old_gold_mountain OP t1_j3jsdem wrote on January 9, 2023 at 1:29 AM

#1,312,579

This is from a little snippet of a YouTube documentary I made about the history of ferryboats on the San Francisco Bay:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duKJ8eNFklI&t=95s

The Western Pacific terminal was one of several railroad terminals that different companies used on the West end of the Transcontinental Railroad. Today, two of them remain as they did originally: This one, which is now offices, and the 16th Street station, which sits abandoned today: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_station_%28Oakland%29

Most travelers on the transcontinental railroad who were headed into San Francisco used ferryboats to finish their trip, as there was no rail crossing at the time connecting the rail line directly into San Francisco. The railroads operated their own large passenger and vehicle ferries (kind of like what they have in Seattle today). And the transfer stations were pretty huge and impressive:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Long_Wharf

Today, there is only one subway line connecting the East Bay to San Francisco, and San Francisco still has no Amtrak station. Passengers still have to transfer in the East Bay, but they can either transfer to BART at Richmond or connect to an Amtrak thruway bus at Emeryville to cross the bridge.

AnimusFlux t1_j3k1aoo wrote on January 9, 2023 at 2:32 AM

#1,313,017

Replying to old_gold_mountain (#1,312,579)

Cool video. I've always been curious about the old relics of the railroad systems in the bay and what things looked like back in those days.

SpectralSolid t1_j3kv4e4 wrote on January 9, 2023 at 6:39 AM

#1,314,276

I fucking hate cars.

CaBabaSiMitralier t1_j3lfx88 wrote on January 9, 2023 at 11:14 AM

#1,315,020

"Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got"

FreeQ t1_j3mh42h wrote on January 9, 2023 at 4:23 PM

#1,316,822

I know that building never knew it’s history thank you

brandonmowat t1_j3mrjx7 wrote on January 9, 2023 at 5:28 PM

#1,317,277

cars destroyed our cities and our planet. there are so many of these stories from all over the world. we need to learn from our mistakes — it’s not too late.

r2k-in-the-vortex t1_j3ms29c wrote on January 9, 2023 at 5:31 PM

#1,317,301

Not really 100 years ago vs now, nothing really has changed about the building. The difference is in the artists perspective. The contemporary artist saw this monumental building, but if you look at it today, it's just not there, newer was, it's just a run of the mill railway terminal. It was merely the artist being a bit short of experience with buildings that are actually monumental.