Key Route Electric Streetcar 1940s Photo Berkeley California Arlington 2 x 4

This 1940s photograph shows a Key System electric streetcar operating in Berkeley, California, part of the East Bay’s extensive Key Route transit network.

The Key System, commonly known as the Key Route, provided electric rail transportation throughout Oakland, Berkeley, and surrounding East Bay communities during the early twentieth century. The system connected residential neighborhoods with ferry terminals and later the Bay Bridge rail lines, forming a major component of regional commuter transit. Streetcars and interurban trains operated across a network of local lines, carrying passengers through Berkeley’s hillside districts and along major avenues before the gradual transition to bus service in the postwar years.

The photograph shows a wooden-bodied Key Route streetcar marked with the route number 7, traveling along track embedded in a Berkeley street near Arlington Avenue. Overhead electric trolley wires and poles are visible above the car, while hillside homes appear in the background. The streetcar features multiple sliding windows and enclosed vestibules typical of Key System equipment, and a small advertisement panel is mounted near the front entrance. The photograph measures approximately 2 x 4 inches.

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