By Tim Jue / Beat Staff Writer

IT STARTED AS A SCHEME hatched by a group of San Francisco streetcar buffs to bring historic trolleys to the city’s downtown core nearly a quarter century ago.

They rallied around their idea, dismissed naysayers who insisted that no one would ride the old relics, and even interrupted a City Hall press conference with then Mayor Dianne Feinstein by hauling a beat-up red and cream colored tram from Hamburg, Germany on a flat bed truck in front of TV cameras.

The streetcar enthusiasts persisted, and eventually prevailed.

In 1995, a fleet of ancient trains painted in various colors from mustard yellow to cherry red representing cities which ran their own fleet of trolleys began operating on the San Francisco Municipal Railway’s F-Market streetcar line.

The F-line became an instant hit with both locals and tourists, carrying on average over 20,000 riders a day and taking riders on a rolling time machine that sends riders back to the days when streetcars – not automobiles – were the popular mode of getting around.

The journey begins at the line’s southern terminal located in the heart of the city’s flamboyant Castro District. For a buck fifty, riders can hop on the “museums in motion” as it zips through the downtown core – Market Street – and jogs north along the Embarcadero towards the tourist trap known as Fisherman’s Wharf.

LIKE THE OFFICE WATERCOOLER, the corner of 17^th and Castro Sts. is considered to be the congregation spot for F-line operators to “use the facilities,” refill the java mugs at the local Shell gasoline station and share news about the latest traffic tie-ups on Market Street.

The trolley stop is also where group of volunteers from the Market Street Railway, a non-profit organization which helps MUNI maintain the vintage fleet, convene to keep the trains looking spiffy.

Upon seeing the three empty streetcars idling on the street, they rush into each car hurriedly wiping down the front windshield and removing fast food wrappers and crumpled newspapers left by passengers.

In his seventies, Art Michel is one of those helping out in the effort. Climbing the steps to get on board the trains proves to be difficult for him, but his mind is lightening-quick when firing off facts during an impromptu history lesson of how the F-line came to fruition.

“The F-Market line originally ran from 1983 to1987 because the city had shut down the Cable Car lines for two years to rebuild it,” Michel recounted. “The Chamber of Commerce asked MUNI to run the line in place of the cable cars. So MUNI used the set of tracks already in place on Market Street and ran a historic streetcar line from the Castro to the East Bay [Transbay] Terminal.”

However, in 1987 MUNI cut back on historic streetcar operations. Market Street Railway and its volunteers immediately sought to bring back the widely popular F-Market line to Market Street, he said.

In the early 1990’s, MUNI acquired 14 second-hand streetcars from Philadelphia, Penn., for service on the F-Market line. Service on the F-line returned to the City by the Bay in 1995 using the ex-Philadelphia cars and a few from MUNI’s own eclectic tram collection.

In 2000, the railway extended service on the F-line from its terminal at the Transbay Terminal to Fisherman’s Wharf, and acquired more streetcars from around the world, including several trams from Milan, Italy.

They rallied around their idea, dismissed naysayers who insisted that no one would ride the old relics, and even interrupted a City Hall press conference with then Mayor Dianne Feinstein by hauling a beat-up red and cream colored tram from Hamburg, Germany on a flat bed truck in front of TV cameras.

“The line became widely successful again, with the local community and tourists,” Michel said. “Today, the busiest part of the line is between the Ferry Terminal and Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s so busy, there are three shuttle trains just for the Embarcadero stretch.”

DONNING THE STANDARD tan and brown uniform, 60-year old Barney Smith has been with MUNI for over 25-years. First, he started off driving motor buses with the railway working odd hours and on routes that traversed through the city’s spottiest neighborhoods.

“Rookie’s luck,” Smith calls it.

After gaining enough seniority, he moved over to the MUNI Metro subway system in 1980, operating light rail vehicles underground Market St. and out into the city’s neighborhoods. In 1999, he gave up the LRVs in favor of operating the historic streetcars.

“Oh, I love it!” chuckles Smith, as he swings the elderly streetcar around a curve from the 17^th Street terminal onto Market Street. “I used to drive motor coaches and this is certainly different.”

His heavy duty boots gently bear down on the accelerator and the train gives a quick jolt, and then smoothly glides past the numerous Southern California- style palm trees doting the streetscape.

Smith tugs on an old-fashioned switch on his dashboard, and a “Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!” resonates from the front of the trolley. Upon hearing the trolley’s gong, flocks of nearby pigeons scatter and customers at a nearby coffee shop gaze at Smith’s train while sipping on Espressos and Café Lattés.

With a quick flip of another switch, Smith activates the streetcar’s P.A. system.

“Next stop, Van Ness!”

A few passengers on board quickly scurry out the rear doors and dash across two lanes of traffic in a risky attempt to catch a connecting bus.

At the front doors, one of passengers hopping onto Smith’s streetcar is a young man completely decked out in white. He drops six quarters into the fare box and snatches the transfer from Smith’s hands. After fiddling with his white baseball cap and adjusting the collar on his white shirt, he plops down in a seat clearly marked for seniors and disabled persons.

“Move on,” he chants to an elderly gentleman struggling to get down the aisle with a cane. He puts on a pair of headphones and turns up the volume on his gold plated tape player. A nearby woman glares at the man with an irritated look. She kindly gives up her seat to the man with the cane and disappears into the crowd of standees in the rear.

Smith closes the front doors and gives another “Clang! Clang!” from the streetcar gong, but a wayward taxi cuts right in front of Smith, causing a sudden stop.

“We deal with modern day traffic in old cars,” Smith explains . “Sometimes we’re unable to stop because we’re on tracks. So when they do these types of things, we hit them. It’s nerve-racking, especially on Market Street.”

The taxi speeds away and Smith gives a cautious glance at his surroundings, looking for more wayward motorists. The streetcar travels past a notorious section of Market Street between Ninth and Fifth Streets, known for its seedy hotels and XXX- rated cinemas.

The streetcar is nearly full by the time it leaves Fourth Street. Smith speeds up as he passes by skyscraper after skyscraper, casting their gloomy shadows on the street. When the streetcar approaches the Ferry Building, sunshine returns and along with it, a strikingly majestic view of the Bay Bridge and San Francisco bay waters.

“We deal with modern day traffic in old cars,” Smith explains . “Sometimes we’re unable to stop because we’re on tracks. So when they do these types of things, we hit them. It’s nerve-racking, especially on Market Street.”

A group of tourists speaking French, Japanese and Spanish crams onto the streetcar at the Ferry Building stop. Smith prepares to be barraged with the familiar sight of visitor transit passes in his face.

“Move the back, folks,” he instructs them to do. “C’mon! We gotta get moving!”

As Smith’s train heads up the palm tree lined median on San Francisco’s northern waterfront boulevard, trains heading in the opposite direction back to Castro Street were packed to the doors.

A gush of cool air floated in through the windows and, along with it, the not so kind smell of bay waters. Tourists were busy gawking at the sight of Berkeley and Oakland across bay waters on the right side. To the left, the main sights were Coit Tower overlooking the bay and the numerous architectural wonders gracing the San Francisco waterfront.

One could have easily mistaken the two enormous television satellite dishes in front of the ABC Broadcast Center as a pair of giant flying saucers that had crash landed on someone’s parking lot. The neon lights surrounding a stainless steel structure that housed the Fog City Diner might have brought back a 1950’s nostalgic feeling to the waterfront as well.

As the train chugged along its right-of-way, a display of blue flags whipped in the breezy wind high above Pier 39. Smith pulled his streetcar to the sidewalk stop, right in front of the visitor’s attraction. The scene gets chaotic. Herds of tourists get up from their seats and rush out the back door, shoving up against one another with their cameras flinging all over the place from around their necks. Smith promptly shut the doors and guided the train ahead as if nothing had happened.

“Last stop! This is Jones and Beach!” yells Smith as he glances into his mirror overlooking the interior of the car. ”Everybody off! This is the last stop!” A few bewildered tourists finally rise from their seats and exeunt the train only to find themselves amongst a sea of visitors from abroad speaking their native tongues.

The one-way trip that started on the corner of 17^th and Castro Streets and snaked its way up north to Fisherman’s Wharf took a little more than 50 minutes. At the northern terminal, Smith gets up from his operator’s seat for a quick stretch break before the return trip back to where it all started.

A few minutes pass and he settles back into his seat. After scooping up another group of sightseers, he shuts the door and heads off. A snap, crackle and pop from the electric trolley pole fills the air. The quiet hum of the electric motor vibrates from the underside of the train. And once again, Barney Smith sounds a familiar tune from the streetcar’s gong, “Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!”

Tips & Resources

Market Street Railway Online Home

Fare, Route, Schedule Information for the F-line

And don’t forget to visit the Market Street Railway Museum to see priceless artifacts from San Francisco’s streetcar legacy and purchase collectables at the Steuart Street F-line stop. Info here.