Nostalgia & History > Private Right of Way on MUNI's J Church Line

Church Street runs south from Market Street in San Francisco and has some sections of significant grade between 18th and 22nd Streets.  The J Church cars avoid these grades by leaving Church Street between 18th and 22nd and running on less steep private right of way (see map).  Below are four photographs of MUNI cars on that right of way.

1. Map

2. PCC 1103 on April 13, 1978

3. PCC 1136 on April 13, 1978

4. PCC 1040 on November 23, 1975

5. LRV 1240 on September 7, 1988

Enjoy,
Marty Bernard



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/15 16:22 by MartyBernard.

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The J car has always been a favorite because of that right of way. Now, with a major extension, you get a ride out San Jose Ave. through Bernal Cut. It just gets better.

I have some 1980 video of that section of private right of way, showing 1040.  If you go to www.pccstreetcar.com and scroll down to the 4th video on page one, starting at the 2:30 point, 1040 is at St Francis Circle in color, followed by shots of 1040 in black and white on that section of the J Line.   Errors corrected, The B&W camcorder preceded my first color camcorder.  The B&W shots were around February 1980, before I bought my first color camcorder.  It had a fixed lens, and obtained its power via 110VAC.  So we had a voltage inverter plugged into the car's cigarette lighter, and I stood in the trunk to get the shots.  The camera's cable was very short! 

Thanks,
Norm
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/15 17:26 by norm1153.

Is this the line that was used in Dirty Harry movie?

That fire hydrant in pic 2, just below the stop sign, is the only on which worked in the 1906 fire, which is why it's painted gold.

EtoinShrdlu Wrote:
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> That fire hydrant in pic 2, just below the stop
> sign, is the only on which worked in the 1906
> fire, which is why it's painted gold.

Nice catch, it gets repainted every April.   

I love that stretch of J-church line.  It's my favorite, with the Embarcadero a close second.  

Nathan

I've heard that it was the prvate right-of-way that kept the J Church Line from getting converted to buses when many of the other streetcar lines went away.  Either the grade was too steep, or the right-of-way too constricted.  Can anyone confirm or deny?  

True or not, the J Church Line is a fine bit of urban railroading, well worth the time for anyone visiting San Francisco.  

Ted in OR

True. Bus signs had 46-Church. But never used. The J-Church had the hill between 18th and 22nd Sts. The other car lines that stuck around had tunnels. Except for the Geary car lines which bit the dust in the mid-1950s.


gobbl3gook Wrote:
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> I've heard that it was the prvate right-of-way
> that kept the J Church Line from getting converted
> to buses when many of the other streetcar lines
> went away.  Either the grade was too steep, or
> the right-of-way too constricted.  Can anyone
> confirm or deny?  
>
> True or not, the J Church Line is a fine bit of
> urban railroading, well worth the time for anyone
> visiting San Francisco.  
>
> Ted in OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/15 22:10 by stash.

I love those J-line images.

Then when you are done fanning the J Church, be sure to head over to Bi-Rite Creamery.

Stephanie Ann

Streetcar lines that survived in the U.S. did so because they had tunnels, subways, or other private ROW.  Think of the systems in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, San Francisco, and even New Orleans.Marty Bernard

 Very nice photos and great history about the fire plug. In photo 3 is that black car an Opal?

hogantunnel Wrote:
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>  Very nice photos and great history about the
> fire plug. In photo 3 is that black car an Opal?

Or it could be a Saab.