What a start to Muni Heritage Weekend on Saturday (November 1, 2014). 1938 White motor coach No. 042, Muni’s oldest surviving bus, was packed with happy riders all day.The only remaining original O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde cable car drew stares and shutterbugs all along the California cable car line on every run.San Francisco’s two oldest surviving passenger streetcars, No. 578 (1896, above) and Muni’s famed No. 1 (1912, below) were the stars of the streetcar show. No. 578 in particular, caught the fancy of Chronicle reporter Jaxon Van Derbeken, who wrote a great story for Sunday’s paper.Adding greatly to the historic context of the day, Saint Ignatius Senior Johnnae D. Saunders read Maya Angelou’s story of how she, when even younger than Johnnae, persevered to become San Francisco’s first African-American female streetcar conductor in 1944.
History Spotlight
Historic Buses in Spotlight November 1-2
Muni’s historic buses are featured in a great column by the Chronicle’s Carl Nolte.
Happy 120th to the 14-Mission!
Maya Angelou, SF Streetcar Conductor
Maya Angelou has passed away, at the age of 86. As an adult, she gained global fame as a writer. Well before that, as as a teen-ager, she broke barriers right here in San Francisco, when she was hired by our namesake, Market Street Railway, as the first female African-American streetcar conductor in the city.
Celebrating Dashiell Hammett’s 120th Birthday
Photo of the (Past) Moment: Centenarian at Birth
Muni streetcar No. 130, still in service, at Geary and Grant, c. 1920. Click to enlarge.
Telling a Great Story of 108 Years Ago
On or about April 14, 1906, 108 years ago this week, pioneering professional filmmakers the Miles Brothers bolted a hand-cranked camera onto the front of a cable car and rode down Market Street from Eighth Street to the Ferry Building. The film they shot has gained new interest in the past few years, since film historian David Kiehn demonstrated that it was made just a few days before the great earthquake and fire destroyed almost everything you see. (Previously, the film was thought to have been made in the summer of 1905.)
New Field Guide to SF’s Historic Streetcars & Cable Cars
Photo of the (Past) Moment: Ferry Heyday
Ferry Loop, April 1936. Ralph W. Demoro photo, Al Schwoerer collection. Click to enlarge.
Skipping Stops, Then and Now
Even in the 1930s, transit stop spacing was an issue in San Francisco. Click to enlarge.
Archive: All Posts
