Powell Street Cable Car 4 wears the paint scheme that its owner, Muni (part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency) adopted as the standard for Powell cars when the system reopened after a thorough rebuilding in 1984. This livery is a simplified version of the original 1888 Powell Street cable car livery worn today by Powell Car 1.
This cable car was built in 1893 in the East Bay town of Newark by Carter Brothers. It was numbered 505 until Muni dropped the first number on Powell cable cars in the 1970s. Car 505 served the Sacramento-Clay line until the 1906 earthquake and fire, and then was moved over to Powell Street, where it has run ever since, almost exclusively on the Powell-Mason line until 1956; on both the Mason and Hyde lines since 1957.
Powell Cable Car 6 might be called the hybrid car. Its origins are different than any other cable car, and a little complicated.
This cable car was built in 1893 in the East Bay town of Newark by Carter Brothers. It was numbered 507 until Muni dropped the first number on Powell cable cars in the 1970s. Car 507 served the Sacramento-Clay line until the 1906 earthquake and fire, and then was moved over to Powell Street, where it has run ever since, almost exclusively on the Powell-Mason line until 1956; on both the Mason and Hyde lines since 1957.
Powell Cable Car 8 wears the second of several variations of Muni’s long-time green and cream paint scheme. This variation first appeared on Powell Street Cable Car 524 in 1948.
This cable car is painted in the first version of the locally famous “White Front” livery of Market Street Railway Company, worn by Powell Street cable cars from about 1927 until about 1936.
This cable car was built in 1893 in the East Bay town of Newark by Carter Brothers. It was numbered 510 until Muni dropped the first number on Powell cable cars in the 1970s. Car 510 served the Sacramento-Clay line until the 1906 earthquake and fire, and then was moved over to Powell Street, where it has run ever since, almost exclusively on the Powell-Mason line until 1956; on both the Mason and Hyde lines since 1957. Car 10 was rebuilt by Muni’s shops in 1960.
This is one of the original 1893 cable cars built in the East Bay by Carter Brothers. It wears the red livery of the line where it first ran, from the Ferry to Golden Gate Park via Sacramento and Clay Streets.
This cable car is painted in the second version of the locally famous “White Front” livery of Market Street Railway Company, worn by Powell Street cable cars from about 1927 until the Municipal Railway took over the Powell Street lines in 1944.
The great earthquake and fire of April 1906 destroyed virtually the entire Powell Street cable car fleet. To replace the Powell Street fleet, owner United Railroads used cable cars that had been working the Sacramento-Clay line and were stored outside the fire zone.
