226 years of Muni history at Market and Spear Streets, all carrying delighted passengers today. Left to right, 1950 trolley coach No. 776, 1912 streetcar No. 1, and 1948 streetcar No. 1006, all Muni vehicles restored to their original condition. They’ll be part of the fleet out next Sunday as well to celebrate Muni’s centennial. So will 1906 cable car No. 42, just out of frame to the right of this shot. That made it 341 years of San Francisco transit history at one corner today. Rick Laubscher photo. Click to enlarge
It was turn back the clock day on Muni! An original O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde cable car carrying regular passengers for the first time in 58 years (albeit on California Street). A 62 year old trolley bus taking riders on nostalgic tours of the old 7-Haight and 8-Market lines. A quintet of original Muni streetcars ranging from 60-100 years old treating riders to a trip over Dolores Heights and through Noe Valley on the J-Church line. Across from the Ferry Building, people touring more vintage buses on display and browsing special displays and merchandise for sale at our San Francisco Railway Museum. The vintage equipment performed very well, evoking nostalgia in San Franciscans of a certain age and wonder among younger ones.
If you missed it, you’ve got one more chance — next Sunday, November 11, when we’ll do it all again, with extra surprise vintage vehicles expected to be in service. Come to our San Francisco Railway Museum at 77 Steuart Street between Market and Mission from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Vintage streetcars will leave there for a ride along part of Muni’s newest streetcar line, the T-Third, running past AT&T Park, through Mission Bay, and down Third Street to Cesar Chavez, where the streetcars will loop through the new Muni Metro East maintenance facility (future home of the Central Subway fleet) and return to the museum. The streetcars, including Muni No. 1 (1912), No. 162 (1914), Nos. 1006 & 1008 (1948) and No. 1040 (1952) will stop only at the museum and at the AT&T Park stop (Second and King Streets).
O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde line cable car No. 42 today carried paying passengers for the first time since its original route shut down in 1954. Painstakingly cosmetically restored in the late 1990s by Market Street Railway volunteers led by Mike Frew, the late Dave Pharr, and the late Fred Bennett, and mechanically updated by the great Muni cable car crafts workers in the early 2000s, it is now the Mayor’s ceremonial cable car. It will run again from 10-4 on Sunday, November 11. (Note streetcar No. 1 and trolley coach No. 776 behind it on Market Street.) Rick Laubscher photo. Click to enlarge.
Trolley coaches Nos. 776 (at left in the top photo) and 5300 (Flyer, 1976) will leave from the museum regularly between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., making excursions on a variety of routes, changing during the day. They’re likely to be joined by at least one vintage motor coaches. More will again be on display in the plaza opposite the museum, where we’ll also be selling a variety of transit books, genuine 1880s cable car rail paperweights, and other one-of-a-kind items that don’t fit into our collection. We’ll also have a variety of great Muni centennial merchandise on sale in our museum. (It’s not too early to think holiday gifts!)
The O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde cable car, No. 42, will again leave from Market and California, just a block from the museum, for round trips to Van Ness Avenue. And the popular 1934 Blackpool, England boat tram will carry folks back and forth from the museum to Pier 39 (weather permitting).
Some of the rides will be at regular Muni fares, some will be free. Check back here during the week for more information on possible extra surprise vehicles. And photographers: if you snapped a great shot of the event, consider posting it to our Flickr group.
Am I the only one who would prefer that #1 either run with its eclipse front fender down or have both removed entirely? This bugs me no end although I understand the reasoning behind it (it is because of fear of wrecking it in a rear-ender, isn’t it?)