May 16, 2021May 16, 2021 Rick Laubscher

Welcome back, F-line!

May 16, 2021May 16, 2021 Rick Laubscher Muni News, Posts with Photos F-line, F-line restart, F-line return, F-line streetcars, San Francisco streetcars

San Francisco’s famed (and much missed) F-Market & Wharves historic streetcar line is carrying happy passengers again. Regular service began on Saturday, May 15, with Boston PCC 1059 the first car to reach Fisherman’s Wharf, followed by Detroit 1079, as documented below by Matt Lee. As a bonus, the four-block loop through the Wharf from Pier 39 to the fishing fleet’s harbor at Jones Street, was back in service after having been shut down in Fall 2019 for construction on Jefferson Street, as shown in the photo above, by Jeremy Whiteman, featuring Philadelphia PCC 1055.

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March 17, 2021April 3, 2021 Rick Laubscher

St. Patrick’s Day, 1906

March 17, 2021April 3, 2021 Rick Laubscher History Features, Posts with Photos, SFMSR 1906, 1906 earthquake, 20-Ellis & O'Farrell, Building streetcar tracks, Car 578, Central Subway, F-Stockton, Fourth & Bryant Streets, Fourth Street San Francisco, Irish track workers, St. Patrick's Day San Francisco

Workers of Irish extraction played a major part in laying and maintaining track for United Railroads in 1906. Here’s a crew at work on tracks along Fourth Street, looking north from Bryant. It’s dated March 17, 1906, one month and one day before the earthquake and fire that devastated San Francisco.

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March 2, 2021March 2, 2021 Rick Laubscher

F-line to return in May, Hyde cable later this year!

March 2, 2021March 2, 2021 Rick Laubscher Muni News, PCC - All, Posts with Photos Castro District, F-line, F-line comeback, F-line streetcars, Fisherman's Wharf, Powell-Hyde cable car

Mayor London Breed told a group from Fisherman’s Wharf this morning that F-line vintage streetcar service will return to the full length of the route, from Castro to Fisherman’s Wharf, in May.

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February 1, 2021May 27, 2022 Rick Laubscher

Black barrier-breakers in San Francisco transit

February 1, 2021May 27, 2022 Rick Laubscher Features, History Spotlight, Posts with Photos Audley Cole, Black History Month, Charlotte Brown, Civil Rights, Mary Ellen Pleasant, Maya Angelou, Rosa Parks, San Francisco Civil Rights, segregation

San Francisco didn’t always have a reputation for openness and inclusion. The city’s past has been marred by discrimination in many forms. For example, before World War II, all but a small number of city employees were white.

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January 13, 2021January 13, 2021 Rick Laubscher

The 15-Third is back

January 13, 2021January 13, 2021 Rick Laubscher Muni News, Posts with Photos 15 bus, 15-line, Hunters Point bus, T-line, Third Street San Francisco

Though not this exact bus. In a time when many of its well-established lines, including the F-Market historic streetcars (which carried more than 20,000 riders a day) are still suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Muni is adding an entirely new route. No, wait. What they’re doing is reviving the well-known bus line known as the 15-Third, and setting it up kind of like a T-Express, to provide faster service downtown from the Hunters Point neighborhood and points along Third Street from the Bayview District through Dogpatch, Mission Bay, and the South of Market areas to Market Street.

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October 29, 2020October 29, 2020 Rick Laubscher

Keeping the streetcars ready

October 29, 2020October 29, 2020 Rick Laubscher Fleet Updates, News, Posts with Photos, Streetcars F-line, F-line streetcars, historic streetcars, San Francisco streetcars, vintage streetcar

They’re not back yet. At least not for passengers. But the streetcars in Muni’s historic fleet are at least more visible these days where they belong: on the streets of San Francisco.

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October 13, 2020April 17, 2022 Rick Laubscher

What might have been: Geary

October 13, 2020April 17, 2022 Rick Laubscher Features, History Spotlight, Posts with Photos, Route Histories B-Geary, B-line, BART Geary, C-line, Geary Boulevard, Geary BRT, Geary Street, Geary streetcars, Muni Geary, Richmond District

Editors Note: An early version of this article appeared in a past issue of Inside Track, our member magazine with exclusive stories and inside information about Muni’s historic streetcars and cable cars. Click here to become a member and receive it.

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October 5, 2020May 20, 2022 Rick Laubscher

What might have been

October 5, 2020May 20, 2022 Rick Laubscher Features, History Features, History Spotlight, Posts with Photos Central Subway, F-Stockton, Muni history, PCC streetcars, Stockton Tunnel, T-line, Van Ness Avenue, Van Ness BRT

Editor’s note: A version of this story, by the late Cameron Beach and MSR President Rick Laubscher, appeared in a 2003 issue of Inside Track, our member magazine with exclusive stories and inside information about Muni’s historic streetcars and cable cars. Click here to become a member and receive it.

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August 14, 2020August 28, 2020 Rick Laubscher

Jubilation — and riots — on Market Street 75 years ago

August 14, 2020August 28, 2020 Rick Laubscher History Features, History Spotlight, Posts with Photos V-J Day riots, V-J Day San Francisco

When President Harry Truman announced the Japanese surrender on August 14, 1945, ending World War II, celebrations erupted around the world. As the primary port of embarkation for US troops headed to the Pacific, San Francisco’s revelry was especially intense.

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May 5, 2020May 5, 2020 Rick Laubscher

Giving Tuesday: can you help?

May 5, 2020May 5, 2020 Rick Laubscher Apparel, Posts with Photos, SFMSR #GivingTuesday, #GivingTuesdayNow, Car 1015, F-line

Today is Giving Tuesday, a day promoted around the world to focus people’s attention on the needs of many kinds addressed by nonprofits. We at Market Street Railway know full well, especially right now, that there are urgent needs everywhere. We hope you’ll be able to spare a little something for charities in San Francisco, or wherever you’re reading this, that are helping with the Covid-19 pandemic or other human needs.

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