Yesterday, the developer which currently owns the old Southern Pacific 16th St. Station in Oakland, California, held a community party. This, I believe, was the first time since the station was damaged by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that inside access was allowed to the public.
In its prime, it was the western terminus (or nearly so, depending on whether the Oakland Mole ferry terminal was open), of the original overland route, and hosted such well-known SP trains as the City of San Francisco, 49er, San Francisco Challenger, Shasta Daylight, San Joaquin Daylight, and Cascade.
Anybody else out there get to go?
I got there a little late, but I thought it was quite a party! Continuous food & live music (a bit too loud for my taste, but I wasn’t there for the music!). The only interior space open was the main hall, which is now pretty much devoid of any railroad-related fixtures, except for a few roped-off long wooden benches (which did look to me like they could have been in service in the olden days). Some interesting videos were being shown (though one had to stand there to watch – no seating!), mainly focusing on the history of the interurbans in the East Bay and across the Bay Bridge (Sacramento Northern, Key System, as well as SP’s Red Cars).
The back of the building (elevated interurban platform and adjacent 16th Street Tower were off-limits, but one could get closer than anytime in many years. They also had an oral history booth, where they were collecting people’s reminiscences of the depot.
Even in its dilapidated state, she is still a grand old lady! It is so great that the developer is trying to find ways for creative reuse.