Nearly 105 years after the last train ran on the precarious Ocean Shore Railroad, the people of Pacifica are hard at work restoring the stricken line's only surviving coach.
Learn more in my new article for Trains Magazine! 👇
www.trains.com/trn/railroad...
Three San Francisco elders faced eviction and homelessness. With help from their neighbors, they fought back and won.
Learn more in my latest article! 👇
bayareacurrent.com/sf-elders-fa...
Close enough. Welcome back, Key System
Contra Costa residents are infuriated at Trump's immigration crackdown. In the wake of Renee Good and Alex Pretti's killings by ICE, they're taking to the streets to voice their anger.
Learn more in my debut article for The Inquirer! 👇
www.dvcinquirer.com/archive/unca...
Man, that paint scheme ROCKS!
Fascinating... I do wonder how loud it must have been around corners. Between the wheels grinding, the articulated vestibule creaking, etc.
Shocking they didn't try and stitch it into an articulated car!
It's from Seattle so it makes sense.
Surely the double truck birney can't hurt you!
the double truck birney in question:
From neighbors rallying to protect disabled elders from eviction to teachers fighting for their students' future, people around the Bay are standing up for what's right.
Here are my attempts to capture it.
🎞 TX 400
📷 1940s Argus C3
boy what a time it is to be a freelance journalist amiright
Photo Credits: hub.catalogit.app/berkeley-his...
hub.catalogit.app/berkeley-his...
hub.catalogit.app/berkeley-his...
hub.catalogit.app/berkeley-his...
Every big city needs a big train station. Berkeley, was no exception.
From 1908 to 1938, this grand Beaux-Arts station stood at the heart of downtown. With a waiting hall, baggage facility, roofed courtyard, and palm plazas, it welcomed everyday commuters, arriving every 20 minutes, like kings.
Paging @dereksagehorn.bsky.social
In case you haven't found it yet, the East Bay Hills Project is a fantastic collection of SN photos! Mr. Swiedler, the gentleman behind the project, recently covered the Colusa Branch extensively.
eastbayhillsproject.org/beyond-the-e...
Rumbling over the Butte Slough Bridge, Sacramento Northern #430 leads a small freight train east on the quiet Colusa Branch — June 27, 1945.
Arthur Lloyd, a BAERA founder, recognized the moment's history. Already, SN was discussing ripping up the energized third rail here. By 1946, it'd come true.
Photo Credits: hub.catalogit.app/berkeley-his...
hub.catalogit.app/berkeley-his...
hub.catalogit.app/berkeley-his...
hub.catalogit.app/berkeley-his...
Check out what Berkeley's downtown station used to look like!
Replacing an earlier shack from 1876, this depot (erected 1890s?) greeted commuters, clad in bowler hats, at the start of their journey to SF. As the city grew, it was replaced by an even bigger station in 1908 — topic for a later post!
Photo Credits: hub.catalogit.app/berkeley-his...
Thundering through Downtown Berkeley, a Southern Pacific commuter train gains speed out of the grand "Berkeley Station," drivers pounding up Shattuck Ave.
Look at how different downtown was! Likewise, note the brand new catenary above the engine — a sign of things to come and times to end.
c. 1911
San Francisco at night.
📷 Argus C3
🎞 Tri-X 400
The Butte Slough bridge was actually on the Colusa Branch, which was intended to be a feeder into a secondary mainline (from Red Bluff to Woodland)! The entry abutments are still out there.
if only i could live here on a teacher's salary...
Say what you will about the old Transbay Terminal, but it was a multimodal paradise in its prime.
We're talking local/intercity buses, private automobiles, city streetcars, and interurbans to Oakland, Berkeley, even Sacramento/Chico congregating in ONE place! We really had it all at one point.
How does Fomapan's B&W stock compare to Kodak's TX? Recently sent a spool of TX400 to develop, tempted on getting another one but I want to keep my eyes open for alternative B&W films.
The mystery thickens... OSRR #42 wasn't built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works until 1915 (only 5 years before the railroad shut down!) but the wreck is dated to 1914!
Photo Credits: digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/21670...
digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/21671...
Major accidents on the precarious Ocean Shore RR were few and far between. But, as in this 1914 case, they did happen.
Looks like OSRR #42 jumped the track while heading into Daly City. Unfortunately, newspapers didn't cover the wreck, leaving us starved for info. No doubt, repairs weren't cheap!
Haha. Whoever runs it must really be swell 🤔
