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July 20, 2008October 11, 2014 David Dugan News

July 20, 2008October 11, 2014 David Dugan SFMSR

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.

1071 – Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota

Minneapolis-St. Paul came late to PCC streetcars. Its private operator, Twin City Rapid Transit, was fiercely proud of its own car-building capabilities, and even sold cars it built to other properties. So, they had no interest in participating in the industry group that designed the PCC in the mid-1930s.

1072 – Mexico City

This car is painted to honor Mexico City, which ran PCC streetcars from 1947 until 1984. Shortly after taking over a privately owned tramway company in 1945, the Mexican government agency Servicio de Transportes Electricos del Distritio Federal (STE) began a fleet rehabilitation program that included the order of Mexico’s first PCC from St. Louis Car Company — the only PCC ever bought new in Latin America.

1073 – El Paso, Texas & Juarez, Mexico

This car is painted to honor El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico, which ran PCC streetcars from 1950 to 1974, the only PCC streetcar line to ever cross an international border.

1074 – Toronto, Canada

This car is painted to honor Toronto, which ran PCC streetcars in regular service from 1938 until 1995. Toronto boasted the largest fleet of PCCs in North America: 745 cars.

1075 – Cleveland, Ohio

This car is painted to honor Cleveland Transit System, which ran PCC streetcars from 1946 to 1953. Cleveland transit commissioner Peter Witt designed a popular pre-PCC streetcar that was adopted by many cities (including Milan, Italy, ten of whose ‘Peter Witts’ are now part of Muni’s historic fleet).