My City By The Bay

First let me say that I intended to capture at least a minute of the F Train in action however while I was along the embarcadero shooting this short clip the batteries in my camera died midway.  However a few seconds is better than nothing, right?

The F Line concept was included with a bond measure that passed in 1962 and funds were allotted for a Market Street subway system that is now operating underground.  The historic streetcar service now known as the F Market line began only as a Summer festival of trolley cars to accommodate tourists.  So, in 1995 the cars began running from Castro Street to the Transbay terminal.   These vintage cars have come from different countries to include Italy and Germany.  The one in the video comes from Los Angeles and is called the LA Pacific.  There are also about a dozen from Philadelphia, PA.  In March of 2000 the cars began strutting their stuff from Castro Street all the way down Market, to the Ferry Building and along Beach street through Fisherman’s Wharf.  It is not necessarily the quickest route but the most scenic route.

For many years I rode these streetcars while going to work downtown.  We did not have the underground MUNI service at that time so these cars were the main transportation for the down town area.  When I head down to Pier 39 I sometimes ride the cars if I’m lazy and unwilling to walk from the Ferry Building to the Pier.  They are quaint and fun to ride especially if you are a tourist so make sure to take a spin on the F Line if you are ever visiting San Francisco.