Month: July 2018

Rick Laubscher

A Gripping Evening with Val Lupiz

Val Lupiz, expert gripman and San Francisco historian, was hosted on July 18 by MSR Board member Paul Lucas in the second installment of Market Street Railway’s quarterly series Inside Track-Live! A packed house at our San Francisco Railway Museum was treated to hearing how Val started as a rail-obsessed kid, to being the only gripman to operate historic Cable Car 42 in multiple Muni Heritage Festivals. Val’s stories ranged from heartwarming— helping passengers with marriage proposals— to uproarious— how he earned the nickname Mr. 12 o’clock and gripes from other grips.

The event was live-streamed in a Market Street Railway first. Audience members, both in person at the Museum and online, engaged in a fascinating question and answer session. The daughter of San Francisco’s first African American Cable Car operator, Sam McDaniel, attended with her own granddaughter—prompting a murmur of recognition from the audience and providing insights into the human aspects of San Francisco’s Cable Car system.

Here’s the link to the FB Live video of Val’s talk. It is also available on YouTube, broken into two parts:

Keep an eye on streetcar.org for our upcoming events and news on Muni Heritage Weekend, planned for September 8 and 9!

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Rick Laubscher

Bringing LA Back to SF from PA

As our Members and friends know, the original F-line fleet of PCC streetcars, 16 in all, is being completely restored at Brookville Equipment Company in Brookville, Pennsylvania. The latest streetcar to arrive in San Francisco, rolling in as this is being written on July 25, is Car 1052, painted to honor Los Angeles Railway. We call it the “Shirley Temple Car” because that child star dedicated the first car of this design to operate in Los Angeles, in 1937. But picking up on the abbreviation of the operator (LARy), some folks call it “Larry” instead.

By whatever name, our network of relentless spies has been tracking the streetcar’s progress back to Muni. That photo collage on Facebook by Cary TIntle at the top captures the 1052 leaving Brookville (a charming small town, by the way) on July 19. Below, a shot crossing the wide open spaces of Iowa on July 21.

 

And finally, from MSR Member James Giraudo, who lives in Nevada, a shot of the car yesterday at a truck stop in Fallon.

We love the dedicated fans who provide all these great photos of streetcars on the move.

The truck that dropped off 1052 is picking up “Green Hornet” Car 1058 today, the last of the 13 single-end cars in this contract to go to Brookville. Of the original F-line fleet, only double-end Car 1007 remains in San Francisco, and it will head east when the next car at Brookville comes back. We’ll have more information about the double-end PCCs in this contract in a future post.

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Rick Laubscher

Update: 916 Test Cut Short; Not Out the Rest of the Weekend

 

Muni tests cars for a good reason before they enter service. The “newest” member of the vintage fleet, 1946 Melbourne Tram 916, came out this morning for what was supposed to be two 12-hour days of testing along The Embarcadero and the T-line as far as Muni Metro East, to check out its systems following a recent rebuilding of its trucks.

The operating crew said the car ran like a dream from a propulsion and braking standpoint in its first couple of trips, but unfortunately, it developed a hot wheel bearing late Saturday morning and has safely operated to Muni Metro East, where it will be fixed by the maintenance team., They crew is excited about taking it out again soon, though it will almost certainly NOT be out Sunday, July 22.

The car looks great. Here’s a peek at its interior, taken before the test. Love those upholstered seats.

We’ll let you know when the 916 will be out again. Meanwhile, enjoy Melbourne 496 on the E-line this weekend.

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Rick Laubscher

Double Dose of Down Under This Weekend

UPDATE, Saturday July 21, 11:00 a.m. — Muni tests cars for a good reason before they enter service. The 916 developed a hot wheel bearing this morning and has safely returned to Cameron Beach Yard, where it will be fixed by the maintenance team.

The operating crew said the car ran like a dream from a propulsion and braking standpoint, and they’re excited about taking it out again soon, though it will almost certainly not be out Sunday, July 22.

We’ll let you know when the 916 will be out again. Meanwhile, enjoy Melbourne 496 this weekend.

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It’s shaping up as a special weekend on The Embarcadero July 21 and 22, as Melbourne trams built 18 years apart wish San Franciscans and visitors a double “G’Day”.

As our Members and friends know, Market Street Railway has been strongly advocating that Muni operate Melbourne W2 class tram 496 (built 1928) regularly on the E-line (it’s on the left in the photo above and in action on King Street, below).

Overcoming reluctance from some quarters inside Muni, the 496 has now been successfully operating on the E-line every day for some time, delighting passengers. It is scheduled to be on its regular runs this weekend, and you can ride it along the waterfront, AND on its end-of-day trip home to its “sleeping quarters”, Cameron Beach Yard (where the photo above was taken July 10) you can ride it out Market Street on the F-line and then down Church Street on the J-line to Balboa Park, for just the regular Muni fare, because all historic streetcars are in service until the reach the car barn.

This “pull-in” run for Car 496 should pass our San Francisco Railway Museum (Steuart Street stop) outbound on the F-line around 5:35 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, if it’s on schedule. You can check its whereabouts anytime via NextMuni, through this link.

But wait, there’s more.

[NOTE: See update above; this has changed.] Come down to The Embarcadero Saturday or Sunday and you’ll also see (but won’t yet be able to ride) 496’s baby brother, SW6 Class 916, built in 1946 (on the right in the top photo, and below). It has just completed protracted, on-and-off renovations and adaptation to San Francisco standards after being gifted to San Francisco in 2009, with Market Street Railway’s assistance. The gift came from the Victoria State Government in Australia, which owns the Melbourne trams. Both days, the 916 will leave Cameron Beach Yard around 6 a.m., run up and down The Embarcadero and perhaps down the T-line as far as Muni Metro East (at 25th Street), until around 5 p.m., when it will head home to Cameron Beach. The crew will checking systems and reliability before carrying its first paying passengers in San Francisco, which should happen in just a matter of weeks now.

 

We’ll let you know when the 916 is ready to launch into regular service, but for now, check out the waterfront this weekend for an extra taste of Melbourne!

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Rick Laubscher

Meet Cable Car Historian Val Lupiz July 18

Rick Laubscher Cable Cars, History Spotlight, Posts with Photos

San Francisco has a tradition of unique personalities who share a deep love of this special place. Nothing is more special in our special cities than the cable cars, and no one has a deeper love for our rolling National Historic Landmark than Val Lupiz. Val just celebrated his 19th anniversary as a cable car gripman, so he knows today’s system inside out. He also knows cable car history better than almost anyone else. That photo, above, is Val’s creation:… — Read More

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Rick Laubscher

“The bell is charming; the horn works”

Rick Laubscher Calendar, Features, PCC - 1050 Class, Posts with Photos , , ,

  The headline above is a great quote from a great story in Curbed SF about a dad and his two kids riding every Muni line terminal to terminal this summer. This installment includes the F-line where they rode the newest PCC to return to service following rebuilding, Car 1050 (pictured above in yet another calendar-worthy photo from Traci Cox). The author, Mc Allen, describes rolling along The Embarcadero on the “retro delight” PCC, “exceptionally maintained as rolling museums”. Along… — Read More

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Rick Laubscher

“Zurich” Car to Return To Service Soon?

Rick Laubscher Fleet Updates, Uncategorized, Video, Wheels of the World , , ,

Look what was testing in Cameron Beach Yard on Sunday (July 8). Car 737, Muni’s lone European-style PCC streetcar has been out of service for some time. Built in 1952 for Brussels, Belgium, acquired by Muni in 2004, and painted (at then-Mayor Gavin Newsom’s request) to honor San Francisco’s sister city of Zurich, Switzerland (which ran similar-looking cars) it has needed parts and maintenance attention. But when word came that the Mayor of Zurich was coming to San Francisco later… — Read More

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