Month: February 2011

Rick Laubscher

Testing. Testing.

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.

1_1071_Mission_022411.jpgOn 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.

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Rick Laubscher

Back From the Hack — Asking Your Patience!

Our website has been down for more than two weeks after being hacked by
people who sell fake drugs. Those of you who bought things from on
online store or donated or joined Market Street Railway, don’t worry —
your transactions were secure, conducted through PayPal on a highly
secure site.

We’re starting to bring the site back, a bit at a
time, and will report progress here. This morning we have the blog posts
back up, although online comments are disabled at the moment (you can email comments to us in the interim).  We also have our secure donation and membership pages operating again.

Our
other features, such as profiles of the individual historic streetcars
and cable cars aren’t back yet, so you may find that if you click
certain boxes or links, you come up with an empty page.  We’re working
on getting the whole site back as fast as we can.

Thanks for your patience and your continued support!

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Rick Laubscher

SPUR Backs Fast Action on Fort Mason Streetcar Extension

San Francisco’s top planning organization, SPUR, is getting attention with a call for quick action to build a streetcar extension to Fort Mason in time for America’s Cup races on the Bay in 2013. SPUR’s position is that with 200,000 to 1 million visitors expected every race day, it makes sense to put out the extra effort to accelerate construction of the streetcar extension from Fisherman’s Wharf to Fort Mason Center to have it ready to carry the big crowds along the waterfront.

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Rick Laubscher

San Francisco History Expo February 12-13!

For a long time now, many of us in the city’s historic preservation community have talked about how cool it would be if we could all get together in one place.  Well, our friends at the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society have made it happen!

Next Saturday and Sunday, February 12-13, more than 20 groups focused on one or more aspects of San Francisco history will join together in the first San Francisco History Expo at the Old Mint at Fifth and Mission. Hours are 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. both days.

Market Street Railway will be offering photo and film viewings, a hands-on “guess-what-it-is” exhibits, a farebox display, and more. Those of you with memories of streetcars in San Francisco’s bygone days can share them on the spot through an oral history opportunity.  Brochures, memberships, and volunteer information on Market Street Railway and information on the San Francisco Railway Museum will be available. We’ll also have some cool transit history items for sale.

Best of all, admission is free. So hop on the F-line or the Powell Street cable car if you want to be fully in the swing of things and come on over to the Old Mint Saturday and Sunday, February 12-13, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  (Pssst.  We won’t tell anyone if you decide to take one of those newfangled BART trains or even a bus!  Just come on down any way you can.)

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