Name/Title
Railroad tunnel excavation #2Description
In March 1881, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad reached Southern California, turned northward, crossed the Tehachapi Mountains, and went into the great San Joaquin Valley. At Stockton, it veered west toward Oakland and San Francisco, dealing with swampland, Delta waterways, and the hills and valleys from Martinez to Pinole on its way to Point Richmond. It provided freight and passenger service, connecting to San Francisco by barge. In 1901, the railroad known today as BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) built a red train depot at the northeast corner of Charles Street. It burned down in 1944 while a new depot adjacent was being built (designed by H. L. Gilman). That depot was demolished by the railroad in 1998.
SANTA FE CUT: In 1933, The Santa Fe Railroad decided to “daylight” a tunnel just east of Pinole, making it a “cut” instead, leaving a railway-style timber overcrossing into Hercules. This required a highway bridge over the “cut” (formerly the county road, later U.S. Highway 40, and now San Pablo Avenue). The early photo shows the bridge under construction. In 1963, a Wards tractortrailer crashed through the highway bridge railing. The BNSF is strictly a freight service now through Pinole — no more passenger service here.Copyright
Copyright Holder
Pinole Historical Society