16th Street Station, Oakland
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Tracks, 1972Oakland was the original western terminus of the transcontinental railroad. As part of the early 20th C. nationwide system of Union Stations, a new building was commissioned and designed by the Chicago architect, Jarvis Hunt, in the neo-classical revival style called Beaux Arts. Construction began on January 21, 1911, and the 16th Street Station opened in 1917. Amtrak took over the Station in 1971. The building was condemned and abandoned after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. For photographs of how the ruined Stations looks now, see the flickr group 16th Street Station and Katherine Westerhout. -
Waiting RoomWhen you look at old photographs you don't see history, that is, you're not looking at the past. Objectively, it's the present you see, that you're aware of. You're in the present moment that was then. — Simon J. Ortiz -
WaitingThe Station was empty, no trains due until the 4:30 to Sacramento. That afternoon the light filtered through huge vaulted windows set beneath the dome of a grand ceiling. Dust filtered down in the slanted sunlight. We walked through the echoing lobby, squeaking over the veined marble floors, running hands over the gilt-edged woodwork. -
PlatformThe Southern Pacific 16th Street Terminal was the hub of a locomotive and electric rail system conceived as the Bay Area's ultimate transportation system. See Daniel Levy's amazing historical reconstruction Rail and Wire. -
from the TracksA nostaligia for empire resides in the Beaux Arts movement, adopted from the French. -
Recreation RoomVending coin machines with a sign above that read, "Get Tags Here." -
Photographer Reflected + RifleIt was my first camera, a Nikon EF that the camera guy recommended. He set up the enlarger too, and helped seal the light cracks with foil in the little wooden shed behind our rented house. He bought the chemicals and the Bravira paper from the photo store where he worked and the book on the Zone System I never read. -
Toy RifleIt was like entering a side chapel, the light brilliant through the arched window at the end, Past that the Recreation Room opened, full of silent pinball machines and a fake rifle waiting for target practice. -
Tokyo-RomeEarly pinball machine operated with levers. -
Shine ManHe was a thin, quiet man who said "Shore" when I asked if I could photograph him. I didn't know if it was all right to photograph a black man shining shoes, but he just kept doing his job, buffing up for his 4:30 customer. I hurried the camera, blurring his face, and moved past into the alcove beyond. -
Shine Man SmileWest Oakland became a hub in the Pullman system, and many African-
American porters settled there with their families. In 1925 Pullman porters formed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters [BSCP] as a militant labor union, with an office on Seventh Street and C.L. Dellums as the local leader. See Mary and Adrian Praetzellis, See link Black is Beautiful: From Porters to Panthers in West Oakland. -
Shine StationBy the time Amtrak took over in 1971 the porters and the passenger train were in decline. The shine man still worked at the end of the great hall underneath a landscape painting by an early plein-aire painter, probably of Donner Summit.
