State Belt Railroad of California

Company History: The SBRC opened in 1889 to provide rail service to the San Francisco waterfront. The line would peak with 67 miles of track. State Belt did connect with the Southern Pacific in San Francisco but the interchange with other railroads was affected through car float operations across the San Francisco Bay. Initially, some of the line was dual gauge to permit them to switch cars from the 3’ gauge South Pacific Coast Railway floated from the East Bay and the North Pacific Coast Railroad in Sausalito.

The first locomotive was a 2-4-2T, later joined by 0-4-2T’s but they would later settle on a fleet of 0-6-0’s. They dieselized with a fleet of six Alco S2’s. In 1969 the Port of San Francisco including the railroad was purchased by the city and the railroad was reorganized as the San Francisco Belt Railroad.

Successor/Parent History: The SFBR was established in 1969 when the city of San Francisco bought the State Belt Railroad of California and the port facilities from the state and renamed the railroad San Francisco Belt Railroad. The line was run with a pair of Alco S-2 switchers that were included in the deal. SFBR ran about 20 miles of industrial trackage around the waterfront. They connected with Southern Pacific in the city and with Santa Fe, SP’s Northwestern Pacific and Western Pacific via carfloat. Rail served industries had already begun fleeing the area and the SFBR finally closed in 1993.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.