Many of the railroad tracks serving the piers, drydocks, etc. at Hunters
Point can be seen on Google Maps. Search for Hunters Point Naval Shipyard,
San Francisco, CA, zoom in on some of the docks and switch to satellite
view. Much of the trackage can be seen pretty clearly. Some of the tracks
closest to the edges of the piers were frequently (mainly?) used for large
cranes that moved about on the railroad tracks. I've seen photos online
somewhere (search on Google Images I guess) that showed some evidence of
freight cars in the shipyard but most of the old photos were focused on the
ships, not the trains (no accounting for taste I guess, but it is a
shipyard). Anyone know what railroad(s) served the shipyard - I assume that
trackage inside the yard was military/US Govt. operated.

John Wark


On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 12:28 PM, Anthony Thompson <
thompson@...> wrote:

Throughout her service life, IOWA visited San Francisco a number of
times, I believe. Do you happen to know if Navy berthing and/or
drydocks in the area had railroad trackage adjacent to moorings or
close by? I've long wondered if rail wouldn't be the most efficient
way to resupply the Navy's massive ships, and, in particular, the
IOWAs. I'd like to create a diorama of IOWA and such rail service,
if it existed.

Yes, the cruisers and battleships were often at Hunters Point,
where a large enough crane was available to lift an entire turret from
the ship for repair work. The slip with that crane, and all other
slips there, had ample rail alongside, usually double tracks on each
side. I know because I've been all through that shipyard, now closed
as a Navy facility but open to the public as its ownership transitions
to the City and County of San Francisco. The areas adjoining the slips
are of course nearly all paved, so practically all that trackage is
inset in concrete or asphalt.

Tony Thompson
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937;
e-mail: thompsonmarytony@... <thompsonmarytony%40sbcglobal.net>