Nostalgia & History > At the East Portal of Twin Peaks Tunnel, San Francisco

These MUNI PCC photos were taken by my friend Rick Burn in June of 1964.

1. PCC 1029 rolled J Church / Markrt to 11th.  This must mean the car is coming from the Geneva Carhouse and will turn at 11th and Market Sts. on the wye to become an outbound J Church car.  If I'm wrong about that, please correct me.

2. and 3. MUNI 1139 K Ingelside exiting the tunnel.

Enjoy Rick's photos,
Marty Bernard

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You are correct about the 11th & Market turnback sign.

Nice photo of the Castro Street portal before it was torn up for the Muni subway.

Here are a few I grabbed while in SF on business in November 1973, including the other end of the tunnel.

Gordon

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gbmott: Back when West Portal had a real portal!

Here's one of West Portal, about 5 years earlier.  I guess you can tell what time of year it was.

Ed

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Not a PCC. Similar however. Muni called them Magic Carpet cars. 1003 is at Western Railway Museum now.




MartyBernard Wrote:
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> Ed, that's a very early PCC, #1003, built in
> 1939.  Note the double roll signs and the less
> streamlined front. I don't think it was in service
> much longer.  Last I heard it was at the Western
> Railway Museum.
>
> Marty

Posted from Android

 We used to charter this car for excursions around the lines in SF.

Ed

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Auburn_Ed Wrote:
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>  We used to charter this car for excursions
> around the lines in SF.
>
> Ed

Hey Ed--  I remember # 1003 on rail excursions.  Maybe you and I were on one of the same trips!  Northern California Railroad Club was a frequent sponsor.

KRK

PCCs were built by St. Louis Car and Pullman.  I tried to search who built the Magic Carpets with no success.  I did find out that they were mechanically and electrically different than PCCs.

Marty Bernard

MartyBernard Wrote:
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> PCCs were built by St. Louis Car and Pullman.  I
> tried to search who built the Magic Carpets with
> no success.  I did find out that they were
> mechanically and electrically different than
> PCCs.
>
> Marty Bernard

The "Magic Carpets" were also built by St. Louis Car Company.   "The Magic Carpet cars were designated as "experimental" cars as a loophole to avoid having to pay royalties on the PCC car patents. Two of the cars had Westinghouse equipment. Three of the cars had GE equipment. Two of the cars had Brill 97ER1 (Brilliner) trucks. Three cars had Clark B2 trucks. The original plan was to purchase four cars to try the various possible combinations of equipment. However enough money was left over to purchase a fifth car. The theory was that when it came time to replace the iron monster streetcars, San Francisco would know which combination of equipment worked best in the city.

All cars used GE Cineston hand controllers rather than foot pedals. Union pressure reportedly was the cause of hand controllers. Cineston controllers also were used on a small number of lightweight rapid transit cars built in the 1930's.

The one remaining Magic Carpet car, Muni #1003, at the Western Railway Museum is essentially a GE air PCC car with Brilliner trucks. It operates regularly at the museum.
(Tech info from Fred Krock)

KRK 
 

Outstandingh pictures!

A few comments:

>All cars used GE Cineston hand controllers

All the cars had hand controllers, but "Cineston" is a Westinghouse trademark, so the GE cars used "master controllers", as GE called them, essentially C-145s so to speak.

>Union pressure reportedly was the cause of hand controllers.

I was told by a knowlegeable source that they were the result of Fire Department meddling, which is odd to say the least.

>The one remaining Magic Carpet car, Muni #1003, at the Western Railway Museum is essentially a GE air PCC car with Brilliner trucks.

Correct, assuming Brilliners used 97ER1 trucks. There are only five 97ER1 trucks known to exist.

In the second image I can almost see where I lived for about 6 months (3033 Market Street).back in 1966. I can't recall the name of the underground station that was later removed when the east end of the tunnel was changed. I'm sure someone on this list remembers. It was less than a block from my apartment.

Eureka Valley station or Eureka Street station. 



TonyJ Wrote:
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> In the second image I can almost see where I lived
> for about 6 months (3033 Market Street).back in
> 1966. I can't recall the name of the underground
> station that was later removed when the east end
> of the tunnel was changed. I'm sure someone on
> this list remembers. It was less than a block from
> my apartment.

Thank you!

stash Wrote:
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> Eureka Valley station or Eureka Street station. 
>
>
>
> TonyJ Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > In the second image I can almost see where I
> lived
> > for about 6 months (3033 Market Street).back in
> > 1966. I can't recall the name of the
> underground
> > station that was later removed when the east
> end
> > of the tunnel was changed. I'm sure someone on
> > this list remembers. It was less than a block
> from
> > my apartment.

 Ahhh!  San Francisco in the nineteen sixties.  A lot more going on than streetcars!  I'll never forget THOSE days.

Ed

Like that 55 Chevy.