Station Building Mark 3 Mockup Now on Layout and the Remains of the SP yard at Port Costa

I have been consumed these past couple of weeks with the latest illustration board mockup version of the Port Costa station building.  It has many changes from earlier versions and is hopefully the final mockup that will stand in for the final model until I get the urge to replace it with a novelty siding final version. This is hopefully the best guess at the door and window arrangement on the non-track side. 

The station building is hidden behind trees from the normal north looking view of my layout.  The mirror currently against the wall shows the location in reverse view.  Holding the phone camera at a low angle on the layout shows more as in the top and bottom view. 

This is the full view on the workbench of the track side with the back side wall in front.

The windows and entry doors are all from Tichy which has the wide variety of plastic castings needed for the several types/shapes of windows.  The baggage room doors are Grandt Line (sadly missed these days) door frames with correct 5 pane transoms and scratch built doors to the SP design.

The arrangement of the trackside windows is well documented from photos.  This past year I was able to find the 1930 proposed floor plan for the station when the original trackside station near the second ferry slip was cut up and moved after the opening of the Martinez to Benecia lift bridge at the end of 1930. However the plan is not what was built. The plan was shortened from 106 feet in length to about 90 feet.  I have several pictures from the trackside but only two very high angle photos of the backside. I had to guess at the changes to the floorplan.  The CSRM being closed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic these last 13 months has inhibited any further research on site. The available documents online only included the 1930 proposed plan. 

This sketch map shows the station site move:

 I am not sure if any passenger services stopped at Port Costa after the bridge opened. Crockett and Martinez had nearby stations and the greatly reduced SP activity at Port Costa would have reduced the need for a stopping service.  It takes about 15 minutes to drive to Crocket and 20 to Martinez these days.  

Speaking of these days, I took advantage of our very dry February weather to visit Port Costa and see if there were any remains of the SP complex left.  It had been leveled in the 1960's when SP tried to lease/sell the land but there were no takers and it remains a gravel parking lot.  The only visible trace was the concrete walkway in back of the station building and ramp at the west side of the building.

The walkway and retaining wall for the level where the section house and water treatment building stood

The ramp at the north end of the station building

The parking lot. The station would have been behind the white truck at left. This view would have been of the sand house and west end of the yard. The mainline is just visible and the Carquinez strait beyond it.  

I can't take a photo for a backdrop of the Benicia hills beyond the strait as they are now covered with houses and strait side docks.  In the 1950's, photos show barren hills beyond the water.