OHB -- Webster Street Lead

Representing what was once real-life SPC trackage into downtown Oakland, the Webster Street Lead was orignally chartered as the Oakland Township Railroad (controlled by the SPC). I imagine that by 1955, connection is made through the Posey Tube (tunnel) under the inner harbor estuary and electric passenger service on this link is now part of the Key System. (In real life, only automobiles go through the tube, but I'll add the RR tracks.) OHB freight service to downtown Oakland industries will be via an electric box motor with an interchange to the Alameda District at Mastick Yard. Parent WP also uses this connection for transfer interchange runs to Fernside Yard.

OHB freight service over this trackage will be via an electric box motor (with a suggestion of overhead wire on the layout). I imagine electrification continuing for a short distance to Mastick Junction Yard on the Alameda District to allow for interchange of cars with the rest of the OHB. We'll stipulate that city fathers don't allow diesel locomotives to operate in the tube except between 2 am and 4 am, so the WP uses that window to operate transfer runs to- and from Fernside Yard on the Alameda District through the Posey Tube.

Current plans are for the Webster St. Lead to occupy a separate layout section, with no physical connection to the Alameda District deck. Instead, Mastick Junction yard will exist in both places and we'll link the two non-contiguous locations via operations and staging.

The Oakland prototype and imagined "enhancements"

The map above has prototypical details derived from Sanborn maps and other information as well as my "proto-freelanced" additions. The red dotted lines show where the Nimitz Freeway (now I-880) passes through the area today as identification for readers familiar with the area. Although it's likely that there would be some excavation or other Freeway work going on in the area in 1955, I am choosing to exclude it from the modeled scene.

The OHB freight operations share the imagineered two-track electrified line through the Posey Tube, surfacing in Oakland in Harrison Street just beyond 3rd (this is where today's highway-only Posey Tube emerges). On the model, these tracks will be coming from the "second' model of Mastick Yard, providing for simulated exchange of cars between the electrified trackage and the Alameda District.

In real life, a small Western Pacific yard was actually near the Oakland end of the Posey Tube and is shown on the map. I imagine the joint OHB/Key systems track to curve to meet Webster, with an electrified spur connecting to the real-life WP. This connection would allow the OHB box motor to gather cars from a small interchange with the WP for delivery to industries on the Webster Street Lead.

The industries shown were all in these general locations at some time between the early 'teens and 1952, although there may be some blending of eras to make for a better model railroad. All the major industries noted are candidates for inclusion in the modeled Webster Street Lead, depending on the final configuration. In real life, the Haslett Warehouse and Oakland Plumbing locations near Webster and Third were served by the WP, but in my alternative history, the SPC (and now OHB) has the business. Both industries were actively shipping by rail in the '50s. I have not discovered any indication that the Lucky Stores (grocery) warehouses were served by rail in my research so far, but they will likely be good customers for the OHB.

Oakland's Chinatown is centered on 8th and Webster and so there is the possibility of some interesting urban modeling if I can manage to include this area in the layout.

It may be interesting to note that I have developed sketched maps for each of the OHB switching districts as a guide to layout planning. In some cases, these are just pencil-on-paper, but Webster Street has some of the most substantial freelanced enhancements, so I prepared a more presentable map to help communicate the essence of the imagined prototype. That's why there's more "fodder" available for this web page and the reason Webster Street has more information than some of the other (arguably more important) areas

Operations on the Webster Street Lead

Depending on the final layout configuration, there may be room for a small yard at 11th and Webster, representing the vestige of SPC's freight yard that once occupied the area. That might be a good place for a few tracks to remain, serving as a team track, car storage, and perhaps a small car barn for the box motor. Crews might go "on duty" there, and make the first run down Webster and through the tube to Mastick Yard to pick up cars bound for the Webster St. industries while also delivering "yesterday's" cars to the OHB on Alameda (these will be mostly cars bound for the ATSF via the car float on the Alaska Basin district).

On their return through the tube, the Webster Street crew could pull from the WP interchange, putting cars into spotting order using the WP tracks. On a real railroad, the crew would probably plan to "go to beans" after this task. Next order of business would be making pulls and spots at the various industries reached from Webster Street. Outbound cars would go back to the WP or be stored at the 11th St. yard for the next run to Alameda, as directed by their waybills.

I'd like to add some specific timing to some of these moves, representing city ordinances and practical considerations for freight switching via busy city streets. Hopefully the Webster Street Lead will provide a lot of operating enjoyment.

Layout Design

Due to the rework of the overall layout design to allow better access to the parked auto, my original trackplan for Webster Street will not longer fit. But since so many have asked, here's a view of the earlier plan in the former space. Please note that this was not a final plan and has some errors and/or would have needed some tuning.

Sharp-eyed readers will note that the industries in this version did not end up exactly where the prototype industries were located, but I was able to include many of them. This is one of the great advantages of creating a sketch of the imagineered prototype (or, in this case, the imagined extensions to the prototype industries). The opportunities and alternatives are more easily seen with the map at hand, although locations are not carved in stone.

This version fit a space roughly 8' X 10'. This was a lot of area to devote to a secondary location and the new version will likely be more limited in space. One of the key elements of this design was the visible Mastick staging yard, duplicating the Mastick yard on the Alameda District deck. This yard is behind the backdrop (in gold) and would not be seen by the crew working the Webster Street Lead proper. Rather, they would walk around the peninsula when it was time to work Mastick, then walk back to Webster Street. Pausing the train between the two sides would simulate the time "in the tube" between the two locations.

As noted in the operations discussion above, the crew would work this visible yard as an interchange with the rest of the OHB. Cars from Mastick, along with those picked up from the WP interchange tracks, would then be switched to the industries on the rest of this deck.

This was not a final layout design and likely would have needed some modifications. The small yard was intended to be tight, but might have proved too limiting in actual practice. The industries are large, which I liked, but perhaps the staging yard and WP interchange tracks were not quite adequate for the long industry tracks. One of the other elements I was happy with that I'm carrying over to the new design is a real sense of the blocks in the street grid. At least in one dimension, the full blocks are actually either 300' or 400' to scale on a side.

I designed with a fairly conservative 9.5" minimum radius. Once a box motor is built, I will test it with smaller radii to see if it's possible to go even tighter in capturing the essence of electrified downtown freight service. I expect that it will be possible to reduce the radius and this will enhance the plan.

I hope that you have enjoyed this look at the interim Webster Street Lead. Though I won't have as much space at my disposal for the current version, I did have fun with the design and it's provided a great foundation for the final version.