From November 13-19, leaders of numerous nations will gather in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference. These include many heads of state, including President Biden, China’s President Xi, and others. The US Secret Service is in charge of security, and they have demanded that a portion of Nob Hill around the Fairmont Hotel be sealed off tight as a drum, along with the area around Moscone Center.
Muni’s most popular electric streetcar, an 89-year old Boat Tram from Blackpool, England, will be back on The Embarcadero for an encore at the end of Fleet Week, Saturday-Sunday, October 7-8, 10:15 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Dianne Feinstein is rightly being remembered for an astonishing range and depth of accomplishment during her 90 years of life. Her memory is a blessing to all who knew her, especially the thousands of women she mentored as a breakthrough female political leader.
Close to 10,000 smiling people showed up to give some love to San Francisco’s transit history over the weekend of September 23-24. The tenth Muni Heritage celebration was the biggest yet, drawing families from the City and around the Bay, and transit fans from around the nation and even from overseas.
The family-friendly Muni Heritage Weekend lets you ride vintage streetcars and buses and special cable cars that rarely operate. The world’s oldest cable car (1883), one of the oldest electric streetcars (1896), the very first streetcar Muni owned (1912), and the wildly popular English open-top “Boat Tram” (1934) will all be carrying passengers between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, September 23-24.
The 1934 English “Boat Tram” is Muni’s most popular streetcar. But due to a variety of circumstances, including what Muni leader Julie Kirschbaum says is an ongoing shortage of trained operators, it didn’t carry any passengers this year until September 12-13 (Sunday-Monday). Instead, vintage Milan and Melbourne trams have been alternating on Sundays and Mondays carrying people along the northern Embarcadero between Pier 39 and the Ferry Building (with an additional stop at our San Francisco Railway Museum).
On August 2, the 150th anniversary of the first cable car, Market Street Railway honored five folks who made a big difference for San Francisco’s symbols. For the celebration luncheon, we made a video of these heroes — Andrew Hallidie, Friedel Klussmann, Mayor Dianne Feinstein, Fannie Barnes, and Tony Bennett. Take a look. We think you’ll find it worth seven minutes of your time.
We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of one of Muni’s greatest ambassadors: F-line streetcar operator Michael Delia, who passed away August 31.
“San Francisco Street Railways: A Cartographic History” is probably the most detailed map documenting all the rail transit lines in San Francisco beginning in the 19th century up to present day. Meticulously researched and exquisitely drawn by historian Stephen Watson, this is the ultimate piece of San Francisco railway transit history, sure to settle an argument or two. Color print is 23.5″ x 34.5″ and ships rolled in a tube ready for framing. Read More……
Our 2024 calendar contains 12 vibrant color photos of San Francisco Municipal Railway’s unmatched fleet of cable cars and historic streetcars, shot by members of Market Street Railway, Muni’s nonprofit preservation partner.
The design continues our traditional attractive layout. The size, 14×10 inches, is designed to keep shipping costs low, but is still plenty large enough to let the photos shine!
