On this Thanksgiving weekend, we’d like to shout out thanks to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni’s parent, for their continuing support of historic transit. There are few agencies in the country that meaningfully support their own legacies, and none that do so in four distinct vehicle modes. (Of course, no one else HAS four vehicle modes like Muni: streetcar/light rail, motor coach, trolley coach, and cable car).
History Spotlight
Celebrating Civic Activism – With a Cable Car
Powell cable car No. 26 reenters service in its 1947 livery, November 14, 2012. On the running board, from right to left: SFMTA Chair Tom Nolan, Vice Chair Cheryl Brinkman, Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin, MSR President Rick Laubscher, MSR board member Bruce Agid. Frank Zepeda photo.
A Great Vintage Day! Don’t Miss Next Sunday!
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
Come Hear About Muni’s Early Years
West Portal, 1935. Image courtesy of the SFMTA Photo Archive. (c) 2012, SFMTA. sfmta.com/photo.
Actual “Last Day” of Muni’s First PCC Era
Click to enlarge.
The Day the Streetcars (Almost) Died
When PCC No. 1108 took the N-Judah beach loop on September 17, 1982, it was thought it would be the last PCC to ever do that. Thanks to lots of effort by advocates, that turned out not to be true. Bob Davis photo.
San Francisco 1940 With Lots of Streetcars
Another great travelogue posted to the web. San Francisco, 1940. Well worth watching all the way through. Streetcars, Bay Bridge trains, cable cars, oh my!
New Video Highlights First Muni PCC Era
Cover art from the DVD box for "Municipal Railway Vintage Scrapbook". Click to enlarge.
Photo of the [Past] Moment: Thanks, Mom!
Click to enlarge. Muni PCC No. 1040 on Market Street in 1955, about to turn onto First Street to reach the Transbay Terminal (which would have been shown as "BRIDGE" on the roll signs of the day). Following common practice of the time, the operator has already changed the destination reading to "OCEAN" on the L-Taraval line (revised on later roll signs to "46TH-ZOO"). That’s the Hunter-Dulin Building, home to the fictional detective firm of Spade & Archer, above the car in the background, at 111 Sutter. (It’s still there.) We left the photo uncropped, the better to see the cool storefronts on Market. No, "Navy Blues" is not the predecessor of Old Navy. Several military uniform stores used to be quartered in this section of Market. Photo by Joel Salomon’s mom.
Or, How About “Step Down to Open”?
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