San Francisco’s iconic cable cars celebrate their 150th anniversary this summer with a host of exciting events held over six months.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and its nonprofit preservation partner, Market Street Railway, have joined together with a dozen organisations, including business and merchant groups and history and preservation nonprofits, to stage a slate of special events marking this special milestone.
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The six-month-long series of events include the first-ever public tours of the Muni shop in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, where cable cars are built and rebuilt; history-themed walk/ride tours of neighborhoods served by the cable car lines; the planned operation of “ghost” cable cars from disappeared lines, and a reenactment of cable car founder Andrew Hallidie’s historic first run.
San Francisco’s cable cars are one of the only moving National Historic Landmarks and during the event series residents and visitors alike can also take advantage of pricing for all routes, including hop on and off all cable cars, F-line historic streetcars, Muni trains and buses to take walking tours of neighborhoods near the cable car lines. For guides to must-sees along and near the cable car lines here, San Francisco Travel Association has created three guides on its website for the Powell-Mason Line, Powell-Hyde Line, and California Street Line.
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The cable car that starred in the kickoff event is unique. In the 1880s, ‘Big 19’ was open-sided and carried throngs of riders from the Ferry Building out Market and Haight streets to enjoy Golden Gate Park. After the 1906 earthquake and fire, ‘Big 19’ moved to the Sacramento-Clay route, successor to Andrew Hallidie’s original 1873 cable car line, and ran there from 1907 until 1942, when that line shut down. Restored by Muni crafts workers, ‘Big 19’ is one of the largest cable cars ever built.
Later in the summer, Muni hopes to have ‘Big 19’ in regular service every Saturday on the California Street line through the fall as part of the celebration. Likewise, if work can be completed, Muni plans monthly operation of cable car 42 on its original Hyde Street trackage.
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Cable car 42 ran the O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde line until 1954, when the southern half of the line was abandoned, and the tracks on Hyde were connected to part of a Powell Street line. Car 42 retains its original 1907 paint scheme and details. Decades after being sold as surplus to a cattle rancher in Santa Barbara County when the O’Farrell line closed, Market Street Railway brought it back to San Francisco and worked with Muni to restore it for service.
Participating partners in the celebration include the Chinatown Merchants Association, Chinese Historical Society of America, Downtown SF Partnership, Fisherman’s Wharf Merchants, Friends of the Cable Car Museum, Pier 39, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce, San Francisco City Guides, San Francisco Historical Society, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco Travel Association, SF Heritage and Union Square Alliance
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