Photos by Silas Boye Nissen from San Francisco
There are 92 tram and light rail photos by Silas Boye Nissen from San Francisco (United States) on Tram Travels.
Photos by Silas Boye Nissen worldwide
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Photos by Silas Boye Nissen from United States
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Added San Francisco F-Market & Wharves with railcar 1010 on Market & 5th (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen.
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Added San Francisco cable car Powell-Hyde with cable car 22 at Market & Powell (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen.
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San Francisco E-Embarcadero Steetcar with railcar 578 by Railway Museum (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco F-Market & Wharves with railcar 1 close by The Embarcadero & Ferry Building (2025)Enter at Rear.
Nowhere in Particular.
Marina → Fort Mason → Chinatown → Santa FeBy Silas Boye Nissen - .
San Francisco F-Market & Wharves with railcar 228 at The Embarcadero & Ferry Building (2025)Take a cruise!
228 "Boat Tram" from Blackpool, England
Learn more at streetcar.org/streetcars
MUNI San Francisco Railway MuseumBy Silas Boye Nissen - .
Model tram: San Francisco in Railway Museum (2025)Car House.
Municipal Ry.
Fisherman's Wharf.
Downtown.
Last stop.
9th & Market.By Silas Boye Nissen - .
Model tram: San Francisco inside Railway Museum (2025)Car 952 New Orleans.
Car 1000 Melbourne.By Silas Boye Nissen - .
Model tram: Tram 1940 (2025)Ferry.
Civic Center Auditorium.
Golden Gate Park and Ocean Beach via McAllister.By Silas Boye Nissen - .
Sign: San Francisco in Railway Museum (2025)Streetcars & Cable Cars: What's the Difference?
Visitors often confuse the two remaining vintage rail transit vehicle types in San Francisco. Many refer to both as 'trolleys.' Here is an explanation...
Cable Cars
Cable cars run on steel rails with a slot between them. Underneath the street, there's an endless cable powered by complex winding machinery housed in a central powerhouse. The car grabs the moving cable with a gripper that functions like a giant pair of pliers, reaching through the slot beneath the street.
This type of street-running cable car first appeared in 1873, invented in San Francisco by Andrew Hallidie, a British mining engineer, with design work by William Eppelsheimer. Although cable cars were the most advanced form of American urban rail transportation in the 1880s, San Francisco was the last city in the world to operate them in revenue service, doing so until 1957.
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom introduced cable car No. 42 into Muni's historic fleet during UN World Environment Day 2005. Market Street Railway's volunteers played a key role in restoring this very special cable car.
Streetcars
Streetcars also run on steel rails but have a trolley pole on the roof that connects to a single overhead electric wire for power. Made practical by Frank Sprague in Richmond, Virginia, in 1887, electric streetcars dominated urban mass transit in the US until World War II.
In some cities, especially in the Eastern US, streetcars were called trolleys after the wheel at the end of the pole that collects current (today represented by a carbon slider in San Francisco). In most parts of the country, however, they were known as streetcars or simply cars—back when what we now call cars were called automobiles, horseless carriages, or machines.
Trolley Buses
Trolley buses add more confusion. San Francisco is one of the few North American cities still operating these rubber-tired electric buses with two poles and double overhead wires. These vehicles don't run on rails, but their powerful electric motors let them climb hills that a cable car could handle—and streetcars couldn’t. Their pollution-free operation makes them very popular among San Franciscans.By Silas Boye Nissen - .
Sign: San Francisco inside Railway Museum (2025)See how they run
More different types of trasit vehicles
have rum along the steets of San Francisco than almost any other city.
The Sutter Street Railroad Co. operated some distinctive horsecars designed by owner Henry Casebolt in the 1870s. The car with the round body (left) could rotate on its truck, so at the end of the line, the horse could be walked around to reverse direction without unhitching and rehitching. The car marked 'To Seal Rock Road Direct' (right) features decorative oval windows that let standing passengers see out...very similar to the steamliner PCC streetcars running on Market Street an The Embarcadero today. The Sutter company later upgraded almost all its routes to cable cars.
The Powell Street Railway Company's fleet included some open cars that operated on pleasant days. Looking at the heavy wool uniforms of the crew, we hope it wasn't too hot when this shot was taken-somwhere around 1890-probably at what was then the western terminal of Washington-Jackson line, at Central Avenue (now Presidio Avenue) & California Street.
San Francisco's early electric streetcars generally followed the 'California-type' design, named for California Street cable cars-operable from either end, with an enclosed center section and open end sections. Adolph Sutro built a streetscar line in 1896 to serve his recreational complex at the city's northwest corner neal Seal Rockks, Sutro Baths, and the Cliff House (the fanciful structure in the background, which burned to the ground in 1907).
San Francisco added trolley buses to its variety of transit vehicles in 1935, when Market Street Railway Co. converted the rollercoaster 33-line across Twin Peaks from streetcars. Trolley buses can negotiate much steeper grades than streetcars (and most motor buses as well) with their combination of powerful electric motors and rubber-tired traction. Muni's original E-Union line used high-traction single-truck streetcars to climb grades too steep for conventional streetcars, but even these cars had to detour arund the steep Union Street grades between Van Ness and Larkin. Muni's first trolley buses, purchased in 1941, handled the Union Street hill with ease. Our nonprofit Market Street Railway has preserved one of these orginal Muni trolley coaches, No. 506.
When Mayor Roger Lapham wanted to get rid of Powell Street cable cars in 1947, trolley bus technology would have been the best choice for the steep hills. But without funding for the wires and power supply, Muni bought 10 gasoline buses with two large engines that were supposed to work in sync to push the bus over the hills. Lapham lost, of course, and the buses, assigned to other routes, never worked very well, requiring removal of one of the engines. One of these buses (No. 0163)-historic for what it almost did-is preserved by Muni. Identical looking trolley buses by the same builder, Twin Coach, were mainstays of many Muni lines for a quarter-century, until the mid-1970s.By Silas Boye Nissen - .
San Francisco articulated tram 1483 at MUNI Metro East Maintenance Facility (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco articulated tram 1543 at MUNI Metro East Maintenance Facility (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco articulated tram 2008 at MUNI Metro East Maintenance Facility (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco articulated tram 2012 at MUNI Metro East Maintenance Facility (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco articulated tram 2029 at MUNI Metro East Maintenance Facility (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco articulated tram 2067 at MUNI Metro East Maintenance Facility (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco articulated tram 2176 at MUNI Metro East Maintenance Facility (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line T Third Street with articulated tram 2012 at UCSF Mission Bay (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line T Third Street with articulated tram 2017 close by UCSF Mission Bay (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line T Third Street with articulated tram 2148 at UCSF Mission Bay (2025)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line N Judah with articulated tram 2004 at Judah Street & 12th Avenue (2024)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line N Judah with articulated tram 2039 at Judah Street & 12th Avenue (2024)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line J Church with articulated tram 2071 at Church & 18th (2024)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco F-Market & Wharves with railcar 1052 at Market Street & Larkin Street (2022)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line N Judah with articulated tram 2052 at King & 4th (2021)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line N Judah with articulated tram 2068 at King & 4th (2021)By Silas Boye Nissen..
Model tram: Model of cable tram 16 (2021)Powell and Market
Hyde and Beach
Fisherman's Wharf
"Meet me at the St. Francis"By Silas Boye Nissen - .
Model tram: San Francisco Cable Car Museum (2021)The models, in this case, are part of a more extensive collection of cable car models built by Dr. George Rahilly between 1969 and 1972. Rahilly built 57 models to represent every type of cable car operated in San Francisco. The first 14 of the models were displayed at the San Francisco Wells Fargo History Room in 1971. In 1973 the models were presented to the City of San Francisco. After the reconstruction of the cable car system and the restoration of the Car Barn in 1984, the models were deeded to the San Francisco Cable Car Museum for permanent display.
Market Street Cable Railway Company RPO CAR.
In late 1800, the U.F. Postal Service developed the "railway post office car" (RPO car) in cooperation with various railway companies. RPO cars were in service long before using trucks or other vehicles to deliver mail. These cars performed several jobs.
Omnibus "Open Car" - no. 104.
The "open" design was most famous for cable cars at the turn of the century, although it was introduced with home-drawn equipment.
MSR Car No. 15.
Car no. 15 was a large-tram car similar to no. 33 and nor. 103. The Market Street Railway assigned car no. 15 to the Hayes Street line, which ran from the Ferry Building along Market Street to Hayes Street (at 9th and Market) and continued past City Hall to the east end of Golden Gate Park.
United Railroads Car No. 2.
This model sorts a larger version of the "California"-type car. Cars of this type were rebuilt from open cars of the Market Street line and ran from 1906 to 1942. They proved to be very unpopular with gripman, who considered them too big, too "chunky," heavy, hard to stop, etc.By Silas Boye Nissen - .
San Francisco cable car Powell-Hyde with cable car 14 near Pacific Avenue & Mason (2021)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco cable car Powell-Mason with cable car 7 near Cable Car Museum (2021)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line N Judah with articulated tram 1405 at 9th Avenue & Irving (2021)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line N Judah with articulated tram 1495 at 9th Avenue & Irving Street (2021)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line N Judah with articulated tram 1536 near 9th Avenue & Irving Street (2021)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco cable car Powell-Hyde with cable car 21 at Market & Powell (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco cable car Powell-Hyde with cable car 21 on Market & Powell (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco cable car Powell-Hyde with cable car 22 at Market & Powell (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco cable car Powell-Mason with cable car 17 at Market & Powell (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco cable car Powell-Mason with cable car 19 at Market & Powell (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco cable car Powell-Hyde with cable car 26 outside Cable Car Museum (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco F-Market & Wharves with railcar 1055 near Market & Battery (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco F-Market & Wharves with railcar 1077 close by Market & 4th (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco F-Market & Wharves with railcar 1077 near Market & Stockton (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco F-Market & Wharves with railcar 1080 near Market & Stockton (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line M Ocean View with articulated tram 1412 at 19th Avenue & Holloway Avenue (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line M Ocean View with articulated tram 1415 at 19th Avenue & Holloway Avenue (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line M Ocean View with articulated tram 1419 at 19th Avenue & Holloway Avenue (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line M Ocean View with articulated tram 1422 at 19th Avenue & Holloway Avenue (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line M Ocean View with articulated tram 1455 at 19th Avenue & Randolph (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco tram line M Ocean View with articulated tram 1495 at 19th Ave & Randolph St (2019)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco special event line S Shuttle with articulated tram 1542 at King & 4th (2018)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco cable car California with cable car 60 at California & Davis (2016)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco cable car Powell-Hyde with cable car 16 at Market & Powell (2016)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco E-Embarcadero Steetcar with railcar 1009 near The Embarcadero & Stockton (2016)By Silas Boye Nissen..
San Francisco F-Market & Wharves with railcar 1053 near Embarcadero & Stockton (2016)By Silas Boye Nissen..