STELLLLLAHHH! Marlon Brando made his name in “A Streetcar Named Desire” and cemented it in “On the Waterfront.” The two come together on Sunday, April 26 (not Brando, he’s still dead) when the Streetcar Named Desire (New Orleans No. 952) operates on the waterfront as part of this year’s first “Sunday Streets,” the wildly successful program inaugurated last year by Mayor Newsom.
Muni’s governing body, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors, has awarded a contract to Brookville Equipment Company of Pennsylvania to completely renovate Muni’s flagship streetcar No. 1. The contract is for $1.88 million including a possible $100,000 in spare parts.
At Market Street Railway, we focus on historic rail vehicles, but there are plenty of other historic vehicles in San Francisco as well, and we celebrate all of them. One group of interest are the DUKW vehicles run by Bay Quackers. Universally referred to as Ducks instead of their military acronym, these are the World War II-era amphibious vehicles you see carrying tourists along The Embarcadero from Fisherman’s Wharf to Mission Bay, where they plunge into the water for a cruise.
Fred Matthews photo, Walter Rice collection.
We’re going to post photos from time to time that we think are iconic in one way or another. The Ocean Beach terminal of the N-line is an iconic place in general, at least to railfans, with that lonely loop and mission-style shelter hard by the sand dunes that form the last barrier to the Pacific (if you don’t count the public convenience station). (The city knew that most folks would reach the beach by streetcar back when Muni built its Sunset District lines, so there are matching bathrooms and tunnels under the Great Highway at Judah and Taraval.)
During the reacquisition and restoration of 1914 Muni streetcar No. 162, we sought out vintage photos of the car, almost all of which we’ve featured in our member newsletter Inside Track already — except these two. Seems that our ‘newest’ vintage streetcar has never been afraid to get into a scrape … literally.
Our Photo of the Week is a great shot of F-line PCC No. 1055 on The Embarcadero, shot from inside car No. 130 on its way to Fisherman’s Wharf. We think this image really captures what a unique and beautiful experience it is to ride along San Francisco’s grand waterfront boulevard on the F-line, and we hope you enjoy it.
Muni craftworkers pose in front of their handiwork, restored car No. 162, at Geneva Division on May 7, 2008. They were honored at a lunch sponsored by Muni and Market Street Railway, and attended by Muni Executive Director Nat Ford and MTA Board member Cam Beach, along with other Muni officials, MSR President Rick Laubscher, and Directors Steve Ferrario and George Pleasant. The restoration process was lengthy, given other demands faced by the crew, most of whom focus their attention on LRV work. However, when the opportunity arose to make the car a centerpiece of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) rail conference in San Francisco in early June, work rapidly accelerated with world-class results.
