This photo was posted to our Flickr group with the title “70 GRAND RAIL PARK” and the question, “Anyone know where this thing is heading?” The shot brought back memories, but not accurate ones at first. I commented on Flickr that it was going to East Bay Terminal of course, in service in the first year of the Trolley Festival, 1983, and that the headsign actually read “70 Grand/Ball Park,” the ball park being the first Busch Stadium, home of the cardinals. For this was Muni PCC No. 1128, repainted into its original St. Louis Public Service red and creme, and given back its original St. Louis number (1704).
Then it dawned on me. In 1983, those tracks on Market between Duboce and Dolores, for decades the direct shot to the Twin Peaks Tunnel, were just stubs, sidings left behind when the J, K, L, and M PCCs were diverted over the N-line on Duboce, part of a detour to allow construction of the Muni Metro subway on upper Market.
So the streetcar wasn’t actually heading anywhere. It was just getting some summer sun. But it still makes a great picture. You can post your San Francisco streetcar and cable car photos, new and old, to our Flickr group too.
Great photo, great story. If any of the 1100 series cars are to be restored, I would suggest it be this one, 1128, because it is painted in St. Louis colors and has it’s St. Louis number, #1704. This would be a great tribute to St. Louis where the car was built and where it was in service before being bought by MUNI.