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These pages focus on the railroads through the Washington Township from 1866 to 1917. The Washington Township is Southern Alameda County, the current day cities of Fremont, Union City, and Newark.

The first question was "How did  over 300 fully grown palms make their way from Niles to San Francisco in 1914 in time for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition?" There was no Bay Bridge. Around the south bay and north? or? Answers here and here.

Along the way, some beautiful photos surfaced of an un-finished railroad through Alameda Cañon.

A second set of questions arose over time about those photos: 

• "When were those photos taken?"

• "Where was the final work done that completed the Transcontinental Railroad from Sacramento to the San Francisco Bay?"

• "Where was the actual 'last spike' driven that connected the SF Bay to Sacramento and hence to the rest of the Transcontinental railroad? Was it really in Alameda Cañon like the local legend says?"

• "What evidence is there that there were Chinese workers along this line in Southern Alameda County? "

As with everything, a greater context is needed to understand even a single question. ? It has only been in the last few years that the Chinese workers have been given credit for their work on the Transcontinental Railroad.

 
The work here in Alameda Cañon was part of a greater project - the transcontinental railroad. Some context follows...