Tip of The Loop – the Shelter, the Creek, and the Cut

The rounded or tip portion of the Lafayette Loop provided access to the growing center of Lafayette, here shown in an east view from 1946. The key SN landmarks are marked in yellow. The SN crossed Las Trampas Creek just to the east, or right, of the substation. Note the palms on Moraga Boulevard, formerly called Palm Drive.

L41-05-Courtesy Contra Costa County Historical Society, 7348 Detail , (Image 1 of 18)

Two aerial views highlight the transformation of orchards to a suburban enclave. The yellow arrow marks the passenger shelter at the SN W Lafayette flagstop. The blue arrows show the intact crossing of Las Trampas Creek, 1939, and in revision, 1958. The substation is marked by the orange arrows. Refs. left, USDA AAA Western Division Laboratories BUU-280-102, Jul. 25, 1939; right, CCC Planning Department 1958, CCCHS 13534. Both details.

L41-10-Courtesy East Bay Municipal Utility District and Contra Costa County Historical Society, (Image 2 of 18)

This west view of a three-car SN 1014-led train approaching the shelter at West Lafayette circa 1940 complements the east view of the shelter in the last update, L40-75. The position and number of wires on the railroad utility poles will be important identifying markers for this area.

L41-15-Richard Jenevein Photo, Courtesy Tom Gray , (Image 3 of 18)

Longtime SN employees Charles Gsell, brakeman, and conductor Ernest “Knobby" Knobloch, standing left to right, pose with SN 1014 to the west of the shelter at W Lafayette in 1941. The position and number of wires on the railroad utility pole, the extended platform, and the view of orchards down School Street establish the location.

L41-20-Dudley Thickens Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 60844sn, (Image 4 of 18)

Now ahead to the post-passenger era, May 31, 1952, the railroad poles mark the spot that Tom Gray took this northwest view of SN 661 as the end of School Street. Note the next black relay box on the pole to the far left. The house to the right is one of the few structures still left from this time period that survives in the Loop.

L41-25-Tom Gray Photo, Courtesy Tom Gray, (Image 5 of 18)

A northwest image from 2012 shows the house in L41-25, now remodeled and with a separate addition, seen to the left of the utility pole.

L41-30-Stuart Swiedler Photo, (Image 6 of 18)

The black relay box on the railroad pole seen in L41-25 now comes into view as we move west in this circa 1952 west view of SN 661. The motor sits on the overpass of the Las Trampas crossing at the mile 23 marker. The rock just in front of the marker is also a clue for this location for L41-40.

L41-35-Norman Smith Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 55599.1sn, (Image 7 of 18)

An SN excursion passes over the creek, west view, undated. The only unsettling detail is the lack of the mile marker. The overpass structure, the rock, the railroad poles, and the curvature of the rail with the cut just ahead place this image in the Loop, but it has not been possible to verify that the mile marker was ever removed.

L41-40-Dave Gumz Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 60840sn, (Image 8 of 18)

Inspection train photos, such as this southeast one of MW 302 and 301 from May 13, 1947, provide invaluable documentation of the Lafayette city environs. The grass obscures the rock, but, otherwise, all the right clues are visible in this southeast view.

L41-45-Dudley Thickens Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 60850sn, (Image 9 of 18)

While Tom Gray shot SN 661 in L41-25, Al Thoman had already captured another key image to the west by the crossing of Las Trampas Creek. This is the only known image showing the relative position of the SN substation to the creek overpass, plus it includes lots of information about the utility poles in the area.

L41-50-Al Thoman Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 7144sn, (Image 10 of 18)

Wilbur Whittaker’s north view of a three-car train with SN 1024 at the rear places us at the south end, or Oakland end, of the the Lafayette Cut. The open windows in the train are indicative of a hot day in Lafayette, June 18, 1939.

L41-55-Wilbur C. Whittaker Photo, Courtesy James Dolan and Garth Groff, (Image 11 of 18)

The image of the cut from the south side with a north view from Nov. 28, 1935 provides the major landmarks of this important section of the SN right-of-way. The simple fence, the oaks and the cut walls share many features with the cut further east near present day Pleasant Hill Road and Olympic Boulevard. More on this later.

L41-60-Dudley Thickens Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 60843sn, (Image 12 of 18)

Less than 4 years later, Mar. 17, 1939, little has changed in the cut, save for the presence of a two car train with SN 1022 as trailer in this north view.

L41-65-Charles Savage Photo, Courtesy Tom Gray, (Image 13 of 18)

With time, the cut did become populated with grasses as seen with SN 661 and an additional motor, north view, circa 1950.

L41-70-Tom Gray Photo, Courtesy Tom Gray, (Image 14 of 18)

Images taken from the hillsides above the cut were not found, and only this image was identified of the cut from the north end with a south view. It is from a glass plate negative from the 1910s, and shows the original Oakland and Antioch railroad poles.

L41-75-Sappers Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 24193sn, (Image 15 of 18)

Given its rarity, a detail from L41-75 is provided here. South view, 1910s.

L41-80-Sappers Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 24193sn Detail, (Image 16 of 18)

Diversion of untreated water from the Mokelumne Aqueducts to the Upper San Leandro Reservoir through the tip and western section of the Loop in the early 1970s preserved this open space, and more to the south, for the East Bay Regional Park District for the Lafayette-Moraga Trail. Pictured are the Moraga Pumping Station and bridge over Las Trampas Creek.

L41-85-Stuart Swiedler Photos, (Image 17 of 18)

Beyond the cut, this Nov. 14, 1956 northeast view shows the SN tracks continuing along the curve past the Foye Drive grade crossing. Once on a southeastern trajectory, formation of the double track section seen in this view signaled the arrival to the Lafayette flagstop and facilities, a topic for the next visit to the Loop.

L41-90-Copyright California Department of Transportation, 5208-9 Detail, (Image 18 of 18)