August 26, 2016 Rick Laubscher

Kansas City PCC 1056 Back at Muni

Five years after leaving F-line service with a major structural crack, PCC 1056, painted to honor Kansas City, arrived back at Muni Metro East this afternoon, totally rebuilt by Brookville Equipment Company and looking mighty good.

Because of the damage to the bolster under the car, the 1056 was the first car to be sent to Brookville under the current contract to completely rebuild the 16 PCCs that opened the F-line in 1995. After unloading from the low-ride trailer owned by expert streetcar mover Silk Road Transport, Muni maintenance worker Kevin Sheridan, a third generation San Francisco streetcar worker, took the controls and smoothly ran the car around the yard to a service bay inside the maintenance facility, under its own power. (Kevin’s dad Mike, retired from Muni, is one of Market Street Railway’s key volunteers, working on archival photos.)

The car will have numbers and decals applied, receive a farebox and radio, and then enter 1000 miles of testing before carrying passengers.

No sooner had the 1056 cleared the unloading track than Muni workers loaded up PCC 1055 (below) now on its way to Brookville, where it joins 1051, 1060, 1059. and 1062, in various stages of restoration. The 1051 is the next one expected back.

We’ll have the inside story of the car’s rebirth and a full update on the Brookville contract in the next issue of our exclusive member newsletter, Inside Track, due out in early September. Join Market Street Railway today so you don’t miss it.

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August 23, 2016 Rick Laubscher

On the Road Again

This just in…the first of 16 PCCs to be rebuilt under the current contract with Brookville Equipment Corporation is on the road back to San Francisco. Muni Car 1056, painted to honor Kansas City, has been thoroughly renovated and is on the road toward California right now. The shot above is the car leaving the Brookville facility in Pennsylvania.

Car 1056 had been out of service the past few years because of a cracked bolster (the piece under the body that sits on top of and connects to the trucks (wheel sets and motors). That critical piece must be expertly repaired or replaced to ensure the long-term operation of the restored car. It is one of the areas Muni will look at very closely before accepting the car and returning it to service. As Car 1056 was generally considered to be in the worst condition of the original F-line fleet covered by the current contract, it was sent first. Thus, Muni’s team will watch closely to make sure the car has truly gone from worst to first.

Logos and car numbers will be applied by Muni’s maintenance team after arrival. The car must be “run in” — tested extensively before acceptance — which requires 1,000 miles of service. That usually takes place on the outer ends of the J, K, and L lines.

We’ll let you know when the car has arrived at Muni Metro East! And we’ll have the inside story of the car’s rebirth and a full update on the Brookville contract in the next issue of our exclusive member newsletter, Inside Track, due out in early September. Join Market Street Railway today so you don’t miss it.

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August 19, 2016August 19, 2016 Rick Laubscher

2017 Calendar Now on Sale!

Celebrate the colorful streetcars and cable cars of San Francisco with our 2017 calendar, now on sale in our online store and at our San Francisco Railway Museum across from the Ferry Building at 77 Steuart Street.

The new year marks the centennial of the J-Church, San Francisco’s oldest surviving streetcar line, and our calendar brings its history to life with a full page of text and photos about the wonderful, wandering J and its backyard right-of-way.

But that’s just the icing on the cake, because the real star of the calendar is 13 great full color photos of vintage streetcars and cable cars in action on the streets of San Francisco.

We’ve limited our print run of the calendar this year, so don’t wait to get yours!

Note to our members at the conductor level and above ($100 or more per year): as you know, you get a FREE calendar as part of your membership. We’ll be sending out the vouchers for these by the end of the month. If you’re not a member, and love this calendar as much as we do, this is the perfect time to join Market Street Railway at the $100 level or higher — and get your free calendar right away!

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August 9, 2016 Rick Laubscher

Patriarch Streetcar Turns 120

578S 2nd and Mission, 1904, SFMTA Archives

Car 578 at 2nd and Mission, 1904, SFMTA Archives

According to our historian, the redoubtable Emiliano Echeverria, 120 years ago, August 10, 1896 (give or take a day), a new streetcar was delivered for service in San Francisco. Streetcars themselves had only become a viable transit technology eight years before in Richmond, Virginia. San Francisco got its first streetcar line only four years before, in 1892, but transit companies led by Market Street Railway Company were replacing cable car lines with streetcars and building new lines with the electric vehicles.

The first streetcars that appeared in San Francisco looked a lot like cable cars, except for the trolley pole on the roof that conducted electricity from the overhead wire. That wasn’t surprising. The standard cable car design of the time, the “California Car” (named after the California Street cable car design still used today), was popular with riders, with open end sections and a closed center section. And many of the early San Francisco streetcars were built by cable car builders.

That new streetcar delivered in August 1896 still operates today. Built by Hammond, which later built today’s fleet of California Street cable cars, No. 578 is the oldest passenger transit vehicle in America still on the operating roster of a public transit agency. It survived because it was turned into a work car after the 1906 earthquake and was kept around in that capacity before being restored by Muni’s crafts workers for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the earthquake in 1956.

We’re going to run a special feature to celebrate Car 578‘s 120th birthday in the next issue of our member newsletter, Inside Track, with many more historic photos of this patriarch of San Francisco’s streetcar fleet. Join Market Street Railway now so you don’t miss it!

And you’ll be able to actually ride this unique streetcar on Muni Heritage Weekend, September 24-25, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Come to our San Francisco Railway Museum to get your seat!

Happy 120th Birthday, Car 578!!

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August 6, 2016 Rick Laubscher

Heritage Weekend Details Emerging

August 6, 2016 Rick Laubscher Muni News, Posts with Photos

SFMTA is starting to publicly share some of the details of Muni Heritage Weekend, September 24-25. As in past years, bus and streetcar activity will be based near our San Francisco Railway Museum across from the Ferry Building. Vintage streetcars including Muni Car 1, 1948 double-end PCCs 1006 and 1008, and others still to be determined will be part of regular E-Embarcadero line service that weekend, and we expect the last PCC built in North America, the 1040, to be in regular service… — Read More

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