The past:

I remember trying to get who was driving the car, to take the lower deck so I could see the tracks and possible trains. Was stuck at a "Tennis Match" in the Oakland hills but it was on the Key System. Then there was the GM/SP ? suit about those tires. And the list goes on. Oh, the hump at TI? I had just turned 15, I think.


History will show the great transportation we had in the Bay Area. I still think of them as street cars. The NWP that covered most of Marin with service over to the coast on a narrow gauge.

The Muni. All over the City.

All the SP and other carriers running ferries on the bay and rivers.

And of course the Key System, the SP Red Cars, etc.

Can't forget cross country trains out of the Oakland Mole.

Oh! The Mt. Tam Railroad. I used to ride my motorcycle over the old Right of Way and through the old tunnel from Larkspur to Mill Valley and other "places" when the rail was still there but not ripped out yet.

Its too bad these times are gone.

As I grew up, I could not understand why they were putting a tunnel UNDER the bay, when we had double track and modern signal systems on the bay bridge.

Lived in Marin for a bit and all the stations, track and plant were still there but ready to be torn out.

And the interesting part???

Over these years, I was able to ride engines around Tiburon, special runs,etc. (even
Many years later, I would be sitting around a union meeting and listen to some of these old heads talk about their old days, and they had no idea I was the little kid that rode around the yard back in those days.

Looking back, that was over 47 years ago. I didn't pull the pin as a hoghead until I had 42 years with the SP.

Wouldn't trade those memories for anything.