USA - San Francisco

These pictures were taken on an amazing week in San Francisco in March 2000. The weather was tremendous and we covered the whole of the system - which takes some doing when there are some 100 route-miles on 17 routes with over 375 trolleybuses serving them! In addition there are numerous tram routes, and of particular interest is the Market Street F-line with its restored PCC's, the cable cars, not to mention the local transport museums and nearby towns with new tram systems and some with heritage routes!

The Skoda trolleys had just started arriving too, with two of the rigid vehicles on test. The first articulated vehicles did not arrive until after we had left.

These are just a sample of the trolleybuses seen and the many routes covered. I will improve the captions as time permits, and my notes re-surface! It was here that I also discovered video, so many of the interesting locations or vehicles did not get a photograph - they are on videotape!

Market Street - two trolleys sandwich a PCC on the F-line. The lead trolley is 5080.	At the Ferry terminus, artic 7013 sets off while one of the charter trams we were using sails past. (The other charter tram was a Blackpool Boat!!).
Still at Ferry, a 31 Balboa artic (7059) and a 7 Haight (5061) await their departure times.	The other end of the 31 is by the sea on the Pacific Coast, where it joins the 5 Fulton to turn round. 4 trolleys (2 off each route) wait. Where the routes diverged, every third trolley dewired on the frog as it wasn't setting properly, so videoing was great! A tower wagon appeared later, but I don't know whether they fixed the problem.
5125 on 21 Hayes terminus loop in the older livery. The two 5's coming up behind are able to pass.	3 trolleys run down Market Street towards an F-line PCC coming the other way. Much of Market Street is wired with two sets of trolleybus overhead in each direction to enable overtaking.
The junction of South Van Ness and 16th St. Not quite a 'Grand Union', but plenty of overhead to marvel at!	The depot at Potrero (lower level).
Nice side shot of 5294 with the simplified livery.	Overhead crew repairing the electric frog at the Fulton/Stanyan junction. 5019 just squeezed past the work going up, but 5050 on a 21 has just dewired coming round the corner, more in surprise than anything to do with the work.
5040, despite being on a 1 California, is short working at the 4 loop. In doing so he dewires in the middle of the road - not surprising looking at the twists and turns of the overhead at this point.	A line-up waiting to run off shift into Presidio Depot....
... and the same line-up from the front. 5110 has just escaped into the confines of the yard.	And inside the depot itself. 5154 and 5133 are nearest the camera.
5125 at the junction of Stockton, Union and Columbia not far from Coit Tower heads south for the city on a sunny spring evening.	5217 with simplified central stripe at Phelan City College, followed up by an articulated example.
Brand new Skoda 5402 on trials on the Haight route. It could be seen being route-tested all over the city during the week.	No picture gallery of San Francisco would be complete without a shot of a trolley of a different sort! Bottom of Powell Street in the city.
...or without a shot of the city/Bay/Golden Gate bridge. This one is from Coit Tower.	...or indeed a view of Alcatraz. Well worth a visit!