Market Street Railway

The San Francisco Railway Museum is now open at the site of the historic Ferry Loop. The SFRM is owned and operated by the nonprofit Market Street Railway.

Without us, it would be a bus
What makes San Francisco different... is what makes it special. We need your help to keep it that way.

San Francisco is one of the world’s best places to work, live, visit, and shop. People the world over are drawn to its unique personality—neighborhoods like the Castro, Nob Hill, and North Beach—and to attractions like the Ferry Building, The Embarcadero, Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, Union Square, Market Street, Mission Bay, China Basin, and Fort Mason. To keep these districts economically vibrant, they must be connected by efficient, attractive public transit service that itself reflects San Francisco’s uniqueness.

Enter Market Street Railway
As the San Francisco Municipal Railway’s 1,200-member nonprofit preservation partner, we rely on private contributions to help keep San Francisco’s past present in the future...in the form of the famed historic streetcars of the F-line, and the national landmark cable cars, which together carry more than 40,000 riders per day. These historic transit vehicles are essential to the economically healthy circulation of visitors and residents around the downtown sector. We like to refer to these systems as San Francisco’s Museums In Motion.

What we’ve already done
Market Street Railway members created the hugely-successful Trolley Festivals of the 1980s that resulted in the permanent return of streetcars to Market in the form of the F-line—the most popular service of its kind in all of North America. The F-line carries more than double the ridership of the bus lines it replaced, attracting people who would never otherwise ride public transit. Our work for the F-line has been recognized with numerous awards. That’s why we say, “Without us, it would be a bus.”

US Senator Dianne Feinstein (then mayor of San Francisco) and Market Street Railway president Rick Laubscher (third from left) celebrate the first Trolley Festival in 1983 aboard 1912 Car No. 1, Muni's first streetcar ever.

And we’ve done much more. Also in the 1980s, one of our directors, Virgil Caselli, headed the public/private partnership that rebuilt the world-famous cable car system. Over the past twenty years, we’ve helped Muni to acquire and restore more than a dozen historic streetcars and cable cars for service, adding diversity to Muni’s peerless historic fleet. Our volunteer restoration corps has done much of this restoration work themselves. Other volunteers clean the interiors of the F-line cars at the Castro Street Terminal to improve rider experience.

Through our committed advocacy, Market Street Railway is working to increase F-line service levels, and to expand historic streetcar service through the forthcoming E-Embarcadero line. The E-line will directly connect regional transit service—including Caltrain, BART, and Bay ferries—to waterfront businesses and attractions stretching from Mission Bay to Fort Mason, and perhaps even the Presidio.

Our educational outreach efforts illuminate the significant historical contribution that streetcars and cable cars have made to the high quality of urban life in San Francisco, past, present, and future. We post informational displays and brochures on the streetcars themselves and maintain this comprehensive website. We have done all this and more without any public funding. However, to maintain and strengthen public support for San Francisco’s historic streetcars and cable cars, we need to expand this program. For that, we need your generous support.

Positive economic impact
In the past two decades, our work has brought substantial, tangible benefits to San Francisco’s downtown and waterfront areas. The streetcars of the F-line are now one of the City’s top tourist attractions, as the cable cars have been for decades. Together, they carry more than 40,000 riders per day throughout Union Square, the Financial District, Nob Hill, Chinatown, North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf, Civic Center, Upper Market, and the Castro. The F-line has ushered in a resurgence in the number of residents and tourists who patronize the waterfront, from the Ferry Building to Fisherman’s Wharf. The businesses and historic attractions along Muni’s historic rail lines benefit greatly from this service. We have a vision for improving this unique experience.

Our strategic vision
The next few years are critical. At a challenging time for Muni, our advocacy is more crucial than ever to maintain and improve service on Muni’s historic streetcar and cable car lines. Market Street Railway has developed a comprehensive action program to raise public awareness about the critical role that rail transit played in building our city, and the importance of attractive vintage transit to the City’s economic future. Our plan includes:

Market Street Railway owns a 1926 Johnstown, Pennsylvania streetcar which we will convert into a special Teaching Trolley with a corresponding online cirriculum.

Transforming the streetcars of the F-line, and select cable cars, into true Museums In Motion by developing permanent informational displays inside each car, telling the story of how rail transit built San Francisco and other American cities and outlying areas.

Creating a hub for the Museums In Motion at the site of the old Ferry Loop terminal by opening the San Francisco Railway Museum. We’ve been granted space in the new Hotel Vitale building, with our doors opening right onto the F-line Steuart Street stop, and we’ve assembled wonderful artifacts and materials for display.

Developing an educational outreach program, tailored for elementary school teachers and consisting of a ‘Lesson In a Box’ which contains classroom materials, educational games, multimedia content, and a corresponding online curriculum for teachers and students.

Restoring and inaugurating the Market Street Railway Teaching Trolley, a 1924 streetcar which will serve to teach schoolchildren (and grownups) how these environmentally-friendly vehicles work, how they formed the cities and suburbs of this country, provided employment opportunities to minority groups, and the vital role they continue to play in keeping San Francisco a vibrant, thriving urban city.

We need your help
If we can implement our strategic vision over the next few years, we believe that Muni’s historic streetcars and cable cars can deliver increasing economic value to San Francisco’s downtown and waterfront districts. If we can’t, service could slide, and we could see F-line streetcars replaced by buses. Your tax-deductible contributions can make all the difference—allowing us to fulfill our mission of preserving San Francisco’s transit heritage, and increasing the economic benefit to our great city.

For larger donations, there are a variety of attractive recognition opportunities, including naming rights for museum components and exhibits, the Teaching Trolley, sponsorship of onboard car displays, informational brochures, and online educational curricula.

Donations of any size can be made by check—payable to Market Street Railway, 870 Market Street, Suite 803, San Francisco, CA 94102—or by credit card here. Please feel free to contact Market Street Railway president Rick Laubscher directly to discuss sponsorship and support opportunities at (415) 305-5242, or email rlaubscher@streetcar.org.

Thank you for your generous support of Market Street Railway’s campaign to keep San Francisco’s past present in its future.