16th Street station (Oakland) explained

Style:Amtrak
Style2:Amtrak old
Oakland
Address:1601 Wood Street, Oakland, California[1]
Country:United States
Coordinates:37.8156°N -122.2968°W
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Zoom:14
Opened:August 3, 1912
Closed:August 21, 1994
Code:OAK
Owned:BUILD
Other Services Header:Former services

16th Street station (Oakland Central) is a former Southern Pacific Railroad station in the Prescott neighborhood of Oakland, California, United States. The Beaux-Arts building was designed by architect Jarvis Hunt, a preeminent railroad station architect, and opened in 1912. The station has not been served by trains since 1994.

History

Southern Pacific

The original 16th Street depot was a smaller wood structure, built when the tracks were on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. Later the shoreline was filled and now lies nearly a mile west. It was replaced by a Beaux-Arts building designed by architect Jarvis Hunt which opeend for service on August 3, 1912.[2]

For decades the 16th Street station was the main Oakland station for Southern Pacific (SP) through trains, almost entirely replacing the 7th Street station. It was a companion (or "city station") for Oakland Pier, two miles away, where passengers could board ferries to San Francisco. (After 1958, the ferries were replaced by buses from 16th Street station to the SP's Third and Townsend Depot). The elevated platforms were used for the SP-owned East Bay Electric Lines commuter service (renamed Interurban Electric Railway or IER in 1938).[3]

IER trains from Berkeley no longer stopped at 16th Street when railroad service over the Bay Bridge opened on January 15, 1939, as the junction from those lines to the bridge was north of the station. When the IER folded in July 1941, portions of some lines were sold to the competing Key System for use by their transbay trains; however, the Key System only served the station with a surface streetcar line on 16th Street, and did not use the elevated platforms.

Major long-distance trains from the station included the Oakland Lark (night train to Los Angeles) and the City of San Francisco (to Chicago).[4]

Amtrak and replacement

The station also served as the main rail link for points north and east of the Bay Area. San Francisco-area passengers boarded ferries to Oakland Pier, and after 1958 boarded buses to 16th Street. Amtrak took over intercity passenger rail services in 1971, and decided to consolidate most Bay Area service in Oakland, leaving San Francisco as one of the largest cities without direct intercity rail service.

The station was severely damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, but continued serving trains at an adjacent building. Capitols and San Joaquins trains were shifted to the new Emeryville station on August 13, 1993, but long-distance trains continued to use Oakland Central while track work was completed at Emeryville.[5] The Coast Starlight and California Zephyr began stopping at Emeryville on August 5, 1994; they last stopped at Oakland 16th Street on August 21.[6] This left Emeryville as the only Oakland-area stop for Amtrak until the new Oakland–Jack London Square station opened on May 22, 1995.

Emeryville largely replaced 16th Street station as the connection point for Amtrak Thruway across the bay in San Francisco (for passengers heading northbound towards Seattle or eastbound towards Chicago, or passengers arriving from the north and east), as Emeryville is closer to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge than Oakland–Jack London Square. However, Jack London Square serves as the San Francisco connection for the Coast Starlight (for southbound passengers from San Francisco and northbound passengers heading to San Francisco).[7] [8]

In the mid-1990s, the adjacent railroad tracks were moved west during the construction of Interstate 880 (to replace the earthquake-destroyed Cypress Street Viaduct), which isolated the station from the tracks. The station buildings are largely intact, including the interlocking tower and ironwork elevated platforms. The station was purchased in 2005 by BUILD, an affiliate of BRIDGE Housing, and is being restored as part of a local redevelopment project.[9] [10] In 2015, the station was used to stage a local opera company's production of Lulu.[11] As of 2021, the station is being used as a rented space for private events.[12]

In media

The station was used in films including Chu Chu and the Philly Flash,[13] Funny Lady (as Cleveland station),[14] RENT,[15] and Hemingway & Gellhorn (as a stand-in for the Hotel Florida).[16] [17] Mumford & Sons filmed their music video for "Babel" in the station.[18]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Amtrak National Timetable Revised Edition: Fall/Winter 1993/1994 . Amtrak . The Museum of Railway Timetables . 8 . February 14, 1994.
  2. News: New Sixteenth-Street Depot Open to the Public This Evening . 24 May 2024 . Oakland Enquirer . Newspapers.com . August 3, 1912 . Oakland, California . 11.
  3. Frederick . Jennings . Some California Railroad Stations . The Architect and Engineer of California . 48 . 2 . February 1917 . 54 .
  4. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Southern_Pacific_Railroad_1954_timetable.pdf Southern Pacific timetable 1954
  5. News: Amtrak opens new station in Emeryville . San Francisco Examiner . August 10, 1993 . A6 . Newspapers.com.
  6. Emeryville/16th Street saga finally ends . 4 . October 1994 . Pacific Rail News . 371.
  7. Web site: October 12, 2020. Amtrak Coast Starlight Timetable. December 12, 2020. Amtrak.
  8. Web site: October 5, 2020. Amtrak California Zephyr Timetable. December 12, 2020. Amtrak.
  9. News: Shuttered but not forgotten: 16th Street depot ready for rebirth. Burt. Cecily. Oakland Tribune. MediaNews Group. San Jose, California. 28 December 2008. 18 February 2014.
  10. Web site: 16th Street Station Reuse Planning Process. https://web.archive.org/web/20121014002942/http://welcomeaboard.com/d/16thSt.html. October 14, 2012. February 2, 2019.
  11. News: Will Lulu Do a Karenina at West Edge Opera? . San Francisco Classical Voice . Janos . Geberen . April 8, 2015.
  12. Web site: Renting the Station. February 2, 2019.
  13. News: Ferry commuters set their sights on a motion picture's mirage . San Francisco Examiner . October 16, 1980 . Malcolm . Glover . D2 . Newspapers.com.
  14. Book: Pollock, Christopher . Reel San Francisco Stories: An Annotated Filmography of the Bay Area . Lulu . 88 . Google Books . 2013 . 9780578130422.
  15. Book: Paiva, Troy . Night Vision: The Art of Urban Exploration . 61 . Chronicle Books . 2013 . 9780811875783 . Google Books.
  16. News: Oakland's historic 16th Street station celebrates centennial, new role in community . Oakland North . October 1, 2012 . Aaron . Mendelson . Vanessa . Rancaño.
  17. Web site: The Sets of Hemingway & Gellhorn . Architectural Digest . Cathy . Whitlock . December 31, 2011.
  18. News: Where should Treasure Island Music Festival 2017 relocate? . San Francisco Chronicle . October 7, 2016.