General Motors “New Look” Diesel Coach
As a rule, American transit buses looked pedestrian until the late 1950s. Most resembled rolling loaves of bread, functional but not attractive.
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Flyer Trolley Coach
When Muni converted two dozen streetcar lines to buses at the end of the 1940s, it bought 255 trolley coaches from three manufacturers (Marmon-Herrington, Twin Coach, and St. Louis Car Company). By the mid-1970s, these buses were at the end of their lives. They were all replaced by a new fleet of trolley coaches from Canada’s Flyer Co. The front ends of the Flyers resembled the GM “New Look” diesel coaches Muni was then using, but the sides appeared different, with squared-off windows. They arrived in the iconic livery of “California Poppy Gold,” “Sunset Glow,” and white created for Muni by famed San Francisco industrial designer Walter Landor.
How Muni was born: 1900-1912
First of six installments in our history of Muni’s birth and first century
Happy 109th Birthday, Muni!
As the photo makes plain, that was one wild first ride on Muni. Emblematic, we think, of the past 20 months, with constant adjustments made to Muni’s network during the pandemic to meet unprecedented challenges.
Mack Diesel Coach
This type of bus is iconic to San Franciscans of a certain age, for it carried them to school, to work, to shop, and to play for well over a decade.
Forty frustrating years underground
The idea of a transit subway under Market Street goes back to the first years of the 20th century, but it took more than 70 fitful years to become reality. That’s a complex and fascinating story we tell in this companion post, which explains the compromises that harmed Muni’s subway operation from the get-go.
Lapel Pin Philadelphia Suburban Red Arrow PCC 12 (SF Muni 1007)
This image honors Philadelphia Suburban Red Arrow PCCs that ran in service from 1949-1982. Pin measures 1.625″ across and attaches with post & rubber clasp. Larry Hodson design. Read More……
Vintage San Francisco Buses
Not only does San Francisco’s transit agency, Muni, have the world’s only multi-line system of street running cable cars AND one of the world’s most popular and varied daily vintage streetcar operations, it also preserves important pieces of its rubber-tire heritage in the form of vintage trolley buses and motor buses. (In San Francisco, transit companies have traditionally referred to buses as “coaches”, though the public calls them buses.)
Marmon-Herrington Electric Trolley Coach
Trolley coaches are a cross between streetcars and conventional motor buses. That’s why they were called “trackless trolleys” in some places. They run on electricity from double overhead wires, with one wire supplying the 600-volt DC power, the other serving as a ground to complete the circuit. (For streetcars, the track generally serves as the ground.)
Boat tram on the waterfront for Fleet Week
Muni’s most popular streetcar, 1934 Blackpool, England Boat Tram 228, will be delighting passengers on The Embarcadero between Fisherman’s Wharf and our San Francisco Railway Museum (across from the Ferry Building) from October 7 to October 11, the key dates of Fleet Week 2021. Final operating hours haven’t yet been set, but we expect the Boat Tram to be in service from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m each day. We’ll have volunteer docents on the Boat to answer any questions you might have.
