Unit 162 exiting the Solano Tunnel in Berkeley |
The Key System, originally called the San Francisco, Oakland & San Jose Railway and nicknamed the Key Route, was founded in 1903 by F. M. Smith, a.k.a. Borax Smith for his fortunes in borax. Smith came to the East Bay in 1881. He saw the East Bay's potential in the real estate market. To sell his remotely located land, Smith decided to use trains. Trains would provide future homeowners access to San Francisco.
In addition to his dreams of connecting the East Bay with San Francisco, Smith and his colleagues dreamed of lines to San Jose and Sacramento. However, Smith soon abandoned his dreams of connecting to Sacramento and San Jose when real estate sales and ridership did not meet expectations. In 1913, unhappy investors forced Smith out of the company.
The Key System, in addition to its many local street cars, had six main transbay lines to San Francisco. The name Key Route comes from the skeleton key shape that the transbay lines formed. The ferry slips formed the teeth of the key, the 17,000 foot long pier formed the shaft, Oakland formed the bottom loop of the handle, Piedmont the middle and Berkeley the upper loop.
Trains initially used a pier and ferries to move passengers to San Francisco, but later, trains used the Bay Bridge. In 1946, just after the war, the Key System, which was locally owned, was sold to National City Lines, a company that owned most of the nation's biggest streetcar systems. The Key System, because of declining ridership ceased operation of trains on April 20, 1958 and converted to buses. Two years later, in 1960, the Alameda Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) purchased the Key System from National City Lines.
46th Avenue & East 14th Street |
Line A connected East and Downtown Oakland with San Francisco. Line A went through a number of different routings over the years.
Originally, trains ran across the Bridge, down Louise Street and then down Poplar Street. Line B trains switched off at Poplar Junction (24th Street) and cut through lots to get to Grand Avenue. Line A trains turned onto 12th Street from Poplar passing by the notable Shredded Wheat Factory. They then ran down 12th to Downtown Oakland, across the Lake Merritt Dam, turned left onto First Avenue and then used private right of way to reach its terminus at the Central Car House. The private right of way from First Avenue & East 14th Street to the Central Car House at 3rd Avenue & East 18th Street still exists today.
In 1941, the Southern Pacific ended their Red Train operations in the East Bay. From April 1941 until 1950, Line A ran to Havenscourt Boulevard in East Oakland via East 14th Street and Bancroft Avenue. Between 1950 and 1958, the line terminated at 12th & Oak Streets due to the reconstruction of the Lake Merritt Dam.
Broadway & Grand Avenue |
Before the Key System started using the Bay Bridge, Line B was called the 22nd Street line. It originally terminated at the Key Route Inn at Grand and Broadway in Uptown Oakland, but was later extended to down Grand Avenue to the Trestle Glen neighborhood to develop the property there.
Many remnants of Line B still exist today. First of all, AC Transit still operates the Line B bus. Second, if you walk up Trestle Glen Road from Lakeshore towards Grovesnor, look at the backyards of the houses on the left. You will be able to see the graded right of way and the old line poles that held the electric wire for the trains. Second, at the corner of Trestle Glen and Lakeshore, take a look at the modern bank building and notice its curved shape. The building is curved because it was built the Line B right of way where the tracks curved off of Lakeshore into Trestle Glen. If you visit the parking lot on the Longridge side of the building, you can get a close look at one of the many remaining trolley poles along the right of way.
After the success of their first route to Berkeley, the Key System constructed a second line to Piedmont Avenue. Piedmont Avenue was largely undeveloped so the line provided a great opportunity to make money through real estate development. Service started on June 1, 1904 when fares to San Francisco were 10 cents. The line ran from the Emeryville Shops at 40th & San Pablo via 40th Street to 41st & Piedmont where the station was.
The first station at Piedmont Avenue (left, looking north from Piedmont Ave.) was outfitted with a fireplace and key shaped andirons. The newer station (right), replaced the older station in 1937 as a part of the modernization of the system for Bridge operations. The station still stands today, but without the shed covering the tracks.
left: OB&E Collection; right: Unknown Photo and Collection
Holly Place Station on Line C in Piedmont was on the Piedmont Extension, which extended from 41st & Piedmont Avenue to Oakland & Latham Avenue. The extension opened for service on November 21, 1924. The extension used some of Line 10's streetcar tracks and went along part of the proposed and unbuilt line to San Jose. Some transbay trains had through service to Oakland Avenue, others uncoupled a car that ran to the terminus and other trains stopped at Piedmont Station where passengers would have to transfer to a 900 type streetcar that would take them to the end of the line. Though much of the station area and the sweeping view of the track between people's houses has been turned into backyards, Holly Place station is a great place to visit. If you print out the vintage picture, you will surely recognize all of the houses when you are there.
C1 - Start at MacArthur BART Station and work your way down 40th Street to Piedmont Avenue. Pass by 40th & Shafter where the Sacramento Northern had it's yard and connection to the Key System. Visit amazing Piedmont Avenue to have some great food, stores or to catch a movie at the local theatre, the Piedmont; beware that this theatre has the best refreshments of any around including tea, ice cream and more.
C2 - Walk upper Piedmont Avenue and have a sundae at Fenton's Creamery, which was founded in 1894 just a few blocks away. Have a picnic in the Mountain View Cemetery, and see how obvious it is that trains ran where you walk. Note the trees on Pleasant Valley, the new houses and the path to the station at Holly Place. End your walk at beautiful Oakland Avenue.
C3 - Walk down Oakland Avenue and Grand Avenue into one of the commercial districts near Lake Merritt. Visit Walden Pond Books, the Grand Lake Theatre, SplashPad Park and Lake Merritt. SplashPad Park has a farmer's market from 9-2pm every Saturday.
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The Key System built Line E to bring people to the Claremont Hotel. Service from the Claremont Hotel site started in 1910, five years before the hotel opened. The hotel, which was not opened until 1915 due to financial problems, was built built by friends of Borax Smith, including Frank Havens. The original plan originally entailed bringing trains into the lobby of the hotel, but this never happened. The trains still got very close, however. They stopped between the tennis courts just outside the hotel. Not stopping inside of the hotel is in contrast to the Line B's Key Route Inn, where trains did enter the hotel.
Marty Carr remembers riding Line E trains across the Bay Bridge:
I was born in 1945 and lived near the "E" line in Berkeley. I used to ride the Transbay line to medical appointments in San Francisco. I always had an interest in railroads in general. One of the fond memories I had was riding the train as it approaches the Transbay Terminal on a warm day. The bridge units did not have air conditioning and we would open the window. I remember smelling the coffee roasting from the Hills Bros. plant.
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Shattuck Avenue at Kittredge Street |
The Berkeley line, the Key Route's first line, was built to compete with the Southern Pacific's steam locals. The first run left from University & Shattuck in October of 1903. The Berkeley lines success prompted the Southern Pacific to electrify their lines to better compete with the Key System.
Competition was fierce between the Southern Pacific and the Key System. In 1933, the two railroads worked together to get rid of duplicate service on the Shattuck Avenue and Sacramento / California Street corridors. In 1941, the Southern Pacific ended its interuran service to Berkeley and the rest of the East Bay. In response, the Key System took over many of its former lines, including the Southern Pacific's line from downtown Berkeley to Thousand Oaks and Solano Avenue. The F line was the Key's most successful line.
This line was taken up in 1941 so that its track could be used on the Richmond Shipyard Railway. It had the poorest ridership in the system.
This free connecting shuttle connected to Line F at Alcatraz and Adeline. It ran up Alcatraz to College and then down Bancroft to Shattuck. The shuttle provided patrons of the Key System's Transbay lines a way to get to downtown Berkeley and the UC Campus in a time when it was competing with the Southern Pacific's Red Cars.
This free connecting shuttle connected to Line H at University and Sacramento. It ran to Gilman via private right of way next to the Santa Fe tracks.
This line was proposed and abandoned by the Key Route around 1900 and 1910, respectively. Right of way was acquired as far as about Mill's College in Oakland. Even though track was not built on the line (except for the portion used by Line C), land was bought and buildings were constructed around the right of way. The line on the map ends at Mill's College; if it continued, it would parallel MacArthur Boulevard and be located between MacArthur and the 580 freeway. The line was going to serve Decoto, Niles, Centerville, Irvington, Mission San Jose, Warm Springs, Milpitas and finally San Jose. Trains would have entered San Jose from the East.
The government ordered the Key System to construct the RSR in order to bring workers to the Kaiser Shipyards [1] [2] in Richmond. The Key built the line in less than 180 days, quite an impressive feat for the Key. The Key built the line with as few new materials as possible. The former Southern Pacific Electric right of way on 9th Street in Berkeley was used as a part of the railroad along with catenary from the Bay Bridge and rail and wire from the torn up H Line.
The Emeryville Shops were located at the current site of the Emeryville Shopping Center. The railyard site was also shared by the Santa Fe. The Santa Fe's Oakland Depot stood near 40th & San Pablo. The site remained vacant for many years until it was developed in the 1990s. The subway, which avoided a grade level crossing with the Southern Pacific's mainline tracks still remains and is used to access the sewage treatment plant.
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Did you know that Oakland was going to have a trolley bus system? Around 1945 the Key System, before it was sold to GM and Firestone backed National City Lines, selected the number 6 Broadway and 7 Arlington lines to be converted from streetcar to trolley bus. I admire the Key System's commitment to staying away from converting their lines to diesel. Rail was too expensive and retaining all rail lines would be a lot to ask any transit company. The trolley bus was a good alternative. Too bad National City Lines' backers scrapped the Key's project. National City Lines bought up many of our nation's transit systems including the Pacific Electric and dismantled them. The loss of rail meant that most transit systems have used and will use GM and Firestone products for a long time. See my other blog entry for some links to resources about National City Lines.
Here are some photos of Oakland's Trolley Buses that never went into service:
-On trolleybuses.net
-On San Francisco University's Website
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, April 18, 2008
Sunday is the golden anniversary of the last run of electric trains across the Bay Bridge, the end of one era of Bay Area commuting and the beginning of another.
The last green, white and yellow Key System train left the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco and clanked and roared over the bridge to Oakland on April 20, 1958.
The last train did not go quietly into the night. It was packed with more than 500 passengers, who managed to get into the control cabs and set off all the train bells and whistles. They also set off flares and trackside warning devices and made such a horrible racket the Oakland cops turned out in force to see what was the matter.
"It was a little on the rowdy side," said Bill Kluver, a lifelong admirer of railroads, who was there.
However, the end of rail transit on the Bay Bridge was more than just an exercise in nostalgia. After the tracks were ripped up, the bridge was converted into a freeway for cars, buses and trucks.
Read the rest at www.sfgate.com
Also Check Out:
Coverage From ABC
A Celebration Put On By AC Transit
Some AC Transit Event Coverage
The Key Route Part 1 - Harre Demoro (1985)
The Key Route Part 2 - Harre Demoro (1986)
Key System Streetcars - Vernon Sappers (2007)
Key System Album (Interurban Special #68) - Jim Walker (1978)
Electric Railways Around San Francisco Bay Vol. 1 - Donald Duke (1999)
Electric Railways Around San Francisco Bay Vol. 2 - Donald Duke (2000)
Key System Empire
California Electric Trilogy
San Francisco Bay Area Rail Transit Retrospective
Key System Bay Bridge Trains
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In the video, I got to and see the wonderful orange Key Ferries in action shuttling passengers across the San Francisco Bay. I got to learn about the Shipyard Railway, a railway that the Key System built to transport workers to the Shipyards during World War II. The Key System brought in ex-NYC elevated cars to use as the railway's main equipment. I got to see where the railway ran and got a feel of what it was like to take it. I also got to see the some activity at the Emeryville Shops; the Emeryville Shops, located at the current shopping center at 40th and San Pablo maintained and built hundreds of streetcars from scratch. They could do anything there.
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See the Key System forward from 1945 and the end of WWII that brought the National City Lines ‘buy-out’. See the last 13 years of a great transit line that struggled to maintain quality service in a world of change. We review the NCL and compare its new control of the Key System to the LA Railway and others. See the last few years of the Key‘s subsidiary streetcar lines that were all ripped out after 1948.
Visit the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco and ride the Bay Bridge.
Visit and ride through the Bridge Yard and recall the Key‘s great fleet of Bridge Units connecting the greater East Bay with San Francisco. Run through the Emeryville Yard and watch trains spill past Tower Two. See great trains in a wealth of locations in a bygone era on all the Bridge Lines A through F. Don‘t miss the action with freight trains down 40th Street from Sacramento Northern‘s connection to the C Line and the Oakland Terminal Railway. The F Line‘s “City Of Berkeley” Key train of former SN Ry cars is just one of the delights to see on the Berkeley Line.
Watch the stunning B Line trains around Lake Merritt and on up to Underhill. The C Line to Piedmont and Oakland Avenue offers the beauty of the East Bay. Sixteen people shot film that made this video possible for you to see! Their efforts allow us to relive those wonderful days. The Key has now been gone for 50-years!
BART Director Bob Franklin made this video to go along with the Joyce Whitelaw song that commemorates the Key System's demise in 1958. The song was performed at the event honoring the 100th Anniversary of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce.
AC Transit
AC Transit took over the Key System in 1960 after the Key System abandoned all rails. Most of the Transbay Bus Lines run in the same places as the trains. It is a great agency and is implementing Bus Rapid Transit on major corridors in Oakland.
Key Route Group
The Key Route Group is the best place to talk about the Key System. There are a lot of good photos and links.
Key Rail Pix
Key Rail Pix is a part of the Key Route Group. It contains all of thier photo collection.
Bay Area Rails
Bay Area Rails is a good site for looking at historic photos of the interurbans of the East Bay.
Western Railway Museum
The Western Railroad Museum is located at Rio Vista Junction, which was a stop on the Sacramento Northern Mainline. Visit!
