San Francisco and Oakland Railroad

The San Francisco and Oakland Railroad (SF&O) was built in 1862 to provide ferry-train service from a San Francisco ferry terminal connecting with railroad service through Oakland. It subsequently was absorbed into the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). The track in Oakland was electrified in 1911 and extended across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1939. Service was abandoned in 1941.

The San Francisco and Oakland Railroad (and Ferry Co.) was formed under the leadership of Rodman Gibbons and other Oakland people in order to provide transportation to Oakland by means of a ferry from San Francisco to a pier at Oakland Point where passengers could take a train into Oakland. Service began in 1862 along 7th St. to a station in downtown Oakland at Broadway.

Traffic increased steadily so an extension of the line was planned. In 1864 the track was extended across a bridge over Indian Creek Slough, the outlet to Lake Merritt, then along private right-of-way adjacent to San Antonio Creek (Oakland Estuary) to the Commerce St. Wharf (foot of 14th Ave) in San Antonio.

The cost of the extension and of building a new larger ferry boat caused Gibbons and his associates to lose control of the company. In 1865 control of the SF&O passed to A. A. Cohen, president of the San Francisco and Alameda Railroad (SF&A). The Central Pacific Railroad (CP) decided to make Oakland the western terminus of the transcontinental railroad and therefore purchased the SF&O in 1868. In 1869 they purchased the SF&A also, and in 1870 they merged the two local railroads together and then into the Central Pacific.

The Western Pacific Railroad (1862-1870) had surveyed a line from San Jose via Niles Canyon and Altamont Pass to Sacramento, but ran out of money after laying track from San Jose to Niles. A CP subsidiary then purchased the line and completed it, adding a line from Niles toward Oakland. In 1869 this line was first connected to the SF&A and then to the SF&O. On the morning of November 8, 1869, the first transcontinental train to use the expanded ferry terminal at Oakland Point traversed the SF&O and the Western Pacific Railroad to get to Sacramento and continue east on the Central Pacific Railroad. The city of Oakland held a large celebration later in the day to greet the first westbound transcontinental train.

Having large amounts of long-distance passenger and freight railroad traffic traverse Oakland on 7th St., one of its main streets, was not a good idea for either the city or the railroad. During 1869 and 1870, a bypass track was constructed starting in San Antonio and using a new bridge across Indian Creek Slough that led to 1st St. and along this street to Oakland Point. Initially the bypass was used for freight trains only, but in later years, long-distance passenger trains used it also and a new station for them was built at 1st St. and Broadway (Jack London Square). After 1879, the transcontinental trains no longer used the Altamont Pass route, taking a shorter route from Sacramento via Benicia to reach Oakland Pier instead, but trains to Los Angeles continued to use the former SF&O and Western Pacific routes to reach San Jose.

On 7th St. there was still a large amount of traffic of local steam passenger trains as the service was extended farther into East Oakland. The Central Pacific Railroad was leased to the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1885. In 1911 the SP started electifying its local train service in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area). The Oakland 7th St. line was extended to Dutton Ave. in San Leandro and carried the most passengers of any line in the system. In 1939, under the subsidiary company, Interurban Electric Railway (IER) the line was rerouted over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge into the San Francisco Transbay Terminal. IER service on the 7th St. line was abandoned in March, 1941, but the track on 7th St. from Broadway to Pine St. was put back in service (1943–1946) during World War II to enable streetcars of the Key System to reach several military installations.