Cambridge H. Lutèce

Actually, the Key used the third rail. The catenary was reserved only for the IER/SN at 1300V DC. The third rail (600V DC) was the preference of the Key, who wanted the easier maintenance.

Everything is designed for something if you truly believe it can be

Haha yeah! I grew up on Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Laurel & Hardy, etc etc. I remember this film well lol.

Oakland History - Eastshore Empire | High school kids at the Piedmont Avenue station hitch a ride on a San Francisco bound bridge unit - circa 1950 | Facebook High school kids at the Piedmont Avenue station hitch a ride on a San Francisco bound bridge unit - circa 1950

Photo Credits: www.facebook.com/groups/easts...

Fare evading is a practice long-observed in the Bay, with agencies back in the 50s having to deal with it too!

Fenders at the ends of Key System trains were the popular stoop on which neighbourhood teens hitched rides. One can wonder if any rode it over the windy Bay Bridge!

Photo Credits: opensfhistory.org/Display/wnp1...

Muni streetcars met few "real" trains on their routes. But, into the 1950s, it wasn't uncommon for non-revenue "L/K-line" cars to meet one on Ocean Ave!

On what is today's I-280, SP San Bruno branch freights blocked streetcars as they deadheaded to Geneva Yard, such as this one!

Photo Credits: opensfhistory.org/Display/wnp2...

Once, Muni considered abandoning its streetcars.

Motivated by mounting deficits, in 1952 the Board of Supervisors contacted western bus-system tycoon Jesse L. Haugh on an offer to pave the tunnels, convert, and run Muni as a diesel bus-only system!

Thankfully, the plan was shelved.

Very fascinating! I read, in Healy's BART history book, how the system design was intended to be the "best of all worlds" wrapped up with a series of compromises and concessions. I guess that's part of the reason why everyone is shuttled down the same SF-corridor.

Thanks for sharing.

Melvin Webber, early BART consultant planner and later UC Berkeley faculty, states that BART was modeled after New Haven and Long Island Railroads.

escholarship.org/content/qt7p...

Photo Credits: opensfhistory.org/Display/wnp6...

The quaint term "Dinkey" doesn't come to mind when thinking of Muni, but it used to!

Until 1947, Muni possessed a vast fleet of adorable "Dinkey" cars! Officially the "J-Type," they were apt at navigating steep hills and tight-corners on the now discontinued but similarly quaint "E (Union)" line.

Photo Credits: opensfhistory.org/Display/wnp3...

Some photos speak for themselves. Undoubtedly, this portrait of glossy Muni #116 does.

#116 was likely only a year or two old when caught at the Geary Carhouse. A "B-Type" car, it was one of 125 streetcars delivered in 1914-1915 to service Muni's rapidly growing trolley network.

c. 1/19/1916

Photo Credits: www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...

Sprinting through the marsh, Sacramento Northern MW #302 and BAERA-owned Salt Lake & Utah #751 tear through Port Chicago, speed tearing the dry grass as it races south.

Here, the SN and ATSF interchanged alongside the once bustling town of Port Chicago, which was demolished in 1968.

c. 03/24/1951

Haha, glad to help!

If you're interested, at our museum we have two of the interurbans still operational. They still run at their top speed... a bone-chilling 35mph! If you ever find yourself out here, our Operations Crew would no doubt be happy to run one for you!

We're trying 🥲

Perhaps your memories were about riding the interurbans over the Bay Bridge to SF? There was a line (F) that ran to Albany on Solano Avenue.

As Muni's iconic Bredas fall to the scrapyard, it's time one was saved.

All of us at the WRM are proud to announce our campaign to save venerable Muni #1534! For $15,000, this urban stallion will join our historic SF Transit Fleet—will you help it get there?

Donate at: wrm.org/support/donate

1678 Albers Rd

Photo Credits: www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...

As far as I know, the only other Key System car found "in the wild" is another 900-series car in Castroville.

The car has been heavily modified for incorporation as a BBQ grill.

By stroke of luck, an old East Bay streetcar has resurfaced in Modesto!

This venerable Key System 900-class car was one of many sold off after retirement in 1948. Their lightweight steel bodies attracted many buyers, like this one who reused it as a fruit stand!

(photo by Kevin Shawver)

Some posters by yours truly.

All are for the Western Railway Museum, of whom I am the social media manager. Fingers crossed, we'll be able to see the simple IER-car poster for sale in the gift shop sometime soon!

Report on Interurban Electric Railroad for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge : Earl Lee Kelly : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Railway plans

To anyone wishing to read the full proposal: archive.org/details/inte...

Before the Bay Bridge railway design was settled, there were some wacky proposals...

In 1933 the Dept. of Public Works proposed a "high speed" shuttle to whisk passengers over the bay for $15.5M! It proposed a crazy multi-modal transfer terminal in Emeryville too—imagine that today!

Photo Credits / Sources: sfmemory.org/Display/sfm009…
sfmemory.org/Display/sfm009���
"Red Trains in the East Bay" by Roger Ford
"SF Bay Ferryboats" by George Harlan

Thus begs a true Ferry mystery!

Wartime SF-Richmond service saw ferries take on passengers at the old Mission St. auto-slips. If that's the case, why is the "San Leandro" seen taking on passengers at Pier 45 in the photo #1?