OPRRMS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Key Route Ken Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sir-- You need a geography lesson real quick.
> > Those two streets you mentioned do NOT
> intersect
> > each other. I know. I was born in Oak town
> and
> > lived there 48 years.
> > Middle Harbor Road runs from the old back gate
> of
> > the Naval Supply Center on along the old WP
> Yard
> > to the general vicinity of the old WP
> Roundhouse.
> > When it begins to cross the UP?SP tracks on the
> > overpass, it becomes Adeline Street.
> > Adeline Street does intersect 7th Street which
> has
> > had no tracks since 1942.
> > Both Mr. Pechner and the news article keep
> > mentioning the verbage "along 7th Street" ..
> > They are also wrong!!!
> > The ONLY possible thing they could be aluding
> to
> > is some sort of replacement for the old
> vehicular
> > subways at the foot of 7th Street that pass
> under
> > the old SP WYE which joined the leads to/from
> 16th
> > Street Station, to/from West Oakland Yard and
> > to/from the Oakland Mole.
> > Somebody's "Bay Lead" has nothing to do with it.
>
> > Thank You..
>
> Well Mr. Shattuck, while the south end of Middle
> Harbor Road does indeed become Adeline Street
> where it crosses the UP mainline, the north end
> connects directly to Seventh Street and has for
> many years - at least since the 1960s. The
> intersection is west of the railroad underpasses
> on Seventh Street you refer to, about half way
> between the site of the old SP passenger car wash
> rack and the old REA building. The stretch of
> Middle Harbor Road between the location of the old
> WP yard and Seventh Street is now a four-lane road
> that's heavily travelled by track traffic, and
> often becomes quite congested when trains moving
> to and from the OIG block the crossing. That's
> the reason for it being on the crossing
> improvement list.
>
> The Naval Supply Center of which you speak is long
> gone, as is everything at the old WP yard except
> for the yard office. The entire area (also
> including the area where the SP Mole was) is now
> part of the Port's Oakland International Gateway.
> West Seventh Street now makes a big loop around
> the OIG and directly connects with Middle Harbor
> Road near the ex-WP yard office.
>
> The Bays Lead (not "Bay Lead," which was something
> entirely different; it located at the Homestead
> Yard) paralleled West Seventh Street from West
> Oakland Interlocking down to the port area. It
> was the former main tracks that went to the Mole,
> and was extended westwardly as the port was
> developed in the 1960s. It was converted to a
> non-signaled industrial lead (and indicated in SP
> employee timetables as such) after passenger
> trains stopped using the Mole. A short portion of
> it still remains, but most of it disappeared
> during the OIG construction project.
>
> If you're ever down this way, stop by and see for
> yourself. You'll be amazed at the changes,
> particularly once the old Oakland Army Base
> completes its transformation to a container
> facility, and the new container port is built near
> the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza.

A big "THANK YOU" to you,Sir, for the thorough explanation, very detailed at that!
None of the other posters could explain where the heck the area was that was casually mentioned in the original article as "along 7th Street" ..

So, you drive West on 7th St from Broadway, duck under the old SP WYE thru the Subway, as though you are on your way to Oakland Pier, and come face-to-face with a track(s) that cross 7th St "AT GRADE" , that weren't there years ago !! RIGHT ?? Great! Thanks.

One minor item I might point out is the general date(s) of re-developing the area where the Mole used to be. The MOLE did not fully disappear from the area until 1966. So the building of the Seventh Street Container Terminal must have started after that date.
Thanks.

KRK