The San Francisco call., 1904-12-19
ELECTRIC ROADS
ARE BUILDING
Contra Costa County Get
ting Needed Improvements
in Transportation Lines
CONNECT WITH OAKLAND
Franchises Asked For Over
Important Routes Through
Rich and Growing Sections
Oakland ONCE San Francisco Call,

Oakland Office San Francisco Call,
1016 Broadway, Dec. is.
Contra Costa County will soon be
connected with Oakland by a complete
electric railway system that will reach
every portion of that rich and rapidly
growing county. Who is behind this
electric railway system is not stated,
, but the work is actually under way
upon franchises that have been OBJ
tained, while still other franchises are
being asked for. Up to the present time
the only piece of electric railroad in all
of Contra Costa County has been a few
miles in operation at Point Richmond.
The work of building the connection
between Point Richmond and Oakland
is already under way The material is
on the ground, gangs of men are grad
ing and laying the rails and it is an
nounced that inside of six months the
cars will be running through.
At the time work was begun on the
Oakland connection r. H. Latimer, one
of the leading lawyers of Martinez,
filed an application for an electric rail-
road franchise TO run from Muir sta
ton, on the Santa Fe Railroad in AL
hambra Valley, to Martinez to Pache-
co, Concord, Walnut Creek and then
toward Oakland over what is known as
the Fish ranch road, passing through
Lafayette and ending at the Alameda
County line at the tunnel
Whether this is all part of a general
plan, and who Mr.. Latimer represents,
he declines to say Who is behind the
railroad construction between Oakland
and Point Richmond is another mys-
terry. Mr.. Latimer merely says he rep
resents people who will go to work at
once. w. S. Rheem, who is the super
intendent of the Point Richmond line
that is connecting up with Oakland,
says merely that his road is to be built
to the Alameda County line and to con-
meet with the San Pablo avenue line of
the Oakland Traction Company and the
Key Route. Mr.. Rheem is the superin-
tendent of the Standard OIL Company S
works at Point Richmond, and this
may furnish some clew as to whom he
represents in the railroad deal. Mr..
Rheem also says it will not be long be-
fore Point Richmond is connected with
Martinez by electric road So it would
seem that Contra Costa County is
about to experience a season of rail-
road building such as it has never
known before.
These lines will open up a country
that is rich in both products of the soil
and products of the mills. They will
connect the great manufacturing water
/ front with the rich interior and will
vastly aid the development of the
county The growth of Contra Costa
County has been very great, and where
once were only small landings are now
cities. Richmond has in the neighbor-
hood of 5000 population, and Black Dia-
mond which was once old New York
Landing. is now a thriving town. The
Contra Costa Gazette is already agi-
tating the advertising of it's water front
| 4 g.. i.
velopment, and Secretary Metcalf of
the Department of Commerce and La
Dor has called attention to the fact that
Contra Costa County is already the
second manufacturing county in the
State. What the county has needed has
been better railroad service, and ap-
parently it is at last to have this