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.
On September 9, Muni streetcar No. 162 made history, moving under its own power on its home system for the first time in 47 years.
Steve Ferrario photo.
Market Street Railway celebrates the life of Jack Smith, streetcar motorman extraordinaire, Market Street Railway Director Emeritus, and dedicated restoration volunteer, who died suddenly at his San Francisco home September 18, 2004. He was 72.
Just like any other line of work, we have our good days and our bad days (you could say we have our “ups and downs” [ouch!]. But, due to the unique and unusual nature of this particular profession, the kinds of problems that crop up are of a very interesting nature indeed…We call them ‘Line Delays’. They’re the bane of every transit operation. Some delays are obviously unavoidable–heavy traffic, roadwork repairs, the occasional three-alarm fire, that sort of thing.
A beautiful new mural has gone up at the corner of Church & 15th Streets in San Francisco, depicting the history of urban transit along Market Street, in incredible detail, from the turn of the 20th century to the present day, and beyond.
With apologies to Brian Wilson, an ode to cable car No. 2 to the tune of the Beach Boys’ “Little Deuce Coupe”.
About a year or so ago, I was heading inbound on Powell Street & California when a little girl and her mother got on my car. They were locals, out for an evening of cable car joyriding. The mother turned to me and said, “We’ve been riding the cars all day, and we’ve given them all names. What is this cable car’s name?”
Market Street Railway photo.
Working at the Cable Car Division is different than being at a regular Muni division. After a while, it becomes easy to forget that you’re responsible for a world-famous, National Historic Landmark. Episodes like the one I’m about to describe help to remind you that this is definitely not the 38-Geary.
