A wrecking ball knocked the triple-track streetcar “hump” on the Transbay Terminal into oblivion today. The 71-year old building itself is next, really the final chapter in clearing the site for the billion-dollar terminal that will replace it, hoped to include stations for both high speed rail and Caltrain in addition to buses.The “hump” was a streetcar ramp built in front of the terminal between First and Fremont Streets, just south of Mission. When it opened on January 15, 1939, some of the streetcars that had been going down Market to the Ferry Building — both Muni cars on the outer tracks and Market Street Railway Company cars on the inner tracks — were diverted to the new terminal, but the operation was such a mess (photo, below) that it caused what is still considered the worst traffic jam in Market Street history.At first, there were two streetcar tracks, one for each company, southbound on First and northbound on Fremont, switching into three tracks on the hump. They brought passengers to the trains that ran across the Bay Bridge: three companies with trains that ran as far as Chico.  But within a couple of years of opening, only the Key System trains serving the inner East Bay cities survived.After Muni and the old Market Street Railway merged in 1944, First and Fremont were reduced to one track each, with two tracks on the ramp. By mid-1949, Muni was sending all its streetcars to the terminal: the B and C Geary lines, plus the J, K, L, M, and N.  That ended when Muni Metro opened full-time in 1982, though vintage streetcars used the terminal hump during the Trolley Festivals of the 1980s, then again when the permanent F-line opened in 1995, until the Wharf extension opened in 2000.  The tracks on First and Fremont were torn up soon after, and only Muni buses have used the hump since.Now, there are only photographs and memories…

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It is the oldest street railway line in America, and it’s not in San Francisco. Market Street has had rail transit for 150 years now — the longest duration on a city’s main street — but today, St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans celebrates 175 years of rail transit.

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Eighty-four years after the Declaration of Independence was, er, declared on July 4, 1776, the first street railway on the Pacific Coast opened. It was an odd-looking railroad-type coach, powered by steam, running from Third and Market (pictured below) to 16th and Valencia.  By 1867, the noisy steam engine aroused enough neighbors’ ire to be replaced by horsecars. (Guess they preferred the manure.)  Cable cars took over as the predominant Market Street transit in 1883, succeeded by electric streetcars in 1906, which endure today as the F-line.Based on input from MSR member and historian Emiliano Echevveria, the Chronicle’s Carl Nolte paints a fascinating picture of this steam operation.  It was called the Market Street Rail Road, first of at least five organizaitons (including ours) to bear a similar name.  The picture is the only one we’ve seen of this particular operation. It was taken around 1862. Note the cool open seating on the upper deck. The back-to-back seating looking out the sides of the car was the common arrangement of the time for the top deck of transit vehicles in Britain, so perhaps that was the inspiration. Or not.  As we say, this was a reasonably obscure operation, but we do know it was the first street railway on the Pacific Coast, and it opened July 4, 1860. We’re mounting a new exhibit at our San Francisco Railway Museum near the Ferry Building, matching historic photos of various transit modes and locations on Market (most provided by Emiliano) with shots of the same places today taken by our member Kevin Sheridan, a great photographer.  It will open in mid-July; watch this space for details.  We’ll also feature extensive coverage of the history of Market Street transit in the next issue of our member newsletter, Inside Track, due out at the end of July. Join Market Street Railway now, and be sure to get it.

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