"Napa, CA Interurban Station — 1906." Proudly standing at 3rd & Soscol, the Napa Valley Route's iconic Mission style station was just over a year old in this photo. From 1905-1937, it served interurban riders heading up and down Napa Valley. Today, it survives as a house, albeit relocated.

Wheels grinding, sparks flying, and motors whining, the massive "Mystery Excursion" crawls the tight corral loop in Colusa, on the Sacramento Northern. This Cal-Nevada RR Historical Society excursion left Oakland at 7:50AM to tour the humble Colusa Branch, six interurban cars long! c. 5/8/1938

Crawling over the Butte Slough Trestle, a chartered Western Pacific "Zephyrette" heads down the Sacramento Northern's Colusa Branch. This BAERA excursion was the first trip since 1940 where "passengers" rode to Colusa. The decaying branch would be abandoned around 1976. c. 3/26/1960

I'm not enthusiastic about my major (business) but the way my financial accounting teacher believes AI Waymos will replace all public transit is genuinely so funny

"And we shall brave eternity as though  eyes looked on us in which we would seem fair." — Alan Seeger Resting in the public eye, the silent husk of Santa Fe #2925 is a prominent icon in Old Sacramento. The sturdy 4-8-4 "Northern" has not expelled a breath in decades. It probably never will, again.

Went to Sacramento on a date. Wandered around Downtown and Old Town like a tourist, eating fish n chips, cookies, and way too much candy along the way. If we do not stop to smell the roses, how will we ever know life?

The vibes at my college are on point today

Nothing screams Amtrak like being on time until being stopped a half-mile from your station by technical issues

Once, the Key System almost built an electric railway to Richmond! Opened in late 1912, the Westbrae Line was to be the first part of a route to Richmond. Company turmoil in 1915 killed it, leaving overbuilt catenary poles, wide ROWs, and a short branch to nowhere. It would be abandoned in 1941.

Why use passing sidings when there's dead-end spurs! On the Sacramento Northern's "North End," passenger trains seldom passed on sidings. Rather, they'd simply back into a freight spur, let the other pass, back out, and continue along merrily! No wonder why the automobile was so competitive 😬

Only a few runs left for these urban stallions. @sfmta.bsky.social is retiring their elegant "Breda" fleet, which has served the city well since the 90s. I had the privilege to ride and give a speech about these historic cars. Donate to the Western Railway Museum to save Breda #1534!

Initial Denver & Interurban RR schedules had trains run from Denver to Boulder in ONE HOUR! Reality proved otherwise. Heavy with AC & DC equipment, already slow to start trains were bogged down by up to 35 local stops. Later schedules called for a 1hr 10min - 1 hr 25 min trip; not bad for the era!

The Denver & Interurban RR wanted to electrify a railway to Fort Collins. Why did they stop at Boulder? In 1908, parent company Colorado & Southern was bought by the Burlington RR, who vetoed the D&I's plan. Wary of interurbans, they believed electrification would distract from existing revenues.

De-electrification saw the Central California Traction Co. rid itself of many interurbans... save for a select few. Good condition cars were often spared as cabooses. Stripped of electric equipment, old box motors could be seen on freight trains until 1953, when 'true' replacements came. c. 1948

Fort Collins' trolley is a vestige of the interurban era! The Denver & Interurban RR began the town system in 1906, envisioning it the tip of a Denver-Fort Collins route. However, by 1908 plans to extend the D&I past Boulder fell through, leaving Fort Collins' network isolated. (Wikipedia photo)

Bought a new camera! Argus C3; don't know what year, as there is film from the previous owner loaded into it. Looks like the camera collection is shaping up nicely!

Inspired by Boardwalk Empire, this Halloween I'm going as a 1930s-esque cop.

Brentwood City Hall — 620 film on a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye.

The US suffers from unnecessarily high "soft costs" that render rooftop solar 3-5X more expensive than in comparable economies. Here's a report on how much money US consumers could save if those costs were brought down:

Fascinated by these WPA: Federal Housing Administration posters.

Here's a colour photo of the "Automobile Road!" After some research, it turns out that the motorcars were Oldsmobile Model No. 2 Tonneau Cars, designed for railroad inspection. Looks like they were padded with plush seats for visitors! (Photo: Caoimhín Kevin Bunker, Facebook)

Substations? Nah. On Paul Smith's Electric RR, the train was the substation! Hooked up to 5200V AC catenary, his interurban was powered by an ONBOARD SUBSTATION that converted AC to 600V DC! From 1906 to 1932, this crude loud beast shuttling visitors to and from his hotel deep in the Adirondacks.

AC? DC? In Denver, trains used to run on both! From 1908-1922, Denver & Interurban RR cars ran on both 11,000V 25hz AC (in the country) and 550V DC (in the city). Since they had to have equipment for both, the resulting cars were costly to run and INCREDIBLY HEAVY, weighing up to 64.5 tons!

My grandpa took pictures of this unit in 1956! According to Iowa Trolleys, it was acquired in 1951. CCW had a very limited roster so it was used to fill in on interurban service if 50 was out of service, or on local service if a streetcar was down, it later became a work motor.

Obsessed with this ex-city streetcar turned rural interurban... Originally from Minneapolis, how this car [Charles City Western #52] came to rural Iowa is probably one fascinating story! (Photo: First & Fastest, Facebook)

June 23rd, 1908 saw the debut of the highly-anticipated electric Denver & Interurban Railway... to a certain extent. Due to a delay in substation installation, catenary in Downtown Boulder wasn't energized for opening day. Consequently, the arrival of the new "electric age" came pulled by steam!

A lonely interurban in the redwoods.

Before interurbans came to Colorado's Eldorado Springs, resort transport was... interesting. From the interurban transfer at Marshall, visitors once rode bumbling motor cars to the resort! Sputtering up a 2% grade, the 3-mile "Automobile Road" lasted only a year before being electrified in 1908.

If these floorboards could speak, they'd tell of shrill whistles echoing in forests older than man.

Finally compiled (or rather memorised) most of the digital photo sources for the Denver & Interurban Railway. To the very few people who read my posts: expect that content in the near future! 😎👍

Destroyed by a horrific fire, all hands were on deck to rebuild the Key System's vital ferry pier. Laborers worked around the clock to raise new trestles and steel frames. Miraculously, it took only 9-months to reopen it! Final touches continued as uninterrupted riders used the new pier. ca. 1935

Made twice baked potatoes. Finished reading Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls." The wind is low. The air cool. The sycamore across the street is glowing from the street light. My dog is curled up on my bed. It doesn't get much better than this. Enjoy each day as it comes and you will live. 🙂

At the turn of the century, Richmond boasted the best streetcars in the Bay Area. Built in 1906, the East Shore & Suburban Ry's "Huntington" cars impressed everybody. From comfort to agility, riders and crew alike adored the seven 'modern' cars, whose design came from trolleys down in LA! c. 1906

Bay Area transit teeters on a fiscal precipice. To save it, riders and workers are banding together. In my debut article for the Bay Area Current, explore the everyday people behind the fight to save transit and what that means for solidarity. Thank you! bayareacurrent.com/the-people-a...

Shuffling through the downpour, an empty Muni A-Type streetcar glides onto Townsend St from 4th, its bells muffled by the typical pluvial SF winter. It's January 18th, 1951: the final day of F-line streetcars. Once 'bustituted,' the A-types will be scrapped, save for the very first car: #1.

Steel wheels whining on the curve, the Sacramento Northern "Comet" races into Saranap, six-cars filled to capacity for a 2hr 47min journey to Sacramento. Even in its heyday, it was unusual to see SN trains exceeding three cars. However, big events in the Capital often warranted such. c. 9/27/1936

Crazy to think Solano Avenue once looked like this! Drivers pounding, an ATSF passenger train thunders into still undeveloped Albany, hissing past the Masonic Ave Tower. Built in 1911, the Tower ensured the safety of ATSF trains and Southern Pacific interurbans. c. 1913 (Paul Ayers photo)

Trees are cold too, I guess.

A picture can speak a thousand words — this photo tells of a journey. Native to Indiana, Portland Traction (PTC) #4001 came to Oregon after buses replaced it in Terre Haute. PTC, in desperate need of cars, gladly took it. Proving apt in Portland's suburbs, it ran until 1958. (TrolleyDodger photo)

TRAINBOW 🌈🚆

Nothing screams "America" like old interurban platforms being used as sidewalks for a busy road. 📌 Yolanda Station, Marin County.

Before @bart.gov and @caltrain.com, Milbrae was a transfer stop between the Southern Pacific and rival Market Street Ry! Hailed for its speed and frequency, the MSRY's #40-line was the bane of the SP, stealing away patrons as streetcars raced commuter trains (and won) to and from San Mateo!

79 years ago today, a group of teen railfans decided to change history. On Sept. 26, 1946, they learned the streetcar they chartered was to be scrapped after their excursion. So, they passed a hat around, and bought it on the spot. Together, they founded the BAERA, now the Western Railway Museum.

🚨 RARE KEY SYSTEM PHOTO! In 1946, the #16-line was replaced by buses, the first to go by new-owners National City Lines. Inspired, teen railfans chartered a car to travel the line before it went. This is that excursion. Later that year they would go on to establish the Bay Area Electric RR Assn.

Everybody in a car on the Bay Bridge could fit in the two trains in this 1956 photo. And yet, to "ease traffic," we got rid of the trains in 1958. Hard fumble.

Nothing like spending a Thursday evening listening to America's greatest fiddler... and meeting him! Shoutout to Bruce Molsky!

Much has changed in San Ramon, but one thing is certain: the trains don't run. Long ago, people rode Southern Pacific trains down the then-rural valley. Discontinued in 1934 due to being unprofitable, the current blanket of suburbs and development begs the question: should rail return?

Rumbling up the grade, Sacramento Northern #670 makes a bee-line through the Oaks at Lafayette, Oakland-bound. Note the early suburbs. Thanks to postwar federal investment, suburbs sprang up all alongside the SN—a shame they weren't built earlier to support its passenger trains.

Sacramento Northern #1207: the WORST car to ever run on the SN. Originally built in 1890 for the Pennsylvania RR, #1207 was purchased in 1920 for local services. It rode rough, had dark/dreary interiors, and generally SUCKED for riders and crew alike. It was retired in 1934 and scrapped in 1938.

Being more rural than a city line, streetcars in South San Francisco differed from their city cousins. Operation beyond city limits allowed Market St Ry to embrace one-man service. As such, South SF cars #284/285 were unique, with rear doors paneled over for one-man service in 1932.