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Re: Sacramento Northern Danville branch - Saranap
Author: OldPoleBurner
Date: 03-05-2014 - 12:25
> Burton (mp 21.64) was between Moraga and Lafayette, while Saranap (junction with the
> branch) was at mp 25.71, between Lafayette and Walnut Creek. Current location is about
> the intersection of Olympic Blvd. and Tice Valley Road. Olympic Blvd. was built on the
> SN row.
Right dead on!
If memory serves (I was there a couple of times as a child with my Grandfather), the wye was still there in the weeds, but obviously hadn't been used in years. The west leg of the wye was on the south side of Tice Rd; whereas the east leg crossed the old Tice Rd (tracks partially paved over) and then connected to the main. The main ran on the north/west side of what is now Olympic Blvd (though I don't think it was called that back then). I seem to remember the road turning away from the tracks to the east well before Walnut Creek. I don't think it went west of the railroad cut either.
At the time, both roads were barely paved country lanes. I also remember some sort of enclosed shelter or a station building just south of Tice. My grandfather told me that there was once a branch up the Tice Valley to Danville, but that it was long gone. Seems he didn't want to talk much about it though - I've always wondered why. He did tell me quite a bit about the lady the place was named after, and her father, who was a railroad officer - wonderful people in Grandpa's eyes.
I last saw the wye in 1958, when the SR21 freeway was under construction (now I680). The tracks were in use north of Mt Diablo St. Though severed there (paved over), they were still in place as far as Saranap, but were already gone further to the west. Don't know why they left them there for a while.
Fast forward to 1967, when I next was in the area (had a job in Rossmoor) - Phase 1 of Rossmoor had been built, Tice Rd had expanded into a big fancy "Tice Valley Blvd", and "Olympic Blvd" had been built on the east side of the then empty mainline r.o.w., from downtown Walnut Creek as far a Tice Valley, and then continuing directly on the r.o.w. through the cut to Reliez Station Rd near the edge of Lafayette. Since then Olympic Blvd has been expanded to cover the old main r.o.w. with its westbound lanes.
I often think about those times, when in a child's eyes, and even to some degree in the eyes of a freshman college student, life seemed so straight-forward and simple. But then there was Vietnam, and when I came home four years later, the whole freakin' place was upside down - nothing was the same as I had left it - Especially the railroads!
Sometimes (often?) "Change" has no real value. It is then, that it "just plain sucks!"
Maybe that is why we try so hard to recapture the past. But whatever the reason - it can be a great adventure; especially when the effort is shared with family and friends - especially your children.
> branch) was at mp 25.71, between Lafayette and Walnut Creek. Current location is about
> the intersection of Olympic Blvd. and Tice Valley Road. Olympic Blvd. was built on the
> SN row.
Right dead on!
If memory serves (I was there a couple of times as a child with my Grandfather), the wye was still there in the weeds, but obviously hadn't been used in years. The west leg of the wye was on the south side of Tice Rd; whereas the east leg crossed the old Tice Rd (tracks partially paved over) and then connected to the main. The main ran on the north/west side of what is now Olympic Blvd (though I don't think it was called that back then). I seem to remember the road turning away from the tracks to the east well before Walnut Creek. I don't think it went west of the railroad cut either.
At the time, both roads were barely paved country lanes. I also remember some sort of enclosed shelter or a station building just south of Tice. My grandfather told me that there was once a branch up the Tice Valley to Danville, but that it was long gone. Seems he didn't want to talk much about it though - I've always wondered why. He did tell me quite a bit about the lady the place was named after, and her father, who was a railroad officer - wonderful people in Grandpa's eyes.
I last saw the wye in 1958, when the SR21 freeway was under construction (now I680). The tracks were in use north of Mt Diablo St. Though severed there (paved over), they were still in place as far as Saranap, but were already gone further to the west. Don't know why they left them there for a while.
Fast forward to 1967, when I next was in the area (had a job in Rossmoor) - Phase 1 of Rossmoor had been built, Tice Rd had expanded into a big fancy "Tice Valley Blvd", and "Olympic Blvd" had been built on the east side of the then empty mainline r.o.w., from downtown Walnut Creek as far a Tice Valley, and then continuing directly on the r.o.w. through the cut to Reliez Station Rd near the edge of Lafayette. Since then Olympic Blvd has been expanded to cover the old main r.o.w. with its westbound lanes.
I often think about those times, when in a child's eyes, and even to some degree in the eyes of a freshman college student, life seemed so straight-forward and simple. But then there was Vietnam, and when I came home four years later, the whole freakin' place was upside down - nothing was the same as I had left it - Especially the railroads!
Sometimes (often?) "Change" has no real value. It is then, that it "just plain sucks!"
Maybe that is why we try so hard to recapture the past. But whatever the reason - it can be a great adventure; especially when the effort is shared with family and friends - especially your children.
