Powell Cable Car 3 is painted the way the Powell Street cable cars looked at the darkest years of the cable car system, the 1960s and 1970s. During this era, the tracks, cable machinery, and powerhouse became decrepit beyond repair. The entire system had to be shut down for a total rebuilding between October 1982 and July 1984, spearheaded by then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein.

This cable car was built in 1893 in the East Bay town of Newark by Carter Brothers, and rebuilt by Muni’s shops in 1955. It was numbered 503 until Muni dropped the first number on Powell cable cars in the 1970s. Car 503 served the Sacramento-Clay line until the 1906 earthquake and fire, and then was moved over to Powell Street, where it has run ever since, almost exclusively on the Powell-Mason line until 1956; on both the Mason and Hyde lines since 1957.

It has worn a number of liveries (paint schemes) during its lifetime. It was one of just three Powell cars to be painted blue and yellow shortly after Muni took over the Powell cable cars from the previous owner of the Powell cable system, Market Street Railway Company, in 1944. But very quickly, Muni decided to paint all its vehicles green and cream. That original green and cream livery (displayed on Powell Car 26) had cream owners panels lettered simply “Municipal Railway,” later modified on some Powell cars to “Municipal Railway of San Francisco” (displayed on Powell Car 8).

This original green and cream Muni livery was simplified in the early 1960s, in part to make it cheaper to paint as maintenance money got tight. The entire side panels were painted green, with decals stating “Municipal Railway of San Francisco” affixed at the bottom of the panels. The wording was later changed to “San Francisco Municipal Railway”. This is how all Powell cable cars (except Powell Car 1) were painted right up until the system was rebuilt starting in 1982.

The original green and cream livery was on the Powell Cars when then-Mayor Roger Lapham tried to scrap the Powell cables in favor of buses in 1947. Lapham’s plan was resoundingly beaten by civic activists led by Friedel Klussmann. In tribute to her, Powell Car 3 was left in the green and cream livery when all the other Powell cars were repainted maroon and light blue during the rebuilding of 1982-84. Car 3 carried a plaque dedicating it to Mrs. Klussmann, a plaque subsequently transferred to Powell Car 1.

The different liveries of Powell Cars 1 and 3 stirred interest at the nonprofit Market Street Railway, and at Muni, with researching and recreating other authentic historic liveries on San Francisco cable cars. Today, more than a dozen cable cars wear the paint schemes from bygone eras in the long history of cable cars in San Francisco.