to the Alameda Shops for maintenance and repair. Terminated November 1938. Equipment Catenary Equipment and Substations Electrification of the 52 or so miles of trackage began in early 1911, using No. 0000 grooved copper trolley wire, 7/16 inch messenger wires, and hanging loop catenary. Electrification was at 1200 volts direct-current, which allowed for higher speeds, faster acceleration, and less power loss. Substations located at the Tidal Canal (along Fruitvale Ave), Thousand Oaks, and West Oakland converted 1320 volt Alternating-Current into 1200 volts direct current. Catenary cross-arms were of a simple construction, using a center iron pole (painted black) and trolley cross-arms at either 60 or 120 feet of length to hold the catenary wiring. There were different methods of the application of the towers to hold the catenary in certain settings on the lines. The East Bay Electric Lines had trackage over a series of estuaries and rivers, including the San Francisco Bay, which meant that due to the limitations of the infrastructure over these bodies of water the usual method of center-pole and cross-arm located in-between the double-track was given up, in favor of 65 feet tall iron poles in a lattice formation, that held up the catenary. Additionally, this style of catenary construction was applied on the four track segment of track that paralleled the Southern Pacific's mainline via Oakland. Car-shops In order to maintain its fleet of electric locomotives, the East Bay Electric Lines and later Interurban Electric Railway had two shops, the Alameda Shops and the Bridge Yard. The Alameda Shops were located at West Alameda, on the Oakland Estuary, and the Bridge Yard was the general maintenance yard for the Interurban Electric Railway and Key System just before the Bay Bridge. Interurbans American Car & Foundry Company Interurbans To provide faster transportation on its commuter lines, Southern Pacific purchased steel interurbans from the American Car & Foundry Company (AC&FC). The first group of cars arrived in 1911 from the AC&FC and consisted of 40 powered passenger coaches (motors), 25 powered combination baggage-passenger cars (combos), and 50 unpowered passenger coaches (trailers), some with train controls and some without. They had large rectangular end windows, which proved to be a liability for train crews in accidents. Eventually, these rectangular end windows would be replaced with circular windows, reminiscent of portholes and similar to the Pennsylvania Railroad's MP54 electric suburbans. The circular windows however would not be applied