Our Mission

The mission of the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association is to preserve the regional heritage of electric railway transportation as a living resource for the benefit of present and future generations.

To fulfill this mission the Association will continue to promote the study of electric railways, their physical equipment, properties and operations in northern California and the West. Persist in the procurement and preservation of historic electric railway equipment, materials, and property. Maintain the display and interpretation of surviving historic equipment, materials and properties.

Museum History

In 1946, a group of like-minded individuals learned that an old Oakland streetcar that they had chartered for a day’s outing was to be scrapped within a week. They immediately dug into their pockets and gathered together enough money to buy the car right there on the spot. In this spirit of philanthropy and historic preservation, the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association was created to foster interest in streetcar, interurban, and mainline electric railroad operations, and to preserve these rapidly vanishing pieces of history.

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