[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Part 3 - Transit & Observation Decks


The F-Market historic streetcars were pretty cool.

As I said, I grew up in DC and my grandma lived at 14th & Colorado where there was a streetcar terminus so I rode PCC cars in DC from there and on Georgia Ave. all the time as a very young child. Riding them in SF is always a little bit nostalgic.

The majority of what I saw were not PCCs, which surprised me. There seem to be a ton of cars from Milan.

SF bought a substantial number of them directly from Milan when that city modernized its fleet. They are very popular.

You might want to check out http://www.streetcar.org/mim/streetc...eet/index.html for the story on all the various streetcars in the SF fleet.

By the way, I am hoping SF will get and use some "stimulus" money to finally begin the "E line" service using the historic streetcars along the entire length of the Embarcadero (from CalTrain to Fishermens' Wharf).

The (CalTrain) station is awful on the outside.

You do know that this is the station to be replaced by the new downtown TransBay Terminal, right? (see the thread on that)

Trolley buses:
I didn't get to ride one, but love the idea of trolley buses. What a good middle-step between bus and streetcar. Are they smoother than fuel buses?

They are more powerful--I've had to get out (along with my fellow passengers) of diesel busses because they couldn't make it up a few SF hills fully loaded. The electric have no problem. Also, SF has its own hydro-electric dam in the Sierra Nevada--O'Shaughnessy Dam--so the electricity is about free (except we pay PG&E to transmit it to the city). Obviously, the electrics are also quieter in residential neighborhoods.

Now, views from high up.

J Church took me up a hotel near Union Square. I think it was the Saint Francis.

Yup.

What's this church? Can anyone ID?

St. Ignatius--on the campus at U. of SF (a Jesuit school)--the hill is called "Lone Mountain".


Source: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/OKXjf...R_CMGYf4LrAVTQ