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Re: Berkeley CA Historic Freight Operations
Author: Dr Zarkoff
Date: 11-22-2015 - 13:39
>The first group is off the land side lead between Harrison and Camelia. It looks like there was a complete loop in this area.
There wasn't. Came close, and may look like it on the maps, but no. If you include the 9th street electric line, that's a different story, and it was a really large loop, as in miles.
> One in particular comes up Potter St. and turns south and runs through a ROW alley down Powell St.
Part of the electric suburban service trackage, which also served a many industry tracks in Emeryville, North Oakland, South Berkeley, West Berkeley (northwest, actually), and Albany. The water side drill goes from Emeryville to Chesley Ave in Richmond (about 10 miles), although out of service from about the race track to Emeryville, and the land side drill used to go from Emeryville to the Richmond passenger station (about a mile and 1/2 less). The land side goes only as far as that tank car place, which is about 1 block north (geographically) from the Ashby Ave underpass.
For at least a decade there have been long range plans in the works to convert the water side drill into a freight lead for the container traffic between the new connection between the Santa Fe just east of Chesley Ave and the WO JIT. The only thing which has been lacking is the public (taxpayer) monies to pay for it.
>In 1980 the Stege Wye was a grade crossing not an overcrossing of 580! Holy crap, what happened when the line to Oakland was abandoned in 1981? How did ATSF get it's stack trains onto it's main?
The AT&SF didn't because it wasn't running stack trains to West Oak then (nor it's Emeryville yard). Besides, the Santa Fe main was clear across Richmond to the NW.
>Were there time restrictions for the crossing?
No, but it wasn't a good idea to try to cross it during the rush hours. Crossing 17 to Immel's paving plant, about a 1/2 mile geographically south, was even worse because all it had was crossbucks.
>Also it looks like there was no frontage road between the Stege Wye and Central Ave,
Never has been a frontage road. What is now 580 used to be a four-lane street called Hoffman Boulevard.
> . . . the lead to the SP main would've been for the UC Engineering Field station
The lead didn't come off the main lines, but off of the water side drill, which is still the case.
There wasn't. Came close, and may look like it on the maps, but no. If you include the 9th street electric line, that's a different story, and it was a really large loop, as in miles.
> One in particular comes up Potter St. and turns south and runs through a ROW alley down Powell St.
Part of the electric suburban service trackage, which also served a many industry tracks in Emeryville, North Oakland, South Berkeley, West Berkeley (northwest, actually), and Albany. The water side drill goes from Emeryville to Chesley Ave in Richmond (about 10 miles), although out of service from about the race track to Emeryville, and the land side drill used to go from Emeryville to the Richmond passenger station (about a mile and 1/2 less). The land side goes only as far as that tank car place, which is about 1 block north (geographically) from the Ashby Ave underpass.
For at least a decade there have been long range plans in the works to convert the water side drill into a freight lead for the container traffic between the new connection between the Santa Fe just east of Chesley Ave and the WO JIT. The only thing which has been lacking is the public (taxpayer) monies to pay for it.
>In 1980 the Stege Wye was a grade crossing not an overcrossing of 580! Holy crap, what happened when the line to Oakland was abandoned in 1981? How did ATSF get it's stack trains onto it's main?
The AT&SF didn't because it wasn't running stack trains to West Oak then (nor it's Emeryville yard). Besides, the Santa Fe main was clear across Richmond to the NW.
>Were there time restrictions for the crossing?
No, but it wasn't a good idea to try to cross it during the rush hours. Crossing 17 to Immel's paving plant, about a 1/2 mile geographically south, was even worse because all it had was crossbucks.
>Also it looks like there was no frontage road between the Stege Wye and Central Ave,
Never has been a frontage road. What is now 580 used to be a four-lane street called Hoffman Boulevard.
> . . . the lead to the SP main would've been for the UC Engineering Field station
The lead didn't come off the main lines, but off of the water side drill, which is still the case.
