In 1939, No. 130 got a new look—its battleship gray paint (seen on Car No. 1) gave way to blue and gold for the Treasure Island World’s Fair. Streetcars carried throngs of people to the Ferry Building and the boats to the Fair.

Car No. 130 was the last "Iron Monster" to leave passenger service, in 1958. Muni shop foreman Charlie Smallwood saved it from the scrap heap by talking his bosses into making it a "wrecker". Stripped bare and painted yellow, it spent the next 25 years towing its replacements—PCC streetcars—back to the barn when they broke down. It was fully restored by Muni craft workers in 1983 for the Historic Trolley Festival, including original seats, which Charlie had kept all those years in his basement...just in case!

On April 4, 2002, in a ceremony at Fisherman's Wharf, Muni Executive Director Michael Burns—at the request of Mayor Willie Brown—dedicated Car No. 130 to Herb Caen, the longtime San Francisco Chronicle columnist widely known as Mr. San Francisco (story). This was the first time that Muni has dedicated a streetcar to the memory of a San Franciscan.