Trolley Tuesday 7/27/21 - Bakersfield & Kern Electric Railway

Long known as being the Gateway to the Central Valley for many northbound Angelinos, Bakersfield is often thought off as a "drive-through" town with little to actually interest tourists. Its claims to fame are usually through its many famous artists, musicians, and athletes who were born in the city, such as country music stars Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, Disney artist and "Nine Old Man" Marc Davis, too many NASCAR drivers to count, and way too many NFL players to count. However, for the interest of this blog, Bakersfield was also home to a long-lived and cute little local streetcar that helped grow out its little pocket of Kern County through the early 1900s. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's get freshly baked as we look at the B&KERy, otherwise known as the Bakersfield & Kern County Electric Railway!

  

Omnibus Origins in Oildale

The Santa Fe Railroad depot in Bakersfield, 1909.
(Public Domain)

A typical mid-late 1800s omnibus, this one from New York City.
(Mystic Stamp Company)

Every good electric railway usually starts with a massive fight, and the B&KERy was no exception. Just before 1874, the city of Bakersfield (freshly-incorporated the year before) was in a heated land dispute with the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). This land dispute forced the SP to move their tracks two miles east of Bakersfield's then-city limits and, in order to build up their real estate enterprises, founded the town of Sumner. As if a gesture of good will, SP then proposed that there needed to be an effective railway between Sumner and Bakersfield and, in 1874, a franchise was granted to whoever wanted a streetcar line. For some unknown reason, nobody ever fulfilled the franchise and omnibuses began running services between downtown Bakersfield and the station.

The "Bakersfield" SP depot, originally the Sumner SP station, in 1941.
(Ron Reiring)

A Bakersfield horse-drawn fire wagon in 1908,
with the streetcar tracks below it.
(Chaney Hicks)

Over a decade later, a second franchise was granted to T.J. Packard, H.A. Blodget, John Keith, and H.H. Fish (who was already operating an omnibus line between Sumner and Bakersfield). The four men created the Bakersfield & Sumner Railroad in 1887 and constructed a line between the Bakersfield Courthouse and the SP station in Sumner by 1888. Speeding up the process was the use of 16-lb rail originally used from a nearby mine. The railway, unfortunately, was very slapdash as whenever it rained, the cars would sink and derail because the rails sat on very substandard ballast. Very little development followed this initial period of street railways, other than Sumner changing its name to "Kern City" in 1892.

A Positively Shocking Experience

Kern County No. 1 hydroelectric dam, photographed after 1968.
(Library of Congress)

Six years later, in December 1894, Blodget joined forces with four other men (C.N. Beale, S.W. Ferguson, W.S. Tevis, and H. Jastro) to create the "Power Development Company". Its purpose was to construct and operate a hydroelectric plant at the base of the Kern River Canyon, which was eventually completed by 1897 and began powering the cities of Bakersfield and Sumner that same year. 

By the turn of the century, the Bakersfield & Sumner Railroad became part of the Power Development Company and was renamed the Bakersfield & Kern Electric Railway (B&K). As electric wires were strung up, carhouses were also erected at 19th Street and Union Avenue in Bakersfield and the city was soon abuzz with this new way of getting around town. Rails were also upgraded to 36-lb girder rail sourced from Australia, while the operating voltage was set at an odd 550V DC. On February 17, 1901, the railway opened for business with a 12-minute journey between the Courthouse and Sumner station (now Bakersfield station).

A 1900 newsclipping out of the San Francisco Chronicle on April 3, 1900,
proclaiming the incorporation of the B&K.
(Newspapers.com)

A map of the B&K system by July 1, 1941.
A larger version can be found here.
(Author unknown)

The success of the new streetcar could not be understated, as just a year later, B&K's top brass were already developing new routes around town to expand the system. Four single-track lines were constructed: the "F" Street and "H" Street Loop from the Santa Fe Bakersfield station to the main line at 19th and H, the North Chester Line from 19th and Chester to 30th and K street, the South Chester Line from 19th to 8th Street along Chester Avenue, and finally the West 19th Street Line from 19th and F street to Oak Street and Truxtun Avenue. 

Despite the line gaining more branch lines and other extensions, the route map essentially froze here by 1915 with 10.51 miles of track and an average speed of 25 miles per hour. Local attractions included the Beale Memorial Clock Tower (erected in 1904 to commemorate Truxton Beale's mother, Mary Edwards Beale), the Kern County Fairgrounds on the shores of the Kern River, Recreation Park at Oak Street, and of course the two railroad stations on either side of town. There was also an "observation car" service starting in 1903, where a specially-decorated streetcar roamed the whole system from 19th and Chester as a sightseeing tour, first on Sundays and eventually adding two evening weekday services.

A Bakersfield & Kern Electric Railway pass from 1931.
(Author Unknown)

Here Come Ol' Bus-Stop, He Come Movin' Up Slowly...

The double-tracking on Chester Avenue can be seen in this circa-1920s view.
(Kern County Museum)

19th Street in Bakersfield, 1910.
(Alamy Stock Photo)

It wasn't until 1909 that B&K's top brass were able to turn their attention to how to keep their streetcar line viable as the years went on. Due to its position as a simple farming community, complete expansion of the line was not imperative to reach far out into the lower Central Valley, but streamlining service was absolutely tantamount. The first problem area identified was the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (ATSF)-Southern Pacific main line on 19th Street, between F and H, as it was decided the railway had gone on long enough as a single-track line. Later that year, the 19th Street stretch was upgraded to double-track, with heavier 87-lb rail replacing the lighter 36-lb girder rails. By July 1, 1909, with the South Chester Line next planned for a double-tracking, the B&KERy fell under the new ownership of the San Joaquin Light & Power Company (who founded and operated the Fresno Traction Company), but there was a problem now facing this new owner.

The Beale Memorial Clock Tower, in the middle of Chester Avenue,
with the streetcar tracks swerving around it.
(Geocaching)

A postcard view of South Chester Avenue at night,
with the Beale Memorial Clock Tower in the distance
and a B&K streetcar crossing on 17th Street.
(Unknown Author)

In the way of double-tracking the line along Chester Avenue was the Beale Memorial Clock Tower. The mighty Spanish edifice stood in the way of the double-tracking, and it was voted upon two years later to remove the tower. Beale and other Bakersfield residents protested, as Beale had the tower only built eight years prior and the town did not want to lose an exotic landmark. The tower, then, stayed and the double-tracking took great care to swerve around the clock tower to avoid it, which eventually created interesting traffic problems when streetcars randomly swerved in the way of passing motorcars. By the end of 1912, the entire system (save for the one way loops on the North and South Chester Lines and the Flower-Niles Street line) was double-tracked. The carbarn was also moved from 19th Street and Union to 19th and Oak Street, near Recreation Park.

A newsclipping from the Bakersfield Californian answering
who is to blame for the Jitney Bus epidemic, May 26, 1924.
(Newspapers.com)

The final piece of the B&K's expansion also ended up being its own downfall. Due to the perilous finances of the company going into the mid-1910s, rail expansion was halted in favor of using buses to connect outlying areas of Bakersfield to the streetcar. Dubbed the "jitney", these basic Ford Model T station wagons (where we get the modern-day term from) provided rides from places like Oildale to the streetcars, who in turn connected passengers to the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe stations. The go-anywhere nature of these buses ended up cutting into the B&K's finances, so the city council ended up restricting where the buses could go to avoid competition with the streetcar. To their credit, B&K later set up their own "feeder" bus services to spread out their profit margins.

Notable Streetcars

B&KERy No. 4, as restored by the
Southern California Railway Museum in the late 1980s.
(Unknown Author)

Between 1887 and 1942, the B&K was home to 23 total streetcars. The first four electric cars, nos. 1-4, were built by the Hammond Car Company of San Francisco, whose major products of the time were cable cars and very-primitive streetcars. These four cars were adaptations of the Bay Area's "Dinky" California Car design, sitting on one truck with two open sections and one closed section in the middle. They sat 24 people and trundled along at a steady 25 miles per hour, often bouncing along their routes. Braking was accomplished with a giant hand-lever much like their cable car kin, while the controllers were very-early Westinghouse K controllers. Three more "California Car" streetcars were added to the roster by 1902, now double-trucked and able to sit 40 people. 

B&K No. 13 at the 19th and Union Street carbarn in the 1930s.
(Kern County Museum)

In about 1911, Cars No. 8-15 were ordered from both the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (which now regularly sets fire to and blacks out California every summer) and the American Car Company (ACC). The PG&E cars (Nos. 8 and 9) were 13-ton, steam railroad clerestory-roofed cars, while the American Car products were heavier 17-ton cars with flatter "transit roofs". The ACC products were said to be "the largest and most luxurious cars to be operated in Bakersfield" and "also the largest single order of cars for the system". Despite being made of wood, these big cars served as the backbone of the Bakersfield fleet until the late 1920s.

Birney Car No. 19 (ex-UTC of Santa Cruz)
outside the 19th Street and Union carbarn, 1940.
(Kern County Library)

In 1927, the Union Traction Company of Santa Cruz, California, sold four Birney Safety Cars to the B&K after the UTC shut down. These cars were built by American Car in 1922 and were your normal, everyday Birney car that we've covered before in other posts. These were later joined by Cars No. 20-23 in 1929, this time from the defunct Santa Barbara & Suburban Railway Company, and were originally built in 1924. After the big wooden cars were retired, the little Birneys trundled along until the end of service in 1942. Five of them Nos. 17, 18-21, and 23) were then sold to Nova Scotia Light and Power for continued use.

A Deflated Loaf of Bread

Bakersfield in the 1940s, with nary a streetcar in sight
and only automobiles and jitney buses for miles around.
(Unknown Author)

The decline of the B&K really began with the end of their big expansion in 1912, following their establishment of a bus line to compete with the rival jitney buses. By this time, jitney buses all over the state were cutting into existing transit line profits and for a system as small as the B&K, this meant very easy pickings. The first blow to accelerate their demise was a 1920 fire in Recreation Park that took out the carbarn and two streetcars, necessitating the company to go back to the original 19th and Union Avenue carhouse. By the mid 1920s, with the Birneys purchased, the B&K could no longer compete with the buses apart from the original Santa Fe-Southern Pacific station line. Passenger numbers hemorrhaged until 1933, when the San Joaquin Light & Power Company sold the lot to its employees and basically left. Now a locally-owned streetcar line, the B&K had little support from the local city council and began selling off streetcar lines to pay its debts. 

Two Birneys are seen working the Santa Fe-Southern Pacific line in 1940,
crowded on all sides by ever-encroaching motor cars.
(Cheney Hicks)

Kern County transit done today, by motorbus.
(Golden Empire Transit District)

By February 28, 1942, the last streetcar line (the Santa Fe-Southern Pacific line) officially closed. Though continuing to use the "Electric Railway" moniker through 1949, buses now ruled the roost and the B&K continued as a private company until 1956, when the now-renamed Bakersfield Transit Company was made a municipal bus line for a trial period of one year. The next year, Bakersfield residents wholly supported the city buying out the bus line and renaming it the Bakersfield Transit Agency. After 15 years, the bus line was reorganized again into the Golden Empire Transit District and went from a municipal bus line into a regional transit agency, which still operates today on old B&K streetcar lines. 

Preserved Equipment

B&K No. 4, as saved by Frank Dupuy in 1942.
(Southern California Railway Museum)

Of the twenty-three streetcars rostered under the Bakersfield & Kern Electric Railway, only two are left in varying states all around Southern California. The most complete car was saved just after the B&K went under, and is the most operable as well. B&K No. 4 was one of the four original streetcars to open up the railway in 1901 and remained in passenger service until 1912. That year, it was accidentally struck by a Santa Fe locomotive (at low speed, thankfully no injuries or fatalities) and rebuilt into a service car. This helped secure the little "Dinky's" longevity as it remained the only service car on the B&K. When retired from active service, it was purchased by local teenager Frank Dupuy (1922-2017) and stored in his backyard (how he convinced his parents, I'll never know). 

B&K No. 4 sees some light, showing off its handsome lines
at the Southern California Railway Museum.
(Southern California Railway Museum)

In 1959, an older Dupuy sold the car to the Orange Empire Trolley Museum (now the Southern California Railway Museum) in Perris, CA, in an almost deplorable condition. Volunteers Joe and Norma Webber undertook a painstaking restoration of the Number 4 back into operational service, with almost all of the original wood kept on the car. Though age has since taken a toll on its running gear, it still remains in the back of Carhouse 2 as a complete car, original brakes and all. A close relative still runs on the Market Street Railway in San Francisco, Number 578, which was built earlier but maintains pretty much the same design. It is hopeful that, one day, No. 4 can be taken out again as a perfect example of a primitive electric streetcar.

B&K No. 10 in its original display position at the Kern County Museum, to be used
as part of a new event space themed after a trolley terminal.
(Kern County Museum) 

The completely-stripped interior of the streetcar.
(Kern County Museum)

The other survivor is ex-B&K No. 10, now preserved in the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield. One of the big, luxurious wooden cars, No. 10 was retired in 1933 and had its body auctioned off to use as a dwelling. The winning bid came from the Haggard family, whose son Merle was famous in the country music circles, and used as an addition to one of their houses. In 1981, when the residence was demolished, the almost-complete streetcar body was donated to the Kern County Museum (where a replica of the Beale Memorial Clock Tower is also located after the original was destroyed in the 1952 Kern County earthquake). It can be found today in the Museum's restoration shop, where woodworkers are replacing body panels and frame pieces in one big, ongoing cosmetic restoration. The plan for No. 10 is to display her in the museum as a testament to how Kern County moved over 110 years ago.

B&K No. 10 in the middle of restoration.
(Kern County Museum)

  

Thank you for reading today's Trolley post, and watch your step as you alight on the platform. My resources today included "The Southern San Joaquin Valley: A Railroad History." by John Bergman, a Bakersfield.com article on the restoration of Streetcar No. 10, the archives of the Southern California Railway Museum, and the photo credits listed in each caption. The trolley gifs in our posts are made by myself and can be found under “Motorman Reymond’s Railroad Gif Carhouse”. On Tuesday, For now, you can follow myself or my editor on Twitter, buy a shirt or sticker from our Redbubble stand, or purchase my editor's self-developed board game! It's like Ticket to Ride, but cooler! (and you get to support him through it!) Until next time, ride safe!