Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 180

The Knave 3 oo vo ON vo" a 3 Continued from Page 25 wood Canyon trail. On many occasions the 0. A. E. had to rent "canTfrom the Key Route.

These were the short trailer coaches 'numbered from 541 to 550. "In order to use such short trailer coaches on the 0. A. E. it was necessary to block up their bolsters so that the couplers would be the same height as the 0.

E. car.s. It was a matter of six inches. The work was usually performed at the shops late Saturday in order to have the cars ready for service the next morning. On Sunday night the work had to be undone and the cars returned to the Key Route.

Oakland, Antioch Eastern paid the Key Route a flat rental of $2.50 per car per day." WHEN traffic became unusually heavy the 0. X. E. would borrow trailer coaches from their connecting line in Sacramento the Northern Electric Railway that operated up the Sacramento Valley to Chico. From the photo collection of Vernon Sappers Oakland, Antioch Eastern Picnic Special on siding in Redwood Canyon's Parkhurst Park in 1914 from the Pier to 40th and Shatter, then cut off, and one of the 0.

A. E. motors would couple in. ''This type of operation usually took place onaFourth of July, La- discharged at the various stations in Redwood Canyon the empty trains would turn back to the Oakland depot for another load. The run to Canyon station took but 20 minutes; to Pinehu rsTPar testation-25 minutes.

"The oldest in years is Ernest Knoblock, better known to his passengers as He is now 94 and lives in Santa Cruz," Vernon reports. Among the others are J. -Cr-ObenehainrW TrVan Cleave-and S. R. Bowman now residents of Sacramento, Lynn Hall of Walnut Creek, Oscar i 1 of Pittsburg, and Karl Rodebaugh of Lafayette.

"In the ticket office were Roy Sneider, still a resident of One of the brakemen who later be- -came a towerman was Leslie Olsen-who remains an Oakland resident. "There may be others still living that I have overlooked. If it would be nice to hear from them." It's all only a pleasant memory now. Only those who rode the Oakland, Antioch Eastern out into the wilderness of the "Adirondaks of the Pacific" have any idea of the happy, carefree days Vernon Sappers describes here as a way of life never again to be enjoyed. THE KNAVE bor Day, or Admission Day, when picnic travel was at its heaviest.

Or when the State Fair was run ning in Holidays such as those taxed the electric line to its fullest capacity. "Train crews were never given a day off or permitted to lay off on lLAn.dLsJiuring.theumrner months. Even freight crews were pressed into service on occasion. Brakemen performed extra duty as Helper Conductors in order to have manpower to pick yjj fares." PICNIC trains were made up with as many as 10 cars and as few as four. Box motors 101 and 102 were equipped with wooden benches to provide additional seating for a should the emergency demand.

"When all the passengers were "The Key Route cars were usually- hauled by two 'Box Moters, numbered 101" and Vernon" -continues. "It wasn't unusual though to find Box Moters numbers 1001 and 1002 on the O. A. E. line out of Oakland, both borrowed from their branch line.

Because -the electric locomotives. 103 and 104 were originally designed to haul passenger trains before they became freight locomotives, they too were frequently pressed into "Key Route freight locomotive No. 1001 frequently pulled Key coaches from the Pier terminal on weekends when travel was heavy, this was due to the fact that O. A. E.

could not run their heavy freight engines over the Key, Trestle to the Pier. Their weight made it too hazardous. So Key Route's 1001 would pull the 'Picnic Special' "of the trains would lay over on the long siding at Pine-hurst while others might go on and tie up at Burton station between Moraga and Lafayette (which had a long siding). Should Burton sta- tion iill up the Jrains wpuldgoon to Concord and stand by on a siding there. "Even with all this heavy traffic there was never an accident in au the years the Oakland, Antioch Eastern operated those picnic trains." Vernon credits the record to an efficient automatic block signal system the electric line installed early in its operation, as well as to the efficiency of the train crews.

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