The Oakland Terminal Railway was a

terminal railroad A switching and terminal railroad is a freight railroad company whose primary purpose is to perform local switching services or to own and operate a terminal facility. Switching is a type of operation done within the limits of a yard. It genera ...

in West

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. The OTR was jointly acquired in 1943 by the

Western Pacific Railroad The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...

and

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

to take over the

Key System The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany, and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area fr ...

's freight railroad known as the Oakland Terminal ''Railroad''. Today, the OTR is now the West Oakland Pacific Railroad that operates on 10 miles of track. OTR was jointly owned by the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

and

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

. The railroad operated in the industrial area around the

Oakland Army Base The Oakland Army Base, also known as the Oakland Army Terminal, is a decommissioned United States Army base in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The base was located at the Port of Oakland on Maritime Street just south of the eastern entran ...

. The OTR interchanged with the ATSF near the Southern Pacific 16th Street Station in Oakland. The OTR also interchanged with the Western Pacific via

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...

over the Key System from Emeryville to the

Sacramento Northern The Sacramento Northern Railway (reporting mark SN) was a electric interurban railway that connected Chico in northern California with Oakland via the California capital, Sacramento. In its operation it ran directly on the streets of Oakland ...

(a WP subsidiary) terminal at 40th and Shafter Streets in Oakland. It is no longer in service.

Oakland Terminal Railroad

The Oakland Terminal ''Railroad'' was the predecessor of the Oakland Terminal Railway. The Railroad was formed in 1935 by the Railway Realty & Equipment Company, Ltd. to handle the Key System's freight customers. The Railroad operated over Key System's A, B and C lines and the Key Systems freight-only tracks on 26th Street and along the waterfront. In 1943 the Key System sold the Oakland Terminal Railroad to the Western Pacific and the Santa Fe Railway. The Oakland Terminal Railroad was renamed the Oakland Terminal Railway. Because it operated over some of the Key System, some of the switching was performed by electric locomotives.

References

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External links

WOPR Official Site
California railroads Western Pacific Railroad BNSF Railway Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Rail transportation in Oakland, California Railway freight terminals in the United States Companies based in Oakland, California Switching and terminal railroads {{California-transport-stub Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway lines

Oakland Terminal Railroad

See also

References

External links