Two very different renovated streetcars were out for test drives on The Embarcadero today.
1912 Muni Car No. 1 (yes, its very first streetcar) made its first test run outside the car barn, from 25th and Illinois up the T and F lines to Fisherman’s Wharf and back. It has been completely rebuilt by Brookville Equipment Company of Pennsylvania, whose engineers were on board, checking out some tweaks made on the car after it was delivered. It’s still some months from service.
On this rainy day, somber gray “battleship” No. 1 met up at the Ferry Building with eye-popping yellow PCC No. 1071, the pilot car of a group of 11 ex-Newark New Jersey streetcars that is being completely rewired and given new propulsion components, again at Brookville. No. 1071 is also being tested before going into service. There are interesting stories with these cars, which we’ll share with our members in the next issue of our newsletter, Inside Track, which goes to press soon.