Southern Pacific Roundhouse: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 22:05, 27 January 2026

Unfinished History

These tracks still crossed 16th Street as the new Children's Hospital was being finished. (They are now gone.) They once were amidst dozens of tracks, and went into the Southern Pacific Roundhouse (which allowed trains to be switched from one track to another) that occupied the land just west of the new hospital.

Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2014.

Southern Pacific railyards in Mission Bay, c. 1909.

Photo: Mark Gorney, via Facebook

Southern Pacific Mission Bay yard, c. 1938.

Photo: SFMemory.org, sfm002-10675

Third Street near 16th Street, November 1963. Tracks visible crossing Third, and filling area behind buildings along street.

Photo: OpenSFHistory.org

Third Street at 16th Street, 2023. Tracks on Third for the T-line light rail.

Photo: Eihway Su

Southern Pacific roundhouse near Mariposa and Minnesota, c. 1910.

Photo: courtesy OpenSFHistory.org wnp33.01022

Southern Pacific roundhouse near Mariposa and Minnesota, c. 1910.

Photo: courtesy OpenSFHistory.org wnp33.01021

SP Roundhouse at end of arrow, seen here from the viaduct at top of Potrero Hill and 18th, 1942.

Photo: SF Dept. of Public Works

Here is a 1938 aerial photo of the SP Roundhouse; the tracks going diagonally to the upper right correspond to the track in the first photo above.

Photo: Harrison Ryker, courtesy David Rumsey collection

On this 1905 Sanborn insurance map, the SP Roundhouse is clear at the lower right, but remarkably there is still a good deal of Mission Bay in its original watery landscape present in this pre-earthquake rendition.

Photo: courtesy David Rumsey collection

This 1914 Sanborn insurance map shows the SP Roundhouse situated with the streets of Dogpatch all around.

Photo: courtesy David Rumsey collection

The Italian neighborhood on Potrero Hill just south and west of the railyards provided many of the workers for the Southern Pacific. Here are a couple of photos from the collection of Alioto/Firpo family:

Southern Pacific Roundhouse, 1942. Frank I. Alioto is in the center of the second row.

Photo: Regina Alioto

Two women laughing at the Southern Pacific yard during WWII.

Photo: Ann Rosener, Library of Congress

Women railroad workers take over the cars and maintenance of freight and passenger trains in the Southern Pacific company yards in San Francisco, c. 1943.

Photo: Ann Rosener, Library of Congress

Ten seconds of aerial view of the Mission Bay railyards in 1963.

Video: Prelinger Archive

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 [[Image:Roundhouse-tracks-on-16th-in-Mission-Bay-2014 4067.jpg]]
-'''These tracks still crossed 16th Street as the new Children's Hospital was being finished.  (They are now gone.) They once were amidst dozens of tracks, and went into the Southern Pacific Roundhouse (which allowed trains to be switched from one track to another) that occupied the land just west of the new hospital.'''
+'''These tracks still crossed 16th Street as the new Children's Hospital was being finished.  (They are now gone.) They once were amidst dozens of tracks, and went into the [[Southern Pacific Railroad Rolls Through the City|Southern Pacific]] Roundhouse (which allowed trains to be switched from one track to another) that occupied the land just west of the new hospital.'''
 ''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2014.''
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 ''Photo: Mark Gorney, via Facebook''
+[[Image:SP Mission Bay Yard circa 1938 sfm002-10675.jpg|800px]]
+'''Southern Pacific Mission Bay yard, c. 1938.'''
+''Photo: SFMemory.org, sfm002-10675''
 [[Image:Third-near-16th-Nov-1963 wnp25.jpg]]
@@ Line 18: / Line 24: @@
 ''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org''
+[[Image:3rd and 16th St. 2023.sharpened.jpg]]
+'''Third Street at 16th Street, 2023. Tracks on Third for the T-line light rail.'''
+''Photo: Eihway Su''
 [[Image:SP roundhouse Mariposa near Minnesota c 1910 wnp33.01022.jpg|793px]]
@@ Line 63: / Line 75: @@
 ''Photo: Regina Alioto''
-[[Image:Southern-pacific-roundhouse-1942.jpg|720px]]
+[[Image:Ann Rosener 2 women laughing at SP yard service-pnp-fsa-8b09000-8b09900-8b09912v.jpg|800px]]
-'''Young men at work for Southern Pacific.'''
+'''Two women laughing at the Southern Pacific yard during WWII.'''
+''Photo: Ann Rosener, Library of Congress''
+[[Image:Ann Rosener Women railroad workers take over the cars and maintenance of freight and passenger trains in the Southern Pacific Company yards at San Francisco service-pnp-fsa-8b09000-8b09900-8b09911v.jpg|800px]]
+'''Women railroad workers take over the cars and maintenance of freight and passenger trains in the Southern Pacific company yards in San Francisco, c. 1943.'''
+''Photo: Ann Rosener, Library of Congress''
-''Photo: Regina Alioto''
 <iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/mission-bay-railyards-1963-from-lost-landscapes-no-1" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>
@@ Line 75: / Line 94: @@
 ''Video: Prelinger Archive''
-[[category:Mission Bay]] [[category:Dogpatch]] [[category:Transit]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:Italian]] [[category:1910s]]
+[[category:Mission Bay]] [[category:Dogpatch]] [[category:Transit]] [[category:1900s]][[category:1910s]][[category:1930s]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:2020s]] [[category:Italian]] [[category:women]]