Editing Key System (section)

=== Early years ===
[[File:Key Pier (cropped).jpg|thumb|Key Pier, 1909]]
The system began as a consolidation of several streetcar lines assembled in the late 1890s and early 1900s by [[Francis Marion Smith|Francis Marion "Borax" Smith]] and his business interests. After having made a fortune in Borax and gained his nickname, "Borax", the entrepreneur turned to real estate and electric traction for streetcars. The Key System was founded as the '''San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose Railway (SFOSJR)''', incorporated in 1902. After consolidating local lines under one company, Smith sought to compete with the [[Southern Pacific]] commuter ferry market as well as develop new [[streetcar suburb]]s in the [[East Bay]]. The troubled [[California & Nevada Railroad]] had begun construction of a ferry pier in Oakland, but its plans were never realized. Smith purchased the railroad in order to gain access to its right of way and waterfront operations, as well as use the abandoned pier as a starting point for [[Key System Mole|his own passenger mole]].<ref>{{harvnb|Demoro1|1985|p=14}}</ref>

Transbay service began on October 26, 1903,<ref>{{cite news |title=Key Route is a great success |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-berkeley-gazette/135353152/ |access-date=17 November 2023 |newspaper=The Berkeley Gazette |via=Newspapers.com |date=October 28, 1903 |page=1}}</ref> with a four-car train carrying 250 passengers, departing [[Downtown Berkeley, California|downtown Berkeley]] for the [[Ferries of San Francisco Bay|ferry to San Francisco]].<ref>{{harvnb|Demoro1|1985|pp=17–21}}</ref> Before the end of 1903, [[Frank C. Havens]], the general manager of the SFOSJR, devised the idea of using a stylized map on which the system's routes resembled an old-fashioned key, with three "handle loops" that covered the cities of Berkeley, Piedmont (initially, "Claremont" shared the Piedmont loop) and Oakland, and a "shaft" in the form of the Key pier, the "teeth" representing the ferry berths at the end of the pier. The company touted its 'key route', which led to the adoption of the name "Key System".<ref>{{harvnb|Demoro1|1985|p=12}}</ref>

In 1908, the SFOSJR changed its name to the '''San Francisco, Oakland & San Jose Consolidated Railway'''; it changed to the '''San Francisco-Oakland Terminal Railway''' in 1912. Smith was ousted from the company in 1913.<ref>{{harvnb|Demoro1|1985|pp=40–41}}</ref> After it went bankrupt in December 1923, it was re-organized as the '''Key System Transit Co.''', adopting a marketing concept as the name of the company.

[[File:1909 Key System, oakland (cropped).jpg|thumb|A Key System train in Emeryville, 1909, heading west to the Mole, entering the underpass ("subway") under the mainline of the Southern Pacific under construction.]]
Following the Great [[Crash of 1929]], a holding company called the '''Railway Equipment & Realty Co.''' was created, with the subsidiary Key System Ltd running the commuter trains. In 1938, the name became the '''Key System'''.

During [[World War II]], the Key System built and operated the [[Shipyard Railway]] between a transfer station in Emeryville and the [[Kaiser Shipyards]] in Richmond.<ref>{{harvnb|Demoro1|1985|pp=112–117}}</ref>

[[File:Architect and engineer (1933) (14781438192).jpg|thumb|left|The new ferry terminal on the Key System Mole in 1933. The old ferry terminal and the end of the mole had been destroyed by a fire and explosion earlier in the year.]]