May 16, 2021May 16, 2021 Rick Laubscher

Welcome back, F-line!

May 16, 2021May 16, 2021 Rick Laubscher Muni News, Posts with Photos F-line, F-line restart, F-line return, F-line streetcars, San Francisco streetcars

San Francisco’s famed (and much missed) F-Market & Wharves historic streetcar line is carrying happy passengers again. Regular service began on Saturday, May 15, with Boston PCC 1059 the first car to reach Fisherman’s Wharf, followed by Detroit 1079, as documented below by Matt Lee. As a bonus, the four-block loop through the Wharf from Pier 39 to the fishing fleet’s harbor at Jones Street, was back in service after having been shut down in Fall 2019 for construction on Jefferson Street, as shown in the photo above, by Jeremy Whiteman, featuring Philadelphia PCC 1055.

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May 6, 2021May 6, 2021 Rick Laubscher

Streetcars bring smiles to the streets

May 6, 2021May 6, 2021 Rick Laubscher Antique Streetcars, News, PCC - All, SF - Antiques, SFMSR Blackpool boat tram, boat tram, F-line, F-line restart

Smiles are breaking out along the city’s waterfront and along Market Street, as Muni’s vintage streetcars are out in force for the first time in more than a year. The F-line is running a full test schedule, including pull-outs and pull-ins along the J-Church line, in advance of the official reopening of the line for passenger service on May 15. Initial service will run seven days a week, but just eight hours a day (11 am-7 pm) initially, running the whole route from Castro to Fisherman’s Wharf.

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May 2, 2021May 2, 2021 Rick Laubscher

Vote for your favorite streetcar!

May 2, 2021May 2, 2021 Rick Laubscher Features F-line streetcar poll, Fan favorite streetcar, favorite muni streetcar, Streetcar popularity poll

People all around the world love San Francisco’s vintage streetcars…and now you can vote for your favorite no matter where you are. Our board member Chris Arvin has put together brackets on Facebook and Twitter to make it easy and fun. It’s part of our continuing celebration to welcome back F-line streetcar service from Fisherman’s Wharf to Castro, which resumes May 15.

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April 17, 2021November 17, 2021 Rick Laubscher

Take a 1906 “Trip Down Market Street” with experts

April 17, 2021November 17, 2021 Rick Laubscher Features, History Features, History Spotlight Market Street cable cars, Market Street film, Market Street film 1906, Market Street movie, Miles Brothers, Trip Down Market Street 1906

April 18, 1906, a date forever seared into San Francisco history. The cataclysmic earthquake and fire divided eras and impressed unforgettable memories on all who experienced it.

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April 9, 2021April 9, 2021 Rick Laubscher

Play Ball…the Muni way!

April 9, 2021April 9, 2021 Rick Laubscher Features, History Features, History Spotlight, SFMSR Muni band, Muni baseball team, Municipal Railway band, Municipal Railway baseball team, Opening Day 2021, San Francisco baseball

Today is Opening Day at home for the San Francisco Giants, the first time in 18 months they’ll play in front of fans at Oracle Park. Often, sporting events like this feature a live band, though we’re probably not far enough in our reopening for that. But we can look back to such days, not just for the Giants, but for another San Francisco institution: Muni.

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April 1, 2021April 3, 2021 Rick Laubscher

Renting the street

April 1, 2021April 3, 2021 Rick Laubscher History Features, History Spotlight, SFMSR 1921 centennial, market Street railway, Muni competitor, San Francisco streetcar history, San Francisco streetcars, streetcar franchises, streetcar history

Editor’s note: One hundred years ago—April 1, 1921 (no fooling!)—an old name appeared anew on the San Francisco scene: Market Street Railway Company. There had already been four transit companies bearing that name, dating back to 1860. This incarnation of the name came after a financial reorganization of the city’s dominant transit company, United Railroads, which with its predecessor had consolidated numerous private operators of cable cars, horsecars, and electric streetcars in the preceding 30 years.

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March 17, 2021April 3, 2021 Rick Laubscher

St. Patrick’s Day, 1906

March 17, 2021April 3, 2021 Rick Laubscher History Features, Posts with Photos, SFMSR 1906, 1906 earthquake, 20-Ellis & O'Farrell, Building streetcar tracks, Car 578, Central Subway, F-Stockton, Fourth & Bryant Streets, Fourth Street San Francisco, Irish track workers, St. Patrick's Day San Francisco

Workers of Irish extraction played a major part in laying and maintaining track for United Railroads in 1906. Here’s a crew at work on tracks along Fourth Street, looking north from Bryant. It’s dated March 17, 1906, one month and one day before the earthquake and fire that devastated San Francisco.

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March 9, 2021April 3, 2021 Rick Laubscher

Powerhouse goes to the dogs (and cats)!

March 9, 2021April 3, 2021 Rick Laubscher Features, History Features, History Spotlight, SFMSR Animal rescue San Francisco, Bryant Street Powerhouse, Cat adoption San Francisco, Dog adoption San Francisco, Rescue cat San Francisco, Rescue dog San Francisco, SF Animal Care, SF Animal Care and Control

Another artifact of San Francisco’s transit history has gained new life for a worthy cause. The Market Street Railway Company powerhouse at Bryant and Alameda Streets in the Mission District, build in 1893 and expanded in 1902, opened on March 8 as the city’s new Animal Care & Control Center.

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March 5, 2021April 3, 2021 Rick Laubscher

Rise and Fall of United Railroads

March 5, 2021April 3, 2021 Rick Laubscher History Features, History Spotlight 1910s, 1921, market Street railway, San Francisco streetcars, United Railroads, United Railroads of San Francisco

Excerpted from a chapter in the forthcoming book by Emiliano Echeverria and Michael Dolgushkin, chronicling the complete history of San Francisco’s dominant transit operator for the first two decades of the 20th century.

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March 2, 2021March 2, 2021 Rick Laubscher

F-line to return in May, Hyde cable later this year!

March 2, 2021March 2, 2021 Rick Laubscher Muni News, PCC - All, Posts with Photos Castro District, F-line, F-line comeback, F-line streetcars, Fisherman's Wharf, Powell-Hyde cable car

Mayor London Breed told a group from Fisherman’s Wharf this morning that F-line vintage streetcar service will return to the full length of the route, from Castro to Fisherman’s Wharf, in May.

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