Muni Route Nicknames
Photo by SlinkyDragon
The other day over drinks, my friend Blair told me all about her beloved/behated “Phantom Folsom” (the 12-Folsom). I hadn’t heard that one before, probably because I rarely ride that route.
But it got me thinking: Besides the infamous “Dirty 30,” what are some other good Muni nicknames?
1-Cauliflower
6-Parnbuttus
14-Missionary
22-Filthmore
31-Dildoa
38-Scary
38-Smeary
49-Trans Mess
54-Felon
71-Hate
81X-Calpain Express
88-SHART shuttle
K OWL – Indigestible Owl
J-Lurch
T-Terrible
N-Judas
Back in the late ’70s, with racist overtones, the 22-Fillmore was often called the African Queen, and the 30-Stockton was the Orient Express. The 38-Geary should have been the Russian Roulette, but it wasn’t.
How about the 21-Haze? The few times I’ve rode the line on my trips to see the folks in SF,it seems like the riders are always in some sort of haze. And with apologies to my parents(God rest them both!)who lived near Duboce & Fillmore/Church in the 50’s,the 22 Drunky Drunk Shuttle,for pretty obvious reasons.
Just have a few. I should pay more attention so that I can dream up more.
22 – The Crazy Town Bus: Inspired by the 16th & Mission stop in particular.
24 – The Murder Tour Bus: Inspired by a driver who explained why we should never get off anywhere in Bayview while on that bus. His story included the word “sniper,” and brains-blowing-out hand motions.
14/14L – The Murder Bus: Someone was once stabbed while I was riding that bus.
L-Terrible
So true.
L-Terrible does have a nice ring to it. The best I’ve heard is 9L- San Bruno aka the Meth Express
Colin gets credit for the PHANTOM FOLSOM! I just use it…
I also call it the L Terrible.
The F needs no nickname, its route is funny the way it is. F Market. 😛
I have just a few for particular lines I have loved/loathed
9 – The Meth Express
33 – the Elusive 33
38 – 38 Farallones
44 – 44 O’Shame-messy
A friend of mine calls the line he take, The 19-Bukowski.
I call the K train the”Kingleside” and the M the “Motionview.” Silly.
The 27 Hydrant because it smells like pee sometimes.
The Thirsty Seven Corbett isn’t long but it passes all my favorite watering holes-The 43 has to be the longest route in creation-6,000 miles from the Marina to Munich and Geneva- AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!….rest…
The 22-Feelmore
1bx-the white people express
The deuce-deuce.
The Walden Bus (aka 108)
6 Pairs of Asses, N Doodah, 8x Hellshore Express, and 33 Nyan Nyan
The. 30 Shanghai
The Dirty 30.
6: Par-nasty
44: Oh-shag-nasty
T: T-bagged
The Dirty-8
The J-Crotch
the Turdy-Eight
I always referred to the L as L-Terrible (Taraval eh?)
The 24-ever…so called because of its infrequency
From my days living in the Sunset:
28 Always Late
29 Never on Time
We call the 38 the “Dirty 38” or the “Dirty 8”
31 = Dirty One, but I prefer ‘Thirty Wonderful’.
Works equally well for the Seventy Wonderful.
31 and 71, the lifeline for those of us in Outside Lands.
I call the 54-felton the “Pukington Local” because of all of it’s turns that cause people to puke!
The 9-so-fine.
The 10-my-friend.
The Mighty 19.
The Double-Duce or the Dirty-D (22).
The Triple-Trey.
And my favorite:
The T-Willie.
38-Hell (38L).
Tre Five
9 – TB express (because it goes past SFGH)
Anything that goes down Stockton is THE ORIENTAL NON-EXPRESS
My how things have changed, when I was a boy the 30 Express ran straight through Chinatown without stopping until it reached Sutter St. (on the other side of the tunnel). Or for that matter, once it left Sutter St. going the other way it did not stop until Broadway and Polk St. (past the Broadway tunnel).
Interesting. The part of the 30’s route where it didn’t stop is now the part where no one pays.
T-Turtle.
33 – Larry Bird
F Train = F Trizzle
Even has its own rap.
“I tell em’, slow down, i’m trying catch the F train, slow down, ain’t trynna get left mayne!!
(similar to “The Team-Slow Down”)
1 Californication
I used to call the California 1 “Youth and Beauty” Uhh cause of the Decemberists song “California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade”
I know it’s about the highway… now. I didn’t when I first moved to California. Just saying.