Postcard from San Francisco

It may look like an old Italian trolley car…and in fact, it is. This beautiful old street car used to run through downtown Milan. But now it rumbles through San Francisco; an F-line trolley (perhaps the “F” on the back of the car gave that away).

The F Line is unique in San Francisco. It’s almost as special at the famous cable cars. And while the cable cars run from Powell Street, over the hills and down to Fisherman’s Wharf, this proud beauty runs from the east end of Market Street, past Powell Street cable cars, all the way to the Ferry Building…then takes a hard left, rumbles down the Embarcadero, all the way to…you guessed it…Fisherman’s Wharf.

The cable cars go up and over the hills…the F Line runs the flat route. It’s longer, but still quite scenic. Locals don’t use it very much, mostly tourists these days. But, who cares. Its fun to ride and cheaper than a cable car…and if you count the time it takes to get on a cable car (the lines are long), the F Line is faster.

But that is not what makes the F Line really special. Oh, no. It’s that their trolleys come from all over the world and are perfectly restored antiques. When I was there, I rode in trolleys from Philadelphia, Birmingham, and even an old trolley from San Francisco (1940’s version). There are a total of 20 right now from far off places like Boston, Mexico City, Washington DC, and Brooklyn (not to mention Milan), just to name a few.

The idea for these trolleys came from a non profit organization called The Market Street Railway. They restore these beautiful old street cars and put them back to work. What a great idea! It’s just another sprinkling of fairy dust on this magical City by the Bay.