Dragoman Wrote:
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> I'm not sure, but I suspect that this sub did not
> originate at the WP tracks (now under the BART
> viaduct), but rather a quarter-mile further west,
> at the old SP mainline. If you look at an Oakland
> map, you will note the gentle curve of Gravenstein
> St, from 105th (just west of BART) north-westward
> to the SP tracks.
>
> When doing my own urban-railroad-archeology
> explorations, I'm always looking for the
> otherwise-unexplainable curves and breaks in the
> street layout, as evidence of ancient ROWs.

Correct. SP's Stonehurst Branch left the mainline at Elmhurst (mp13.4) and ran 0.9 miles to Stonehurst, crossing the WP mainline on the way and going down 105th Avenue. Around 1982, Sp obtained trackage rights over WP to reach the branch at 105th Avenue. At one time the end of the line was a SP station name of Dowling, where a Chevrolet auto plant was located