| This streetcar represents the last days of Muni’s original streetcar fleet. Streetcar No. 162 joined Muni’s fleet when automobiles were still a novelty, and was retired — the first time — in the days when automobiles ruled the country, tail fins and all. No. 162 is painted in its last Muni livery, the Postwar ‘Wings’ introduced at the end of the 1940s and kept until the retirement of the car in 1958. Like its twin, preserved car No. 130 (in 1939 blue and gold livery), this car ran on virtually all of Muni’s streetcar lines, spending much time on the H-line along Van Ness and Potrero Avenues and through Fort Mason. After its initial retirement, No. 162 spent 45 years at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Riverside County before being reacquired in 2003 by Market Street Railway and Muni. Market Street Railway volunteers replaced the roof canvas and made a number of body repairs to the car. It then went to Muni’s shops in 2004, Muni crafts workers completed the restoration, including required safety and operational modifications, returning the car to regular service in 2008. The large size and long-term reliability of No. 162 make it a workhorse of today’s historic fleet, and very popular with San Franciscans of the Boomer Generation who remember it from childhood. Here, MUNI #162 cruises down Market Street during MUNI Heritage Weekend 2013. |