When railroads ruled the S.F. waterfront Carl Nolte Sunday, October 18, 2009 There was a lot of talk last week during the 20th anniversary commemoration of the Loma Prieta earthquake about how the quake wrecked the old Embarcadero Freeway and made a glorious new San Francisco waterfront possible - a boulevard with palm trees, served by colorful antique streetcars and lined with spiffy restaurants. Very tres chic. Back in the days when San Francisco was the busiest port in the West and until it folded in 1993, the Embarcadero was lined with railroad yards; freight trains chuffed and clanked along the waterfront 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Until 1945, the trains were pulled by husky-looking steam engines, which ran from one end of the waterfront to the other, right past the Ferry Building, sending up plumes of black oil smoke. Old-timers will tell you it was very colorful and romantic. Modern San Franciscans wouldn't put up with it for five minutes. The line was the State Belt Railroad, which in its heyday had 67 miles of tracks, serving every pier. The main track went from what is now AT&T Park to the Presidio, and spur tracks that ran down some North Beach streets. "The Belt Line is part of San Francisco's history," said Bill Kaufman, a retired Contra Costa schoolteacher who is fascinated by the railroad. "It was right in the middle of everything - the Panama Pacific Exposition, the 1934 waterfront strike, troop trains in World War II, even the Embarcadero Freeway, which ran over the top of it." Kaufman has written a book called "The State Belt" to be published next spring. He thinks the book fills a blank spot in San Francisco history. "I realized," he said, "that nothing was ever written about the railroad." The newspapers of the day seldom mentioned the Belt Line, and the outfit's records seem to have disappeared. "My guess is that when the railroad shut down, somebody threw them out," Kaufman said. "Putting it all together was sort of a mystery puzzle." The Belt Line began in the 1880s to move freight from ships docked in San Francisco for transhipment by rail. Only one railroad - the Southern Pacific - had a direct line to San Francisco, but by World War I, there were three other railroads, all using tugs and barges to move freight cars. The Belt Line connected them all and served manufacturers, canneries and other industrial customers. Once upon a time, 2,000 freight cars a day moved in and out of the city. The Belt Line had its biggest years in 1929, just before the Great Depression, and 1945, when it handled all the wartime freight it could carry, plus troop and hospital trains to and from the Presidio. By then it had modern diesel engines. And a substantial deficit. When the city took over the port from state control in 1969, it inherited the Belt Line. By then the port was in decline and Cyril Magnin, then head of the city Port Commission, offered to sell the Belt Line for $1. The perfect gift for the man who had everything. The only catch: The new owner had to operate it. There were no takers. Gradually, nearly all the cargo ships went to Oakland and the Belt Line shut down in 1992. Remnants of the Belt Line still exist - the tunnel under Fort Mason, some rusty rails on various piers, the old roundhouse - now offices - at Sansome and the Embarcadero. The biggest survivors are Engines 23 and 25, 65-year-old veterans and the main motive power of the San Francisco Bay Railroad, a half-mile operation that runs a single freight train a day near Hunters Point. The engines now burn biodiesel fuel made of used cooking oil and kitchen grease. You can't get more modern than that. Carl Nolte's Native Son column appears every Sunday. E-mail him at cnolte@sfchronicle.com. This article appeared on page A - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
They do look to be well kept, at least externally. I wonder how many similar ALCo switchers (S-2?) remain active these days? Boxcab E50
Cool! Can't wait for the book. They've repainted those locos again recently. #25 did not look so shiny the last time I saw it. For another picture... http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=299033
There's a lot of fascinating transportation history in and around San Francisco. My grandpa remembers taking an actual ferry from the Ferry Building over to Oakland. Thanks for sharing this column here! Adam
