[PRCo] 02 - SF Charters

[James B. Holland]

Good Morning!


I worked a number or charters in SF;  will take them out of 
chronological order.

The largest of these was the 04-July-1980 ERA charter.       Veteran 
Brooklyn PCC operator George Horn, who went on to work and retire from 
the El, then moved west to be employed by Muni.       He only operated 
Torpedoes and if his run wasn't assigned one and he didn't get one 
within 2-trips, He Went Home!       At any rate, George had been 
requested by the ERA to work the charter and since a second section was 
needed he asked for me.

George operated Muni #0001, the very first TrolleyCar to start service 
on the Geary line in December of 1912 when Muni started business, while 
I operated the last PCC bought new by Muni and the last one built for 
service in the USA, 1040.

In the afternoon, George worked lrv 1213 and I worked 1212.       We 
operated as a train until the photo stop depicted on pg.207 of PCC Coast 
to Coast when one of the cars revealed that a door wasn't closing 
properly.       We broke the train to find it was my car.       I tried 
a variety of steps to get the doors to close properly but when some of 
the RailFans saw the Door Interlock CutOut switch, they got rather nasty 
that I hadn't employed it.       Well, with a good carload of people and 
Not A Few Children and Many Doors on both sides of the vehicle, the last 
thing I needed was a door gliding open as we rode down the 
streets.       It may have seen simple to them but One Horrendous 
Responsibility on my part to employ same.       The problem was soon 
remedied and we were on our way  (One Twin, Earl, is in the  *-rear-*  
op seat in this photo!)


Another very interesting charter was by one SF native then living in San 
Diego who Really Liked Rail Transit but knew nothing about 
equipment.       He brought not a few young couples to SF one Halloween 
in 1977 and chartered 1010 at 5PM til 9.       In addition to a Very 
Large Carved Pumpkin in the front window  (with candle for after dark)  
they brought aboard One Huge Restaurant Coffee Urn which stood 3-4--feet 
high filled with Lemonade and ice!       They got on at the barn and we 
went to Judah and Ocean Beach for the Sunset.       We indiscriminately 
picked up passengers to see their reactions  --  most were quite 
confused.       I gave them a ride out the M Ocean View to impress them 
with the speed, and Impress Them I Did.

As stated in a previous post, the M-line leaves St.Francis Circle 
outbound to run behind property lines on prw.       While heading down a 
3-4% grade the line goes to center of the highway prw on the Main Street 
to the GG Bridge.       There are 3-main grade crossings with the last 
one taking the line back to street running.       The first grade 
crossing is at Stonestown, the Only Shopping Mall within San Francisco, 
heavily used stop.       I knew traffic signal timing and hit the 
intersection on the Pink and we flew right on through.       We passed 
up parallel traffic which often does 40-50-mph down through here, made 
the light at SF State, Ultra Heavy stop, and then climbed uphill to get 
to street running.       Many of them exclaimed:::       """Never would 
believe this without experiencing it."""       And  That's  Why  I  Did  
It!!!!!!!

Heading back inbound on the M I was to drop them off at Powell and 
Market where they would ride the cables, then deadhead home.       when 
we hit the center prw again the car rocked, bounced, rolled and threw 
the coffee urn over spilling all contents, lemonade and ice,  All  Over  
The  Floor  with much sloshing down the rear stairs and into the treadle!

When I pulled into the barn the shopmen were greeting pull in cars so I 
turned out the interior lights, threw the car into service latch, stood 
up while it was still moving, grabbed the pumpkin under my arm, had  
*-something-*  (as far as shopmen were concerned)  flowing out the rear 
doors, and I slurred all my words!       They were speechless  --  
mouths wide open.       I couldn't keep a straight face in those days 
and soon cracked up speaking normally but they didn't know what to 
believe.       I am a Tea-Totaler, by the way!


My very first charter was with 1025 and there were only two of us on the 
car  --  local SF railfan and myself and we were out for almost 
10-hours.       The final leg of the Muni subway under Market was cut 
and cover and joined directly with the Twin Peaks Tunnel so the lines 
were diverted down 17th to Church, then along Church Street to Market 
and extended beyond Market to Duboce to join the N-line, then  to Market 
and downtown.       An Xover is in place on both Church and Duboce 
Streets just before the intersection but because of buildings the other 
one can't be seen.       We changed poles, backed through the Xover on 
Church, changed poles again and heading inbound on Church on the wrong 
track, then turned onto Duboce and went outbound on the inbound track 
and then the Xover back to the outbound track WithOut meeting a revenue 
car!       Some Luck.       Now a turn from inbound Church to outbound 
Duboce exists here!

The Charter with 1190 was in the evening and included a few more people 
for a total of 5 of us  --  these are the kinds of charter I like - Very 
Small!       An Xover is in place on Taraval near 35th so coming inbound 
we backed through this Xover and went backwards all the way to the Zoo 
and back to 35th where we had to take the Xover and go to the zoo and 
back again to be headed in the right direction.      Or  We  Could  
Have  taken the wye in reverse and then the crossover to get headed back 
in the right direction on the right track!

The last PCC charter was with 1034, my personal favorite, and was two 
days after PCC service ended an era of transit on Market the previous 
Sunday  --  signup changes took place on Wednesday mornings in those 
days to coincide with paydays, but that has since been changed.       So 
we started out at 10-PM and went to 3-AM and tried to run around East 
Bay Terminal backward but the backup controller failed so we 
couldn't.       Have this on video somewhere.

Had a number of trolleycoach charters as well.



Jim__Holland


I__Like__Ike.......And__PCCs!!

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