16th Street Train Station — Attraction in Oakland

Striking, stunning architectural gem with enormous historical value pertaining to railroad development and expansion in Estados Unidos. Dr. Stephanie Johnson's Light Essence temporary public art installation, Binding Ties, told some of a compelling and engaging story of Oakland's unique multicultural contributions to that phenom in sound, oral history word, archival imagery, and live performance. Thanks to Oakland's Public Art Program, Cultural Arts Division for its support of the original 2 months of weekends long offering in 1991 (!) and the Oakland Theater Project anniversary production remix for 3 long weekends at the same site, with advanced projection technologies 30 years later, in 2021. Thanks to the original soundtrack designers in 1991, who made the story come alive, the remix sound designer and the performance artist in 2021 who made it breathe again. Looks like the building is under renovation! Bueno. It was a grand station in its day (before the Jack London version existed). Let's see what grand visions it will evoke in...

Railroad fans Leonard Aho & Gunnar Henrioulle missed ferry from SF Ferry Builing durung Easter week 1957, and rode the Key Elecric train across Bay Bridge to catch Sacramento train at 16th Street Station. We got advice frrom Key motorman to get off at 14th & Adeline and follow 14th to SP tracks and go to Station There was a fenced freeway enroute then, and climbing chain link fences both sides was an unexpected challenge.

Earlier that day we had seen SP GS 4 steam engine #4443 hot at the West Oakland Roundhouse, being prepped for cameo appearance in the Sinatra "Pal Joey" movie. Looked at retired SF "Iron Monster/Battleship" streetcars in SF later on, stayed too late to catch ferry. 'New' 1100 PCC Street Cars from St Louis replaced the monsters.

Local woman on front porch along the way on 14th advised us teen age white boys to run- do not walk! We lived to...

This is the former Southern Pacific Oakland Central Station, built in 1912 on what was then the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. Last train service was in 1994 and the city has been struggling ever since to preserve and restore this landmark of a bygone transportation era. It still has its elevated platforms that once interchanged with East Bay Electric Lines, an...