Third Street Station/San Francisco
3rd St. and Townsend St.
Opened 1913
Number of station tracks: 11 stub
Interlocked switches controlled from Fourth Street Tower
Market Street Ferry Building/San Francisco
Opened 1898
Oakland Pier
Opened 1881
Number of station tracks: 14 stub
Interlocked switches controlled from Oakland Pier Tower
16th Street Station/Oakland
16th St. and Wood St.
Opened 1912
Western Pacific Station/Oakland
476 3rd St.
Opened 1912
Santa Fe Station/Oakland
40th St. and San Pablo Ave.
Opened 1904
Except for Southern Pacific passengers traveling south of San Francisco via the Pacific Coast, Southern Pacific and Western Pacific passengers arrived and departed San Francisco at the Ferry Building, where ferries connected with trains at the Oakland Pier. The two railroads shared that ferry operation.
Until 1941, Southern Pacific subsidiary Northwestern Pacific operated north from Sausalito, accessible by ferry from San Francisco. The 1937 opening of the Golden Gate Bridge led to the closure of the station at Sausalito. Pacific Greyhound Lines, partially controlled by Southern Pacific, introduced commuter bus service replacing the Northwestern Pacific commuter trains. Buses also connected at San Raphael with the remaining intercity trains north to Eureka. In 1958, Willets replaced San Raphael as the transfer point between bus and train. That service operated until the 1971 creation of Amtrak. The railroad continued to downplay the existence of a bus connection, even though Willets is approximately half way between San Francisco and Eureka.
(Third Street Station/San Francisco)
Departures
No. Name 1942 Dest. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 72 Los Angeles 7:40 90 12:20 am 98 Morning Daylight Los Angeles 8:15 7:15 am 10:15 am 36 Del Monte Pacific Grove 4:00 78 3:00 126 4:50 pm 70 Coaster Los Angeles 7:00 94 6:45 pm 76 Lark Los Angeles 9:00 8:00 pm 38 S. L. Obispo 9:05Arrivals
No. Name 1942 Orig. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 69 Coaster Los Angeles 8:45 95 5:45 am 75 Lark Los Angeles 9:00 7:30 am 35 Del Monte Pacific Grove 11:30 77 9:30 141 11:25 am 37 S. L. Obispo 5:30 99 Morning Daylight Los Angeles 5:45 5:00 pm 6:15 pm 71 Los Angeles 10:45 91 4:30 pmPassenger service retained by Amtrak in 1971, but consolidated into Oakland 16th Street Station.
Not listed are commuter trains, which continue to operate.
(Market Street Ferry/San Francisco)
Departures
No. Name 1942 Dest. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 204 Sacramento 5:50 226 10:30 am 250 San Jose 7:00 Oakland 224 Sacramento 7:30 6:15 am 52 San Joaquin Daylight Los Angeles 7:30 6:15 am 8:00 am 22 Pacific Limited Chicago 11:40 246 Sacramento 2:00 2:00 pm 102 City of S. Francisco Chicago 3:45 4:00 pm 12:30 pm 248 Sacramento 5:00 3:30 pm 24 Cascade Portland 5:00 10 7:25 am 12 Beaver Portland 5:40 4:00 pm 7:00 pm 26 Owl Los Angeles 6:00 58 8:30 pm 88 S. F. Challenger Chicago 7:40 74 Oakland Lark San Jose 8:00 7:00 pm 8 Shasta Gerber 8:00 28 Overland Chicago 8:40 11:00 am 20 Klamath Portland 9:05 7:30 pm 10 Fast Mail Reno 9:40 22 8:00 pm 58 Sequoia Fresno 10:50Arrivals
No. Name 1942 Orig. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 9 Fast Mail Reno 5:45 21 4:50 am 87 S. F. Challenger Chicago 7:50 27 Overland Chicago 8:20 2:50 pm 25 Owl Los Angeles 8:50 57 7:50 am 19 Klamath Portland 9:30 8:20 pm 101 City of S. Francisco Chicago 9:30 10:20 am 3:45 pm 73 Oakland Lark San Jose 9:50 8:15 am 247 Sacramento 10:50 8:50 am 23 Cascade Portland 1:50 11 9:15 am 9:40 am 229 Sacramento 3:10 12:50 pm 255 San Jose 6:30 5:50 pm 241 Sacramento 6:30 10:15 pm 223 Sacramento 7:30 6:50 pm 17 Oregonian Portland 8:30 9 11:30 pm 51 San Joaquin Daylight Los Angeles 8:50 7:20 pm 7:05 pm 21 Pacific Limited Chicago 10:30 53 Sequoia Fresno 11:00 7 Gerber 11:00Passenger service retained by Amtrak in 1971.
These were actually ferry boats, which connected with the trains at Oakland Pier. Trains also stopped in Oakland at 16th Street Station. Except trains 73 and 74, and 250 and 255, operating to and from San Jose, instead stopped in Oakland at First Street Station.
In 1958, the ferry boats were replaced with bus connections, between the Oakland 16th Street Station, and the San Francisco Third Street Station. For trains between Oakland and San Jose, the Oakland station was identified as "Jack London Square". 1971 times are for the buses at Third Street Station.
(Market Street Ferry/San Francisco)
Departures
No. Name 1942 Dest. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 18 California Zephyr Chicago 10:00 am 40 Exposition Flyer Chicago 8:35 pm 12 Feather River Exp. Portola 9:40 pm 2 4:30 pmArrivals
No. Name 1942 Orig. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 11 Feather River Exp. Portola 7:20 am 1 6:50 am 17 California Zephyr Chicago 3:50 pm 39 Exposition Flyer Chicago 10:30 pmPassenger service discontinued in 1970, last train was the California Zephyr.
These were actually ferry boats, which connected with the trains at Oakland Pier. Trains also stopped at the Western Pacific Station in Oakland.
In 1958, the ferry boats were replaced with bus connections, between Oakland and Southern Pacific's Third Street Station in San Francisco.
(Santa Fe Station/Oakland)
Departures
No. Name 1942 Dest. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 60 Golden Gate Bakersfield 8:20 8:10 2 San Francisco Chief Barstow 10:25 11:25 62 Golden Gate Bakersfield 6:20 6:00 24 Barstow 11:40 6 10:10Arrivals
No. Name 1942 Orig. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 23 Barstow 6:30 7 4:30 am 61 Golden Gate Bakersfield 4:50 4:50 pm 1 San Francisco Chief Barstow 7:50 1:05 pm 63 Golden Gate Bakersfield 9:55 9:40 pmPassenger service discontinued in 1971 with the creation of Amtrak, last train was the San Francisco Chief.
In 1958, Santa Fe began terminating trains in Richmond.
Southern Pacific Depot
Link to a Web site containing further historical information on this station.
Southern Pacific trains not able to directly serve San Francisco, and Western Pacific trains, terminated at Oakland Pier, with direct ferry boat connections to and from San Francisco. In 1958, the ferry boats were replaced with buses, operating between those railroads' respective Oakland stations and San Francisco via the Bay Bridge. The Oakland Pier ferry terminal was then demolished, and a ship container terminal was constructed at that location.
Oakland Pier (Wikipedia)
Link to a Web site containing further historical information on Oakland Pier.
Ferry Building Marketplace
Link to an official Web site, showing how the San Francisco Ferry Building has been preserved and transformed for other uses.
16th Street Station was the main Southern Pacific station in Oakland. This station was used by Amtrak until damaged by the 1989 earthquake, and is being restored for other purposes.
16th Street Station (Wikipedia)
Link to a Web site containing further information and history of 16th Street Station.
Southern Pacific trains between Oakland and San Jose instead stopped at First Street Station in Oakland, located at 1st St. and Broadway. This is near Jack London Square, where the railroad operates in the middle of 1st St. The station was demolished in the 1950's.
The Western Pacific station building still stands, and is occupied by various businesses. The railroad formerly operated in the middle of 3rd St.
The Santa Fe station in Oakland has been demolished.
Historically, Santa Fe trains served San Francisco by connecting with ferry boats at Ferry Point in Richmond CA. After the 1939 opening of the Bay Bridge, the ferry boats were replaced with buses connecting with the trains at Oakland.