This newly renovated Muni PCC streetcar is bringing sunshine on cloudy days as it makes its way back to San Francisco. Car 1057, painted in the eye-popping yellow of Cincinnati Street Railway Company, should arrive in San Francisco on Wednesday, February 20, based on its reported location in Tehachapi on Highway 58 in southern California on the morning of February 19. These photos were posted by Dustin Mosher to our Facebook group.
The combination of the bright yellow and the three green stripes around the car earned it the nickname “The Bumblebee” when it first arrived in San Francisco to help open the permanent F-line in 1995. It was one of 14 streetcars purchased second-hand from Philadelphia’s SEPTA agency and renovated by Morrison-Knudsen in Hornell, New York, painted in the historic liveries of other cities that once ran this iconic American streetcar. After more than 20 years of rigorous daily service, that original F-line fleet was sent back East again, this time to Brookville Equipment Corporation in Pennsylvania, for a complete refurbishment.
We should note that the usual route for streetcars going to and from Brookville in this contract is straight out Interstate 80, which passes right by Brookville. But I-80 was closed over Donner Summit over the weekend due to a big snowstorm, which you can see from the photos also touched Tehachapi. We’re sure Muni will want to give 1057 a good bath when it arrives.
The return of Car 1057 leaves four streetcars at Brookville to complete the current contract. Car 1058, in the famed Chicago Transit Authority’s “Green Hornet” livery, is due back in a couple of months, followed by three original 1948 double-end Muni streetcars. Car 1015, painted to honor Illinois Terminal, could be back in June, with the other two, Cars 1010 and 1007, scheduled to arrive by October.
Brookville also has two additional unrestored double-end streetcars on its property currently, purchased by Muni from a Connecticut museum. These cars, originally from Philadelphia’s “Red Arrow” suburban line, have PCC bodies but different types of trucks, and would require extensive work to change the location of the trucks and make other modifications in order work on Muni’s system. The restoration estimate provided by Brookville is considerably higher than Muni believes the cars are worth and Muni is consulting experts to see if a more reasonable cost is achievable. We’ll have more details in our exclusive member magazine, Inside Track, due out next month.
