of the route. The former roundhouse has been converted to commercial business but exists in a recognizable form on the Sansome Street, Lombard Street, The Embarcadero, and Chestnut Street block.

The San Francisco Bay Railroad is the successor to the Belt Railroad and received approval to operate the remaining five miles (8.0 km) of track in 2000. [7]

Locomotives

SF Belt #25 loading TOFC flats on ship, September 1985 photo by Drew Jacksich State Belt 25 loading TOFC flats on ship Sep85xRP - Flickr - drewj1946.jpg
SF Belt #25 loading TOFC flats on ship, September 1985 photo by Drew Jacksich

During its years of operation the railroad had 12 steam locomotives and 6 ALCO diesel engines: [8]

Motive Power
NumberArrangementYearBuilder
Governor Markham 2-4-2T 1891 Baldwin
Number 2 0-4-2T 1901Baldwin
Number 3 0-4-2T 1904Baldwin
Number 4 0-6-0 1906 Vulcan
Number 5
Number 6 0-6-0 1913Baldwin
Number 7 0-6-0 1914 Alco-Brooks [ clarification needed ]
Number 8 0-6-0 1916
Number 9 0-6-0 1920Alco-Brooks
Number 10 0-6-0 1923Baldwin
Number 11 0-6-0 1927
Number 12
Number 20S2Alco
Number 21S2Alco
Number 22S21944Alco
Number 23S21944Alco
Number 24S21945Alco
Number 25S2Alco

Special trains

The American Freedom Train locomotive on the line in 1975 SP 4449, at 3rd and King Street, San Francisco.jpg
The American Freedom Train locomotive on the line in 1975

Over the years, the belt railroad's tracks hosted several noteworthy locomotives and trains.

In 1948, the first Freedom Train made an appearance on the State Belt Railroad.

In 1949, the California Zephyr was positioned near the Ferry Building for its inaugural ceremony.

In 1951, the Maritime Museum brought an early 4-4-0 steam locomotive and consist to the belt, as part of the museum’s grand opening.

The first civilian passenger excursion train operated over the road on July 21, 1956. [9]

In 1972, the Flying Scotsman concluded its American tour by shuttling back and forth on a stretch of track adjacent to the Embarcadero and near Fisherman's Wharf. Owner Alan Pegler ran out of funds and the locomotive spent most of 1972 stored at an army base in Stockton, California.

In November of 1975, the American Freedom Train pulled by ex-Southern Pacific Daylight locomotive #4449 visited San Francisco. For public viewing, the train's cars were switched to the Presidio by the belt line. The locomotive itself remained on display at Aquatic Park near the foot of Hyde Street.

In March of 1977, the Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson #2860 visited the State Belt while heading down to Los Angeles.

In 1987, the tracks along the Embarcadero just south of Sansome Street hosted Railfair ’87. Diesel locomotives and steam locomotives including V&T's J.W. Bowker (2-4-0 locomotive) were on display.[ citation needed ]

Steam Locomotive Number Four

Currently[ when? ] Locomotive #4 is being restored by the San Francisco Trains group, with larger plans to change the old Bayshore Roundhouse, originally owned by Southern Pacific, to a historic community destination. Due to work on the Roundhouse, it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco cable car system</span> Historic cable car system in San Francisco, California

The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last manually operated cable car system and an icon of the city of San Francisco. The system forms part of the intermodal urban transport network operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway, which also includes the separate E Embarcadero and F Market & Wharves heritage streetcar lines, and the Muni Metro modern light rail system. Of the 23 cable car lines established between 1873 and 1890, only three remain : two routes from downtown near Union Square to Fisherman's Wharf, and a third route along California Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F Market & Wharves</span> San Francisco heritage streetcar line

The F Market & Wharves line is one of several light rail lines in San Francisco, California. Unlike most other lines in the system, the F line runs as a heritage streetcar service, almost exclusively using historic equipment both from San Francisco's retired fleet as well as from cities around the world. While the F line is operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), its operation is supported by Market Street Railway, a nonprofit organization of streetcar enthusiasts which raises funds and helps to restore vintage streetcars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embarcadero (San Francisco)</span> Waterfront and roadway along San Francisco Bay

The Embarcadero is the eastern waterfront of Port of San Francisco and a major roadway in San Francisco, California. It was constructed on reclaimed land along a three mile long engineered seawall, from which piers extend into the bay. It derives its name from the Spanish verb embarcar, meaning "to embark"; embarcadero itself means "the place to embark." The Central Embarcadero Piers Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Route 480</span> Former highway in California

State Route 480 was a state highway in San Francisco, California, United States, consisting of the elevated double-decker Embarcadero Freeway, the partly elevated Doyle Drive approach to the Golden Gate Bridge and the proposed and unbuilt section in between. The unbuilt section from Doyle Drive to Van Ness Avenue was to have been called the Golden Gate Freeway and the Embarcadero Freeway as originally planned would have extended from Van Ness along the north side of Bay Street and then along the Embarcadero to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alameda Terminal</span> Railroad station and ferry wharf of the San Francisco and Alameda Railroad at Alameda (1864-1870)

Alameda Terminal was a railroad station and ferry wharf at the foot and west of present-day Pacific Avenue and Main Street in Alameda, California, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay with ferry service to San Francisco. It was built in 1864 and operated by the San Francisco and Alameda Railroad. In 1869, it served as the original west coast terminus of the U.S. First transcontinental railroad, until the opening of Oakland Pier two months later. The western terminus was inaugurated September 6, 1869, when the first Western Pacific through train from Sacramento reached the shores of San Francisco Bay at Alameda Terminal, — thus completing the first transcontinental railroad "from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean" in accordance with the Pacific Railroad Acts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Market Street Railway (transit operator)</span> California transit operator

The Market Street Railway Company was a commercial streetcar and bus operator in San Francisco. The company was named after the famous Market Street of that city, which formed the core of its transportation network. Over the years, the company was also known as the Market Street Railroad Company, the Market Street Cable Railway Company and the United Railroads of San Francisco. Once the largest transit operator in the city, the company folded in 1944 and its assets and services were acquired by the city-owned San Francisco Municipal Railway. Many of the former routes continue to exist into the 2020s, but served by buses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niles Canyon Railway</span> Heritage railroad in California

The Niles Canyon Railway (NCRy) is a heritage railway running on the first transcontinental railroad alignment through Niles Canyon, between Sunol and the Niles district of Fremont in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States. The railway is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Niles Canyon Transcontinental Railroad Historic District. The railroad is operated and maintained by the Pacific Locomotive Association which preserves, restores and operates historic railroad equipment. The NCRy features public excursions with both steam and diesel locomotives along a well-preserved portion of the first transcontinental railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of San Francisco</span> Organization that oversees port facilities in San Francisco, California, United States

The Port of San Francisco is a semi-independent organization that oversees the port facilities at San Francisco, California, United States. It is run by a five-member commission, appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Board of Supervisors. The Port is responsible for managing the larger waterfront area that extends from the anchorage of the Golden Gate Bridge, along the Marina district, all the way around the north and east shores of the city of San Francisco including Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero, and southward to the city line just beyond Candlestick Point. In 1968, the State of California, via the California State Lands Commission for the State-operated San Francisco Port Authority, transferred its responsibilities for the Harbor of San Francisco waterfront to the City and County of San Francisco / San Francisco Harbor Commission through the Burton Act AB2649. All eligible State port authority employees had the option to become employees of the City and County of San Francisco to maintain consistent operation of the Port of San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Bay Electric Lines</span> Former local railway services in the San Francisco Bay Area

The East Bay Electric Lines were a unit of the Southern Pacific Railroad that operated electric interurban-type trains in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Beginning in 1862, the SP and its predecessors operated local steam-drawn ferry-train passenger service in the East Bay on an expanding system of lines, but in 1902 the Key System started a competing system of electric lines and ferries. The SP then drew up plans to expand and electrify its system of lines and this new service began in 1911. The trains served the cities of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville, Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro transporting commuters to and from the large Oakland Pier and SP Alameda Pier. A fleet of ferry boats ran between these piers and the docks of the Ferry Building on the San Francisco Embarcadero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E Embarcadero</span> San Francisco heritage streetcar line

The E Embarcadero is a historic streetcar line that is the San Francisco Municipal Railway's second heritage streetcar line in San Francisco, California. Trial service first ran during the Sunday Streets events on The Embarcadero in 2008. The line initially ran on weekends only, but expanded to weeklong service in late April 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Market Street Railway (nonprofit)</span> Nonprofit that preserves historic transit vehicles

Market Street Railway is San Francisco Municipal Railway's (Muni) 1,200-member non-profit preservation partner. It relies on private contributions to help maintain San Francisco’s fleet of historic streetcars in service on the E Embarcadero and F Market & Wharves lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Embarcadero and Sansome station</span>

The Embarcadero and Sansome station is a light rail station in San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Municipal Railway's E Embarcadero and F Market & Wharves heritage railway lines. It is located on The Embarcadero at Chestnut and Sansome Streets. The station opened on March 4, 2000, with the streetcar's extension to Fisherman's Wharf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jefferson and Powell station</span>

Jefferson and Powell station is a light rail station in the Fisherman's Wharf district of San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Municipal Railway's E Embarcadero and F Market & Wharves heritage railway lines. It is located on Jefferson Street at Powell Street. The station opened on March 4, 2000, with the streetcar's extension to Fisherman's Wharf.

The San Francisco and Oakland Railroad (SF&O) was built in 1862 to provide ferry-train service from a San Francisco ferry terminal connecting with railroad service through Oakland to San Antonio. In 1868 Central Pacific Railroad decided that Oakland would be the west coast terminus of the First transcontinental railroad and bought SF&O. Beginning November 8, 1869, part of the SF&O line served as the westernmost portion of the transcontinental railroad. It subsequently was absorbed into the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). The track in Oakland was electrified in 1911 and extended across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1939. Service was abandoned in 1941.

The San Francisco and Alameda Railroad (SF&A) was a short-lived railroad company in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. The railroad line opened 1864–1865 from Alameda Terminal on Alameda Island to Hayward, California, with ferry service between Alameda Terminal and San Francisco started in 1864. After being bankrupted by the 1868 Hayward earthquake, it was acquired by a subsidiary of the Central Pacific Railroad in August 1869. Part of the SF&A line between Alameda Terminal and San Leandro served as a portion of the First transcontinental railroad starting in September 1869, while the southern section was abandoned in 1873.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayshore Cutoff</span> Railway line on the San Francisco Peninsula

The Bayshore Cutoff is the rail line between San Francisco and San Bruno along the eastern shore of the San Francisco Peninsula. It was completed by Southern Pacific (SP) in 1907 at a cost of $7 million, and included five tunnels, four of which are still used by Caltrain, the successor to Southern Pacific's Peninsula Commute service. Fill from the five tunnels was used to build the Visitacion or Bayshore Yard, the main SP classification yard near the city of Brisbane. The Del Monte was similarly rerouted over the line at some point in its operational history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern California Railway Museum</span> Railroad museum in Perris, California

The Southern California Railway Museum, formerly known as the Orange Empire Railway Museum, is a railroad museum in Perris, California, United States. It was founded in 1956 at Griffith Park in Los Angeles before moving to the former Pinacate Station as the "Orange Empire Trolley Museum" in 1958. It was renamed "Orange Empire Railway Museum" in 1975 after merging with a museum then known as the California Southern Railroad Museum, and adopted its current name in 2019. The museum also operates a heritage railroad on the museum grounds.

41 Union is a trolleybus line operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni). It connects South of Market, the Financial District, Chinatown, North Beach, Russian Hill, and Cow Hollow.

References

  1. See e.g. California v. Taylor, 353 U.S. 553, 1 L. Ed. 2d 1034, 77 S. Ct. 1037 (1957).
  2. "The State Belt Railroad - Switching Freight on San Francisco's Embarcadero". Golden Gate Railroad Museum. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. Harrison, Greg. "The San Francisco Belt Railroad". AbandonedRails.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  4. "The State Belt Railroad (1890-1993)". National Park Service. March 19, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  5. Ehrlich, Peter (2012). San Francisco's F-Line. Trafford Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4669-3739-0.
  6. Lustig, David (January 15, 2024). "Saving the San Francisco Belt Railroad". Trains . Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  7. "San Francisco Bay Railroad Company SFB #543". Union Pacific Railroad. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  8. "The State Belt Railroad of California" . Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  9. "Special Train To Tour Area". The Berkeley Gazette. July 14, 1956. p. 16 via Newspapers.com.