E-Extravaganza at Sunday Streets
I missed the first Sunday Streets waterfront street closure over Labor Day weekend, so attending yesterday’s carfree festivities was a top priority. It seemed to be a grand success, as everyone enjoyed the fresh air and the great weather. There is a great sense of freedom that comes from being able to cross the street at any point, without having to run for your life to avoid automobiles. Here are a couple shots of carfree streets from outside the Ferry Building:
My main priority for Sunday Streets was the E-Embarcadero; I spent most of the afternoon riding and taking pictures of historic streetcars running demonstration service on waterfront tracks between Fisherman’s Wharf and the Caltrain Station. It was a great day for railfans:
The highlight of the day was the winged No. 162, which was an absolute pleasure to ride. This is quite simply a beautiful car, restored to immaculate form:
Finally, a couple more shots of cars, including No. 162, resting up at Geneva Yard:
For still more Sunday Streets streetcar pictures, and for full-sized versions of these pictures, check out the Historic Streetcars set on my Flickr account. The Market Street Railway group also has a large compilation of pictures.
Hey Eric… it was great to meet you down there on the E-line. It looks like that was the official service debut of No. 162, so you’ll get another chance now to ride her a little farther than two blocks!
David Dugan
15 September 2008 at 2:52 pm
Hey David, great to meet you there. It’s going to be awesome to have 162 in service!
Eric
15 September 2008 at 3:25 pm
Any words on when the E will be up and running regularly?
Dan W
15 September 2008 at 9:36 pm
Dan: last word I heard on that was 2010; within the five year scope of the Transit Effectiveness Project, which classifies both the E and the F as core ‘rapid’ routes.
Eric
16 September 2008 at 10:03 am
With all the work it will take to put the TEP into effect over the next 5 years, 2010 seems overly optimistic, though maybe it would be easier to add the E-Line at the same time they are rescheduling the other rail lines instead of adding it later.
One of the big dependancies will be having enough double-ended cars to run on the E-Line. Single-ended cars don’t have a loop where they can turn around at 4th & King. Right now there are not enough double-ended, which is why Muni is having 4 more double-ended PCCs rebuilt, hopefully to be completed by 2010.
Jamison Wieser
16 September 2008 at 1:48 pm
Almost any so-called “deadline” for the E would probably be optimistic at this rate, but it would be great to get the darn thing started. With a good outreach and education campaign, E service even with longer headways on a few double ended cars could do something to ease crowding on segments of the F, and offer the opportunity to test operations along the Embarcadero.
Eric
16 September 2008 at 11:09 pm