More Market Street Pictures

by Joe Thompson

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This page has some additional photos of the Market Street Cable Railway's lines. Click on each thumbnail to see a larger version. Use your browser's "Back" button to return.


The Fate of the Old Sacramento and Clay St. Cable Car #16

by Stephen Brown

Emporium Roof

The burial of #16

The fate of the old Sacramento & Clay St. Cable Car #16
as relayed by Val Lupiz of Muni's Cable Car Division (9/27/15) is as follows:

Number 16 was no longer needed after February 14, 1941 and busses took over the route the next day. The car lay in storage until April of 1948 when the Emporium Department Store on Market St. San Francisco purchased it. The car was placed on the roof to serve as part of their Kiddieland Complex until the store closed in 1996. There was an effort after that time to save the car so it was eventually taken apart and crated up. Many years later the old #16 was rediscovered and Val Lupiz and associates went to check on the condition to see if it was restorable. Unfortunately, the car was far too gone. The wood would "crumble at the lightest touch". Seeing that the car was not restorable, Val and his friends decided to give the cable car a decent burial. So they took the whole car down to Ocean Beach and gave it a proper burial at sea.

Thus car #16 has the unique distinction as being the only known cable car to be buried at sea.

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Other Images

Hayes Street Car 15 Market Street Cable Railway Hayes Street car 15, photographed by Isaiah West Taber. Smaller version. January (Winter), 2001 Picture of the Quarter.
Car 274 McAllister Street car 274 on the turntable at 12th Avenue and Fulton Street, near the Chutes amusement park. This view highlights the great length of the car.
McAllister car at Chutes Another McAllister Street car at the Chutes amusement park on Fulton Street. (Source: San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, AAC-7936).
Chutes A postcard view of the Chutes amusement park on Fulton Street, showing the Shoot the Chutes ride. The Chutes operated at various locations including Haight between Cole, Schraeder, and Waller (02-Nov-1895 to 16-Mar-1902), Fulton between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues (01-May-1902 until the winter of 1908-1909), the block bounded by Fillmore, Webster, Turk, and Eddy (14-Jul-1909 until it burned down 29-May-1911). The late lamented Playland-at-the-Beach at Ocean Beach, was originally called Chutes-at-the-Beach, but was not related to the original Chutes. It had a Shoot the Chutes ride from the time it opened in 1922 until January, 1950. Thanks to historian John Freeman for the story of the Chutes.
Third and Market A view by IW Taber, looking down Market from near Third Street, towards the ferry. The white structure on the right is the Hearst Building, headquarters of The Examiner. A Geary Street cable train is visible behind Lotta's Fountain on the left.
Market near Third A detail from a stereo view of a busy Market Street scene, near Third Street.
Hayes and Van Ness A rainy day at Hayes and Van Ness in 1890. (Source: San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, AAB-3966). September, 2003 Picture of the Month.
Valencia 1904 A Valencia Street cable car at 28th Street and Valencia on 29-May-1904. (Source: San Francisco Municipal Railway United Railroads Collection Photo #175). November, 2005 Picture of the Month.
RPO Railway Post Office car "A" at Hayes and Stanyan. Note the mail slot at the right rear corner. White was the official color for street running RPOs. (Source: San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, AAB-8771).
Cable RPO Val Lupiz found this postcard showing a Market Street Railway cable Railway Post Office car at the Ferry Building. The postmark on back reads Harmony, Maine 1910. A quote from Val: "I've often wondered what would happen if you had a runaway with one of these cars and had to drop a slot blade -- all those carefully sorted letters and cards, tossed all over the floor in one big pile... 'Gaahhhh!!!! You idiot!! Now I've gotta start all over!!!' LOL." Val Lupiz Collection. All rights reserved.
Old Ferry Building Two Market Street cable cars at the turntable in front of the old Ferry Builing, before 1897. Horse cars wait at the left. A hotel omnibus and a carriage are on the right.
Early Ferry Loop After the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, the Ferry turntable was replaced by a loop for United Railroads electric cars. The loop eventually grew to three tracks after Muni extended its lines down Market.
Later Ferry Loop The final configuration of the Ferry Loop. All Muni and MSR lines that ran on Market Street looped on its three tracks. The north terminal, just visible under the iron bridge at the left of the Ferry Building, served Muni's E Union dinkies and the MSR's 15 line. The south terminal served MSR's Mission Street and other South of Market lines. The Sacramento/Clay cable car line shared tracks with the loop on the left.
URR car 1380 United Railroads of SF electric car 1380 shows the influence of the California style. Car 1380 was built by the Saint Louis Car Company in 1905 part of a group of 125 cars. In 1911 or 1912 the car was enclosed and remodeled for Pay as You Enter operation. Sister car 1310 burned on 18-Apr-1906. The surviving cars in the group were scrapped between 1927 and 1935.
MSR Guide A brochure produced in the late 1930's or early 1940's by a later incarnation of the Market Street Railway, showing a Brill trolley coach, a gasoline bus, and electric streetcar 257. The cover ignores their surviving cable car lines. The gasoline bus may be rear of a Twin Coach 25-28 bus. Thanks to Val Golding for the suggestion.
MSR tokens Tokens issued by a later incarnation of the Market Street Railway (no thumbnail).

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Last updated 01-Dec-2005