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This CD contains a searchable PDF of the only history book chronicling United Railroads, San Francisco’s dominant transit company from 1902-1921. Not available in print form, this superb mix of photos, equipment rosters, and compelling text will awe you for hours, viewed on your computer. Searchable. 938 pages. Authors: Emiliano Echeverria and Michael Dolgushkin, with Paul Trimble. Read More……
This CD contains a searchable PDF of the only history book chronicling the incredible story of the Market Street Railway of 1893. Not available in print form, this superb mix of photos, equipment rosters, and compelling text will awe you for hours, viewed on your computer. Searchable. 471 pages. Authors Emiliano Echeverria, Michael Dolgushkin, and Walter Rice. Read More……
Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of San Francisco’s Fabulous F-line! Learn the story of the vintage streetcar line that has operated in regular service on San Francisco’s Market Street since 1995. We offer the 2019 CERA (Bulletin #150) hardbound edition with dust jacket (324 pages) for $65.00. Edition is in full-color. Author Peter Ehrlich is a retired Muni F-line operator and accomplished transit photographer who worked the F-line until his retirement in 2005. Read More……
A fascinating and comprehensive full length documentary on San Francisco’s present-day Cable Car system! This well-researched DVD covers its 140 year history, showing how the system works with actual film footage taken in the powerhouse and underground. November Fire production 2017. 93 minutes. Bonus footage includes two extras: 1972 Cable Car short and a Muni Bus commercial. Read More……
An inside view of SF Muni’s Cable Car Division, an irreverent account of life as it’s really lived behind the controls of San Francisco’s iconic cable cars, and the culture embedded therein. Read “stories gripmen never tell . . . until now; outrageous, absolutely true stories from San Francisco gripmen.” Published in 2002 by CaddoGap Press. Black & white photo, 120 pages.
This is the definitive guide to San Francisco’s historic streetcars and cable cars. Written by Market Street Railway President Rick Laubscher, this 128-page guide tells you the story of each vintage vehicle, gives you riding tips, lists the historic sites you’ll pass on each route, and shares insider secrets for great walks that link to your historic ride.
Lucky 130 by Mae K. Silver documents the many lives of San Francisco Municipal Railway’s Streetcar #130, one of the oldest and best preserved streetcars in the historic fleet. Built in 1914 for service to and from the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition (PPIE Fair) in 1915, the car transported millions of passengers till the end of 1956. Carbarn Foreman Charlie Smallwood was the persuasive voice that convinced management to convert #130 to tow-car #0131 for towing disabled streetcars and continued in that service until 1982. Muni maintainers began restoration of Lucky 130 to passenger status in 1984, in time for the second Summer Trolley Festival.
In this keepsake booklet, author Mae Silver gives a brief overview of our nation’s state of preservation, transportation and politics in her introduction and follows with Smallwood’s successful effort to save Lucky 130. We’re glad he did! Softbound with black & white photos, 48 pages, M.K. Silver pub.1999.
Maybelle the Cable Car by Virginia Lee Burton is a classic children’s story about the successful effort by the citizens of San Francisco to save their beloved cable cars from extinction. Lavishly illustrated with color drawings by the author, Ms Burton does not disguise her love for this unique form of urban transportation. Originally published in 1952. Softbound, 42 pages, Houghton Mifflin publisher 1980. Dimensions 9″ x 9.5″. Read More……
The Bus Ride That Changed History: The Story of Rosa Parks by Pamela Duncan Edwards is “an excellent tribute to Parks and to her role in history, told in a child-friendly style.” Refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger took courage and determination, and led to changes in civil rights laws that have brought all Americans closer to a more just and equal society.
Full color illustrations by Danny Shanahan, 32 pages, Softbound, Sandpiper Books 2005. Dimensions 10.5″ x 8.5″.
The Cable Car and the Dragon by Herb Caen is a delightful children’s story about the Charlie the cable car who strays from his job to enjoy the excitement of Chinese New Year in San Francisco with a Dragon from the parade. Longtime San Francisco Chronicle columnist brings this happy story to life along with lovely illustrations by Barbara Ninde Byfield. Fun and exciting for kids of all ages. Originally published in 1972. Softbound, 40 pages, Chronicle Books 1995. Dimensions 7.5″ x 9″. Read More……
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, a wonderful companion book to Maybelle the Cable Car tells the story of a darling little house in the country that is swallowed up by the city growing around it. Ms Burton’s illustrations of the expanding city and its growing pollution are delightfully contrasted with marvelous illustrations of streetcars, buses, subways, elevated trains and clogged streets full of cars and trucks. As the city looms bigger and bigger, the little house becomes sadder and sadder, until rescue comes and the house is moved to a sunny plot of land in the country. Originally published in 1942. Softbound, 40 pages, Houghton Mifflin publisher 1969. Dimensions 9″ x 9.5″. Read More……
The Wheels on the Bus adapted & illustrated by Paul Zelinsky is a wonderful re-issue of the children’s song with tabs on every page to animate the illustrations. Pop-up fun on every page! Lavishly illustrated with color drawings along with the words to sing along. Hardbound, 15 pages, Dalmation Press publisher. Dimensions 11.25″ x 7.75″.
Subway, light rail, and streetcar maps the world over are covered in detail on multiple pages, and are supplemented with other illustrations and information. Full color, 176 pages. Softbound, Penguin 2015. Dimensions 11″ x 9.5″.
Life as a Muni Trolley Coach driver told by a veteran of over 20 years of moving San Franciscans and visitors around the city. “Doug Meriwether has developed the precious commodity of driving a bus under stressful conditions and making it appear easy and fun! Choose your style on where to stand and how to pay at the fare box. Step up and step in to find your Zen while riding Muni!” Balboa Press 2016, Softbound, 190 pages including a glossary of transit terms. Read More……
San Francisco’s Magnificent Streetcars by Kenneth Springirth captures the color and fun of the modern day F-line with this pictorial of the vintage fleet operating on rail lines in San Francisco from the 1960s to today. Featured lines include the F, J, K/T, L, M & N. Photos also include cable cars and trolley coaches, and are supplemented with early postcards of old San Francisco transit. Vibrant color photos in a wide variety of locations showcase the wonderful vintage fleet that runs in regular service today. 128 pages. Author Kenneth Springirth has been photographing San Francisco transit since 1963. Read More……
The Dao of Doug 2: The Art of Driving a Bus by Douglas Meriwether,
Keeping Zen in San Francisco Transit: A Line Trainer’s Guide
More wisdom from Doug Meriwether, a veteran of over 20 years of moving San Franciscans and visitors around the city. How to stay calm, cool and collected while driving a bus under stressful conditions and making it appear easy and fun! Life behind the wheel of the ultimate ride-share. “Step up and step in to find your Zen while riding Muni!” Balboa Press 2015, Softbound, 185 pages including a glossary of transit terms. Read More……
One of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series, African Americans of San Francisco documents the history of the African American community in San Francisco from the 1840s to present day. The book introduces the reader to public figures and leaders who gradually built a society that reflected the slow progress of the nation toward integration through social and political struggles. Among the many individuals recognized for their courage and determination was entrepreneur Mary Ellen Pleasant who broke the color barrier preventing her from riding on a omnibus in 1866. Authored by Jan Batiste Adkins, the book is illustrated with over 200 black & white photos and related documents. Published in 2012, 128 pages.
San Francisco’s Powell Street Cable Cars details the history and operation of this beloved line that began in 1888, and survives today as a National Historic Landmark and the most popular icon of the City by the Bay.
Described as resilient as the city it served, San Francisco’s California Street Cable Railway (Cal Cable) was rebuilt following the 1906 earthquake and fire, and lasted as an independent business longer than any other private San Francisco transit operation. Cut down to its present form in 1954, that remnant and its double-ended cars survive as an integral part of today’s cable car system. By Walter Rice and Emiliano Echeverria, with Michael Dolgushkin. Published in 2008 by Arcadia Publishing, 128 pages. Read More……
Here you can read the story of the 40 Line, or San Mateo Interurban, which began in 1892 with an initial segment operating between Market and Steuart Streets out to the county limits on San Jose Avenue. Three years later, the line reached Baden in present-day South San Francisco, and by 1903 service was opened all the way to downtown San Mateo. Black & white photos. Authors Walter Vielbaum, Robert Townley, Walter Rice, Emiliano Echeverria, and Don Holmgren provide firsthand information and photos. Arcadia Publishing 2005, 128 pages. Read More……
This DVD offers a nostalgic trip back in time to the most famous old San Francisco recreational destination told by historians and the people that were there. Through interviews, film footage, and hundreds of photographs, this film not only allows us to relearn and finally understand Sutro Baths’ history, but also to feel and experience it. 84 minutes in length. November Fire production 2011. Read More……
See three Bay Area electric lines in one video – the Sacramento Northern Railroad, Interurban Electric Railroad (IER Southern Pacific Red Trains) and the Peninsular Railway Company! Film by a variety of rail historians from 1910 to 1957 show rail and ferry operations in the Bay Area’s early days. DVD is 67 minutes, in color and black & white, fully narrated. A Charles Smiley production in association with Catenary Video Productions.
Rails of the Golden City: 150 Years of Cable Cars, Streetcars, & Steam Trains in San Francisco. Extraordinary film footage by a variety of rail historians from 1873 to present day showing rail operations in the Bay Area. Documentary includes 8 Cable Car lines, 6 Market Street Railway lines, 3 abandoned Muni Streetcar lines, Southern Pacific Steam in 1955, Shops, Carbarns, Maps, and the 1906 Earthquake & Fire. Contains rare motion picture footage from the Western Railway Museum Archive and the Prelinger Archive.
DVD is 65 minutes long, in color and black & white, fully narrated. Produced by Warren Haack with Catenary Video Productions.
Here’s an opportunity to view San Francisco electric transit from the mid-20th century through system expansions and abandonments to today and the historic F-line. Excellent traction action around the City by the Bay. In color, 1 hour 30 minutes, narrated. Charles Smiley Production 2012.
By Market Street Railway Member Donald V. Jewell
Originally built in 1863, the Cliff House is now a key part of the Sutro Historic District. That district, now a park, included the lavish gardens and structures of Sutro Heights and the home of Adolph Sutro, entrepreneur, real estate developer, and populist mayor of San Francisco. The ruins just north of the Cliff House housed the world-class swimming pool and museum complex called Sutro Baths. This full-length documentary tells the story of the Cliff House, Sutro Heights, and the attractions surrounding them. Run Time 84 minutes, November Fire production 2013. DVD also includes the short: “A Trip to the Cliff House,” by Mark Twain Read More……
