It had more vintage vehicles, more riders, and more fun than ever. We’re talking about the sixth annual Muni Heritage Weekend September 9-10, 2017.
It also had some of the best photos we’ve seen over the years. The great one above, showing Martin (3) and Catherine (2) Andreev looking out the back window of 1950 trolley coach 776, is from Amy Osborne, part of a great photo essay she put together on sfgate.com.
Great news pieces from Sal Casteneda on KTVU-Fox 2, KGO 7, Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez in the Examiner and Ida Mojadad in SF Weekly brought out lots of curious first-time visitors, especially families with young kids. We were ready for them, with a kids’ activity area, led by our board member Katie Haverkamp. (That’s Katie in the photo below, taken by fellow Board Member Paul Wells, instructing a guest how to “pin the part on the streetcar.”
This being the centennial year for Muni buses, the SFMTA folks outdid themselves to operate seven vintage coaches, built between 1938 and 1990. Additionally, the crackerjack maintenance team at Woods Motor Coach Division gave us a peek at the past-as-future by displaying 1956 Mack diesel coach 2230, gorgeously restored and operable but awaiting re-installation of its interior. It should be carrying passengers next year. (Our non-profit has helped SFMTA with the Mack, buying a set of new tires and other needs.)
Muni posed the Mack next to one of its newest hybrid-electric coaches, which carried a great display on the history of buses at Muni.
On the streetcar side, 1896 “dinky” 578 and 1934 Blackpool, England “boat” 228 packed them in all weekend shuttling between our museum and the Wharf, and vintage Muni Cars 1 and 130, along with PCCs 1051 and 1060, took turns recreating the original J-Church line out Market and down through Noe Valley, helping celebrate its centennial. Both days, 1929 Melbourne W2 tram 496 ran the E-line in regular service.
On the cable car side, venerable O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde line 42 brought its gorgeous self to the California line again, gripped ever so lovingly by Val Lupiz! (This photo, by member Todd Glickman, who came out from Boston for the event, shows the 42 next to 1990 Orion coach 9010, signed for a never-launched California-Hyde cable car line!)
There was much more, too. Our members will receive a complete report in our quarterly newsletter, Inside Track, due out in early October. You’ll see coverage of our special Operator’s Circle exclusive tour of Muni’s new LRVs, which we coupled with a twilight boat tram ride. If you’re not a member, join now!
Thanks to all the great team at SFMTA, led by Ed Reiskin and John Haley, with Communications led by Candace Sue and Janis Yuen, all the operators and maintainers and inspectors who made the weekend so great. And on the Market Street Railway side, special thanks to Alison Cant, our museum manager, and Katie Haverkamp, our celebration committee chair, along with all our wonderful volunteers.
Next year, we hope to combine Muni Heritage Weekend with Transit Week (upcoming at the end of September). We’ll let you know dates as soon as they’re set. See you then!
OK, I’ll bite. What’s the backstory on the Mack bus? Did Muni somehow hang onto it or did they buy it back from a collector? How much work was required?
this was a fun event! thanks to everyone who helped make it a fun and educational time for all.
It was a glorious weekend. Glad to have been of service in taking a few pictures. Gratitude for everyone involved in the Muni Heritage Weekend. In a few short years, it has become a glorious time to visit San Francisco for both tourists and locals alike. The Boat car photo took a few tries, and getting as far into the left rear corner as I could. A stroke of luck to be able to frame the Ferry Building and Embarcadero 4 from that vantage point with the 578 Dinky and 1006 working the E line approaching.
By the time I made my first extended visit to the City in Aug.-Sept. 1967, the Mack diesel buses were the most numerous transit vehicles, but there was a bond issue facing the voters. One writer (probably Don Jewell in Pacific News) commented that if the bonds were voted down, Muni would muddle through, with its “motley fleet of vehicles, none of which are currently in production in North America.” Ir would be a “blast from the past” to once more ride a Mack and hear that wheezy diesel.