History Spotlight
Centennial of the (Original) F-line
On December 29, 1914, the original F-line opened: the San Francisco Municipal Railway’s F-Stockton line. It was Muni’s sixth streetcar line and was given impetus by the huge Panama-Pacific International Exposition which opened just two months later at the end of the new F-line on Chestnut Street, in what’s now the Marina District.
Happy 102nd Birthday, Muni!
On December 28, 1912, America’s first big city transit line owned by the people themselves opened. In San Francisco, on Geary Street. The San Francisco Municipal Railway broke the pattern of transit systems owned by private companies.
Gratitude: Big Picture and Closeup
Flagship Powell Cable Car Slips Into Service
Without fanfare, the latest product of Muni’s able cable car shops has rejoined the fleet after a full restoration and makeover.
Great Heritage Saturday! Come Sunday!
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.
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
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