The San Francisco Railway Museum and Gift Shop is located at the site of the historic Ferry Loop, only steps away from the landmark 1898 Ferry Building at the Steuart Street F-line stop. Click here for more information on the museum's location and hours of operation, and see what's happening with the latest museum news.

The museum features unique historic artifacts, illustrative and informative displays, rarely seen archival photography, in-depth historical interpretation, and audio-visual exhibits, in addition to a wide variety of unique San Francisco gifts, souvenirs and memorabilia you won't find anywhere else.

Opening exhibit
The inaugural exhibit of the San Francisco Railway Museum is titled Vehicles of Recovery: How San Francisco’s street railways led the City’s response to the 1906 earthquake and fire.

Using stunning, rarely–seen photographs from Muni’s own archive, Grant Ute and the San Francisco Railway Archive group bring to life the vibrant transit operation—symbolized by cable cars on Market Street—that was devastated by cataclysm on April 18, 1906. The exhibit then weaves together the strands of heroism, determination, and corruption to show how a transformed transit system spearheaded recovery and framed the development of the San Francisco that came to be—influences that still shape our city today. This special exhibit is expected to run until Spring 2007.

Permanent features
The museum also permanently displays a variety of wonderful artifacts telling the story of the city’s transportation history, including dash signs, fare boxes, even a famed Wiley ‘birdcage’ traffic signal (shown in the photo above), the peculiar way San Francisco’s intersections were controlled for decades. Dominating the display will be the replicated end of a Market Street Railway Co. ‘100-class’ streetcar, of which no originals survived. Installation of the streetcar display is already under way, and when funding is available, will be expanded to include a working motorman’s cab where kids of all ages can learn how typical electric streetcars work. This will tie in with our future ‘Teaching Trolley’ project, which will feature an actual vintage streetcar operating in service on the lines, outfitted with an onboard educational curriculum that is also made available to schools and parents through a special section of the streetcar.org website.

To fulfill our goal of making this a '21st Century museum honoring 19th Century technology', much of the museum’s content will be virtual: video touchscreens where visitors can access a variety of material on demand, including historic motion picture footage and photographs; all the Museums In Motion displays posted on the streetcars themselves; and electronic versions of the special exhibits that have previously been mounted in the museum space.

Unique San Francisco gifts
Our 'flagship' merchandise line is Market Street Railway’s own Historic Travel Series of images that evoke the heyday of travel posters from the 1920s and 1930s. These images, created by San Francisco artists John Mattos and David Dugan, depict cable cars and historic streetcars in the context of the San Francisco neighborhoods they serve. This furthers Market Street Railway’s mission of educating the public to the value of historic transit to neighborhood vitality and to expansion of San Francisco’s vital visitor industry. These images are currently available as posters and note cards, and we expect to offer the images on other merchandise as well in coming months. Market Street Railway members will receive a 15% discount on all merchandise purchased at the museum as they do at our online store, where everyone can purchase items also available at the museum gift shop.

More help needed
We need your help to fund the final features of the new museum. Tax-deductible donations can be made here.