This is the blogroll: every post (news or feature story) on our site, chronologically from the most recent to the oldest.
I would like to salute the people who make the F-Line the fun line–the Muni operators! When passengers board and an operator greets them with a smile and a cheerful “Good Morning!,” a fun experience begins. After they have paid their fare and, if necessary, engaged in asking a question, they walk to the back of the car with a big smile. Even if the car is crowded, the goodwill given out by the operator carries over to everyone as they speed toward the Wharf or downtown.
Welcome to the Market Street Railway Blog. This is where we post all new feature stories and news items about the F-line, the cable cars, Muni, and Market Street Railway. We’ll also be sharing links to other historic transit-related sites and stories that might be of interest to MSR members and guests.
Telstar Logistics photo.
Ah, rain…you can’t help but smile at the children laughing and happily splashing in puddles…the wonderful, clean scent after the storm passes…a glorious rainbow extending across the horizon…
For the past several years, I’ve been fortunate to be involved in what has become a holiday tradition at the Cable Car Division–decorating a cable car for the holidays. In previous years, this was a real grass-roots affair, with the costs being borne by the gripmen and conductors, for the simple joy of it.
Last summer, I switched from the Powell Street cable car lines to the California Street line, or the Cal line, as it’s colloquially known. Now, this may not seem to be such a noteworthy event, but it’s not quite as simple as changing the color of your bathroom towels. (If you’re like my ex-girlfriend, that’s not simple, either.)
For the first time in more than a half-century, a cable car lettered for the O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde line has gripped the cable under San Francisco’s streets. Cable car No. 42, retired and sold off after the 1954 cable car system ‘consolidation’, officially returned to service on June 3, 2005 with Mayor Gavin Newsom on the running board and dozens of other mayors from major world cities onboard.
I’m coming down California into Grant when, all of a sudden, the entire car is engulfed in unnatural silence. All of the sensations that normally accompany a cable car–the rattling, the humming, the vibrations–disappear in a heartbeat. It’s as if the car just passed out in a narcoleptic fit. This can mean only one thing.
During the first weeks of 1915, Pancho Villa proclaimed himself in charge of Mexico. Germany began open submarine warfare in the Atlantic as the Lusitania prepared to sail to England. California’s only active volcano, Mount Lassen, was erupting–spewing ash for hours at a time. And as bad weather pelted San Francisco, workmen toiled ’round-the-clock on the city’s northern shoreline to complete preparations for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE). Initially conceived in 1904 to occur upon the completion of the Panama Canal, this event had become a celebration of the rebirth of San Francisco following the devastating Earthquake and Fire of 1906. Millions of dollars went to develop the site and to promote San Francisco as the host city. When San Francisco was selected for the Fair over New Orleans, President William Howard Taft stated, “San Francisco knows how.”
