Where SN Passengers Stopped in Bay Point and Port Chicago

The state of the lone remaining SN track that flanked the Santa Fe station in Port Chicago in this 2016 west view is the perfect segue to the history of SN rail passenger service to Bay Point and Port Chicago in the early 1900s.

L163-02-Stuart Swieder Photo, (Image 1 of 23)

As the Oakland and Antioch Railway and its immediate successor, the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern, in this presentation both to be referred to as the “electric railway”, extended east of Concord, a prime goal was to reach Bay Point by 1911 to begin bringing potential workers to where job opportunities were rapidly growing. East view, circa 1912.

L163-05-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 117798sn, (Image 2 of 23)

In 1911, the only freight interchange for the electric railway and the Santa Fe was at Bay Point, so this Railroad Commission edict benefitted the electric railway and central Contra Costa County farmers in terms of quicker shipping of their goods by transcontinental rail to the east. Ref: Report of the Railroad Commission of California,1911; https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3004748;view=1up;seq=36

L163-10-Courtesy Google Books and the Hathi Trust Digital Library, (Image 3 of 23)

On the passenger side, this cover page from a 1911 passenger timetable would suggest coordination of service between the Oakland and Antioch and its two Bay Point transcontinental railroad neighbors. The Santa Fe took a more active role for there was no competing passenger service with the railway, while the Southern Pacific, SP, competed for passengers between Walnut Creek and Bay Point.

L163-15-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, (Image 4 of 23)

These 1911 timetables document that the electric railway did not go beyond Bay Point in that year. Service via the railway to Sacramento was via the Santa Fe to Stockton and transfer to Central California Traction, and service to San Francisco through Richmond and Berkeley also via the Santa Fe. Once the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern opened rail service from San Francisco to Sacramento and Pittsburg in mid-1913, these arrangements were no longer formalized in a timetable.

L163-20-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, (Image 5 of 23)

The Santa Fe was a source for extra passenger coaches and the use of its station, which benefitted the Santa Fe in that the electric railway contributed to the salary of the ticket agent. Left, southwest view, right, west view, both circa 1913.

L163-25-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 34296sn, L, 117799sn, R , (Image 6 of 23)

The other side or Santa Fe passenger side of the Santa Fe station, the northwest corner in a southeast view, circa. 1920.

L163-30-Louis L. Stein Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 77077atsf, (Image 7 of 23)

A northeast view of the Santa Fe station and an Oakland, Antioch and Eastern motor coach from Mar. 1913 ...

L163-35-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 34273sn, (Image 8 of 23)

... and the same northeast view, only now the town is named Port Chicago, and the electric railway is the Sacramento Northern. SN 1005 and SN 1023 sit beside the small shelter built by the SN, June 5, 1941.

L163-40-Sappers Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 97943sn, (Image 9 of 23)

Another panoramic northeast view, this one circa 1940, with SN 1014 leading a three-car passenger train.

L163-42-Tom Gray Collection, Courtesy Tom Gray , (Image 10 of 23)

An undated circa 1940 east view of SN 1015 as part of a two-car passenger train. The small shelter appears boarded up in this image.

L163-45-Sappers Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 97946sn , (Image 11 of 23)

Next, an image of a passenger boarding SN 1014 ca. 1940, northeast view.

L163-50-Sappers Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives,, 97945sn , (Image 12 of 23)

Images of passengers arriving at the Port Chicago stop are equally rare, here one from circa 1938, west view.

L163-55-Paul Smith Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 108333sn, (Image 13 of 23)

A woman with baggage leaves SN 1014 while a car heads to the station up Main St. A panoramic view of the southwest entry of the SN into the area can be appreciated on the left side of the image. West view, June 22, 1941.

L163-60-Dudley Thickens Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 94739sn, (Image 14 of 23)

One last west view, SN 1005, MW 302 and SLU 751 take a pause at the station during a Dec. 6, 1952 BAERA-sponsored excursion.

L163-65-Addison Laflin Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 98778sn, (Image 15 of 23)

Another of Dudley Thickens’ farewell SN passenger era images of SN 1014 at various stations, this with a panoramic east view from June 22, 1941.

L163-70-Dudley Thickens Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 60292sn, (Image 16 of 23)

Contrast the last scene with the addition of buildings seen to the southeast in this east view from a BAERA-sponsored excursion with MW 302 and Salt Lake and Utah 715 parlor car on July 4, 1950.

L163-75-Fred Matthews Photo, Moreau Coll., Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 91459sn, (Image 17 of 23)

The railfans in the WP observation car in this northwest view had extra reason to cheer after MW 302 burned out its motor near the Snake Rd. trestle on this NORCAL-sponsored excursion from Oct. 24, 1954. SN 660 came to the rescue and the train continued on.

L163-80-Arthur Lloyd Photo, Courtesy Arthur Lloyd, (Image 18 of 23)

One more image from the Oct. 24, 1954 excursion, this time SN 660, WP observation car and MW 302 in a north view in color.

L163-85-Courtesy Charles Smiley, (Image 19 of 23)

A northwest view of the Santa Fe Port Chicago station from June 24, 1967, during a period when the Santa Fe’s “Golden Gate” train service was within a year of total elimination.

L163-90-John Harder Photo, Courtesy John Harder , (Image 20 of 23)

The “Golden Gate” competitor, the SP’s “San Joaquin Daylight”, was discontinued with the start-up of Amtrak in May 1971. This northwest view of an Amtrak “San Joaquin” from Jan. 5, 1975 is being led by SP locomotive 6453. Although the trip from Oakland began on SP track, Port Chicago signaled the transfer of the route from this point east on Santa Fe trackage for the journey down the Central Valley. This is how it remains in 2018.

L163-95-John Harder Photo, Courtesy John Harder , (Image 21 of 23)

Although it is well documented that the SP station at Port Chicago was razed, the final outcome for the Santa Fe station is still less certain. Although rumored to have been moved across the bay to Suisun, this newspaper article does not supply the ending for this once key railroad station.

L163-100-Courtesy the Solano History and Exploration Center, (Image 22 of 23)

As of 2016, the signature palm trees in this northwest view that once adorned the Santa Fe station and SN passenger area are all that remain.

L163-105-Stuart Swiedler Photo, (Image 23 of 23)