The Fastest Slow Guy You Know: Fast Electric Train, "The Comet," Crossing Lake Temescal, Oakland, Antioch and Eastern Railway postcard

Saturday, June 6, 2020

Fast Electric Train, "The Comet," Crossing Lake Temescal, Oakland, Antioch and Eastern Railway postcard

I usually like to do 'then and now' posts about these old postcards, but this one is tough, because the vantage point of the photographer is now under about 10-20' of earth, and above that earth is a PG&E electric substation that is off-limits.

Fast Electric Train, "The Comet," Crossing Lake Temescal; O. A. & E. Ry.

Going to Sacramento?
Ride in comfort. Observation Cars. Fast Electric Trains. Block signals all the way. Through trains from San Francisco and Oakland to Marysville, Colusa, Oriville, and Chico.
OAKLAND, ANTIOCH, & EASTERN RAILWAY

I never understood exactly where these trestles were, because I ride the "Landvale Station Trail" bike path on my bicycle, and I don't go over water. The photographer would have been standing on the northern bank of Temescal creek, where it fed the dammed Lake Temescal, facing south, looking at the ridge over which is Contra Costa road. That spot is now within the PG&E substation, where I can't go to take this picture. Here's a rough equivalent:

This view is from google maps, with Satellite 3D view on, rotated to view the lake and southern shore approximately (zoomed out a bit) where the postcard photograph would have been taken. The rails-to-trails bike path is out of view, in front of the viewer. I will try to snap a pic from a bike ride to show it as well.

This is my best attempt at getting a photo from the same approximate location, now. I'm standing south of the PG&E station, about 30' north of the bike path / railroad alignment. That's my wife, waiting for me to take the picture, and I'm looking SSW, roughly the same direction as the original photo. The ground you see, that I'm standing on is all fill over the original Temescal Canyon. What a difference from then to now!

The Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Railway later became part of the Sacramento Northern Railway.

Here are some map views, first a 1912 Map of Oakland and Vicinity, Realty Union georeferenced overlay showing how the railroad trestle once crossed an arm of the lake: