Tag: muni time capsule

Does this look familiar to our 33-Stanyan (er, 33-Ashbury/18th) regulars?

Today, it’s the scene of unparalleled Muni operator skill — the Market-Clayton switchback is srsly no joke. These same streets back in the day, 1921 to be exact, weren’t easy to navigate for ye olde streetcars, either. But operators came up with a creative solution to a problematic switchback. More on the Market Street switchback at Mono, Caselli, and Clayton from FoundSF.org:

This sharp turn from Clayton to Market was not negotiable by early streetcars so operators would “switch” the backs of the passenger seats at Market Street, thereby “switching” the streetcar in the reverse direction.

Before, in 1925:

After, in 2010:

Photo: Michael Greene, San Francisco, CA

Thanks to reader Robert Holt for the tip.

More #TBT:
Ever heard of Muni’s 1-Sutter?
Awesome vintage video documents fight to save cable cars

Yes, you read that right.

Back in March 1967, the outcry of Sunset residents was loud and serious enough that Muni rerouted Haight Street buses around the growing scourge that was the Haight-Ashbury district.

The Chronicle’s Peter Hartlaub (he of this week’s Muni Diaries Podcast) unearthed his paper’s March 29, 1967 edition. There, sharing the front page with JFK’s widow, Jackie Kennedy, was the story by Mel Wax:

Read more

What are these old Muni cars doing in a town with a population of 398? Jen Q. posted these photos in the San Francisco Remembered Facebook group when she went to the tiny town of Brooks, Oregon, and saw these vintage Muni cars on display.

It turns out that the cars were a part of an exhibit at the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society, thanks to some sleuthing from a commenter. And here comes reverse sticker shock: Do you know how much a Muni ride cost in the 1970s?

Yup, look at this closely: 25 cents for a Muni ride. Anyone remember those days?

For more memories of the city, check out the San Francisco Remembered Facebook group, where you can find “vintage photos, family stories, and memories of the City that we love,” all of it post-1906.

Previously on Muni Diaries:

Here’s something else we’d like to bring back from the 1970s: groovy BART uniforms!

H/T: @mwichary