Just like any other line of work, we have our good days and our bad days (you could say we have our “ups and downs” [ouch!]. But, due to the unique and unusual nature of this particular profession, the kinds of problems that crop up are of a very interesting nature indeed…We call them ‘Line Delays’. They’re the bane of every transit operation. Some delays are obviously unavoidable–heavy traffic, roadwork repairs, the occasional three-alarm fire, that sort of thing.
With apologies to Brian Wilson, an ode to cable car No. 2 to the tune of the Beach Boys’ “Little Deuce Coupe”.
About a year or so ago, I was heading inbound on Powell Street & California when a little girl and her mother got on my car. They were locals, out for an evening of cable car joyriding. The mother turned to me and said, “We’ve been riding the cars all day, and we’ve given them all names. What is this cable car’s name?”
Working at the Cable Car Division is different than being at a regular Muni division. After a while, it becomes easy to forget that you’re responsible for a world-famous, National Historic Landmark. Episodes like the one I’m about to describe help to remind you that this is definitely not the 38-Geary.
by Rick Laubscher, Project Manager of the 1980s Trolley Festivals and Market Street Railway President
One proposal for extending historic streetcar service would use the tracks of the F-line and N-line to reach Ninth Avenue and Irving Street, then head north on new tracks into Golden Gate Park with a terminal at the park concourse to serve the rebuilt deYoung Museum and California Academy of Sciences.
As I headed out from Market Street Railway’s venerable Flood Building office one day during the holiday season a few years back, I encountered a stunning site at Powell and Market.
