It’s been some 160 plus years since the first train made its way across the Altamont Hills from the Northern San Joaquin Valley floor on its way to Oakland.

Oakland, and not Sacramento, was the real “final” terminus of the transcontinental railroad.

Once it was up and running it became the engine — both literally and figuratively — that powered  California’s growth as the luster of westward migration from the Gold Rush era was fading.

Instead of taking months and combatting treacherous elements and geography by either sailing by ship via Cape Horn or using a wagon, it took under four days by rail.

The ability to move goods and people from one side of the continent to the other shifted the lure of California into overdrive.

it was spurred on tremendously by the railroads’ need to recoup their investment and to keep turning a profit.

They published magazines, commissioned articles, arranged speaking tours, and placed ads to sing the praises and virtues of California.

It ran the gamut from promoting the young state as an agricultural Eden to boasting of the “medicinal advantages” of the Mediterranean climate especially in Southern California coastal areas.

The railroad — or more precisely — a scheduled stop along the tracks at first to collect milk for shipment to Bay Area cities and then a full-blown station with freight and passenger service — is how the community we call Manteca took hold.

Joshua Cowell may have been the one to create a town site after establishing a farm, but it was the railroad that helped Manteca survive to become more than a wide spot on the road,

And it was water —more precisely the securing of water rights in the Stanislaus River Basin and developing storage and conveyance systems — that led to a big growth spurt.

But that wouldn’t have happened without what eventually became Manteca being able to get trains to stop here.

The impact of that decision, which had a high degree of luck given every small cluster of people farming up and down the valley coveted train access, can’t be understated.

Nor can two more railroad decisions impacting Manteca and the South County in the coming years.

The first is more robust ACE service bringing commuter train service to downtown Manteca by 2027.

The other is Valley Link connecting with BART initially from a Mountain House station and then from a Lathrop station at the Sharpe Depot location where ACE is shifting the current Lathrop/Manteca shop.

The ACE/Valley Link connection will be about  a mile from the intersection of Airport Way and Lathrop Road in northwest Manteca.

The bottom line is everyone in Manteca will be within three or so miles of a commuter train station.

And each of two ACE stations will offer the ability to reach the heart of employment centers in San Jose, San Francisco, the Tri-Valley, Oakland, and Sacramento either directly or with  a transfer at a station.

The long-term economic and environmental ramifications can’t be overstated.

The immediate effect will be reducing pressure on freeways operating beyond design capacity during commute hours.

It will be relatively minuscule.

That’s because the real payoff comes down the road.

A rail robust system that has frequent trains and connects with an equally robust transit system  at stops in employment centers will reduce the need for widening existing freeways and building new ones.

The impact of robust rail connectivity on this side of the Altamont Pass could easily be the next major milestone in terms of economic vitality and growth.

And it could mean that not only does it make this area and even stronger affordable housing option for workers with Bay Area checks, but it could well see an uptick in Bay Area residents commuting here to earn a living.

That is not far-fetched.

There have been a relatively small handful of professions or highly skilled workers who have done that for years.

But there is anecdotal evidence that those working on the Valley Link project have noticed.

Interstate 580 during the morning commute years ago was jammed per usual heading west and light heading east.

Recent observations show the westbound rolling parking lot is still going strong. At the same time, though, there is noticeable uptick in traffic heading toward Tracy in the AM.

It is signs of a growing reverse commute.

But it also indicates another important Bay Area phenomenon that doesn’t grab as much attention — hill hopping.

As the East Bay has developed over the decades, the once small towns that blossomed into suburbs for San Francisco and Oakland also became employment centers on a micro-regional basis.

Growth would get to the point where they’d be healthy commuting in both directions on freeways crossing hills connecting valleys.

It is less of a one-way street between Livermore and Tracy than it was 10 years ago.

What this means is Tracy/Mountain House as well as Manteca/Lathrop shedding some of their Bay Area exburb status and moving into suburb territory.

It is a process that has happened elsewhere over the past half century.

Unlike many metroplexes, the Bay Area is broken into three major centers — San Jose/Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and Oakland.

A strong case can be made for a fourth — the Tri-Valley region.

There are other metroplexes dealing with massive water bodies to cross and multiple basins.

But none are as chopped up graphically as the Bay Area.

When the Bay Area runs out of room in a valley, it does two things — it starts building up and flows over into the next valley.

That is what you are seeing, in part, with the increasing intensity of the reverse commute over the Altamont Pass.

It will be a sure and relatively slow process.

But just like Livermore wouldn’t have been considered a true suburb of San Francisco — or San Jose for that matter — 70 years ago, area this side of the Altamont Pass will eventually become more of a Bay Area-style suburb.

By that, there will be robust employment centers here that may or may not have a large tech component that draw Bay Area residents to commute here.

And perhaps the most intriguing part of the entire scenario, is an ACE commuter train station is being built within 1,000 feet of where Cowell built his home and started a series of moves that led to Manteca becoming more than just a wide spot on the road.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com