So, making this suggestion after making a similar one for TS21, I think Southern Pacific line in the east Bay Area from Oakland to Pittsburg (Appx 40-50 miles) would be a good place for a vintage US Passenger and Freight route. Tracy would also be possible, but that would be stretching almost 80 mainline miles The line could feature passenger trains such as the San Joaquin Daylight, Shasta Daylight, and the Overland. The era could be early to mid 1950's Station Stops include: -Oakland Pier -Oakland 16th Street -Berkley -Richmond -Crockett -Martinez -Pittsburg The line itself would start at the Oakland Mole (Or Oakland Pier), going past the West Oakland Yards, then north to the 16th Street Station then onto Richmond before finding the Southern Coast of San Pablo Bay -Oakland Mole/Pier -West Oakland Yard (1930's) -Berkley -Richmond Pullman Shops, Richmond, Ca 2 of the Shops buildings still stand today. From there, the line would then follow the coastline for most of the way, passing thru a small tunnel near Davis Point, before heading to Martinez. This area of the line is home to a few large industry's, such as C&H Sugar and the Rodeo Oil Refinery. Rodeo Oil Refinery (Modern Day) B.1896 C&H Sugar Plant, Crockett, Ca -Martinez 1960's Just past the Martinez Depot, the SP mainline splits 2 ways, one line heads north across the Benicia-Martinez railroad bridge, towards Sacramento, while the other line continues east towards Tracy and Lathrop. This route could include part of the northern line in Benicia for timetable purposes. The Benicia-Martinez Bridge, build between 1928-1930, and is the longest Railroad Bridge west of the Mississippi. From there the line continues east towards Port Chicago (Home to the Port Chicago Naval Magazine), eventually reaching the city of Pittsburg.
Locomotives: For the most part the route should come with diesels as default, with steam later as a DLC loco (If possible) ALCO PA's/PB's (Daylight) EMD SD9 (Black Widow) EMD GP9 (Black Widow) EMD F7/FP7 (Black Widow) EMD NW2 (Tiger Stripe) Steam Candidates GS-Class 4-8-4 (Daylight & Warbaby) MT-Class 4-8-2 (Daylight and Black) AC-Class Cab Forwards (Black)
I love the route idea. Just wondering would this include some 4-6-2 pacific type locomotives to pull the commuter trains?Also Oakland terminal still stands but is abandoned in a container yard.
Wikipedia says the Oakland Mole was demolished in the 60's, of course it was destroyed in the 60's, and the only remaining structure's the old switchman's tower that's now sitting in the Middle Harbor Shoreline Park after being restored. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Long_Wharf#Demolition
The Terminal had its last Ferry Service in 1958, while the last train to use the facility was a pair of mail trains in 1960. https://www.cruiselinehistory.com/southern-pacifics-oakland-mole-was-the-gateway-to-san-francisco/ Demolition in the 1960's
This sounds great and all, but set the route a bit earlier in the 40's perhaps and we could also have some SP interurban trolleys and Key Route trains as well. Nonetheless, old SP trains in the East Bay would be cool no matter what
Oh that photograph hurts my preservationist eyes. I'll be curled up in a corner nursing my shattered feelings. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) But in all seriousness, it's such a shame that the Mole got demolished. But, what's past is past. Can't do anything about it now aside from possibly rebuild the mole......... Ah who am I kidding, that probably won't happen. Sadly.
Yeah, even driving past the old 16st station tower and where the mole used to be is cool but sad, would've been amazing to exist when the bay area had trains going everywhere. Also the old train ferry from Point Richmond that carried the transcontinental railroad by ferry to SF (which also has a somewhat preserved landing for said ferry) is cool to check out, but suffered the same firery date as the Oakland mole.
At least it still somewhat exists....I visited it in 2019. But alot of the Bay Area's historic piers and ports seem to just get left to waste, such as the former Southern Pacific Wooden Ferry, the SS Garden City. SS Garden City today Picture from the 80's
Man. This would be a fantastic route. I really love those Black Widow diesels. The Daylight colors are beautiful, too. I'd also like to add another couple of diesel suggestions: the SP FM H-24-66 Trainmaster in Black Widow paint and the E7, E8, or E9 A/B in Daylight paint.
Indeed, it was once the only rail connection from the rest of the nation to SF, the final part of the transcontinental RR
Yeah, it was used as a Fishing Resort, but was abandoned for some reason in the 70's. A fire pretty much left it in its current state in 1983. (As well as destroying the rest of the Ferry Terminal there) At least the Berkeley and the Eureka were saved from such fates.....
well the ferry doesn't look bad. The sad thing is the modern condition of the main station. They just left it inaccessible to the public.
If you're talking about 16th Street Station, from what I've heard about it, they're going through the process of turning it into a public venue or something of the sort.
if they make this and have P units they need to make an Engine room for them which was a mistake with the Clinchfield F7 in my opinion as they didn't do that
It also would be nice to be able to finally run a passenger train with semi or fully streamlined engines.
If we did get this, and did get steam eventually, would definitely need the cab forwards given they where unique to SP, and iconic in their own right.