Today, we embark on an historical journey of a magical place that many railfans never got the chance to experience. Southern Pacific's "Oakland Pier" (aka Oakland Mole).
The story covers the period from 1882 to 1960 and explains just about everything you might want to know. It held a special place in my childhood, being a native Oaklander, so I thought I would share a few things with all of you !
Just how were passengers treated at the Mole, you ask ? Well, you might study this quote from my story:
"Deep within the cavernous train shed at Oakland Pier, the traveler was enveloped in the sights, sounds and smells of railroading-- Southern Pacific style."

So let's get started on this historical voyage-- there is a LOT to cover ! I will be telling the story in PARTS, so as not to hog all of David’s space at one sitting! I hope you all enjoy what I put together--it brought back old memories from this kid who was born and raised in "Oaktown" ...
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SOUTHERN PACIFIC's *OAKLAND PIER*
The MOLE that moved the West !
by Ken Shattock

The Western Division of the Southern Pacific Railroad, historically extending from Sacramento to Oakland and San Jose, and with lines to Fresno, the Napa Valley, and over Altamont Pass, was a crucible of California operations. Headquartered at the famous Oakland Pier (or Mole) and dispatching hundreds of passenger and freight trains daily in its heyday, this division was in many ways the vortex of SP in the West. With its ferry connection to San Francisco, and train departures to all parts of the SP system, the Oakland Pier was at the center.

At Oakland Pier, the deep whistles of ferries mingled with the barking exhausts of steam locomotives. At the end of track under the trainshed at Oakland Pier, the Overland Trail carved out by trappers and the Donner Party, and made permanent by the transcontinental railroad, reached its final terminal at tidewater.
Oakland Pier opened for passenger service to the general public on January 22, 1882 when most of the West was a vast wilderness and railroading was an adventure for the passenger and the train crew as well. Announcements were sent out far and wide, special trains were run from outlying points around the Division into Oakland. The Southern Pacific Commissary department provided over one hundred roast turkeys and mountains upon mountains of fluffy white mashed potatoes, along with a number of side dishes. It was truly a meal for a Queen.

The City of Oakland was clearly becoming the western operational hub of the Central Pacific and further improvement of the Oakland terminus was in order.
Construction work of the "Oakland Mole" commenced during June, 1879. The fill, or "Mole", was constructed to a point 1.26 miles westerly from the Oakland shoreline. Rock for the fill was hauled from Niles Canyon, a distance of more than 26 miles, and earth from East Oakland. Four tracks and a carriageway were provided for over the first 4,860 feet. Beyond this point, the Mole widened out to 280 feet, accommodating 12 tracks, ten of which were within a large train shed at the end. The greater portion of the embankment and rock protection wall was completed in time to allow construction work to start on the new passenger station, railroad offices, and train shed early in 1881. The building was designed by Arthur Brown, superintendent of bridges and buildings for the company. Both the wharf and station building were erected under his supervision.

The Oakland Pier building was constructed with three main longitudinal divisions.
The center part was 120 feet wide and 60 feet high and accommodated overland trains, and the divisions on either side were 60 feet wide and 40 feet high, being exclusively for suburban trains running to and from Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley connecting with the ferry steamers. Two commodious waiting rooms for passengers were at the west, or main end of the central section. The upper, or main waiting room, 120 feet square, was connected by side aprons with the saloon deck of ferry steamers, and the lower waiting room, was connected by end aprons with the main deck of the ferries. In 1929, the official Southern Pacific "Sunset" logo, some ten feet in diameter and made entirely out of stained glass, was placed high up on the westerly end of the big train shed, overlooking Passenger Slip No.4 . The pieces of stained glass were held together by strips of lead. When the Mole was demolished in the 1964-66 period, the logo was very carefully removed and stored for preservation. Today you can see this beautiful memento from the Oakland Mole at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. It is preserved and displayed in the original framework. The Mole also contained a restaurant and division offices.

The train shed, 1050 feet in length, covered an area of over four acres and was constructed mainly of wood and iron. As originally built, the corrugated iron roof was divided by large sections of glass which gave abundant light during the day.
At night the building was illuminated with electric lights.

A terminal of importance, such as Oakland Pier was becoming, required support facilities in the form of freight and coach yards, shops and engine terminals. Central Pacific established its yards and shops west of Peralta Street, from 7th Street to the water's edge leading to the Mole.

Over a 24-hour period in 1920, Oakland Pier handled an average of 763 main line and suburban passenger trains, and 56,000 passengers with connecting ferry service operating between San Francisco and Oakland Pier. The delightful eighteen-minute trip across the bay, with its invigorating ocean breeze, was also a welcome climax to a cross-continent journey. All this, combined with the tremendous flow of baggage, mail and express, qualified Oakland Pier as one of the busiest terminals in the United States.

During the period of Federal control (United States Railroad Administration) which lasted from August 18, 1918 through December 5, 1920, the passenger trains of both the Western Pacific and the Santa Fe were operated in and out of Oakland Pier.
The Santa Fe trains operated from Santa Fe Junction near Richmond, a distance of 10.6 miles, and their equipment, both cars and locomotives, were taken care of in SP's West Oakland yard. This arrangement placed quite an additional burden on Oakland Pier terminal as well as the West Oakland roundhouse and passenger yards.

To the Western Division fell the duty of providing terminal accommodations at Oakland Pier for the long trains that descended on the Bay Area from every section of the United States. Also, an exceptionally heavy summer vacation and tourist movement, particularly during the period June 19 to July 10, 1920 reaching a climax during the holiday period over July Fourth, combined with the Mystic Shrine Convention and Rose Festival at Portland, and the National Democratic Convention at San Francisco, placed considerable strain on the system. Under the most favorable conditions such a concentration of travel would have presented its difficulties from an operating standpoint, but at this time the Southern Pacific faced a shortage of equipment due to lingering effects of the period of government control (USRA).
(United States Railroad Administration)

Between the hours of 5 AM June 26 and 4 AM June 27, 1920, 393 passenger cars moved out of Oakland Pier and 533 others entered the Pier. It was also found necessary to double some yard crews at Oakland in order to handle the influx of cars at Oakland Pier, switching them into the yards for cleaning and overhauling as required and the subsequent readying for other movements.

In one twenty-four hour period on June 26, 1920, some 1,320 trucks of baggage, mail and express were ferried between Oakland Pier and San Francisco, most of it concentrated at rush hours. During this period of heavy traffic, each day some 35,000 pieces of linen were used in stocking the dining cars for the start at West Oakland. And the following supplies, among others, were issued from the West Oakland Commissary: 2000 pounds of butter, 1500 dozen eggs, 1650 loaves of bread, and two and one-half tons of fresh meat. Incredibly, even with this rush of traffic, the record number of cars handled at West Oakland terminal, some 53,000 freight and 24,000 passenger cars occurred later, during August, 1920.

Over an average twenty-four hour period in 1920, Oakland Pier Terminal was handling 763 mainline and suburban passenger trains, and 56,000 passengers.
In addition, 3500 pieces of baggage, 7000 bags of mail and 100,000 pieces of express matter passed through the terminal every day. The ferry service between San Francisco and Oakland Pier at eighteen to twenty minute intervals was also an important feature of the vast suburban traffic that moved between the East and West Bay districts. The record number of passengers carried over this route in a twenty-four hour period at the time was 195,000 .

The ninety steam passenger trains using the terminal comprised over six hundred and fifty cars. Nine passenger trains left Oakland Mole in the space of an hour and a half in the morning and thirteen arrived in the space of two hours in the evening. The average number of switching movements made in Oakland Pier Tower was 1,900 and under emergency conditions would run as high as 2,100. From seventy-nine to eighty-three switching movements an hour, or over one a minute, qualified Oakland Pier as one of the busiest terminals in the United States.

END OF PART I ...

Cheers.

KRK