San Francisco Railway Museum & Gift Shop
The San Francisco Railway Museum celebrates the history of rail transit in San Francisco and explores its significant impact on the quality of urban life in this great city throughout its storied history. The museum features unique historic artifacts, illustrative and informative displays, rarely seen archival photography, in-depth historical interpretation, and audio-visual exhibits, in addition to a wide variety of unique San Francisco gifts, souvenirs and memorabilia you won't find anywhere else.
Location and hours of operation
San Francisco Railway Museum
77 Steuart Street (map)
San Francisco CA 94105
(415) 974-1948
(415) 974-1968 fax
Open Wednesday through Sunday
10:00am to 6:00pm
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays
The San Francisco Railway Museum is conveniently located where Market Street meets The Embarcadero, in the Hotel Vitale building. Only steps away from the landmark Ferry Building and the Embarcadero BART station, the museum is easy to reach on the F-line, the California Street cable car, BART, Muni Metro and ferries from around the Bay Area. Click here to view a Google map.
From the F-line historic streetcars
Both the Steuart Street stop and the Ferry Building stop are within steps of the museum, located on 'Don Chee Way', the streetcar right-of-way between Steuart Street and The Embarcadero.
From the California Street cable cars
From the cable car terminal at Market & Drumm Streets at the Hyatt Regency, the museum is easy to reach by walking one block to the end of Market Street, and one-half block down Steuart Street to the museum.
From the Embarcadero BART/Muni Metro station
Exit the station to street level and walk one block to the end of Market Street, and one-half bock down Steuart Street to the museum.
From the Ferries (Ferry Building)
Cross The Embarcadero to the foot of Market Street and walk one-half block down Steuart Street to the museum.
Current exhibit
To every American today, 'car' means automobile. Once, though, 'car' meant streetcar to most urban Americans. For almost a century in San Francisco, the 'family car' ran on rails, not just for commuting or shopping, but for any trip that stretched farther than a few blocks from home. Riding the rails around town wasn't just a way to get there; it was an enjoyable escape.
Market Street Railway, in collaboration with Muni and the San Francisco Public Library, celebrates the days when the streetcar was just the ticket to experience art, athletics, and the outdoors -- a ride to freedom and fun for a nickel -- in a new exhibit at the San Francisco Railway Museum entitled Take Me Out.
The exhibit features vintage photos and artifacts of bygone San Francisco destinations served by streetcar, such as Playland, Seals Stadium, Sutro Baths, Fleishhacker Pool, the Fox Theater, and more. An accompanying video mixes vintage motion picture film of San Francisco at the height of its streetcar era with remembrances of men and women who rode the cars to attractions all over town.
The exhibit will run into 2009. It's our intention to update the exhibit with new artifacts as they are made available to us, so if you have memorabilia from any of the locations listed above, or other bygone San Francisco venues that you're willing to loan us, please call John Hogan at the museum, (415) 974-1948 or email John at jhogan@streetcar.org.
Permanent features
The museum also permanently displays a variety of wonderful artifacts telling the story of the city's transportation history, including dash signs, fare boxes, even a famed Wiley 'birdcage' traffic signal (shown in the photo above), the peculiar way San Francisco's intersections were controlled for decades. Dominating the display will be the replicated end of a Market Street Railway Co. '100-class' streetcar, of which no originals survived. Installation of the streetcar display is already under way, and when funding is available, will be expanded to include a working motorman's cab where kids of all ages can learn how typical electric streetcars work. This will tie in with our future 'Teaching Trolley' project, which will feature an actual vintage streetcar operating in service on the lines, outfitted with an onboard educational curriculum that will also be made available to schools and parents through a special section of the streetcar.org website.
To fulfill our goal of making this a '21st Century museum honoring 19th Century technology', much of the museum's content is virtual: video touchscreens where visitors can access a variety of material, including historic motion picture footage and photographs and electronic versions of special exhibits that have previously been mounted in the museum space.
Unique San Francisco gifts
Our 'flagship' merchandise line is Market Street Railway's own Historic Travel Series of images that evoke the heyday of travel posters from the 1920s and 1930s. These images, created by San Francisco artists John Mattos and David Dugan, depict cable cars and historic streetcars in the context of the San Francisco neighborhoods they serve. This furthers Market Street Railway's mission of educating the public to the value of historic transit to neighborhood vitality and to expansion of San Francisco's vital visitor industry. These images are currently available as posters and note cards, and we expect to offer the images on other merchandise as well in coming months. Market Street Railway members will receive a 15% discount on all merchandise purchased at the museum as they do at our online store, where everyone can purchase items also available at the museum gift shop.
More help needed
We need your help to fund the final features of the new museum. Tax-deductible donations can be made here.
