STREETCARS A DIRECT LINE TO PUBLIC-TRANSIT HISTORY.

Byline: James O. Clifford Associated Press 

Just because it's the mid-1990s and you're in San Francisco, it doesn't mean you can't step into Philadelphia in the 1940s. Or Cincinnati in the 1930s.

All you need to do is climb aboard a streetcar.

Once, these vintage trolleys - known as Presidents Conference Committee cars - dominated public transportation in major cities across the country. Now, they ramble up and down Market Street, another tourist attraction for a city already renowned for its cable cars.

``This is an additional enticement for people to come to San Francisco,'' said Phil Adams, general manager of the city's Municipal Railway, known as the Muni. It's ``simply another jewel in the city's crown.''

The cars were designed in the 1930s after electric car companies in the United States and Canada demanded standardized, improved, streamlined streetcars. Most cities gradually dropped the trolley cars, though they still operate in Boston, Newark and Toronto.

The 17 cars in San Francisco's fleet each can haul 93 riders. They are painted the livery of cities where PCCs once operated - the green and cream of Philadelphia, the bright yellow and green of Cincinnati, the yellow and silver of Los Angeles. There's also the distinctive orange and silver of Pacific Electric, a Southern California line whose demise inspired the movie ``Who Framed Roger Rabbit?''

San Francisco has a long history with the PCCs. The last of about 5,000 cars built for use in North America was the city's car No. 1040, which went into service in 1952.

The cars, which run above a modern subway, form the F-Market run, a 3.5-mile route that is San Francisco's first new line since 1928.

The F line goes from the Transbay Terminal and up Market Street to the Castro District. Along the way, it passes near several tourist sites, including the new Museum of Modern Art, U.N. Plaza, Moscone Center and the turnaround at Powell and Market, where tourists stand in line to board the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf.

In addition to the famed cable cars and the new contingent, San Francisco has the largest operating fleet of historic streetcars in the nation. The 29 vintage trams include a 1928 streetcar from Milan, Italy, one a year older from Japan and a 1922 contribution from Russia. To top that, San Francisco came up with one built in 1895. The crowd pleaser, however, is a 1934 open ``boat car'' from Blackpool, England.

The Muni knew it was on to something when it held festivals for the old streetcars in the 1980s and people elbowed each other to get aboard. The old cars frequently are taken out and added to the F-line fleet.

So far, the city has invested $50 million and seven years in putting down the tracks, locating the conference cars and overhauling them. Plans call for eventually linking the line to Fisherman's Wharf.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: This vintage PCC trolley car is one of 17 made in th e 1930s that now runs along the new F-line on San Francisco's Market Street.

Associated Press