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East Shore and Suburban Railway
A streetcar on Macdonald Avenue
Overview
Owner	Key System (1912–1933)
Locale	East Bay
Transit type	Streetcar
Operation
Began operation	July 28, 1904
Ended operation	November 1948
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The East Shore and Suburban Railway (E&SR) was a formerly independent unit of the historic San Francisco Bay Area Key System which ran streetcar trains in Richmond, California, San Pablo, and El Cerrito. There were several lines with terminals at Point Richmond, North Richmond, the county line with Alameda County (a transfer point), what is now San Pablo, and Grand Canyon/East Richmond/Alvarado Park. Service to Oakland required a transfer to Oakland Traction Company trains at the County Line station and service to San Francisco required an additional transfer in Oakland. The systems were later consolidated into the Key System.

The system's initial line was built between Point Richmond and the Southern Pacific depot and opened on July 28, 1904. The extension to the Alameda County line opened on April 29, 1905, though the streetcar tracks did not directly cross the Southern Pacific main line. This forced riders to cross the tracks on foot and transfer to another car to make the complete trip. This setup would persist until April 1909 when an underpass was installed to take Macdonald Avenue under the tracks and connecting the two sections of the line. The Stege branch opened in July 1905. The East Shore and Suburban was merged into the San Francisco-Oakland Terminal Railways Company along with the Key System and Oakland Traction Company in 1912, consolidating most streetcar operations in the East Bay.

Service was replaced by buses beginning on August 1, 1932, with the conversion of the East Richmond/23rd Street line to buses. Lines were converted to buses one at a time with the last remaining line being in November 1933. Fares were originally 5 cents and were raised to 7 cents ($1.65 in 2023) over time at the time of the last runs.

References

1. "Busy Point Richmond". Oakland Enquirer. Oakland, California. July 29, 1904. p. 7. Retrieved December 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Richmond car are running". The Berkeley Gazette. Berkeley, California. May 2, 1905. p. 3. Retrieved December 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Railroad fence no longer exists". The San Francisco Call. San Francisco, California. May 19, 1909. p. 9. Retrieved December 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "The service on the Stege branch..." Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. July 17, 1905. p. 3. Retrieved December 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Trolley merger to reach San Jose and Sacramento". Stanislaus County Weekly News. Modesto, California. April 5, 1912. p. 7. Retrieved December 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Bus Service To Richmond Will Start Tomorrow". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. November 6, 1933. p. 15. Retrieved January 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Motor Bus Schedules In Richmond Protested". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. November 7, 1933. p. 16. Retrieved January 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Chronology of the East Shore and Suburban Railway" (PDF). El Cerrito Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 7, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

Further reading

• Hanson, Erle C. (1961). East Shore & Suburban Railway. Pacific Railroad Publications.

External links

• Photograph of E&SR streetcar

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• Richmond, California
• History of Contra Costa County, California
• Transportation in Contra Costa County, California
• Railway companies established in 1904
• Railway companies disestablished in 1933
• Defunct California railroads
• Key System
• Streetcars in California
• United States railway company stubs
• California transportation stubs