The Richmond Pacific Railroad is a terminal railroad

Terminal Railroad

Terminal Railroad or Terminal Railway may refer to:*Terminal railroad, a railroad that operates a terminal facility*Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks*Terminal Railway of Buffalo, predecessor of the New York Central Railroad...

 owned by the Levin-Richmond Terminal Corporation. The RPRC operates on 2.5 miles (4 km) of track in the shipping terminal and wharves at Richmond, California

Richmond, California

Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...

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The RPRC also interchanges with the Union Pacific (UP) and BNSF Railway

BNSF Railway

The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...

 (BNSF). The shipping tariff is a flat rate of $210 per car or $310 per hazardous material car. The railroad operates two shifts, between 6 a.m. - 10 p.m. The railroad switches about 3,250 cars per year.

The RPRC was formerly known as the Parr Terminal Railroad .

History

The PRT was incorporated in July 1950 as a terminal railroad to take over the private railroad of Parr-Richmond Industrial Corporation. In 1911, Terminal 1 was constructed as the primary port of the Port of Richmond. In the 1930s the City of Richmond entered an agreement with the Parr Company to operate the terminal. The terminal area was primarily used to unload oil crude from ship to storage tanks that supplied the local oil refineries. It also was used to transfer ship cargo to rail cars. The terminal was used as a ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 terminal prior to the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...

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During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 the U.S. military created the Parr-Richmond Terminal Military Reservation. The military reservation was created as the result of a lease of 6.54 acres (26,466.5 m²) dated April 19, 1943 at the Parr terminal area. The location was used to support World War II efforts and as warehouse/storage for military shipping at the Port of San Francisco

Port of San Francisco

The Port of San Francisco lies on the western edge of the San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate. It has been called one of the three great natural harbors in the world, but it took two long centuries for navigators from Spain and England to find the anchorage originally called Yerba Buena...

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Further reading

• List of California railroads
• Pacific Rail News, May 1996 issue.