Following a lengthy absence while its controllers were rebuilt, the most popular streetcar in the F-line fleet, the 1934 Boat Tram from Blackpool, England, is back on track.
Boat tram No. 228 at the Wharf on its first day back in service, October 13, 2012. William Daniels photo from the Market Street Railway Facebook group.
Specifically, it went back into passenger carrying service on Saturday (October 13) on the shuttle between the Ferry Building and Fisherman’s Wharf. Since the boat doesn’t have GPS on board, getting to ride it is a combination of the old-fashioned method (going down and looking for it — your best bet is the Ferry Building stop, since it lays over just south of there between runs) or joining our Facebook group or Twitter feed, which you can do by going to the bottom of this page and clicking on those names. We’ll try to keep people informed when we see it go by.
Note that it’s tough to predict in advance whether it’s going to be out. A lot has to do with the weather of course, but also the availability of a crew trained to operate it…although that has been getting much better of late, thanks to concerted efforts by Muni management.
We’ll have much more on the boat and its history in this space soon.
