We are really proud to announce the arrival of a wonderful book that is both a labor of love and a product of passion for our city’s transit system. It will make a great gift for anyone who loves San Francisco history or urban transit, or who would just get a kick of seeing how our town used to look.
A sample photo picked off the OldSF.org website: a Muni streetcar turning onto Geary from Market Street, 1914 or so. SF Public Library Photo.
Pacific Bus Museum’s vintage GM "Old Look" coach stands sentinel at Grace Cathedral earlier this year during the memorial service for SFMTA Director (and former MSR vice president) Cam Beach. The bus is painted in our namesake’s "zip stripe" livery, but lettered for "Niles Canyon Lines," the route it runs carrying people to the rail museum there.
There’s an outfit down in Silicon Valley — SMT Rail — that thinks they have a better idea for mass rail transit. But the way they’re marketing it isn’t going to make friends in San Francisco at least.
F-line PCC streetcar No. 1057, painted in tribute to Cincinnati, is known to many of its fans as “The Bumblebee” because of its eye-popping yellow paint and stripes (admittedly dark green instead of a bee’s black). Well, now it’s even more eye-popping following a renovation by Muni’s maintenance team, including an entirely new roof, body repairs, and a complete repainting. Thanks to Jeremy Whiteman for this great photo!
This week, they publicly unveiled San Diego’s new PCC streetcar. Here’s a video clip.
Market Street Railway is delighted to join many others in welcoming Ed Reiskin as Executive Director/CEO of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. The Chronicle’s Rachel Gordon has an overview today of what he faces in his new job.
5-line streetcar inbound on McAllister at Larkin, 1941. It will go straight to Market, unlike the successor trolley buses that had to detour down Hyde for decades. By the way, Market Street Railway volunteers are restoring the twin of this streetcar. That car, No. 798, is the only one of 250 of this type that survives — streetcars hand-built by San Francisco workers in the shops of our namesake, Market Street Railway Company.
Was blind, but now I see.
UPDATE: The 2012 calendar is now available on our online store as well.
