Key System
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 the 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 even dreamed of lines to San Jose and Sacramento. Smith really did dream of an electric empire. Smith's dreams of connecting to Sacramento and San Jose were soon abandoned when lots were not selling and people were not riding. In 1913, Smith was forced to leave his electric railway because investors were not happy. 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 many transbay lines formed. The teeth of the key formed the ferry slips, the bottom loop formed Oakland, the middle Piedmont and the upper Berkeley. Trains initially used a pier and ferries to get 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, which was a company that bought the nation's rail systems to convert them to buses. It's backers consisted of GM, Firestone and other auto affiliated companies. 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. Transbay Service to San Francisco (1903 - 1958)Line A: Downtown and East Oakland
Line A's main function was to serve Downtown Oakland. Between 1939 and 1941, it ran with Line B down Poplar Street and continued down Poplar when Line B trains switched off at Poplar Junction (24th Street). Trains turned onto 12th Street from Poplar passing the notable Shredded Wheat Factory. It then ran down 12th to Downtown, 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 and is very cool to look at. In 1941, the Southern Pacific ended their electric 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 (right near the court house) due to the reconstruction of the Lake Merritt Dam. Line B: Grand Avenue - Trestle Glen
Originally called the 22nd Street line, the line was extended to Trestle Glen and Underhills to develop the properties in the area. Line B runs on private right of way from Underhills Station along Underhills Road to Lakeshore Avenue. It proceeds to Grand Avenue via Rand Avenue and continues on Grand to Union Street where it cuts through a block to turn onto Poplar Street. From Poplar, it proceeds to Louise Street and then to the Emeryville Shops (now the shopping center). It then went through the subway to the pier and after 1939, the Transbay Terminal. B1 - A good walk to take to explore Line B is to start at Grand Avenue and to walk all the way to the end of the right of way. After getting a bite to eat at Arizmendi, or one of the other great restaurants on Grand or Lakeshore Avenue, you can walk up Lakeshore towards Trestle Glen Road. At the corner of Trestle Glen and Lakeshore, take a look at the bank building and notice its curved shape. This building sits right on the Line B right of way as it curved off of Lakeshore to the private right of way behind the backyards. 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. As you take this walk, you can see a lot of infil housing where the right of way was and some of the most beautiful residential blocks in the East Bay. Public Transportation: (AC Transit and BART) Line C: PiedmontKey System's second line was the line to Piedmont Avenue. 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, Piedmont Ave. going left), replaced the older station in 1937 as a part of the modernization of the system for Bridge operations. When the company wanted to develop lots in lower Piedmont, it extended the line to Oakland Avenue. Official service began in November 1924. Suggested Walks for Line C [show/hide]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. Public Transportation: 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. Public Transportation: 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. Public Transportation: Line E: Claremont
Line E was built to bring people to the Claremont Hotel. The original plan was to bring the trains into the lobby of the hotel, but that goal was never reached. The trains still got very close, however, as they stopped between the tennis courts just outside the hotel. The line was the fourth line built by the Key Route and service from the Claremont started in 1910, five years before the hotel opened. The hotel, which was not opened until 1915 because of financial problems, was built built by friends of Borax Smith, including Frank Havens. Marty Carr remembers riding Line E trains across the Bay Bridge: Line F: Berkeley via Adeline and Shattuck
The Berkeley line, the Key Route's first line, was built to compete with the Southern Pacific steam locals. The first run was in October of 1903 and left from University & Shattuck. After the train arrived at the pier, passengers got onto a ferry boat and made the quick journey across the bay. The whole journey took 39 minutes. The electric trains provided better service than the SP locals in an area that was already full of commuters. The route's construction prompted the Southern Pacific to electrify their lines to better compete with the Key Route. Competition was fierce between the SP and the Key System. in 1933, they worked together to get rid of duplicate service on the Shattuck Avenue corridor and the Sacramento / California Street corridors. Eventually, in 1941, the SP ended all of their service and the Key System took over many of SP's former lines. The Key System acquired the SP's Shattuck line all the way to Thousand Oaks and Solano Avenue. The F line was the Key's most successful line. Line H: SacramentoThis line was ripped up in 1941 to help build the Richmond Shipyard Railway because it had the poorest ridership in the system. Shuttles to Transbay LinesLine K: Alcatraz - TelegraphThis 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. Line G: WestbraeThis 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. East Bay Local Streetcar Lines in December 1937Line 3: Martin Luther King Jr Way (Grove Street) Line 4: Telegraph - Shattuck - Euclid Line 6: Broadway - College - Arlington Line 11: Piedmont Avenue - 38th Avenue Line 12: Grand - 16th Street Station Line 18: Park - Downtown Oakland - Grand - Lakeshore East Bay Local Streetcar Lines in 1948, the last year of serviceMiscellaneous Maps and PhotosProposed Line to San JoseThis 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 Richmond Shipyard Railway (RSR)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 ShopsThe 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. Related Books and FilmsBooks:The Key Route Part 1 - Harre Demoro (1985) Films and Movies:Key System Empire Links
AC Transit
Key Route Group
Key Rail Pix
Bay Area Rails
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