Fort Mason Tunnel is an abandoned single-track railway tunnel in San Francisco which runs under a small hill upon which sits a portion of the old Fort Mason. The tunnel was constructed in 1913 and opened to rail traffic in 1914.[1] The east portal is near the north end of Van Ness Avenue; the west portal feeds onto Marina Boulevard at Laguna Street.
 The west portal of the Fort Mason Tunnel in disuse as seen in June 2017 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Line | State Belt Railroad |
| Location | San Francisco, California |
| Coordinates | 37°48′19″N 122°25′52″W / 37.8054°N 122.43118°W |
| Start | Van Ness |
| End | Marina Bl. at Laguna St. |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1914 |
| Closed | 1993 |
| Owner | National Park Service |
| Character | Tunnel |
| Technical | |
| No. of tracks | 1 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
History
The tunnel's construction served several purposes. The rail link supplied goods and mass transit to the Panama Pacific International Exposition the following year; the U.S. Army utilized the line for construction of the port of embarkation at Fort Mason.[2] The tunnel operated as part of the State Belt Railroad until the route's suspension in 1993. A portion of the movie Dirty Harry was filmed on either side of the tunnel in 1971.[3]
Future
Fort Mason extension | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In 2012, the National Park Service released a final environmental impact report on providing extended service through the tunnel to the San Francisco Municipal Railway F Market & Wharves line.[4] The cost of refurbishment and extension of the rail line was estimated at $60 million in 2017.[5]