[PRCo] PTM___Trolley--Fare___Column___December--1989_--_EARTHAUAKE

[James B. Holland]

Perceptions of earthquakes can be totally opposite reality.       I was 
asked me to write about the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco for PTM 
Trolley-Fare and to describe the twisted cable car rail, uprooted 
trolleycar rails, destroyed BART elevated, other effects on transit, 
overturned buildings, etc., etc., etc.

Here Is My Response and what was printed in that issue of Trolley-Fare::

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          W-E-S-T    C-O-A-S-T    N-O-T-E-S

                 By James B. Holland

             NOVEMBER -- DECEMBER,  1989

     "When any calamity has been suffered, the first thing to be 
remembered, is, how much has been escaped."  So says Samuel Johnson as 
quoted in the NEW DICTIONARY OF THOUGHTS by Tryon Edwards, Standard Book 
Company, 1961.  And because there seems to be MUCH misconception about 
the October 17th Loma Prieta 7.1 earthquake here in the Bay Area, let's 
attempt to see if Mr. Johnson's statement applies at all.  On Tuesday, 
October 24th, you are taking a trip to San Francisco under the following 
conditions:

[1] You know nothing about the earthquake;

[2] Once here you do not listen to the news or read the newspapers;

[3] For some strange reason, no one speaks about the earthquake.


     Your flight touches down at San Francisco International at 5:04PM, 
precisely one week after the earthquake, and 45 minutes late at 
that...but what else is new in aviation!  You encounter some traffic 
into San Francisco and take a different route than normal, but you 
wouldn't know that since this is your first trip, ...and traffic?  Hey, 
it's rush hour!  You hurry to your hotel on Union Square not because you 
are anxious to check in but you want to see the little cable cars 
climbing to the stars; after all, you are a railfan!  And there they 
are! ...clang, clang, clanging their way up and down Powell Street!

     It's 6:30PM by now and you think it strange that construction is 
going on at Magnin's on the Square.  You inquire of the desk clerk and 
he states:  "They're replacing the windows; they all popped out!"  "All 
of them?!"  "Yep, all of them."  "Explosion?"  "You might say that"  
"Anyone hurt?"  "Absolutely no one!"

     During the next couple days you take in all the "typical" tourist 
sights;  you inspect the new trackwork on Market Street and wish for a 
streetcar to come along; you observe the four lane overhead trolley 
coach lines with streetcars sharing one of the wires and see fast quiet 
coaches hiss past; you ride to the end of the J CHURCH and inspect the 
construction of the extension; you ride the M OCEAN VIEW because you 
like center-of-the-highway prw and then inspect the yard facilities at 
the end of the line.  Here you board the first BART train which speeds 
you downtown and you thrill to the 85mph ride under the Bay and the hill 
and dale ride to Concord.

     On the return trip you get off at Powell and hop aboard the first 
cable car.  The weather is perfect and riding the running board is the 
only way to go.  What a view as you cross California and watch a 
double-ended cable car climb your way leaving the Financial District, 
the Bay and the Bridge behind!  Your car continues on down Hyde Street 
past Lombard "the Crookedest" and on to Ghiradelli Square where you 
decide to have dessert before dinner at the Chocolate
Factory.

     You walk through Fisherman's Wharf taking in many of the sights and 
shops, enjoying the freedom of a wide open sidewalk; after all, this is 
the off season for tourists [does San Francisco have an OFF season; you 
wouldn't think that if you LIVED here!].  At Taylor Street you hop 
aboard another cable car and when you reach Chinatown you hop off for a 
stroll and dinner.  These last several days have exhausted you and while 
riding the cable back to the hotel you almost fall asleep [standing on 
the running board...WHOA!]!  Let's call it a day.

     The next couple days find you doing some unusual tourist 
activities; after all, you don't want the people back home believing 
that you are a railnut!  You take the charter tour to Muir Woods across 
the Golden Gate and walk amidst the serenity of some Giant Sequoias.  On 
the way back the bus stops in Sausalito where you dine over the Bay with 
a breath-taking view of the city skyline!

     The following day you take another tour of the city going to Twin 
Peaks for an unparalleled view of the Ocean, Golden Gate Bridge, Bay 
Bridge, the Bay, and the communities of the East Bay, North Bay and 
South Bay.  Sharing the viewing area is the Mt. Sutro TV tower.  "Why 
don't they have an earthquake here that knocks that ugly tower down?" 
you quip to the man standing next to you not realizing, of course, that 
he is a local taking relatives on a tour.  The daggers his eyes send 
back cause indescribable, unexplainable pain!  And so it goes on, and 
on, and on!  You have a fantastic time enjoying the sights and sounds of 
the San Francisco Bay Area.

     You hear that the Exploratorium has an art exhibit which interests 
you as well as a "hands on" science display which ranks with the best of 
them.  You hop the 30 STOCKTON [a GUTTERLINER?!...at least it is 
electric!] and ride through Chinatown, North Beach, Washington Square, 
Columbus, and past Ghiradelli again when the driver announces that to 
continue the trip you must transfer to a shuttle.  SHUTTLE?  They must 
be working on the trolley wires!

     As you travel down Chestnut you notice alot of buildings with 
cracked, crumbling or missing stucco facades at ground level.  Police 
gates prevent cars and people from traveling north of Chestnut on 
Fillmore and Mallorca and Pierce and Scott and Divisadero.  You notice 
guards checking ID's before allowing people to pass.  "Exclusive area?" 
you ask a fellow passenger: "Yep."  But then you find that the 
Exploratorium is closed to the public.  Why?  ...Really?  I never would 
have known! ...An earthquake! ...Really?  I've been all over San 
Francisco and this is the first evidence I have really seen of an 
earthquake!

     Yes, Mr. Johnson made an accurate observation...  MOST escaped the 
earthquake; one is hard pressed to find evidence of this tragic event.  
It is tragic because of the loss of life, but even this could have been 
infinitely worse if more had been on the Cypress Freeway [880, formerly 
17].  Preliminary investigations reveal unstable ground as the primary 
cause of destruction with construction a secondary contributor.  The 
part of the freeway that collapsed is on Bay mud fill while part of the 
same double decked freeway still stands sustaining only minor damage.

     In San Francisco, the Marina District [sandy marsh fill on the Bay] 
sustained the most damage while spotty damage is evident on fill south 
of Market where older construction is not reinforced.  One part of 16th 
STREET buckled and jammed some cars together, but you would have to be a 
lost tourist to find this!  The Bay Bridge deck that collapsed was 
amazingly designed to be the weak link; if another part of the bridge 
would have gone it could have been infinitely worse.  But the engineers 
guarantee a worse scenario the next time around since they used bolts 
four times as strong as the originals to replace this section!

     A MUNI shopman at home during the quake described it this way:  "A 
little rumbling which slowly built, something which we all have felt 
many times.  But this time it shifted into turbo-charge!" ...and the 
rest is history.  I was in my car on the way TO work [82 VW Camper Van] 
when all the traffic stopped and the motorcyclist in front of me kept 
glancing at the tree above him!  This was the slow rumbling stage which 
I did not feel.  But then my van shook violently, so much so that I 
thought it might overturn, then it stopped and then I realized it was an 
earthquake.  ALL electric power was cut.  I stood by my bus until 4AM 
when my air was pumped up and I was pushed to some live wire.  I made a 
circuitous route back to the barn, the ONLY light being my headlights 
and the stars.

     The next evening at work [I work 6PM - 2AM], some power was 
restored near Union Square.  My first 3 trips are on the 30 STOCKTON and 
Chinatown, North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf were still under a total 
blackout.  We turned short near Ghiradelli and did not start down 
Chestnut until Thursday, Nov. 9, where we turned short at Francisco.  
The former end of our line is in the heart of the Marina on Jefferson 
Street, the same block which sustained the very worst of damage in the city.

     My last three trips are on the 45 which travels through Chinatown 
and North Beach and parallels the 30 line four blocks south on Union.  
Because of the proximity to the Marina, this area as well as the Marina 
was under total blackout.

     BART trains were stuck in the Transbay tube and MUNI trains were 
stuck between stations.  All people were safely evacuated and office 
personnel, including General Manager Mr. Stead, helped in the evacuation.

     Consider Pittsburgh, PA, with only five bridges for traffic [you 
may have as many streetcar bridges as you like], and only two of the 
bridges going into downtown; these last two are the Golden Gate and the 
Bay Bridge and then you lose the use of the Bay Bridge.  The emphasis is 
now on Public Transit and BART came through smelling like a rose, even a 
dozen roses.  Rush hour ridership almost doubled starting Monday, 
October 23, the first day of work for most people after the quake.  BART 
instituted 24 hour service for the first time but since the Bay Bridge 
opened on Saturday, 24 October, BART resumes normal service hours 
beginning Monday, December 4.  The increased ridership severely strained 
BART because most cars go in for safety inspections every 500 miles.  
With the Bay Bridge open BART ridership dropped only 16% from post quake 
levels during commute hours while Bridge traffic was down 40% from pre 
quake levels.  Some attribute this to vacations for Thanksgiving, but 
BART has clearly won some new fans!

     If there is a silver lining to this tragedy it is that public 
transit shall receive highly favorable emphasis for the foreseeable future.



Jim__Holland


I__Like__Ike.......And__PCCs!!

down with pantographs ---- UP___WITH___TROLLEYPOLES!!!!!!!