Noted Bay Area journalist Joe Fonzi’s 30-minute on the history and operation of the F-line is now online. Watch it here. (If for any reason the link doesn’t work, URL is www.ktvu.com/video/1736822. The doc has some great historic footage, including the 1980s Trolley Festivals, engaging interviews with F-line operators, maintainers, and riders…including Mayor Daniel Lurie, who tells what he thinks about the F-line.
streetcars
F-line 25th anniversary merch!
With San Francisco’s historic streetcars still shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we can’t take an actual ride to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the permanent F-Market line, but we can get some virtual thrills with these two new merchandise items, designed by Chris Arvin. Above, a poster with Chris’s iconic, er, icons that playfully visualize some of Muni’s historic streetcar fleet. Below, a pin featuring a PCC in original Muni livery.
Buses & Streetcars: New Exhibit at SF Railway Museum
[caption id="attachment_9435" align="alignleft" width="700"] View Northeast on Market Street From 2nd Street | March 29, 1951. SFMTA Archives[/caption]
Skipping Stops, Then and Now
Even in the 1930s, transit stop spacing was an issue in San Francisco. Click to enlarge.
Happy 120th Birthday, SF Streetcars
On April 17, 1892, the first electric streetcar service opened in San Francisco. The line started at Market and Steuart Streets, a block from the Ferry terminal and just a few feet from our San Francisco Railway Museum. The line of the San Francisco & San Mateo Railway ran out to Holy Cross Cemetery south of the county line, in what is Colma today. The line zigged and zagged through downtown, partly to avoid infringing on other companies’ street franchise rights, but generally followed Steuart, Harrison, 14th St. and Guerrero to reach San Jose Avenue.
More F-line Service. But More Streetcars?
Pilot PCC No. 1071 on a test run at the L-Taraval Zoo terminal, September 29
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