| Constructed as a "temporary" structure to serve the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition, Southern Pacifics Third and Townsend Streets depot lasted into the mid-1970s. It was SPs intention to eventually build a permanent "downtown depot" at the foot of Market Street, but this never came about. By the 1970s the station building was so dilapidated that SP was finally forced to replace it - with a structure one block south at Fourth and Townsend. By June 1975, the old station had had its tracks removed, Fourth Street has been extended through the old platforms, and preparations were under way to raze the structure. Over the years, this was the home of a daily parade of commuter trains, as well as the famed "Coast Daylight" and so many other "name trains" ("The Noon Daylight," "The Del Monte," etc.). |