Carole Gilbert on March 14, 2013, her last day on the job, with historic maintenance superintendent Karl Johnson at Cameron Beach Division.

With the same modesty that she brought to her artistry at Muni for many years, Carole Gilbert stepped away from her streetcars last Friday, retiring quietly to enjoy life. Never one to draw attention to herself, Carole told few people of her plans. She leaves a great legacy in Muni’s beautifully maintained vintage streetcar fleet, which she and her team of dedicated painters kept looking great — and authentic.

While she didn’t seek recognition, our board member Todd Lappin managed to get her to talk about her work a few years ago here on our website. Definitely worth a read.

Carole retires with our best wishes and great respect for her dedication to her craft and her attention to detail.

We’ve learned that Muni is going to greatly increase the number of F-line shuttle runs in the coming months. These are vintage streetcars that run on just the waterfront portion of the F-line, between the Ferry Building (and our museum!) and Fisherman’s Wharf.

There are three shuttle runs most days now, usually filled with the oldest streetcars, like Muni’s No. 1 and 162, Melbourne No. 496, or, in good weather, the popular Blackpool boat tram. But with additional runs, they will have to add other streetcars as well. This week, the newly restored double-end PCCs, Nos. 1008 and 1009 have been seen on the shuttle.

Newly restored PCC No. 1009, honoring Dallas Railway & Terminal, takes the turn from Steuart onto Mission as part of its shuttle loop, March 13, 2013. Rick Laubscher photo. Click to enlarge.

The extra service is expected to be needed to accommodate the crowds visiting the newly relocated Exploratorium science museum, opening its world-class facility on Pier 15 next month. But as is well known at Muni, and by regular users of the F-line on The Embarcadero, the existing shuttle service is spotty at best.

Riding a regular F-line run along Market today, I got into conversation with a veteran F-line operator, who gave me a new perspective on the shuttles. “When they started them up years ago, the crews worked hard at helping the rest of us out,” this operator told me. “They waited at their layover point [on the Embarcadero, just south of Don Chee Way, where the regular F-line cars make the turn onto the waterfront]. If they saw a crowd gathering at the Ferry Building platform, they’d go pick it up. Now, it seems they just want to sit there. They let us go through, already crowded, to try to jam those people on. Then they just follow right behind us, empty.”

The operator noted that some shuttle crews take very long breaks after very short trips, while “I go all the way to Castro and then back to the Wharf and my longest break is seven minutes.”

We know Muni/SFMTA management has periodically tried to cut down on the excessive shuttle layovers. It’s interesting, though, to get the perspective of another operator. This operator doesn’t see it as a management-labor issue, but rather an issue of some workers making it harder on their peers by not making the runs they’re supposed to make.

If Muni’s going to add extra runs along The Embarcadero, we hope they are able to keep them moving better than has been the case all these years. Some diplomatic conversation with the shuttle crews might be of help. Many are excellent operators who may have just fallen into bad habits. Alternatively, firm, enforced scheduling may be needed.

Otherwise, an expanded Embarcadero shuttle service could resemble the California Cable Car line, which sometimes has ONE car actually carrying people along the street while FIVE crews relax at the eastern terminal near Market Street.

But that’s another story.

1938 White motor coach No. 042 on display outside the San Francisco Railway Museum November 11, 2012. Brian Leadingham photo. Click to enlarge.

We just got word that Muni’s oldest surviving bus, a 1938 White model, will mark its return to the operating fleet on Centennial Day, December 28. Motor coach No. 042 will make at least one trip from our San Francisco Railway Museum to Coit Tower and back between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sorry, but we don’t have any more specific information than that to offer here, but we’ll have the latest information on site at the museum, located at the F-line Steuart Street stop.

The 74-year old bus will be wearing its original 1938 orange and black Muni livery for the first time since early in World War II, when the bus fleet was repainted blue and yellow. It’s also wearing its original number, 042, clearly establishing it as one of the first 50 buses Muni ever owned. After World War II, most of this group of buses was scrapped, but three were kept to work the 39-Coit route, which requires a tight turn around the tower parking lot. This coach was renumbered 062 at that time.

Following its retirement from regular service in 1975, the bus was painted into the 1950s green and cream “Wings” scheme and used in parades and other special events. Time finally took its toll on the engine and other components. Muni’s Woods Division team rebuilt the engine, resheeted some of the steel side panels, rebuilt the rusted out stepwells, and made many other repairs. In the process, the original paint scheme and number were restored to the bus. It was on display in November for one of the Sunday Centennial Celebration days, but was only cleared to carry passengers this week.

Also carrying passengers from 10-2 December 28: 1950 Marmon-Herrington trolley coach No. 776, a big hit on the November Centennial Sundays. It will depart from the Steuart Street bus stop next to the museum for short trips around downtown. All rides will be free on December 28 — in fact, the entire Muni system is free that day, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Muni’s very first day of operation, December 28, 1912.

1950 Marmon-Herrington trolley coach No. 776 in service at Spear and Market Streets, November 4, 2012. Rick Laubscher photo. Click to enlarge.

These are just added attractions to the streetcars expected to carry passengers on the F-line, as explained in our last post. Note, too, that we will be offering our Members and volunteers refreshments at the museum starting at 2 p.m. to thank them for their support.

If you can’t make it down for Centennial Day tomorrow, note that Muni plans to continue to celebrate the centennial in 2013. We are working with them for more special operations of vintage streetcars and buses, this time with much more notice so our Members and friends can plan their trips to enjoy these great vehicles.

More than eight years ago, Muni purchased 11 PCC streetcars from Newark, New Jersey. The F-line was way overcrowded, and because the Newark streetcars had been well maintained, the thought was that they could be put into service quickly.

The last one in the group, No. 1073, started carrying passengers for the first time today.

PCC No. 1073, honoring El Paso-Juarez, on its first day of F-line service on lower Market Street, November 28, 2012. Jeremy Whiteman photo. Click to enlarge.

This has been some odyssey. Michael Burns, then-general manager of Muni, ordered the 11 ex-Newark streetcars be put into service as quickly as possible, with new exterior paint jobs, ADA modifications, front trolley poles for San Francisco’s back-up operations, and the bare minimum of fix-up work. This was done under a contract with Brookville Equipment Company in Pennsylvania, and the streetcars were shipped back to San Francisco, where a couple went into service.

But then the then-head of operations, Fred Stephens, decreed that the interior of the streetcars, which had not been upgraded because of the desire to hurry them to the street, did not meet his standards. Back to Brookville under another contract.

Back came the streetcars to San Francisco again, with about half going into service. But then, it was found that the wiring was original to the cars and worn out, causing reliability problems. That led to a third contract with Brookville, now winding down. The 11 cars of the 1070-class (numbered from 1070 to 1080) were completely rewired and given new propulsion packages based on the original PCC technology.

The 11 cars were thoroughly tested before going into service, with a major focus on the new door controllers, which were initially balky and unreliable. They’re still not optimal, and Market Street Railway has been advocating with Muni to identify more reliable systems for future PCC renovations.

Several of the 1070 class never made it into passenger service during the first two renovations, so over the past year, regular passengers would be surprised to see “new” streetcars in paint schemes honoring such cities as Toronto or Mexico City.

This last PCC of the class to enter service is hard to miss. It wears an unusual green livery adopted in the 1960s by El Paso City Lines and only used for a few years. This version of the El Paso livery was chosen because an earlier version was identical to the “fruit salad” livery worn by PCC No. 1080, which honors Los Angeles Transit Lines. Both companies were part of National City Lines, which bought up numerous private streetcar companies and converted most of them them to buses after World War II. (Note to railfans: hold the comments on the conspiracy theory, please; it’s been hashed over to death. For those interested in background, go here.)

The crossed American and Mexican flags painted on the streetcar’s front (another authentic touch) reminds riders that the El Paso PCCs were the only ones to run an international route. On the actual El Paso PCCs, the seats were longitudinal — continuous benches against the sidewalls of the cars (like Muni’s Milan trams), so that government inspectors could process passengers more quickly.

El Paso shut down its streetcar lines in 1974, but lately, there has been talk of using six surviving actual El Paso PCCs for a downtown circulator there. (No international service, though.)

Meanwhile, we here in San Francisco say “Bienvenidos” to No. 1073. Your long wait to carry passengers here is over!

Brian Leadingham photo.

It’s older than Muni itself, and it was out on The Embarcadero today training crews. Will it be part of this Sunday’s special operations honoring Muni’s Centennial? Come to our San Francisco Railway Museum on Steuart Street between Market and Mission from 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and find out.

226 years of Muni history at Market and Spear Streets, all carrying delighted passengers today. Left to right, 1950 trolley coach No. 776, 1912 streetcar No. 1, and 1948 streetcar No. 1006, all Muni vehicles restored to their original condition. They’ll be part of the fleet out next Sunday as well to celebrate Muni’s centennial. So will 1906 cable car No. 42, just out of frame to the right of this shot. That made it 341 years of San Francisco transit history at one corner today. Rick Laubscher photo. Click to enlarge

It was turn back the clock day on Muni! An original O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde cable car carrying regular passengers for the first time in 58 years (albeit on California Street). A 62 year old trolley bus taking riders on nostalgic tours of the old 7-Haight and 8-Market lines. A quintet of original Muni streetcars ranging from 60-100 years old treating riders to a trip over Dolores Heights and through Noe Valley on the J-Church line. Across from the Ferry Building, people touring more vintage buses on display and browsing special displays and merchandise for sale at our San Francisco Railway Museum. The vintage equipment performed very well, evoking nostalgia in San Franciscans of a certain age and wonder among younger ones.

If you missed it, you’ve got one more chance — next Sunday, November 11, when we’ll do it all again, with extra surprise vintage vehicles expected to be in service. Come to our San Francisco Railway Museum at 77 Steuart Street between Market and Mission from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Vintage streetcars will leave there for a ride along part of Muni’s newest streetcar line, the T-Third, running past AT&T Park, through Mission Bay, and down Third Street to Cesar Chavez, where the streetcars will loop through the new Muni Metro East maintenance facility (future home of the Central Subway fleet) and return to the museum. The streetcars, including Muni No. 1 (1912), No. 162 (1914), Nos. 1006 & 1008 (1948) and No. 1040 (1952) will stop only at the museum and at the AT&T Park stop (Second and King Streets).

O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde line cable car No. 42 today carried paying passengers for the first time since its original route shut down in 1954. Painstakingly cosmetically restored in the late 1990s by Market Street Railway volunteers led by Mike Frew, the late Dave Pharr, and the late Fred Bennett, and mechanically updated by the great Muni cable car crafts workers in the early 2000s, it is now the Mayor’s ceremonial cable car. It will run again from 10-4 on Sunday, November 11. (Note streetcar No. 1 and trolley coach No. 776 behind it on Market Street.) Rick Laubscher photo. Click to enlarge.

Trolley coaches Nos. 776 (at left in the top photo) and 5300 (Flyer, 1976) will leave from the museum regularly between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., making excursions on a variety of routes, changing during the day. They’re likely to be joined by at least one vintage motor coaches. More will again be on display in the plaza opposite the museum, where we’ll also be selling a variety of transit books, genuine 1880s cable car rail paperweights, and other one-of-a-kind items that don’t fit into our collection. We’ll also have a variety of great Muni centennial merchandise on sale in our museum. (It’s not too early to think holiday gifts!)

The O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde cable car, No. 42, will again leave from Market and California, just a block from the museum, for round trips to Van Ness Avenue. And the popular 1934 Blackpool, England boat tram will carry folks back and forth from the museum to Pier 39 (weather permitting).

Some of the rides will be at regular Muni fares, some will be free. Check back here during the week for more information on possible extra surprise vehicles. And photographers: if you snapped a great shot of the event, consider posting it to our Flickr group.