Emeryville Key System Shop
A new system-wide shop was constructed by the Oakland Traction Consolidated in Emeryville, work commencing in the early part of 1905, with completion in October of that year.
The shops were located on a tract of land bounded on the north by Yerba Buena Avenue, on the east by Watts Street, on the west by Hollis Street, and extending south from Yerba Buena Avenue about four hundred feet. About one third of the property was situated in Oakland, and two thirds in Emeryville. (A detailed map of the shop is in The Key Route by Harre Demoro). The buildings were of wooden construction built on heavy concrete foundations. Ten buildings occupied the site as follows: paint shop, truck room, carpenter shop. wood mill, blacksmith shop, kiln, storeroom, machine shop, foundry and engine room. At a later date a storage house for oil and a large lumber shed were added. The buildings were grouped so that the departments having the most business with each other were in proximity.
Transfer Table
A “transfer table” ran in a 360 foot pit between the paint shop on the one side and the truck room and the carpenter shop on the other. It enabled a car on any track to be picked up and set on anyone of the 23 parallel tracks. The transfer table was the design of the Oakland Traction engineers; it was built in the shop and contained a good many original ideas. Fifty feet long and with a 40-foot space from center to center of trucks, it was designed for a capacity of 80 tons safe load, and was capable of carrying the largest freight car loaded to its fullest capacity. Each truck had two double-flanged steel-tired wheels with a 10foot wheelbase. Power to drive the table was furnished by a G.E. 800 type motor, which was geared to both trucks and moved with a speed of 3 m.p.h. The table had air brakes on both trucks with separate cylinders, which were operated from a motorman’s cab built on the table. Two girders constructed from four 15-inch 55 pound “I” beams and four 18″ x 3/4″ steel plates 50 feet long, riveted together. formed the top of the table. The truck girder was built from the 15-inch 50-pound channel and two 12″ x 1/2″ plates riveted on top and bottom. The dead weight of the table was 15 1/2 tons.
The tracks were ballasted outside with crushed rock. The buildings were all floored with three-inch shiplap containing the tracks except for the blacksmith shop, which was dirt.
The paint shop was the first building completed. It was 100 feet wide by 210 feet long., with 4,032 feet of window glass and 85 square feet of. skylights. The office was located in one comer, with the mixing room beside it. Fourteen parallel tracks ran into the building, each capable of holding two of the long Key Route interurban cars.
Truck Room
The 210-foot long by 100-foot-wide truck room had 14 parallel tracks, and was equipped with pneumatic and power hoists to handle the heavy car bodies, trucks, motors, and armatures. The pits were all double braced and had cement walls and floors. All the latest appliances were installed for the inspection, cleaning and overhauling of trucks and motors.
The truck room boasted 3,600 square feet of glass in the windows and over 1,685 square feet of skylights. The carpenter shop was 100 feet wide and 200 feet long and had 13 parallel tracks running into it. The 60 by 120 foot wood mill was equipped with the latest woodworking machines. All of the line shafting was located below the floor, with the machines belted from below.
The blacksmith shop was 60 by 210 feet, and resembled the other buildings in general appearance, being of corrugated iron. There were seven forges designed and constructed by the engineering department of Oakland Traction. There were also three large oil furnaces to heat the larger pieces of metal, as well as a 15-ton steam hammer, a pair of power shears and a carborundum carwheel grinder. In addition to the regular work. all track repair and special track work was performed here.
The storeroom was located between the machine shop and the blacksmith shop and was the only two-story building in the group. It contained offices of the Master Mechanic and the Storekeeper.
Machine Shop
The machine shop and armature room were under one roof. The latter occupied a space 35 by 60 feet, screened off in the comer of the machine shop. It was fitted up with all the machines useful in modern electric repair and construction work, including a large electric oven to bake armature coils, a special field winding machine, and an armature lathe.
The machine shop included eight lathes; a 42-inch Niles steel tire carwheel lathe: a small trolley wheel lathe; dri1l1ng machines including a wheel boring machine; plus all the other types of machines necessary for work in a shop of this type.
The foundry was located to the rear of the machine shop and stood apart from the other buildings. All of the brass castings used on the Key Route and Oakland Traction Consolidated were cast in the foundry.
The engine room, 30 feet by 30 feet, contained two Babcock & Wilcox boilers, rated at 100 and 25 horsepower each. The engine was an upright compound type of 200 horsepower belted to a tandem compound air compressor. Two steam boilers 36, inches in diameter and 13 feet long, acted as storage tanks and fed the main line. Every precaution was taken to guard against fire, and a watchman patrolled day and night.
The activities of the shop were conducted under the Chief Engineer, J. Q. Brown, who was also Assistant General Manager under W. F. Kelley. Brown headed the Mechanical Department and Engineering Department. Each department of the shop was headed by a foreman. The Storekeeper headed the Stores Department and had charge of procurement and dispensing of materials and supplies.
Master Mechanic
The Emeryville Shop was headed by the Master Mechanic George St. Pierre. St. Pierre had been with the company for many years, having come over from the Oakland Railroad Company when it was acquired by Oakland Transit in 1898. He was active in the construction of the San Pablo Avenue cable line when it was built, and later was sent to the Piedmont Shop as Assistant Master Mechanic. He became Master Mechanic in 1903 upon the death of Master Mechanic George Spinks, who was killed on the Key Route.
In 1906, W. P. Jackson was hired by Oakland Traction as Assistant Master Mechanic, under St. Pierre. He had started with the Columbus Street Railway in Columbus, Ohio. later going with the Marion Street Railway, following that to the Union Traction of Indiana, as Division Superintendent. His last position before entering the employ of Oakland Traction was Ohio Electric. In 1914 he was elevated to Master Mechanic, when George St. Pierre was named Superintendent of Equipment. St. Pierre retired in April 1925, and Jackson was named to succeed him as Superintendent; this position he held until 1927, when he resigned to accept a position with the San Francisco-Sacramento Railroad as Superintendent of Equipment. Jackson was responsible for the installation of field control in the 350 “St. Louis” cars when they arrived in 1911. He also was responsible for drawing up the specifications and purchase of the 900 class cars in 1923.
McMahon‘s “Accidental” Death
Jackson’s successor, C. R. McMahon, came from the Des Moines City Railway as Superintendent of Equipment. He was hired under the A. J. Lundberg management in the late 1920’s. McMahon was disliked by the men in the shop. When the articulated units were to be received, new pits were dug in the shop to accommodate them. The story is told that while McMahon was inspecting the digging of the pits, a truck backing into the shop to receive a load of dirt ran over him – supposedly by accident – injuring him quite seriously. He died soon thereafter.
McMahon was replaced by J. G. Stuart, who had been Master Mechanic, having come to the Key System in 1927 from the San Diego Electric Railway. Stuart served in this position until 1952, when he retired. He was replaced by his assistant, Fred J. Blatt, who served in the capacity of Superintendent of Equipment. Blatt had originally come to the Key System in the early 1920s. serving in the Marine Department. When the ferry steamers were taken off in 1940, he was transferred to the shop and was active in the construction of the Richmond Shipyard Railway. He was 1n charge of de-activating the Emeryville shop in 1957. and remained with the company until the trains were taken out of service in 1958.
Carpenter Shop
The Oakland Traction carpenter shop was outstanding and highly productive. The Master Car Builder was Joseph Gilman, who started as a horse car driver with the San Pablo Horse Car line operated by the Oakland Railroad Co. When the line was electrified, he became a motorman. Shortly thereafter he was called into the Telegraph Avenue barn by the Superintendent to make some alterations on the Telegraph Avenue cars, whereupon he lengthened the “single truckers” in order to make them the same size as the newly acquired San Pablo Avenue cars. He returned to operating the cars but had a minor accident, and asked to be taken off the road. Kelley then assigned him to work in the Piedmont shop to work on rebuilding the cars of the predecessor companies.
When the Piedmont Shop was moved to the new site in Emeryville, Gilman was named Superintendent of the department. He was responsible for producing such fine cars as the long “500” Key Route interurban cars, the “300” Kelley Cars, the “310” Long Telegraph Avenue cars, the famous “330” Hayward cars, as well as the steel-bodied “300” class cars. He spent his entire lifetime working for the Key System until 1931, when he had to retire on account of ill health.
His successor was his assistant, Morris Bellini, who came to the shop in 1906 as assistant to Gilman. After Bellini retired, the Carpenter Shop was inactive. and practically no work was conducted at all in the department by the late 1940s. When the Emeryville Shop opened, rebuilding work started at the Piedmont Shop, with emphasis on upgrading the early California-type cars.
Kelley Cars
After building of the new California-type cars, a new class of car known as the 301 to 310 class was constructed. They were called “Kelley” cars after their designer. General Manager W. F. Kelley. They were a center entrance car (closed on the ends and open in the center), a sort of reverse California-type. The first car was numbered 1905, being the year that it was constructed.
The next group of cars. constructed were the long Telegraph Avenue cars of the 311-330 series, called the S-5 class by the company. These were long wooden-body cars with open ends, but of a closed-type body built especially for service on heavily traveled Telegraph Avenue.
In 1908, General Manager Kelley wanted a suburban type of car for the Hayward line, and as a result the 311 to 350 class cars were built. Car No. 331 was finished in 1908; however, Kelley disliked it at first, complaining that it was too heavy for that type of service. However, his objections were overcome and the balance of the lot were built in 1909.
The next car to be built in the shop was center-door Car No. 700 built in 1916, a pilot model for the 701 to 720 class built by the American Car Co. the following year. The electrical equipment was purchased from the General Electric Co. after having been on display at the 1915 Fair in San Francisco.
First Steel Body Car
In 1919, the shop undertook the construction of its first steel-body car, No. 800. The car was so successful, that car Nos. 801 to 809 were built in 1920, followed by Nos. 810 to 817 in 1921. In 1926, the Key System built two more cars, Nos. 820 and 899.
Car No. 820 was a hybrid between an 800 and a 900. The body was the same length as an 800, but the ends resembled a 900-type car. It had a drop platform similar to the 800 class and was equipped with couplers to train with the 900’s. Car No. 899 was a duplicate for the 900s built by American Car Co. and was the last streetcar to be constructed in the shops.
In 1929. 1930 and 1931, the rebuilding of the cars for one man operation took place. A total of 323 cars were rebuilt during this period. Sixteen, “Lehighs”, Nos. 270-273 and 275-286: 20 “Hayward” type. Nos. 330-349; 60 “St. Louis type. 350-409; four of the former East Shore & Suburban type. 420. 421. 426 and 427; 10 “Spokane” type. 430-439:42 of the “440” series cars, Nos. 440-464, 466-482; 21 of the “700” Center Entrance type, No. 700-720: 19 of the “800” type, Nos. 800-818: 96 of the “900” class, 900-994, 899 and 820: 25 Birney Safety Cars, Nos. 1-25; 15 “750” class Center Entrance Trailers, Nos. 750-764.
Numerous service equipment cars, freight motors, and flat cars were produced by the shop, along with one motor coach, plus work for the Marine Department on the ferry boats.
Class “I” truck
One of the products Emeryville Shops was famous for was the “Class I” truck. This was a home-made, piece of equipment designed by Chief Engineer J. Q. Brown in 1902 and first manufactured in the old Piedmont shop. It was known as a “Class I” by reason of its general resemblance to the letter “I”. Although not favored by the company officers at first. it was proved by its merits, according to the writeup by the company for the Street Railway Journal of February 3, 1906. It was considered best suited for the conditions of the local cars and was fast superseding all other types of trucks. No other trucks were purchased after the company began to manufacture the class “I” truck. In 1906 there were 200 in use.
The chief features of the truck were its simple construction, low cost, and the ease of accessing the journal boxes for oiling and inspection. It was built up of riveted steel channels, plates and angles. For the cross beam, 12″ channels were originally used with the top flange cut off, but later 12″x 3/8″ plates, 5′ 6 1/2 ” long were used with 3″ x 1/2″ angles at the bottom. For the sides, 10″ 25-pound channels 6′ 5″ long were employed. The truck had 30″ wheels. a wheelbase of 5′ 6″, with inside mounted motors. It had outside bearing boxes which could easily be reached. and was compact and easy riding.
The opinion of the riding public was much different than the report of the company on the riding qualities of the Class “I” truck. Many riders found them noisy. and the cars rough riding and uncomfortable, especially the light “440” class cars. The company never saw fit to replace them, and unfortunately, they lasted right up to the end of streetcar service, being installed on the “700” class and higher numbered “350” class cars.
The Emeryville Shops also built duplicates of the St. Louis Car Co. MCB 23-B truck for transbay cars.
The Curtain Rings Down on the Emeryville Shops
The Emeryville Shops were deactivated by decision of Key System management in order to reduce maintenance costs in the operation of the Bridge Railway trains. Several layoffs of shop employees took place between 1951 and 1956. Word was finally handed down by the President of Key System Transit Lines that the Emeryville Shops would close. Maintenance of the Bridge trains was transferred from the Shops down to the Oakland Yard situated on the property of the California Toll Bridge Authority.
The final curtain rung down on the shop buildings in April 1956. The entire shops equipment was sold for scrap. and the buildings were tom down soon after.
This story originally published in 1996 for the Emeryville Centennial Celebration and compiled into the ‘Early Emeryville Remembered’ historical essays book.
