Muni’s “newest” streetcar, 1934 Blackpool boat tram No. 233, ran under its own power today at Cameron Beach Yard, less than a week after it arrived in San Francisco from England. Enormous credit goes to Muni’s vintage streetcar shop crew, who swarmed the boat upon arrival. They repaired bumper and panel damage incurred at the museum that had custody of it (that’s the repaired end in the photo), painted all the seats, cut down the tower atop the center cab (which came disassembled anyway), so that the car would work under our lower wire, painted and installed the new tower, trolley base and trolley pole, and reconnected the power.
Whew.
And it worked.
The plan calls for testing Friday, followed by a trip to our San Francisco Railway Museum, where the car will be on display Saturday and Sunday. No public rides yet, but just looking at it will make most people smile.
Congratulations to the Muni maintenance team for a fantastic effort!
