When I was growing up, my father would say, "never run after a street car or woman, there will be another one along in a minute." I didn't understand my mother's moans of exasperation when he said that, until a few years ago. I think there was only one woman he ever chased after.
When my father was a child growing up in the northern suburbs of Detroit, Detroit had street cars. He told stories of hopping on for a nickel, grabbing a transfer and traveling 12-miles into downtown Detroit. Seeing a movie for a quarter and riding home for another 5-cents. GM offered to tear up and pave over the tracks, if the city would buy new buses, and the city took the deal. The cars went off to the scrap yard, a few of them were sold to other lines around the world.
San Francisco runs old fashioned street cars, two lines of them. They have bought and restored old street cars from around the world. I was riding this one recently, looked up and saw it was from Detroit, it could well be one that my father rode as a child. It gave me an amazing sense of connection.
Have you ridden a streetcar?
Yep....and it too was in San Francisco. Could be even the same one you were on.
ReplyDeleteA PCC CAR! I rode those in philly during the 60s! grandmom & I could hop on for 25 cents, go into town (center city), see a movie/shop/eat, then grab another for 25 cents back home. no transfers needed.
ReplyDeletewe never got rid of our trolley system; it's still alive and running.
I used to work at MUNI, so yes. Maybe even that one! Are they still running the pretty orange historic Milan cars? Muni acquired a number of them when I was working there.
ReplyDeleteYes, they Milian cars are still on the line
DeleteWe were just last night telling a Spanish friend about San Francisco's street cars and also how amazing the underground workings are. My parents used to talk about taking the NY trolley for a nickel to the movies... for a nickel!
ReplyDeleteAre trolleys and streetcars the same thing? I only ask because my son hits me in the throat (metaphorically) when I call his SUV a van. Looks the same to me.
ReplyDeleteI used to take the trolley a lot to San Ysidro with friends. We would then walk into Tijuana. Rode it all the time to work. Ah, such fond memories of the fight that fight that broke out, and the little Mexican construction worker who asked me to go dancing with him in Tijuana, regardless of my telling him I was married. The one time I shut off my resting bitch face, and this happens.
What was the question, again? Oh, yes, I've ridden a streetcar.
in my city, the trolley is a streetcar. in the UK, a trolley is a supermarket shopping cart. words are funny.
DeleteAnd just to confuse everybody over there, they call a street car a tram over here.
DeleteJP
JP, I'm confused enough with all of the extra "u"s they put in words like color, honor, neighbor, flavor and such. I know they came first but they are so totally unneeded. :)
DeleteYes San Francisco, Edinburgh and Croydon.
ReplyDeleteJP
yes
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