• Yerba Buena Island, Almost the Rail Destination  Yerba Buena Island, Almost the Rail DestinationAround the time this photo was taken of Yerba Buena Island, just off the shore from San Francisco, Leland Stanford and the Central Pacific Railroad owners proposed to make the island the terminus for the transcontinental railroad. The Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads had not yet met at Promontory, Utah. However, in 1867 Stanford thought that Yerba Buena, known as Goat Island, would make a great place for the terminus by building a causeway to Oakland on the adjacent shoals. In 1868, the State Legislature granted the Central Pacific Railroad a permit to use tidelands in Oakland, and the right to construct a bridge to connect the shore with the island. In 1872, the San Franci..... |
• San Francisco Tunnel History and Miscellany  San Francisco Tunnel History and MiscellanySan Francisco is a city of hills (over 50 by one San Francisco Chronicle count), and consequent-ly a city with many tunnels. There is a tunnel running from Aquatic Park under the Fort Mason bluff, built in 1914 and now abandoned, which was constructed to haul materials for building the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition (PPIE). The tracks ran from South of Market along the Embarcadero into the Presidio for the State Belt Line Railroad. The tunnel was closed in the 1970s. PPIE construction began in 1912 in an area called Harbor View, known today as the Marina District. Around this time the Civic League of the Improvement Clubs of San Francisco created a Tunnel Committee to p..... |
 Railways of San FranciscoBefore automobiles, San Francisco with its unique terrain was dominated by railways. Horse-drawn railcars appeared in San Francisco around 1862. One of the earliest lines connected the posh neighborhood of South Park with North Beach. In time there were eight rail companies. By 1886 fashionable ladies could be seen coming downtown to go shopping, meet friends, or even attend a performance in one of the many theaters. Horse cars lingered for more than 20 years after the introduction of electric streetcars, with the last horse car retired on June 3, 1913. Steam dummies (engines) were used for a time on some lines, including the Park & Ocean Railroad that connected with the Haight Street c..... |
• San Francisco Transit History  San Francisco Transit HistoryOf all the cities in the United States (if not the world), San Francisco probably has one of the most interesting transit histories. Starting in 1873 when a hilly horse car problem was solved by the invention of the cable car by Andrew Hallidie, one no longer had to walk up Nob Hill or Russian Hill. The first electric streetcar ran in 1892. Streetcars were replacing all non-hilly cable lines when the 1906 earthquake struck. In one fell swoop all five Market Street lines and Sutter, Polk-Larkin and Union cables were electrified. picture1right300 The worst streetcar strike in the United States hit in 1907. It involved San Francisco’s United Railroads, lasted four months and resulted in thr..... |
• Tanforan 1910 Aviation Meet: Rambling Bits of History  Tanforan 1910 Aviation Meet: Rambling Bits of History Horseracing was a popular pastime in the early days of San Francisco. However, most of the race tracks failed as business ventures for reasons including the difficulty of getting there (before paved roads), competition from other tracks, poor financial planning, municipal laws, and the City wanting the land. A number of wealthy San Francisco horse owners banded together in 1899 to build the Tanforan Race Track in San Bruno. Its investors wanted to get away from San Francisco laws, and rural San Bruno was mainly a large dairy farm with no municipal regulations. Adolph Spreckles, Leland Stanford, and George Hearst raced their horses here. The track did well even though it was outside the ..... |
 The Lincoln HighwayEditor's Note: The February GuideLines Quiz had a photo of the Lincoln Highway marker in San Francisco. In this article Jack Leibman describes its history. The Lincoln Highway was conceived in 1912 by Carl Fisher, a visionary who also promoted the Indianapolis Speedway and Miami Beach. As the first transcontinental highway in the United States, it crossed 14 states on its way from Times Square in New York, to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. Lincoln Park was dedicated to President Lincoln in 1909. The mileage varied over the years as routes changed. Counting all realignments, the grand total was 5,869 miles. The original marker was placed on the north end of the plaza and fountai..... |
• How We Almost Lost the Cable Cars  How We Almost Lost the Cable CarsRoger Lapham was the Mayor of San Francisco from 1944 to 1948. He ran as the premier business man who would bring efficient government to San Francisco. For him, the elimination of cable cars would be the ticket. At the time, cable cars were showing losses while busses were showing a profit. Lapham argued that: the rails, which are no longer being made, are worn dangerously thin. Cables are difficult to obtain. Gripmen are getting old too, and younger men are not interested in pulling grips. The system is unsafe." A defiant group in the San Francisco Federation of Art created "Citizens' Committee to Save the Cable Cars", headed by Friedel Klussmann. They circulated petitions ..... |
• 1906 Train and Ferry Evacuation  1906 Train and Ferry EvacuationThe Southern Pacific Railway moved more than fifty percent of the San Francisco population immediately after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. The combination of ferries and trains took 300,000 of the 410,000 population to other cities in the Bay Area. The U.S. Navy accounted for another 20,000 to 30,000 people from Fort Mason. This was one of the greatest evacuation efforts in history.picture1right400After the earthquake, Southern Pacific ran 1400 trains throughout the Bay Area free of charge. The SP evacuation began 45 minutes after the earthquake occurred and for lasted the next five days. In an April 25, 1906 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, it was noted that eart..... |
San Francisco Transit History
by Phil Hoffman
Of all the cities in the United States (if not the world), San Francisco probably has one of the most interesting transit histories. Starting in 1873 when a hilly horse car problem was solved by the invention of the cable car by Andrew Hallidie, one no longer had to walk up Nob Hill or Russian Hill. The first electric streetcar ran in 1892. Streetcars were replacing all non-hilly cable lines when the 1906 earthquake struck. In one fell swoop all five Market Street lines and Sutter, Polk-Larkin and Union cables were electrified.
The N Judah line streetcar in 1957
The 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in the future Marina District required new lines and Muni was happy to oblige. New lines (D, F and H) opened on Van Ness, Chestnut and through the Stockton Tunnel.
In 1918 Muni made the future Sunset District and West Portal Avenue more accessible by opening the Twin Peaks Tunnel and four-tracking Market Street (“the Roar of the Four”) from Castro to the Ferry. A shorter Sunset Tunnel for the N-line opened in 1928 giving San Francisco three streetcar tunnels. Muni purchased the much larger Market Street Railway (URR’s successor) in 1944. A completely unified San Francisco transit system was achieved with the purchase of the California Street Cable Railroad in 1951.
The streetcar in the U.S. rapidly disappeared in the post-war years as many street-widening and freeway projects had no plans for rail transit — the jumbo GM diesel bus was the solution. By 1964 San Francisco was the only city west of El Paso that still had streetcars.
When BART was built under Market Street, a sub-surface level was set aside for Muni Metro above BART. The N-line went Metro in 1980, and all five lines were running in the Metro by 1982. While the cable cars were shut down for overhaul in 1983, it was decided to use the unused Market Street surface tracks as the nucleus of a historic trolley line running from Castro down Market to the Ferry, and then to the Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf. Year-round service on the F-line began in 1995 from Castro to the Transbay Terminal. In 2000 the line was extended down Market to the Embarcadero and along the waterfront to Fisherman’s Wharf.
The F-line has over 20 vintage streetcars honoring many cities including eleven Milano 1928 Peter Witts and three Muni “Iron Monsters” It also has cars from Great Britain, Australia, Japan, Russia and Portugal. Muni also runs 150 light rail vehicles on six lines, 40 cable cars, and has the largest trolley coach system in the United States.
Guest contributor Phil Hoffman is a member of the Market Street Railway.
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Photos, courtesy of SF History Center, San Francisco Public Library.
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