5 June 2014 - Desiring Streetcars

I am beginning to wonder if I am a bit obsessive. Perhaps a bit obsessive about everything. What brings this up is the San Francisco streetcars: in particular those on the F-line. The F-line runs from the wharves to Castro. You can catch an F-car two blocks from my sister's house and ride to the end of Fisherman's Wharf or going the other direction, all the way to Castro Street. 

So why obsess about streetcars? San Francisco has done a wonderful thing on the F-line. All the cars are vintage. Most are from the 1940s and come from at least 20 different cities in the US plus there are some from as far away as Milan, Italy and Melbourne, Australia. The streetcars have been beautifully restored and painted in their original colors. I was having a great time using them for transportation until I looked up and saw I was riding a car that came from Detroit. That was when I realized I needed to get pictures of as many cars as I could. The paint jobs are wonderful! 

There is a huge volunteer contingent that restores and maintains these streetcars. I was lucky enough to have a volunteer on a car I was riding. He was decked out in 1930 conductor garb and was a walking encyclopedia on the subject of streetcars. 

Here is another really cool feature. There is a website that shows not only which cars on running but where they are! You can go here http://www.nextmuni.com/googleMap/googleMap.jsp?a=sf-muni&r=F  and see where each car is. I admit, I spent a lot of time with this as I tried to get pictures of the street cars.

Two of my favorites include Washington DC (really pretty blues)

 and Pacific Electric from Southern California (bright red!).

It was not easy to get pictures of the streetcars. They move out very quickly, people or cars are usually in the way and there are very few places where you can get a good side view. Nevertheless, I collected all 20 that were running on one afternoon. 

 Car 1060. Philadelphia. 1938 livery.

Car 1057.  Cincinnati. 1948

Car 1009. Dallas. 1948

Car 1050. San Francisco. 1950

 Car 1895.  Milan, Italy. 1970s. Beautiful wood interiors.

Car 1011.   San Francisco. 1930s livery

Car 1052.  Los Angeles. 1938 Livery

Car 1072.  Mexico City. 1946

Car 1059.  Boston. 1948

Car 1080.    Los Angeles. 1946

Car 1058.  Chicago. 1946

Car 1079.  Detroit.  1946.

Car 1055.  Philadelphia. 1948

Car 1063. Baltimore. 1948

Car 1053. Brooklyn. 1947

Car 1008. San Francisco. 1950s

Car 1075.  Cleveland. 1946

 

It was a great treat to see doubles.  Gotta love these colors together.

 

And lastly, not a streetcar but a car on the street. Vintage though. Wonder if I should find cars that match the street cars? Nah.