Banta was located on the route of the transcontinental railroad from Sacramento to the San Francisco Bay Area by way of the Altamont Pass and Niles Canyon before the Central Pacific bought the route of the California Pacific which ran north of the Carquinez Strait to Vallejo. The Central Pacific diverted the California Pacific line to Benicia, California and established a railroad ferry between Benicia and Port Costa across the Carquinez Strait.