Just Visiting

We stopped by Cameron Beach Yard this afternoon and what should be peeking out but the first of Muni’s new light rail vehicles, built by Siemens. Car 2001 was nestled in between 1914 Muni Car 130 (not visible, at right) and (visible to the left) 1952 Brussels, Belgium PCC 737.

There are Bredas under the canopy as well, which Market Street Railway fought for ten years to have built to protect the most vulnerable historic streetcars, which were then based at what was known as Geneva Division, built for some of the city’s first streetcars in 1900 and a Muni property since 1944. It was renamed for Cameron Beach, a board member of Muni’s parent, SFMTA shortly after his untimely death in 2011. (Cam had previously been vice chair of our nonprofit’s board.

But shortly after the facility was dedicated to Cam, the historic streetcars started leaving, as F-line (and later E-line) operations, maintenance, and storage were shifted across town to Muni Metro East. The reason given: rail replacement in the big LRV division across the street, Green Division, meant the tracks at Cameron Beach were needed for LRVs.

But that job, well behind schedule, is finally approaching the finish line, and we’re told the historic streetcars will return to Cameron Beach as soon as February 2018 — just three months for now.

And that Siemens LRV — just visiting during its testing operations, but we know that if Cam Beach himself had seen it today, he would’ve broken into his famous ear-to-ear grin and said, “Oh, YEAH!”  Because Cam loved effective rail transit, old cars or new!