About the Depot:
· The depot was formally opened in 1915, and it was built
to open in conjunction with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition,
which was held in San Francisco
the same year. The PPIE celebrated the opening of the Panama
Canal.
· It, along with several other depots all over the state,
was built in the popular “Mission Revival” style of the time.
· Located
at 3rd and Townsend Streets, it was just a few blocks trolley
ride from SP’s headquarters building and the Union Ferry Depot, both at the
foot of Market Street.
· The depot was officially Southern Pacific’s milepost
0.0, and was the northern most depot on their Coast
Line Route.
· The depot was the northern most destination for Southern
Pacific’s famous Coast Line “Daylight” trains numbers 98-99, thought to be
“the most beautiful trains in the world.”
· Upon opening, 25 arrivals and 25 departures of passenger
trains were scheduled each day.
· It served passengers for 60 years until the arrival of
the wrecking ball in 1975. Its demise was due the need for a new freeway
off ramp. The freeway was a considered to be a severe blight to San
Francisco’s picturesque waterfront and Embarcadero
areas, that it was doomed to the wrecking ball as well.
· The station was replaced by a nondescript structure with
no architectural significance, and the northern “end of the line” for CalTrain’s commuter line.
