Before BART and AC Transit, the East Bay was served by the Key System, an extensive streetcar network which linked to San Francisco over the lower deck of the Bay Bridge and arriving at the Transbay Terminal. This 1945 promotional film shows the once great Key System at its peak.
Thanks to Pedestrianist for leading us to a post at 38th Notes.
Great film! I wish some of those modern-design trains at the end had come to fruition.
Trainorders.com had a posting about the Bridge Railway, so made an addition recommending the movie on YouTube. It would be interesting to know which old Hollywood films provided some of the “back before movies were invented” scenes. In the “contemporary” (as of 1945) scenes, there are even some shots of the recycled New York “el” cars on the Richmond Shipyard Railway.
YouTube has a fascinating assortment of rail and music videos, for example, those of us who remember the San Francisco music scene of the 60’s can see Jefferson Airplane (featuring Grace Slick) at their peak. When the Smoky Valley RR in Kansas brought Santa Fe steam locomotive 3415 back to life, YouTube had videos for all the ATSF fans out there. When Muni 1 comes back from its rejuvenation, someone will probably post a video of its triumphal return. (YouTube also has a lot of weird “stuff”, but I ignore that)