It is difficult now to imagine San Francisco Bay without bridges, but not too long ago, a complex system of ferries and trains helped span the waters in an elegant way. The Key System was a huge portion of this network; it was part of businessman Borax Smith's method to attract San Francisco workers to live in the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and Piedmont, where he dealt in real estate. The Southern Pacific Railroad was the Key System's fierce competitor, then later an ally, before it was vanquished. Thousands of commuters rode the system for years, until a ridership decline eventually doomed the Key when bridges finally crisscrossed the bay.
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Here transportation historians Walter Rice and Emiliano Echeverria, authors of San Francisco's Powell Street Cable Cars, tell the story of these transbay lines in nearly 200 rare photographs. Included is the rolling stock from the handsome 1903 wooden interurbans to the famous 1930s Bridge Units, the ornate Key Route Pier, the ferryboat fleet, and lastly the Bridge Railway into downtown San Francisco. Rice and Echeverria blend their insights, knowledge, and photographic resources to capture the spirit of the bygone Key System era that linked San Francisco to what was then known as the Eastshore Empire.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Key to the Key System,
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This review is from: The Key System: San Francisco and the Eastshore Empire (CA) (Images of Rail) (Paperback)
This book was everything I hoped it would be. As a railway buff and a fan of the Key System it is a great addition to my library
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impressed!,
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This review is from: The Key System: San Francisco and the Eastshore Empire (CA) (Images of Rail) (Paperback)
I'm very impressed with the photos in this book. Some of these seem to be newly discovered. My father rode the Key System Bay Bridge trains during the 1950s as I mentioned in my review for another Key System book.
May 2008 Update: It is fitting that this book was published about one year before last months's 50th anniversary of the end of the Key System's Bay Bridge rail service on Sunday April 20th, 2008 as reported in the April 18th issue of the San Francisco Chronicle. Although I can't think of a more sadder and tragic day to remember than this, volunteers at the Western Railway Museum, located a few miles north of San Francisco, observed it by operating two surviving Key System bridge units.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Informative, great pictures,
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This review is from: The Key System: San Francisco and the Eastshore Empire (CA) (Images of Rail) (Paperback)
Since our family once used the Key-System, it was great to read about it, and see all the places it went to.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Electricity easily triumphed over obsolete steam. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
bridge units, pier terminal, articulated unit Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
San Francisco, Randolph Brant, Key System, Key Route, Walter Rice, Southern Pacific, Bridge Railway, Eastshore Empire, Borax Smith, Fortieth Street, East Bay, Bay Bridge, Emeryville Shops, Sacramento Northern, Sacramento Street, San Jose, Treasure Island, Alcatraz Avenue, Ferry Building, Twenty-second Street, Adeline Street, Shipyard Railway, Twelfth Street, Emiliano Echeverria, San Leandro New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Electricity easily triumphed over obsolete steam. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
bridge units, pier terminal, articulated unit Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
San Francisco, Randolph Brant, Key System, Key Route, Walter Rice, Southern Pacific, Bridge Railway, Eastshore Empire, Borax Smith, Fortieth Street, East Bay, Bay Bridge, Emeryville Shops, Sacramento Northern, Sacramento Street, San Jose, Treasure Island, Alcatraz Avenue, Ferry Building, Twenty-second Street, Adeline Street, Shipyard Railway, Twelfth Street, Emiliano Echeverria, San Leandro New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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