We got to ride on two of the most unique vehicles in the San Francisco muni fleet: the “dinky” (car no. 578) from 1896 and the Blackpool “boat tram”!
Rosa‘s birthday coincided with the 2019 Muni Heritage Festival, supported by Market Street Railway, and even though I’m the bigger transit history nerd, Rosa graciously went along with my idea for taking birthday weekend vintage trolley rides. We got to ride on two of the most unique heritage streetcars in the San Francisco Municipal Railway fleet!
Car no. 578 is a tiny little streetcar nicknamed the “dinky.” It’s the oldest in the fleet, built in 1896!
We also rode on the 1934 Blackpool (England) open-top “boat” tram up and down the Embarcadero. I love the “Nowhere in Particular” destination signs. I can think of nothing better to do on a sunny California late summer / early autumn day than to ride in an open-top vintage tram along the Embarcadero in San Francisco.
Thanks Rosa for sharing your birthday weekend with me and my transit geekery, and thanks Market Street Railway for all your hard work (I’m a member).
Migrated from Instagram @roamingbill on 2026-04-12