Original Mainline Right of Way & Alignment

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Arnold Menke adds a bit more to the history of this line, this line was built by the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad between 1861 - 1864. The original roundhouse and shops were just east of Harrison Street in San Francisco between Division Street and 16th Street. The original turntable was almost at the intersection of 15th Street and Alhambra Street. The San Francisco and San Jose became part of the original Southern Pacific in 1869 - 1870 and this facility became known as the San Francisco Shops. The Southern Pacific eventually installed a second turntable north of the original SF & SJ one. It was just southwest of the intersection of Alabama and Florida Streets.

These shops remained in place until Mission Bay Roundhouse was completed in 1907. This same year saw the closing of the Harrision Street facility and it was dismantled by early 1908. Photographs of the San Francisco Shops (a.k.a. Harrison Street Shops) are rarely found. But old Robert McFarland, who lived only a few blocks away from it, took a great many photographs (several hundred) with a Kodak #2 Brownie camera, between 1904 and 1907 when he was a teenager. In case you are interested the Bayshore Cutoff opened December 8, 1907 from San Bruno to Mission Bay.

Arnold Menke

 

Once again I would like to add a special thanks to the Editors of SP Review, Thom Anderson, Don Jewell and Arnold Menke, for one taking the time to write this information and to the Shasta Rail Group for publishing this story.

 

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