Muni Heritage Weekend 2019
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which operates the Municipal Railway (Muni), is inviting the public to get a taste of the city’s public transit past by offering rides on vintage buses and streetcars on Saturday, September 7 and Sunday, September 8. The 7th annual celebration of Muni Heritage Weekend held jointly by the SFMTA and the Market Street Railway, our non-profit partner that supports the preservation of Muni’s historic vehicle fleet, will take place at the San Francisco Railway Museum at Steuart Street and Don Chee Way. Festivities will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The last vintage vehicle rides will depart between 4 and 5 p.m.
“We are proud to partner with Market Street Railway and celebrate the revelry of Muni’s colorful and historic past,” said Malcolm Heinicke, Chairman of the SFMTA Board of Directors. “The Muni Heritage Weekend is a reminder that San Francisco has been a great transit city for 150 years and will continue that tradition into the future.”
Unique historic buses, cable cars and streetcars rarely in operation will return to serve the public for this weekend, some of them for free. Free vehicles will depart from and return to the SF Railway Museum, and will include Muni’s Streetcar No. 1, Streetcar 578 built in 1896, Motor Coach 042 from 1938 and recently restored “Mack” Motor Coach 2230 from 1956, among others.
“Public transportation is what has kept San Francisco moving for well over a century, and is more important today than ever,” said Tom Maguire, SFMTA Director of Transportation. “These galleries on wheels highlight the vitality of our work, as well as our continued commitment to sustainable transportation both past and present”.
The highlight of the weekend is the return of “Big” Cable Car 19, built in 1883, to the streets of San Francisco for the first time in 77 years. This cable car ran on Market Street from 1883 to 1906, and then on the Sacramento-Clay Line from 1906 to 1942. During Muni Heritage Weekend, find this cable car — the largest in the Muni fleet — on the California Street Line both Saturday and Sunday; regular cable car fares apply.
“Muni Heritage Weekend is one of a kind. No other transit agency in the world operates such a diverse collection of vintage transit vehicles for public rides, including cable cars, streetcars, and buses you rarely see in operation” said Rick Laubscher, President of the Market Street Railway. “And it’s more than just the vehicles. We also want to draw more attention to the people who’ve moved this city over the past 150 years; without them San Francisco wouldn’t have become the city we know today."
This Muni Heritage Weekend also marks the kick off of Transit Week 2019, a week-long celebration of San Francisco transit riders hosted by the SF Transit Riders. Find the Transit Riders on the plaza outside the SF Railway Museum along with exhibits on Muni history and activities for families.
For more details of event, please visit Market Street Railway or SFMTA.com/MuniHeritage.