H97.3.421

The streetcar in this photo is a double decker. It is electricity driven, at a time, circa 1900, when horse cars were being replaced by electric cars in Oakland. The photo shows single truck car #12, fully occupied by men wearing formal hats and clothing, seated on the open upper deck, standing on the roof, the stairway, and on the trestle on which the car is stopped. The #12 has iron spiral staircases at each corner of the car. The gussets between the stair risers are of open-work decorated iron. An iron railing leading from the staircases and to the edge of the roof prevents passengers from falling. A pole trolley is barely visible. In all probablity this a car belonging to the Highland Park and Fruit Vale Co. (See Key family tree in Demorro, p.311). The car is on a trestle, whose protective wooden railing can be seen at center. As close as this cataloguer can get to it, this car is of the same type and at the same place as that in shown in Bagwell, p.161. The princip;al differences between this photo and the one catalogued as H97.3.420 is that more of the trestle and the hills in the background (on which horses are grazing) are shown. References: Demoro, Harre W. "The Key System," Interurban Press, Glendale, CA, 1985, 2 vols, photos, maps, drawings. Bagwell, Beth, Oakland: "The Story of a City," Presidio Press, Novato, CA, 1982, photos, maps, drawings.