In 1889 the State Belt Railroad (SBR) was one of a number of railroads established in a newly developing San Francisco. SBR ran along the Embarcadero[1] , connecting waterfront piers to nearby industries and warehouses. The piers and the railroad sat on landfill and, because this land did not exist at the time San Francisco was surveyed to become part of the State of California, SBR was owned and operated by the State. SBR originally owned 12 steam locomotives and eventually added two diesel engines. The SBR roadhouse was located on the block bordered by Samson/Lombard/Embarcadero/Chestnut and still exists today as a converted commercial building. The two-gauge track that ran between Fisherman’s Wharf[2] and the South Pacific depot in China Basin was shared with both the North Pacific Coast and the South Pacific Coast Railroads. While the distance between the north and south terminals was only 3 miles, there was 67 miles of track.
In 1913 the northern end of SBR was extended into the Marina District so that building materials and supplies could be transported for the upcoming 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition[3]. A single-track tunnel was dug through the Fort Mason[4] hill. After the Exposition this extension was requisitioned by the US Army (the Federal Government owned all the waterfront land from Fort Mason, around Lands End[5] and along Ocean Beach[6] to Fort Funston[7]) to transport materials to Fort Mason for the construction of a Port of Embarkation. Wanting to extend this line even further to connect Fort Mason to the Presidio[8], the Federal Government offered to donate the Palace of Fine Arts, the only remaining relic of the Expo, to the City in exchange for permission to build track along today’s Marina Blvd. During World War II[9] this spur line transported soldiers and supplies back and forth between the Presidio and the Port of Embarkation. When Fort Mason was deactivated in 1966, the spur line was taken out of service and in 2012 the tracks along Marina Blvd were removed.
In 1969 the State sold the Embarcadero land and SBR to the City. The name of the railroad changed to the San Francisco Belt Railroad and continued to operate until 1993 when it went out of business and the tracks were abandoned. In 1987 MUNI[10] operated a demonstration streetcar service (the E-Line) along SBR’s tracks from Fisherman’s Wharf to the CalTrain[11] station at 4th and King two days a week for a little over five weeks. It was temporarily resurrected in 2013 to transport spectators to the 2013 America’s Cup[12] . On August 1, 2015 the E-Line opened for weekend service and offered everyday service the following year. It was during this time that San Francisco’s Citizens’ Advisory Council[13] looked into extending the E-Line from Fisherman’s Wharf to the Presidio, re-opening the Fort Mason tunnel. However, the cost was projected to be upwards of $50 million with only 1600 additional daily passengers expected and the project was tabled. The Fort Mason tunnel remains abandoned and is closed to the public.
Service of the E-Line was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it has yet to resume. However, the F-Line, which travels from Fisherman’s Wharf to the Ferry Building[14] before turning onto Market, connects to the KT Tram that travels from the Ferry Building to the CalTrain Station.
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[1] Embarcadero: story coming September 19th [2] Fisherman’s Wharf: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4431 [3] 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition: story coming February 20th [4] Fort Mason: story coming October 1st [5] Land End: story coming Marcch 20th [6] Ocean Beach: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=5243 [7] Fort Funston: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3821 [8] Presidio: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=5121 [9] World War II: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4222 [10] MUNI: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4304 [11] Cal Train: story coming August 18th [12] America’s Cup: story coming September 15th [13] Visit them at www.sfmta.com [14] Ferry Building: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=5219
