Posted on 10/09/2010 2:03:16 AM PDT by thecodont
Despite last-minute pleas from historians, Union Pacific has demolished the 1874 train shop in West Oakland that was among the last relics of the transcontinental railroad.
The three-story building, visible from BART and Interstate 880, met the wrecking ball Oct. 1 at 5 a.m., according to Union Pacific spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza.
By Sunday, the site - where thousands of locomotives and train cars had undergone repairs for 128 years - was nothing but a vacant lot littered with a few bricks, witnesses said.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/08/BAS41FPBKA.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz11qklvvQY
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2601027/posts
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/03/BAP61FJBO3.DTL&tsp=1
This is so sad. I went by there on BART (light rail transit) last weekend and saw there was nothing but rubble. There goes a bit of history.
A Spike in the Throat of History
He can`t corner you there!
You can think the damn ambulance chasers for this.
RR’s are tearing down all unused buildings, around the country.
They fear fools will break in, injure themselves (or claim to) and sue.
Several old rail towns look strange now with their original reasons for existing torn down.
This is old technology and worthless now. A few oldtimers may have emotions, but everything has evolved since then.
How many of the Freep generation have ever riden on a train?
Since no one south of the border or living in a muslim country had anything to do with engineering or developing the transcontinental railroad (which was an engineering feat of great renown when it was finally completed), all vestiges of it must be removed in the name of revisionism, in order to continue the assault on and eradication of white European male American history. Large corporations, Union Pacific included, are the worst offenders, practicing the latest strain of crypto-socialism, in the name of diversity and multiculturalism. Would be interesting to see a list of the largest shareholders and where they come from. Maybe Chinese or Saudi? And why no yelling and screaming from the historic preservationists? Maybe because it wasn’t a mosque.
“Not familiar with it, and it has obvious historical significance, but was it architecturally interesting? “
There are 5 photos at the link.
Too lazy to look?
I’ve ridden several trains. I’d have to say my last train trip on Amtrak was a disappointment.
‘Too lazy to look?’
I was, so I looked. Looks like a large, nondescript shed with a nice clock. They should have put the clock in the new SF superterminal and gotten rid of the shed.
“They should have put the clock in the new SF superterminal and gotten rid of the shed.”
As an East Bay resident, I’ve watched the slow destruction of what’s left of the beautiful and historic vestiges of local railroad history from the last two centuries. The old Southern Pacific passenger station in West Oakland was gorgeous, walking in was like going back in time to a more civilized time, with its fine murals and cathedral-like interior.
And it wasn’t hard to imagine the recently destroyed train repair shop, with its arched doors and beautiful red brick (still showing the stains of decades of coal smoke), hosting the care and feeding of the massive black steam locomotives that embodied our lost “can do” spirit of American exceptionalism. I always looked forward to seeing it when driving down 880. And now it’s gone.
Another nail in the coffin of our proud history as a nation on the move. Disgusting.
When they tore down Penn Station in NY, that was a true crime.
Trains are more fuel efficient, provide good jobs, and support multiple communities along the rail line. When you put passenger trains in the equation there's cabbies to and from the station, gas stations for those that drive their own car to the station, and the riders have room real room to move about and stretch the legs, unlike the sardine cans called domestic airplanes.
BTW I'm only 61.
Problem is: a train system in any locale is run by government or is a monopoly. (People don’t care to have several sets of competing tracks running through their downtowns.) Thus train systems generally will be inefficient, subsidized boondoggles.
They also move FREIGHT. Railroads feed American seaports with American-made products going overseas to other markets. Railroads also move American coal and are thus part of our domestic energy production.
http://www.abandonedrails.com/links.aspx
“Here at the Abandoned Rails Interchange, you will find links to other websites that depict abandoned railroads and abandoned railroad equipment.”
An interesting railroad nostalgia site.
Thank you!
http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/lincoln/index.shtml
"Uniting the States of America" video at the link.
"Uniting the States of America.
"First north to south. Then east to west.
"Union Pacific is proud to celebrate the legacy of Abraham Lincoln – who set the transcontinental railroad in motion and brought our railroad to life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Railway_Act
"The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 (12 Statutes at Large, 489)[1], as enacted by the United States Congress, was approved and signed into law by the President, Abraham Lincoln, on July 1, 1862. Officially entitled "AN ACT to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes," some provisions of the original Act were subsequently modified, expanded, and/or repealed by four additional amending Acts passed in 1862[2], 1864[3], 1865[4], and 1866[5]. Based largely on a proposed Pacific railroad bill originally reported six years earlier on August 16, 1856, to the 34th Congress (1st Session) by the Select Committee on the Pacific Railroad and Telegraph[6], the Act as passed in 1862 authorized both the making of extensive land grants[7] in the Western United States, and the issuance of 30-year, 6% U.S. Government Bonds, to the Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad (later the Southern Pacific Railroad) companies in order to construct a transcontinental railroad. Sec. 3 of the Act granted 10 square miles (26 km²) of public land for every mile laid except where railroads ran through cities and crossed rivers. This grant was apportioned in 5 sections on alternating sides of the railroad, with each section measuring one fifth of a mile in length by 10 miles in height. [8] The Bonds were authorized by Sec. 5 to be issued at the rate of $16,000 per mile of tracked grade completed West of the designated base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains (CPRR) and East of the designated base of the Rocky Mountains (UPRR).[9] It also provided in Sec. 11 that the issuance of bonds "shall be treble the number per mile" (to $48,000) for tracked grade completed over and within the two mountain ranges (but limited to a total of three hundred miles at this rate), and doubled (to $32,000) per mile of completed grade laid between the two mountain ranges[10] The U.S. Government Bonds constituted a lien upon the railroads and all their fixtures, and all were repaid in full (and with interest) by the companies as and when they became due. Sec. 10 of the 1864 amending Act (13 Statutes at Large, 356) additionally authorized the two companies to issue their own "First Mortgage Bonds"[11] in total amounts up to (but not exceeding) that of the bonds issued by the United States, and that such company issued securities would have priority over the original Government Bonds.[12]
"From 1850-1871, the railroads received more than 175 million acres (708,000 km²) of public land - an area more than one tenth of the whole United States and larger than Texas.
"Railroad expansion provided new avenues of migration into the American interior. The railroads sold portions of their land to arriving settlers at a handsome profit. Lands closest to the tracks drew the highest prices, because farmers and ranchers wanted to locate near railway stations."
Riden? Anyway, I last rode a train...
... a week and a half ago.
My travel covers distances that dictate flying (not to mention there are very few transoceanic trains), but you are correct about the comfort of trains over planes, even when flying first class.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.